Mammon shakes his head as he clambers back on his wyvern.
"Like I said, I intend to call off the armies gathered around Generia. If we intend to put an end to this war, we must start with ourselves. Demons, with me!"The gathered demons begin shuffling out, with those resurrected by Serena giving her a nod or muttering small praises of gratitude, before leaving.
"am become smol blobbington again, yis. am for patting by good milly."
"...you're still a good boy, Sir Blobbington. O-Or do you prefer Beelzebub?" "am blobbington and beelzebub, yis. call me what you want. am not care. am blobbo, am only want pats and fud." "O-okay..."She settles for giving her erstwhile companion a pat.
And so, the festivities in Boingberg continued...
Meanwhile, in Caelestia...Megara recoiled, a red mark on her face from a slap from Freya. The War Goddess rubbed her cheek.
"....if it wasn't for that hex, you know I'd hit you back."
"It's the only way to keep you loyal, you ignorant meathead! How dare you offer to side with those small people like that? Utterly pathetic."Freya hissed at her, before stomping off, placing her hands upon the golden railing of their balcony, overlooking the celestial expanse.
Freya, Megara and Pyra were gathered in a grand room, a room hown from the finest marble and gold, a fountain in the very middle and a balcony overlooking the clouds above Generia. The fountain itself was grand in an already gigantic room, consisting of a giant dragon spouting water onto three tiers, each cardinal direction engraved with the head of another dragon. From the ceiling hung drapes of the finest violet velvet, and the room smelled faintly of myrrh.
This was but one part of the realm of Caelestia, home of the Goddess Dragons, a grand palace built for them and them alone, a plane of many pleasures, home to the Goddesses and the souls of their loyal followers. Below, the chantings of prayers from those followers - and select adventurers who had proven themselves worthy of the Goddess' atttention - could be heard. They were housed elsewhere in Caelestia, far away; Freya had insisted when the afterlife was first a concern, ostensibly to protect their mother but truly, because the rabble had no right to be near their home.
Of late, however, only a select few Goddesses had made this land their realm. Rhea had long since left, setting up shop elsewhere in the celestial expanse, with her followers chasing her there. Freya had made sure nobody else would follow, but even she feared fighting Rhea; Rhea's domain of Order made it difficult for any other Goddess Dragon, save their mother, to bind her.
Freya slammed her hands on the golden railing of the balcony.
"Not fair. Not fair at all. Serena....she's been useless all her life. Useless! And yet her little people can't see that. In front of a true Goddess, they would dare to reject me. For that useless, ugly, arrogant....." "You've been making her look useless all her life. Are you so surprised that the minute she gets out from, under you, she gets good?" "Shut up. You're just as culpable as I am. Don't get high and mighty." "Correction; I went along with you. Because you threatened us with Mother." "Why shouldn't I? I am her most beautiful, her best daughter. I, after all, came up with the idea of creating this world. I worked hard on it. I created the Elves, for our sake! The humans? Me. All those beautiful things in the world? Me."
"Our sister really is clever." "And it was Serena who came up with the scheme to get heroes from another world to end this stupid war. I love war, but....this whole thing between demons and the Goddess Races-" "Careful what you say, sister. You're very close to saying something very dangerous. You know, as well as I do, every Goddess Dragon is as guilty as I am, except Rhea. All of us. If Mother finds out, we all go down."Megara glared at her.
"You forgot one." "Of course Serena wouldn't be. She got herself put into time-out that day." "And I have a plan for that too." "You....you'd pin it all on her? You....you can't be serious. Mother will never believe it." "That's the clever thing. That's part of why Freya's painted her as so useless. Mother will never believe she didn't do it." "You....bitches. That's....you're cowards. How underhanded can you be?!"Freya smirks.
"Serena wants so much credit, so we'll give it to her. All of it she could ever ask for. Mother will punish her to the fullest extent....maybe banish her. At last, we'll be rid of that useless runt. And everything can go as it should; I become the new top Goddess, with all of you at my side. And Serena? Well....perhaps she can find her way as a beggar. Of course, with Borea's memories of what she found lost, Discordia unable to return and hexed....well....she'll never know any better." The Peace Goddess giggles.
"Of course....it's all the back-up plan, if this one fails." "We need to get to Ultima first. Before those adventurers do. If they bring back that little demon queen.....who knows what she'll say?" "I knew I kept you around for a reason, Pyra." "....how far are you willing to go to keep this hidden?"Freya suddenly surges at Megara, a twisted look of anger in her face.
"As FAR as I need it to go! As far as need be to ensure MY rightful place, as the next top goddess, the Queen of Caelestia. That incident can never come out. Mother can never know. If Serena needs to take the fall....if Discordia and Borea don't fall into place, they will too. The world never needed eight true goddesses, anyway."Megara simply looked away from her.
"Children. Have you found your sisters yet?"All three goddesses turned to the entrance to the room. A gentle, red-headed woman strolled in, clad in a simple green dress with golden trim. A soft smile grew on her pale face, soft pink eyes scanning her daughters.
Before them stood Titania, the Mother of Gods, the Queen of Caelestia, architect of all creation and oldest of the Goddess Dragons.
"It's been so long since I saw Serena. I'm worried she might be in trouble down there. And Discordia....you know how gentle she is. Borea too."Freya smiled sweetly at her mother, her earlier rage forgotten.
"Mother dear. We've been looking everywhere for them! We tried and tried and tried. We just can't find them."Titania strode forwards, placing a hand softly in her daughter's face.
"....don't worry, Freya. I'm not mad at you. But...you know I love your sisters as much as you. Please, do your best to find them."Megara noted the brief twitch of anger in Freya's expression.
"....rest for now, but please bring them home. They...I don't want my children to be in trouble down there."She walks out of the room, with Freya closing her eyes, the smile fading from her expression the moment her mother was gone.
"...she doesn't need them. We're the only ones she needs. Me, Pyra, Megara and Gaia. She doesn't need traitors and useless idiots."
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Topic: FEF: Wonderful Blessing IC Thread: Epilogue B (Read 208475 times)