Malam crossed her arms and watched Helenna try to talk to the Machine Divines.

This was going nowhere.

Arascus and Kavaa on the INS Tremali. Whenever the thought that this huge aircraft carrier was called the INS Tremali, Arascus wanted to smile. He knew the elf more than well enough to know that must be endlessly infuriating for him that he got an aircraft carrier for his namesake. Not even a mighty battleship but an aircraft carrier. A floating city practically, there were more than five thousand souls onboard even without the hundred or so aircraft that this moving airbase could support. Even more once the vehicles came aboard. But even with that, a transport plane for the size of Divines would not be able to land here. It had taken them almost a week to get back to Northern Doschia.

Now, land was in sight. Doschia’s own megaport that had been built by the Empire had come into view. Unlike in Rancais, were Ordeaux was being rebuilt to be that countries gateway to the ocean, and unlike in Allia were Tull had gotten the privilege, the Doschians had decided to go the whole way and build theirs in a field. Their naming scheme was as economical as the rest of the country: Doschhaven. Less so an economic boon but rather a location for the Imperial fleet to actually be housed. Drydocks stretched along the coast, along with great cranes and piers. Homes for the local workers and the munitions warehouses. A huge radio tower sat on one end. One of Anassa’s shield generators was also mounted near the city centre. Massive canals had been dug across the ground so that military vessels could actually enter the town proper and take refuge.

Arascus stood on the front of the ship as he watched the machinery in Doschhaven do its work. Tull had been easy enough to remodel. With the war effort stealing most mages from construction though, the building had slowed down. Enough homes were built that it wasn’t an issue and the fact that the fleet was busy in the south of Epa made sure this city had not overloaded.

“So we’re back.” Kavaa said from besides Arascus. The Goddess of Health still stood in the same dirty clothes she had dressed in when she left the UNN. In a damp black uniform, strained by oceanic drizzle although Arascus was not much better.

“So we are.” Arascus replied.

“Apologies again.” Kavaa said and Arascus sighed. This conversation had been repeated at least twenty times since they were rescued by the Tremali.

“No need.”

“I just shouldn’t have broken down like that.” Kavaa said. At this point, Arascus had enough, talk was wind. He just put his arm around and pulled her close to him.

“It is what it is.” Arascus said, more for her than for himself. “At this point, you can’t do anything. We’re always here for you.”

“I know.” Kavaa said as she leaned in. Arascus saw that mess of tangled grey hair, now turned darker by the fact huge oceanic waves had crashed onto the Tremali several times and caught both of them. Arascus’ naturally dark hair felt as if it was sticking all over to him. Kassandora would wash herself down with a hose but that was in military setting. Besides, she was the Goddess of War. The image she upheld was one of victory, getting down in the mud was par for the course. Arascus would not let a video of himself being hosed down like a horse emerge online. Nor of Kavaa. “I’m just baffled still.” The Goddess of Health admitted.

Time. Give her time. Time healed all wounds. Maybe she would not forget, Arascus doubted she would if she was still apologizing for it, but at least she could get used to it. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Have you done the same for Kassie?”

“Many times.” Arascus said.

“What about Fer?”

“A few.”

“Really?” Kavaa chuckled to herself. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Fer rarely needs time alone.” Arascus said. “She heals through company.” He patted his legs. “She likes to down on me.”

“Oh.” Kavaa said. “That makes sense.” Arascus didn’t know how it made sense, but he agreed. If there was anyone who would heal through a hug, it was Fer. Malam was there too. Anassa not so much. “So what do we do now?”

“Us two?” Arascus asked.

“Mmh.” Kavaa asked. “Which front?”

“I’m sending you to Kassie.” Arascus said. “Unless Iliyal has some plan, but I don’t think so. He said the focus in Epa is purely defensive right now.” The God of Pride thought she would be excited. Instead, the two Divines watched a flock of seagulls fly out of Doschhaven city centre as though they were shooed away. They made two circles, then landed in another part of the city. The fleet’s destroyers and escort vessels that were safeguarding the Tremali began to pull away to their own designated landing spots. “What’s wrong?”

“I think she’s unhappy with me.” Arascus took a deep breath. Not a sigh, but just a deep breath. He had not expected it to come so soon frankly. Kassie usually could go for a few years before burning those close to her. But now as he thought about it, it did make sense. She had broken down after Continent Cracking, healing Baalka did a number on her psyche too.

“Unhappy is the right word.” Arascus said. “Not angry, but just unhappy.”

“Mmh.” Kavaa said dryly. “I…” And she sighed herself. “I want advice from you. On how to handle. Handle her. How do you do it?”

“My relationship with her you won’t recreate.” Arascus replied immediately. “I’m her father. You can’t step into that role whilst I walk. And it’s not a role…” How should he phrase it? Honestly… It was far less magnificent than it was made out to be. “What you want from her, if you were in my position, you could not take from her.” There. That settled it.

