Supreme Spouse System.

Chapter 573: scene

In the first thousand years, I meditated. My incarnations ran amok; creating suns in the physical realm and teaching various gods how to do the same; nurturing seeds in the iconic features of the Realms, the holy mountain, the life-giving tree, the karmic valley, and the spirit river; nurturing mortals and guiding my angels; soothing stress cracks, and a thousand other major and minor issues.

In the second thousand, my mind started to drift, Fate revealing itself to me in cryptic tones. Not once did I look into my own fate, for only a fool claims to know their own fate, even if that being is a god. Instead I looked at others, and the nature of fate as a rule. Keilan helped me quite a bit with this, unaware though he was of this fact. And many things began to reveal themselves to me.

In the third thousand, I recalled all my divine incarnations save five.

In the fourth, the last of my incarnations vanished, and I sunk deep into my meditations and power-gathering.

My will noticed the shadow moving, now, desperately rushing to build up its forces while my children did the same. But it was only one being compared to the entire might of the divinities within the Four Realms. Though the Shadow had more time to prepare, the big four would be ready for it.

More time passed, and I came to a realization. The future of the eight pillars laid itself out for me, each slot that needed filling sitting clear as day before my eyes. What was once a hint of an idea, a vision of the future, was now far more solid – and this war provided an opportunity for certain souls to grow, gathering the potential to fill these slots. Though that is all it was; potential, and many things would stand in the way of such a fate. Ironically, blocked by the fate of another.

Fate and destiny were odd things, it seemed. They were ephemeral and nebulous, more a result of one’s own decisions than some grand design of my own making. In fact I had very little hand in "deciding" someone’s fate because of this fact, only giving a hand here and there where it was needed. As such it could be changed, for nothing was written in stone.

Heat blossomed in my chest, radiating from me as my will took hold of the void shards floating within, forcing them together. My heart was the fire, filling it with passion. My soul was the forge, containing the heat, directing it to the shards. And my will was the hammer, beating them into place. Fate guided my hand. Balance drove my actions. That which I had to make formed within the depths of my soul, imbued with the powers of the void, and my own essence.

And, satisfied, I fell once more into the depths of my meditations, watching, amassing power, the depths of which strained against the fabric of my being, uncontrolled and uncontained. There would be a time to intervene. I could feel it in my bones. But it had to be perfect. So I waited.

I waited to hear the call of war.

That’s not what I’m worried about, I thought with a heavy sigh, feeling the runes carved inside of the stone coming to life. Formations divine in nature ignited across the entirety of the room, keeping my power trapped within and preventing others from entering. Space and time itself were locked down in here; only I had the ability to freely move in and out. Here, I could meditate in peace. Here, I would work in secret.

With that in mind I sat cross-legged on my stone pedestal, evening my breath and closing my eyes. The void shards remained separated for now, but once I had a clearer idea of what I needed I would forge them to suit my purposes. But for now, they had to wait. Pieces of my divine power splintered off at my will, incarnation spreading through the Four Realms to do my work.

They were limited in power, but clear in their purposes.

"Alright, Fate." I muttered. "It’s just you and me now. Show me what you’ve got."

Very astute, and in line with what I have been able to discover," I praised. "But be careful. The Void can be corruptive. The rogue spirit that attacked, for example, was twisted by the solitude of the Void; it can drive one mad. You should talk with others about this occasionally. Perhaps Keilan. Or Elvira, or even your brother, Sol." I mused, scratching my chin.

"I, uh, I will. Be careful, I mean," Gilles said with another soft bow. "If I may ask, what are you going to do with those?" he gestured to the shards in my hand, and I smiled, popping open the lid.

"This." And I promptly downed the entire bottle, bits and pieces of Void swirling about within my stomach. My power wrapped itself around each individual piece, keeping them separated and preventing them from doing any harm to my internals. As my body was also my soul, flesh and soul merged into one cohesive being, I had finer control over the shards when they were within my body than without. It would be necessary for what I had in mind. Gilles gaped, and I smirked. "That will be all, Gilles. Thank you,"

"Yes, Honored Matriarch," he said,a and promptly teleported away. I stood in silence for a moment, waiting for my silent observer to reveal himself, but impatience won out.

"Randus." The butler-god of Dreams appeared at his name, bowing and with both a bottle of whiskey and pot of steaming tea at the ready. I smiled gratefully at him, but now was not the time, much as I wished it was. "Keep track of the dreams. You may not have the raw power of many of the other gods, but your specialty does not lie there."