Leona and Allasaria gave me the green light. Leona personally assured me that she had seen the consequences of shut a move, and that they would be containable. With Allasaria’s backing, there was little to be argued about. I have always been the sidelined Goddess of Love, the reason for my survival through these eras relies precisely on the fact that whereas I am powerful enough to be self-sufficient, I am not so powerful as to be nuisance for the greater predators. The grumbling from Fortia and Maisara for breaking ancient doctrine was met with Allasaria’s insistence that nothing needed to be worried about.

Leona made the difference. The balance was tipped. Fortia and Maisara never signed off on the change in tactics, but it did not matter. Malam was destroying us in the propaganda war. We had to raise the stakes, we had to develop a method of counterattack that would actually succeed against her shadow schemes.

The greatest propaganda campaign to ever be held was written by my hand. I was the mastermind and the executioner. It was the first time that Love had ever been afforded such power and I am certain it will be the last. This was not Malam’s devious little schemes, her slow corrosion of society and values that came about so slowly one could not even point to when it started if they did not have access to her internal notes.

I think it was the one of the few times one ever managed to actually go further than Arascus himself. And in that, I utterly crushed Malam’s schemes. Her letters, her plots and her whispers in the wind could not stand against Love proclaim that the Empire is all evil made incarnate, that it is the greatest threat to ever come to Arda. Every crime, every defeat, every shred of human maliciousness, I pinned onto Empire and Empire as a whole. And our ranks swelled so greatly that even Guguo decided to join the war on our side.

Allasaria and Leona knew what it would create and they signed off on it anyway.

I can point to many scenarios when those two Goddesses disappeared and lost contact from us during the Great War. There were times when they were not seen even for months. Entire frontlines were rearranged without them and then suddenly, they would be back.

I can point to any of those times and raise the question: Was that the time when they removed the monster of my making?

- Excerpt from “Roses, Blades & Blood”, an autobiography written by Goddess Helenna, of Love.

“Twenty thousand are in Khmet.” Fortia took a deep breath as she looked through the papers in the war report. The Imperial response to Khmet had not been one of denial, but they had finally made a stand that Khmet, although it needed help, was only going to get minor assistance and that was conditional on the fact it could be spared. She had not believed it when Iliyal had said it. Well, she did to some extent, and movements had started quickly but Iliyal had definitely reported to his superiors. Within an hour, EIE had said that Fortia and Maisara would be protectors of Khmet, and that they were working on opening the land border to allow Ibyan subjects temporary refuge in the now Pantheon aligned nation.

And the Khmet government could do nothing. In some ways, it was a return to tradition. Fortia had no intent on mobilizing this population. Her Orders were enough. Maisara’s Orders were enough. Together, they would form a bulwark that would funnel Tartarus north towards Epa and the war they should be fighting instead of running rampant throughout Arda. It was much like old times, a Divine would show up. A Divine would declare their intent. And a Divine would enforce what they willed as the leaders sat back and watched. It was not until the Era of Extermination, the Age of Heroes as Arascus called it, that checks were actually forced upon Divinity. “Transport coming steady. I assume we have no issue with the landings?” Fortia said.

“None.” One of the captains in the meeting replied. Why would they anyway? The Empire had put a halt on most of the world’s shipping when they pressed civilians vessels into the evacuation of North Arika. Already every port in Ibya had a queue of massive ships that once carried cars, or goods, or anything that wasn’t needed for the Imperial war effort, and ferrying the population back to Rilia. Giersal and Tinus, both west of Ibya, were already beginning their evacuations.

And Khmet’s docks sat empty. It was an effective embargo born out of the fact that none came to trade rather than any real policy. “A week then and we shall all be here.” Fortia’s eyes went to the cloth door of the white tent they had organised a headquarters in. Maisara entered, along with a collection of her own Paladin guards. The Goddess of Order stood in her armour, a white shawl falling down her curious and past her scalemail skirt to protect it from getting to fiendishly hot in this continent’s relentless sun. “Maisara.” Fortia stood up.

“Fortia.” Maisara replied. She straightened but there was no need for a salute. Not from Maisara. The Goddess of Order launched into her report. “I have organised the western line. We are going to form a wall near the Sassara’s edge. The southern half of Khmet can be evacuated, we don’t have enough troops to cover it.”