“I…” Kavaa said. “But? What do you do? She said Fer is good for her too once. To me, I mean.”

“Fer manhandles her.” Arascus said. “Fer will just walk up and pick her up and she can’t be stopped.” Arascus smiled at the thought of that. It was always enjoyable to watch. “You’ve trained with Fer, you know what she’s like.”

“She picked me up by my wrist.” Kavaa said. “And she does that to Kassie?”

“It’s different leagues of strength.” Arascus answered. “And Fer is loyal.”

“I’m loyal.” Kavaa said quickly, Arascus knew it would cause issue but there was no other way to phrase it. Fer was the most loyal creature to exist.

“But not like Fer.” Arascus said. “I didn’t mean it badly, and I don’t mean this in poor taste about Fer either.” He hated this comparison but it was the only way to truly explain it easily. “Fer is loyal like a dog is loyal. We are her pack. It’s instinctual, there’s nothing going on in here when Fer acts.” Arascus patted Kavaa’s head. “It all comes from here instead.” He touched his own heart and saw Kavaa wilt away. She had just chosen a poor comparison. Fer to Kavaa was like night and day. Fer swam through her emotions like a fish, the few times she actually tried to hide what she was feeling in front of family, it was so obvious that it had to be called out. Rarely was it for anything serious either.

“I think mine…” Kavaa said and caught herself. “Well it obviously doesn’t if it I say I think, does it?” Arascus felt the Goddess of Health put even more weight on him.

“I’m sure it does.” Arascus said. “I do not bother rationalising the love I have for all of you in my mind.” There, she was included. Arascus hoped she noticed it. “But you shouldn’t compare yourself to Fer. It’s different sensibilities entirely. Fer smells emotions for one, she has an animal mindset in the other.” That comparison was bad too. Fer was intelligent, she was just… Well, simple would be the way to say it. Simple and easygoing. Opposite of Kavaa then.

“Ah.” Kavaa said. “Do you know Neneria and Malam gave me advice?” Neneria was a surprise but Malam had mentioned it. The Goddess of Hatred had no boundaries with sharing secrets when family was involved.

“What did they say?”

“Both said the same thing basically.” Kavaa replied quietly. “That I would be burned.” Of course they would. That was only natural. “Malam was nicer about it.” Arascus somehow doubted that but Malam had a tongue that could twist the sky into ground and the ground into the sky if she wanted to.

“And so you’ve been burned.” Arascus finished for her.

“So I was.” Kavaa said.

“So?” Arascus asked.

“So? What do you mean?”

“Are you going to stick your hands into the fire?” He looked down at the haggard Goddess of Health, who turned to look up at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open. Arascus only raised an eyebrow as he waited for her to process what she just heard. A blink from those grey eyes suddenly awoke her again.

“What?”

“You heard me.” It was a personal fault, but Arascus never liked repeating himself. He kept his tone light still.

“I can?”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

“I…” Kavaa said and shook her head as she turned back down onto to look at the city they were quickly approaching. The Tremali had started slowing down but a ship this large carried a good amount of mass. Men had retreated back into the control tower and under the deck as was procedure and a small crowd of workers were apparently already waiting at the Doschhaven piers. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know Kavaa. Why shouldn’t you?”

“But…”

“I said it back in the UNN. It wasn’t the first time, it probably won’t be the last.” It was simply part of the deal. If Kavaa and Kassandora were a hamster and a hedgehog. “Don’t worry.” He squeezed her shoulder. “If it comes to it, it will come it.”

“I just…” Kavaa blinked. “Thank you again.” Arascus rolled his eyes this time. Kavaa couldn’t see it anyway, but how many times had she thanked him over this past week?

“Kassie runs off.” She deserved some advice. “She just gets stuck on loops in her mind. Just escalation after escalation after escalation, we all know what it’s like. She knows of it herself. She just works that way. When she does, just bring her to the ground.”

“What?”

“I remember you’ve seen her and Anassa fight when Ana first got out of Arcadia. Do you remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“That’s good for both of them.” It honestly was. Fer may have been the Goddess of Beasthood, maybe it was because she was the Goddess of Beasthood even, rather than in spite of, but Fer controlled her aggression like a wolf in a forest. Wolves rarely went after people unless they were desperate. Ana and Kass both needed to beat something into the ground every now and again. If they were human, sports would probably be enough. But they were Divine and they complemented each other. “Like how painting is good for Olephia.”

“Did you teach her how?”

“I showed her paints and the brush.” Arascus said. He could paint although it wasn’t an achievement. Every Divine could since they all had thousands of years under their belt. But none could paint like Olephia. “But we need a hobby. We’ve tried with Kassie in the past. She doesn’t take to anything. It won’t be easy, you probably won’t be happy but I’m not going to stand here and pretend the situation is something it’s not. I assume Kassie has told you her past at this point.”

“With Sythia and after?”

