NOVPUBElenaria, known for her temperance, wasn't a goddess easily shaken by anything. An army of dead souls, she carried on her dress and through them and from the many living faithful of hers, she had grown proud, self-reliant, and exceedingly confident. However, even mountains are moved to the will of mortals, and today, upon waking up from a brief slumber, Elenaria knew anxiety like no other.
"Wh-what? What's happening?" Sitting on her throne, she looked through a looking mirror. But to her bewilderment, something was pushing out her command to survey her land–so much so that the dark fog oozing out of the glass was reaching her even in her heavenly domain, away from the reach of mortals. "Cassiopeia! Come here NOW!"
Like a puff of powder blown in the air, the pink-winged fairy appeared in front of her goddess out of nowhere. Visibly confused, her head tilted to the side. In just a matter of a few seconds, her expression was consumed by her angst.
"Is something wrong, my radiant lady?" The quiver in Elenaria's eyes behind that crescent mask was quite telling. The goddess of absurdity did not rattle easily, but what could be so horrific that it made her body tense up as much as it did? The fairy hadn't a clue, and as Elenaria bit through her nails while racking her mind for possible solutions, Cassiopeia's anxiety only grew further. "My lady, is everything oka–"
"Get to Athenia now! I'll talk to her through your body!" Jerking her head sideways, Elenaria wore a foul expression, almost as if she was angry not at the situation but her familiar itself.
Buzzing controllably to the loud scream directed at her, Cassiopeia tried to calm herself, but as she opened her mouth to ask something, she was interrupted again.
"GO NOW!"
"Y-yes! I will, I'm sorry!" Squeezing her arms close to her chest, the fairy turned around and held back her tears. Not in a thousand years had she been yelled at by her lady, and to her that moment of unintended aggression was like a stab through her dainty belly. And yet, with a flourish, she danced her body like a wind chime in the air. Sparkling dust puffed out of her in a moment, and the next thing the fairy knew, she was flying in front of the goddess of death.
Opening her eyes, she had to squint as, for some reason, her vision was blurred with fog. But as her pupils dilated and her mind adapted to the scene, Cassiopeia realized that she was in the goddess's sauna with Athenia sitting with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body.
"Back for more treats, fairy?" Athenia asked, beckoning her closer with a finger.
Although stuck between feeling bashful and hurt, Cassiopeia flew closer to the goddess and decided to sit on her lifted palm. Folding her legs neatly, she hiccuped a few times as her heart was struggling to bottle up her emotions. Athenia, being no stranger to people's misery, noticed her sorrow in an instant, but before she could speak a word, the fairy's eyes began glowing, and the presence of another god could be felt within that tiny body.
"What are you doing? I need your help, right now!"
"Elana? What happened?" Squinting her eyes, Athenia leaned closer to the fairy. "Did one of the council gods attack your city next? Or are they planning to soon? Fuck…I knew one warning wouldn't be enough to keep them–"
"NO! Just…" With a sigh, the goddess of the stars tried to contain herself and the conversation. "I need you to see if you can check on Elenaris. I can't look at it for some reason. Almost feel like another god has taken hold of my city, but that shouldn't be possible in just a few hours that I was asleep!"
"You were sleeping? Why–" Shaking her head, Athenia tried to get distracted by her own thoughts. "Whatever, I'll look what's going on, and if I can't see either, we might have to send Raven and the others to check up on the place."
Lifting her other hand, Athenia conjured the looking mirror and tried to first find her temple that was built inside of Elenaris a long time ago. To her surprise, she couldn't see anything, and a creeping dark fog tried to reach for her through the mirror.
"What in the world?" Putting the mirror away, she turned to the fairy once more. "I can't see a thing, and this–whatever it is-feels strange."
"No different than mine, then, at least there's that. You didn't feel anything heavenly, did you?"
"I didn't, but that leaves only one other option…"
"Another otherworlder?"
"Exactly, but what the hells do they want with your city?"
"Could they be the chosen of the council–like the ones that attacked your city?"
"With no heavenly gifts? Those gods may be idiots, but I doubt they'll just send some human from Gaia to enemy territory without imbuing them with some powers." Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Athenia rummaged through the possibilities that piled up in her mind with the limited information that she had. "No use, we need some boots on the ground. I'll send Raven to your city at once!"
Rising from the sauna bench, Athenia tightened her towel and began moving towards the exit.
"I'll talk to you as soon as I learn something new. Until then, look after yourself–you're more vulnerable than me as you're outside this prison, after all." Humming in agreement, Elenaria was just about to sever her connection to Cassiopeia's body, but then–with a brief pause, she added.
"Before Cassiopeia returns…" Heaving a sigh, the goddess poured out regret. "Can you give some treats to her? I lashed out at her for no reason before she came to you." 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Hmm?" Delving into her teasing hue, Athenia decided to tease Elana a little. "Maybe I should convince her to stay with me, become my familiar–I'll give her plenty of snacks and–"
Interrupting her with a sigh, Elenaria rolled her eyes and just before severing the connection, she whispered.
"The goddess of mockery…what else can I expect?"
"Say please and I'll consider letting her go~" Athenia responded, but Elana was already gone.
'Well, let's get to work instead, then, I suppose.' She thought, and before long, the hero was marching to Elenaris and the fairy was fed and had already forgotten about the lash out on her.