“Leave it.” Fortia said. “If they push that far, they’ll be heading into Kirinyaa anyway.” Frankly, Fortia did not believe Tartarus would bother attacking Khmet. They would head south definitely, North Arika would certainly be razed for it had been put into military fervour by Imperial propaganda. Ibya stood no chance, whether it was Malam or Helenna or Iliyal or Arascus from over in the UNN, someone had made sure that country would be the blazing sacrifice behind which all Arda would rally. In fact, all the continents north would be.

Bar Khmet. That was the hard border. Under Fortia’s protection, this country would not march to war. She had been played true, but it was mutual gain. Fortia would have a base of power, she was unpopular now but the populace here held its breath as it waited to see what sort of fate they would be spared. Iliyal would benefit from the fact that Khmet was the only land border out of Arika and it had been closed off. And Iliyal would benefit from the fact he didn’t have to deal with an army at his doorstep.

Fortia and Maisara could not believe how the elf had spoken to him. After so long in the White Pantheon, it had been a long time since they met a soul like that. Not a superior who chastised and gave orders, not an inferior who was seeking some personal gain and affirmed all, but an equal who stated their position and simply asked the price. The fact it was a mortal only made him more honourable.

But for all that Iliyal said and did. That did not matter. Maybe the man underestimated, maybe he did not. Arascus definitely did not, but Arascus was a patient man. Far more patient and far more open to the material world than the land of theory. It was almost an enviable position. Almost. Fortia looked to Maisara. Of Peace narrowed her brow and stood up to say it was serious. Maisara caught it immediately. She stepped to the side and tilted her head to the door. Fortia nodded.

“I have something to talk about.” Fortia said, it was for the men to know that they weren’t being invited, not for Maisara. “Privately.” Made pursed her lips and waved her hand to send her men away. “Not here.” Fortia stood up from her desk and led outside into the camp. Planes were arriving, the massive airforce of the White Pantheon was primarily theirs after all. The Seekers possessed their own planes but Fortia had not even bothered to ask them for help. She did not want even a shred of meaningless debt towards Allasaria’s Orders.

So now, as ships ferried troops across the ocean in the same they did during the Invasion of Kirinyaa, Fortia had mobilized her resources with the same speed. Several times an hour, another huge cargo plane would land another two hundred of Fortia’s or Maisara’s soldiers would disembark. Expensive it was, but a treasury that had been built up for thousands of years would and blazing with fanaticism would last. They were not going to run out of coin anytime soon. Fortia began to walk straight towards the desert sands in the distance. “I have had a thought Mai.”

“Then share.” Maisara replied.

“Not here.” Fortia said. Not here, not if there was even the slightest chance of one of Malam’s or Helenna’s spies. Not when the reeds that sprouted to the camp’s east could bend and listen in. Not when Fortia had not manually inspected every single crate that came in the supply shipments of food for electronic devices.

“It’s serious then.” Maisara said.

“It’s the most serious thing in the world.” Fortia felt her own gold-bronze armour began to immediately warm up in the desert sun and unwrapped the shawl she had secured around the waist. Once over the shoulder, once around the neck to keep it in place, once around the head to stop her mind from cooking, and then she let it hang down. It ended just above her knees. “There.” Fortia pointed to where the dried mud, hard enough to be like crumbling stone, touched the smooth sands. The edge of the Sassara. Somewhere in that direction, demons were marching north.

“Mmh.” Maisara said. “Then before we get there, have you checked on the smelts?”

“The Mammon-Report you mean?” Fortia asked. That creature made her sick. Frankly, the very existence of that spymaster should have been reason enough not to bring Tartarus into the Great War. Fortia had been overruled back then though, and Fortia had to retool every member in her Golden Order. She still remembered when she had caught the demon’s eyes spying on her.

“Yes.”

“They’ve not changed, we still have the quarter-bronze mixture.” Mammon did not need the purest gold to appear, they had never managed to work out the fine details but the general rule was that he struggled once a material was nine pieces gold for every piece impurity. At one in five impurities, he had never been seen. Fortia had gone down to one in four just to be safe.

“That’s a weight off our shoulders then.” Maisara said. “I didn’t doubt you of course.”