“With Sythia and after.” Arascus honestly had just probed to see how much Kassandora had actually shared. If she hadn’t been willing to spill secrets, then he would not spill them for her. “She’s spent hundreds of years walking from battle to battle and she can’t even travel like Allasaria. Just on foot everywhere.”

“I did too.”

“Then you know what it’s like.” Arascus said. “I say you two are good for each other because you’re close. Not in age but in experience. Both Goddesses major but not powerful individually. We’re not talking about Fer or Fortia here either. Wherever Kassie walked, suddenly she had more people after her head.”

“Oh.”

“Have you read her Philosophy of War?”

“Who hasn’t?” Amongst major Divinity, Arascus could not name a single soul. Kassandora’s skill in warfare had elevated it to gospel.

“There’s a part in it about victory being annihilation.” Arascus said. “I know Fortia once brought it up to me, about how far gone she is. This was before the Great War. What do you make of it?”

“Well…” Kavaa said. “It’s…”

“I’m not going to argue with you.”

“Elassa once called it a step-by-step manual to genocide.” Kavaa said.

“Mmh.” Arascus said. “It’s a cry. Whether for help or for pity is not for me to say, it’s a cry nonetheless. She wrote that because every victory she scores, every man she kills behind is another whose children will join the next conflict against her. She’s intelligent Kavaa, we all know she is. There is no logistician like her but that is what Kassandora is. A logistician, not a philosopher. Don’t follow her life advice, she’s a sword that dips itself in blood to write.” Arascus finished and felt Kavaa wrap herself around him. Her head only reached his torso but it didn’t matter. He hugged her back with one arm as he kept watch on. He felt her shake her head again. Well, better to cry here than in the city.

“You’re terrible.” She said and Arascus had to contain laughter. He stood up straighter and he smiled to himself. Truly the most terrible God of them all. Truly. That, he could not even argue against. “But I see it.”

“It took me a while to get to this realization too.” Arascus admitted. “But no, Kassandora is smart but she is not the be-all and end-all to problems. If you treat her like that then you will get burned again.”

“So I can push back?” Arascus took a deep breath. What a terrible question. What was she even asking for? Permission to argue with his daughter? His blessing on saying ‘no’ to Kassandora? To Kassandora of all people?

“If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t answer that question.” Arascus honestly meant. Anyone else, he would just tell not to waste their time. “You treat her too well.”

And Kavaa froze. “What?” And another terrible thing to say, but they could not stand here and pretend to be human children. Kavaa had incarnated near the end of Worldbreaking. Kassandora before it. Even if Kavaa had not been there to see Worldbreaking as the planet was being held together by force, then she had survived the Great War. They were children in certain parts, but not everywhere. “You survived a thousand years of being one of the lowest ranks in the Pantheon. Kassandora has been imprisoned for that time in the Divine Mountain. She is still here and still Kassandora. Saranael.” The God of Knowledge, so knowledgeable about the world that he thought he could rival Paramethus. Arascus had nothing good to say about him. “Saranael went insane, another lost to the passage of time. How long would Saranael have lasted if he had been locked away?”

“Not long.”

“Not a hundredth.” Arascus said. “Kavaa, at this point I am certain you fear hurting her but understand that Kassandora was ready to kill Baalka when all of you were trapped in her mind. If she wasn’t there, I would have waited longer. But it was Kassie and we know how Kassie operates. And we all know that if she did that, she would wake up the next day and ask me to send her to the front. You may hurt her Kavaa but you will not break her. If anything, I worry more that she will break you rather than the other way around.” That was true too. Kavaa next to him was evidence of it right now. Maybe the correct decision would be to keep them separate, that would be the easy way out. Arascus had never taken the easy way out.

Kavaa once again hugged Arascus. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It needed to be said.” Arascus said. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m not.” Kavaa said. She didn’t sound like it. Arascus looked down to check anyway. She was hugging him, burying her face into his side. “I just didn’t…” She shook her head. “How?”

“How what?”

“How do you manage?”

Arascus chuckled at that question. “In the same way she does, it simply needs to be done.” What else was there to say? There was no method, one either handled it or they did not. Arascus had long since sworn he would handle it. Divinity was in enough shit already, he did not need to add his own mess to the pile. Maybe when it was all done, he could sit down and bring everything to bear. Not now though. There were just too many who relied on him.

“But…”

“Trust me.” Arascus said. “The Goddess of War will not be broken because you tell her she’s wrong.” If anything, Kassie would appreciate it. Arascus let Kavaa find that surprise out for herself. “Have you seen how she talks with her sisters?”

“Of course.”

“It’s not a conversation if someone’s legacy isn’t cursed a thousand times over.” Arascus said jokingly, it wasn’t even a lie. “Now how do you talk to her?” To that, Kavaa had no reply. They all knew how their interactions went. If this trip had taught Arascus anything, it was that Kavaa, for all her talk about hating her demesne and pretending that she treated it like a job, actually cared very much.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep