"Apologies for the sudden attack, Astrael," She said, "Of course, I had to confirm the newest god in the Conclave actually stood up to his title, and wasn’t just a god in name", all while twirling a lock of her hair between her fingers, "The only god who successfully inhabited and raised followers within the cursed lands, a land once so inhospitable that the gods of the Caelion continent gave up on claiming it as their territory", her voice, twinged with reluctant acception and dissatisfaction didn’t falter once as she said it, "Walk with me".
Before I could register her words, she was already ahead of me, her stride poised like that of a person used to speaking once and having everyone else follow, now walking without looking back as if naturally expecting me to follow...Which I did, but still the pride was infuriating. As we walked, she suddenly spoke, "I assume you still don’t know the truth behind the cursed lands. Now do you?" The question caused me to pause for a moment, as I wondered where this was leading "No, no, I don’t. Why?"
"Good, because I’m going to tell you what I know; now listen closely"
"Thousands of years ago, those lands, the same we now refer to as cursed, were once a prosperous domain ruled by a powerful deity; their name was #@*$#!, but don’t worry, I don’t expect you to catch that" The air around us seemed to grow dense, mirroring the growing tension as she continued. "Their very presence kept the land flourishing and filled with life; the sheer vitality that lingered through the land due to their presence, even after their death, made even me, the goddess of nature, feel envy, but of course, life as a god can’t ever be peaceful for too long, now can it?" With a pause to ensure I was listening and confirmation accompanying it, she continued
"A battle broke out; other gods questioned why the deity would have a territory of such size, and in case you didn’t know, the ’Cursed Land’ is the largest territory on Caelion, followed by mine, although mine isn’t small in any measure, nor were the other gods’, but greed is a funny thing. Yet, of course, the deity pushed back. It was a battle that shook earth and sky. The aftermath? Was the deity’s demise, a petty demise at that, as he triggered an explosion that wiped out the surviving gods." As she paused, a flower, violet and white, bloomed from the ground beside her feet
"And that’s where I came in," She lowered herself, plucking the flower by its stalk. "The universal will placed a god-seed in me in the domain of the previous Nature deity; the same went for the mountain, desert, and shadow deities, but one was missing, and of course we knew, but we were as new to the god thing back then, in the same way you are now, so we didn’t pay attention to it.
"And in the end we also ignored the signs: the gradual wilting of plants around the edge of the territory, the usual behaviours from the beasts that lived within it, the patchiness of the soil. So by the time it advanced, it was too late. The land itself began to produce monsters of all shapes and sizes, some that surpass even your wildest imagination; its soil became almost inhospitable to any type of vegetation" The flower in her hand wilted into ash following her last words.
"And of course, we tried to purify the land; tried to revive it." The flower regrew, but turned back into ash.
"We tried to refine it." Shifting once more, a flower grew from the ash, this one more beautiful than before, its petals an ethereal composition of gold, red, violet and silver, but it started to wilt slowly.
"Nocturne even tried using her shadow magic to absorb what we thought was a plague, but nothing worked; the land remained inhospitable, leaving us no choice but to name it cursed" As the last words landed, the flower, now ash, was picked up by a passing breeze.
"I appreciate the fact that you told me, but I must ask why?" My question cut the heavy silence like a hot knife.
"Hmm...why? I deemed it necessary to inform you, especially since you’re the only god to occupy that land. In how long? And besides that, you, Astrael, although inexperienced, are by no means weak; others may be fooled by the aura your concept radiates, but I’m not. Your barriers are a useful thing for any god to have, especially on rift expeditions"
Hearing those words, I was taken aback. Does she actually mean that this world has dungeon-like rifts? And were they anything like the ones I read about in books in my recent life
"Ah, it appears I forgot to mention that", the confusion on my face worth noting as Valea proceeded to explain "Ok, think of it like this, we have our planet—Vethyris—and it resides on a realm, and we have the Neatherealm, both of which are in constant motion, when Vethyris moves too close to the Netherealm in the void space, they overlap creating a rift. At least that’s how the mortals think it works." A slight smirk graced her lips as she gave me the real explanation.
"Rifts are instances, or whatever you may call them, created by the universal will. They are the universe’s way of saying, ’prove your followers and this planet deserve to exist’. These instances are connected to parts of the netherealm, an isolated space in the void." Sitting on a gazebo we had reached, she gestured for me to find a place for myself, not continuing until I sat
"As I was saying," she continued ",,,,...connected to parts of the netherealm, created by the universe. As for why it does that, none of us knows; maybe it’s to strengthen our followers, or just for its amusement. It’s all a mystery; we aren’t even fully aware of what the Netherrealm is or why rifts open" Listening to everything she said, I had nothing more to say, not that I was lost for words; rather, I was lost in thought. "How come one hasn’t opened in my territory yet?"
"The universe does what it wants, you’ll probably see one once you least expect it, just be ready, to be forewarned is to be forearmed, who knows maybe you just jinxed yourself and by the time you return to your domain a rift will open", her lips curled intoteasing smile, before drifting slightly as her gaze shifted slightly off centre, as if looking past me and not at me"Astrael, I think it’s time you met one of the other governing gods of Caelion, he’s a bit...hard headed, but I’m sure you can handle him" before I could turn to get even a glimpse of who she may have been referring to, a large shadow loomed over me.
"And I assume you are Astrael? The one Valea has been talking about nonstop," A voice said behind me, with a timbre so deep the air seemed to vibrate as he spoke.
Turning around, I couldn’t make out the facial features of the large figure before me, as the sun cast a harsh shadow on his face. "Yes, I am" Regardless of my inability to see who was speaking, I gave them a confirmation