“Certainty is the highest form of trust. I had to check myself too.” Fortia said as they finally left the lines of tents and began to close in on the smooth desert sands. So they shared the walk in silence, Maisara waited patiently as Fortia upped the tempo. And so, they came to a stop just before they stepped into the Sassara proper.

“So?” Maisara asked as the wind whistled past them.

“What does it take to create a Divine?” Now that Fortia began, she could not believe she had never questioned it.

“Belief.” Maisara immediately answered the question.

“How long?” Fortia asked. She knew the details, and she knew that Maisara knew, but it was more to convince herself that she was still living in the same Arda she had been yesterday.

“Up to five decades in ninety percent of cases. A century is enough.” Maisara said and Fortia took a deep breath. Those ten percent Maisara mentioned were just the oddities. Concepts that began as one thing and then materialized into another. Of Pens had taken that long, but that was because he had to rival Of Pencils and Of Quills. “What brought this on?”

Fortia just stood in silence as she felt her mouth go dry. “Mai…” She trailed off. “Mai… We have done something terrible.”

Maisara just stood in silence as she thought. Eventually, she spoke though. “I don’t get it Fortia.”

“No. I didn’t until I wrote about it yesterday and it hasn’t left my mind since. I thought it was just a fear but now, it’s only becoming more certain.” Maisara put her arm around Fortia and pulled the Goddess of Peace closer. Their shoulders pressed on each other as Fortia opened her mouth and felt it go dry.

“Step-by-step Fortia.” Maisara said. “What were you writing about?”

“It was just Spectator.” That’s what they called it between themselves. “About the Imperial Foreign Legion.”

“What about it?” Maisara asked.

Fortia took a deep breath and just said what needed to be said. “How long until we get an Of Empire?”

Maisara looked out over the desert and simply stood in silence.

Fortia stood with her.

It took the Goddess of Order a minute to answer. “For something as clear as the Empire, we’re talking about maybe ten years. They have enough followers and Helenna has a new style of total propaganda. You can see it with how the conflict is being framed. It’s not Arascus, Kassandora, the rest of them standing against Tartarus, it’s the Empire as a whole. I’ve even seen it be personified already in their news: So the giant marches.” She quoted a piece that both her and Fortia had watched on an EIE stream.

“I know.” Fortia said.

“So we have to move faster to stop it.” Maisara said coldly. “Or Allasaria has to return sooner rather than later.”

“Are you throwing your lot back with the Pantheon then?” Fortia asked and Maisara sighed.

“I do not know what I am doing at this point Fortia. An Of Empire would flip the table though, what would it even be? A Divine of Divines? It would be a National for National Divines at the least. If we go off sheer size.” Maisara shrugged. “That’s not even taking into account the gap between a spirit and a National Divine. If we base it off that…”

“Another Arascus.” Fortia knew where this logic went. In her mind, it was the exact same. The sheer minimum would be a Kassandora and that would need luck like nothing else. And it was nothing to say about what sort of blessings or powers such a creature would have.

“At the least.” Maisara said. “But I would bet it would be another Big Three.” Two of the Big Three were stood right here. The other was Fer of Beasthood.

Fortia took a deep breath. “But there’s something else.”

“I know what you’re going to say.” Maisara said and continued. “You’re going say to say we’ve seen this before.”

Maisara called it exactly. “We’ve seen this before.” Fortia said. “In the Great War, they had a Foreign Legion already….” She trailed off. “Fuck…”

“It’s here already.” Fortia said.

“No.” Maisara said. “Yes to you, but not the Foreign Legion.” Maisara said. “It was back then. We were against it. Pantheon Decrees forbid it, no collective of Gods, no imagery or personification into a whole. It was always to be a disparate unit. To the point that even when Pantheons fought, they would not dare smearing their opponents as a whole. And… We…. They…..”

Fortia suddenly felt how cold the sun actually was. She leaned into Maisara as her mind processed the words. Her fingers felt as if they were going to fall off. It was not even fear. It was exhaustion. As if the thousand years of ensuring Pantheon Peace was upheld suddenly washed over her. “We were against it.” Fortia said.

“But it didn’t matter. Leona said otherwise.” Leona had said otherwise. And Leona was the Goddess of Luck. Leona could see the future in her visions. Leona had been the single most important reason for why had won the Great War. It was only when Leona had fallen ill and exhausted herself that Arascus could reveal himself and come back. Whatever Leona said was gospel. Leona kept Olephia in check. Leona had bound the White Pantheon and kept it stable through nothing but the sheer power of her omnipotent and omniscient luck. “Allasaria backed her when they told Helenna what to do.”

“Then they killed it.” Fortia said. “On one of their trips, they killed it.” Hopefully they did. They had to.

“And what if they didn’t?” Maisara asked. “Malam tried to counter Helenna, so did Arascus. Once the step was taken, it was the only way they could respond. The giant may be marching on now but how long has the giant existed?”

Fortia stood in silence as she gazed out onto those desert sands. She tasted the air, it somehow managed to be bitter and sour. It made her want to throw up and send her to sleep. If they were stood on a cliff, Fortia did not know if she would just take a step off it. “Mai…” Fortia gripped the Goddess of Order. “They didn’t kill her.”

“No.” Maisara said. “No they haven’t. We’ve been using the Empire as a scapegoat for a millennia. If it was dead, it would have reappeared by now.”

“We need to return to the Mountain.” Fortia said.

“No.” Maisara said. “Helenna will know. Do you think Arascus does?”

“Can he not?”

“If he’s never seen it.” Maisara said weakly. “It could not even come about.”

“It has come about.”

“He works with what he has.” Maisara said. “Calm down, we know his modus operandi. Even if he believes, then were would he start?”

“It’s Arascus. Where wouldn’t he?” Fortia asked.

“No.” Maisara said. “He doesn’t know. At best, he suspects and they don’t work off suspicion. We’re talking about the most careful Divines in history. They go so little off suspicion and chance that they managed to stand a century against Leona. Don’t me tell you’ve not seen how scarred Kassandora was. I assume all of them are like that. Iliyal certainly is.”

Fortia took a deep breath. This was the reason why Maisara was needed by her side. When she spoke sense, she spoke sense. When Kassandora had been locked away, she had mentioned the concept of Luck Paranoia several times. The assumption that no matter how farcical, if it could go wrong, then it would. The Empire relied on averages and the sheer strength of collective humanity primarily because Gods were fickle. A lot could go wrong with a Divine’s humour and mood. A lot could go wrong with a single man. But once a man became a statistic then it was simply a case of numbers and calculations. “Then we have a problem.” Fortia said. “If he finds it first.”

“First?” Maisara asked.

“It could be the keys to Arascus himself.” Fortia said. Now that the gears in the Goddess of Peace had started to move, she could see the battleplans being formed. Kassandora may be the greatest commander on this planet, but there were few who would not say Fortia was not a close second. Kassandora had a whole Empire to support her. Fortia had Maisara and her own orders. The war had been lost from the start. With the White Pantheon being whittled down…

“I know.” Maisara said. “But do we want those keys in the first place?”

“Are you afraid?”

“I would be stupid if I said I was not.” Maisara said. “But I owe him a debt I can never repay. He broke me from vows I had made for life.” Fortia hated whenever Maisara mentioned this, and she mentioned it more often than not. It was not the resurrection and the ability to once again walk and breathe that Maisara was thankful for, it was the fact that promises she had made until death had been fulfilled and were not broken.

“We would join the Empire if we found her.” Fortia said.

“I care not for allegiance in that respect. White Pantheon or Empire, it is the same thing.” Maisara replied.

“Same.” Fortia said.

“But I meant, do we even want to meet this creature?”

“Should we not?”

“Kavaa and Elassa are forever stunted because of their incarnations taking place during Worldbreaking. Kavaa especially with her healing.” Maisara said. “And what would Of Empire be?”

“A Divine born during war between three worlds.” Fortia began.

Maisara took over. “A creature into which we poured half the world’s Hatred.”

“An Empire which they said would save them from apocalypse.” Fortia continued.

“Into which they poured half the world’s Love.”

“Immediately captured by Allasaria and Leona.” Fortia said. “And locked away for a thousand years.”

“We’ve made the greatest mistake ever made.” Maisara said. “We fought on the wrong side. It should have never come to this.”

And Fortia had nothing to say.

They had to find this monster.

They had to bet on a coinflip that it was the Imperial’s own conception of their nation that had won and not the vision of the White Pantheon.

And then they to ask whether it would be amicable to conversation in the first place.

And whether it was still even sane.