A/N: Treading lightly...
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Sophia wasn’t an idiot. She knew full well the moment that Aureo had rejected the idea of leaving the city entirely that they would be bringing him to the heart of his power. Hell, he hadn’t even made much secret of that fact either. Perhaps she shouldn’t have allowed Oren to help him into the pool without some assurances, but even demanding such a thing seemed like a terrible way to get their retionship off on the right foot.
She was just so tired. Physically, she was fine, but emotionally, she was exhausted. Nothing had gone right for her since her father’s death. Nothing had been as it should have been. But this… this feels like it should be a sure thing. They’d saved Aureo from a truly horrendous captivity, killing his captors and torturers and rescuing him from the depths of their prison. Then, they’d brought him here to recover.
As far as he should be concerned, they were friends. If not friends, then they were at least allies right? Even still… Oren’s words from the road come back to her in that moment. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you. The River God was smart to ask questions. He was wise to use them to reach this point before signaling his suspicion too.
Sophia knew she had to give him some sort of answer to his query. Oren certainly wasn’t going to speak without her approval. But… she was hopeful, not stupid. She had to tell Aureo something, but she definitely didn’t have to tell him everything. In fact, as much as it pained her to be so duplicitous… if she worded things right, then she could steer Aureo to certain conclusions without having to actually tell a single lie.
“Oren is an Otherworlder.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia sees Oren stiffen up at her words. It’s the perfect reaction truth be told, because it makes it less likely that Aureo will realize they’re hiding anything deeper than that. And indeed, just this much is enough to make the Minor God’s single eye widen in shock.
“An Otherworlder…”
He trails off for a moment, clearly having to process the reveal. All the while, Sophia can see him healing in real time. Goldriver’s patron god is submerged within the waters of his domain and finally able to recover from months of torment and torture. His battered, bruised, torn up body is slowly rejuvenating itself and even his missing fingers are beginning to grow little stubs. The foot the God Hunters took from him is also slowly reconstituting itself, though that injury seems to be taking the longest. Well, that and his eye.
Finally, Aureo lets out a soft chuckle.
“Are you sure your Law’s daughter? The King of the Gods certainly wouldn’t approve of an Otherworlder running around.”
Sophia flushes at that, her jaw clenching and her hands curling into fists at her side. She can feel Oren looking at her worriedly… but frankly, she doesn’t want the Otherworlder’s pity right now. Jutting out her chin, she meets Aureo’s needling with an acidic tone.
“My father isn’t with us anymore. And desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Again, no lie. Aureo looks at her, peers at her… but there’s no deceit in Sophia’s words. The deception is in what she’s NOT saying… and if he questions her further on this, he might just uncover the truth.
“… You’re not wrong. Summoning an Otherworlder is a truly desperate measure… but these are indeed desperate times.”
Sophia restrains herself to a small sigh of relief, one that Aureo will hopefully take as her rexing because he’s not judging her. In reality, Sophia is more relieved that he bought into the deception that she’d summoned Oren herself AFTER her father’s death when she’d done no such thing.
… It’s not lost on the goddess that this is precisely the lie Oren peddled to her back when they first met. The idea of an Otherworlder being summoned under Law’s nose and trained in secret for years was just so outndish and ridiculous that most people would default to assuming he’d been brought to Creation after the King of the Gods had already been sin.
Maybe eventually they would be able to tell Aureo the truth, but while he wasn’t a God of the Heavens, she still didn’t know how he would react to finding out he was sharing a cave with the God Killer himself. Especially when Oren is still carrying the Celestial Dagger he used to destroy the runes on the walls, break open Aureo’s cell, and cut through his shackles back in the catacombs.
“Still, to think one could become so strong so fast… truly, Otherworlders are scary beings aren’t they?”
Sophia bites her lower lip, throwing a gnce to Oren. Aureo wasn’t wrong and Oren, through his feats and deeds, was direct proof of that. Otherworlders were capable of immense destruction with enough time and energy. Though Aureo was wrong about the time frame, just as Sophia had been. Oren’s strength and power wasn’t the result of just a few months, but rather years of focused training.
“Oren is… reliable enough. He’s dangerous yes, but not to me.”
Oren gets this look on his face that forces Sophia to turn her eyes away from him. She doesn’t want to feel compassion for her father’s killer. She doesn’t want to pity him either.
“Oh? I suppose that’s a subtle way of saying he IS dangerous to me… is that it?”
Jolting, Sophia looks to Aureo, her eyes widening slightly.
“N-No! That wasn’t… he’s dangerous to God Hunters, Lord Aureo. God Hunters and anyone else who wants me dead. You have nothing to worry about so long as you don’t attack us. And why would you? We helped you.”
She puts a little bit of steel in her voice on that st part. Sophia is happy they saved him, don’t get her wrong… but she’s not going to let him boss her around and she’s certainly not going to bend over backwards to please him either.
Aureo pauses for a moment… and then chuckles.
“Ah, I was wondering if you had a backbone. Good to see it. And please, you can drop the Lord… so formal, heh. I guess that’s just the way you all talked up in the Heavens, hm?”
Sophia furrows her brow, wondering if he was just testing her or something. If that was the case, she didn’t like it. At the same time, she couldn’t exactly bme him after everything he’d been through. In the end, all she can do is try to extend an olive branch and hope he’ll meet her halfway.
“No… but it is how we were taught to address foreign deities such as yourself. It’s simply a matter of respect. But… you can just call me Sophia as well, if you like.”
Aureo’s lips curl into a smile.
“Well met, Sophia.”
Silence falls over the cavern after that, and Sophia wonders if Aureo has no further questions. The River God seems to be rexing for the time being, his one remaining eye drifting shut as he luxuriates in the healing spring. Maybe… maybe this was her chance to ask HER questions at long st. It was doubtful she’d have a better chance than this, what with how rexed Aureo currently is.
“It’s… earlier we talked about desperate times and desperate measures.”
Aureo hums in agreement.
“… The situation is perhaps more desperate than even you know, Aureo. Tell me, does the name ‘Raythe’ mean anything to you?”
The River God doesn’t really respond for a moment, his eyes remaining shut. Finally his lips move even as he ys there in the healing waters.
“Mm… can’t say that I do, no. Should the name ring a bell?”
No, in fact it was the exact opposite. If Aureo HAD known Raythe, Sophia’s not sure how she would have reacted.
“Perhaps not. He was a god you see. Specifically, he was a God of Lies and Duplicity.”
Aureo’s brow furrows, his lips curling downwards into a frown.
“Those are not domains I’ve heard of, I’ll admit. Most domains here on the Mortal Pne are connected to a physical location of sorts. Forests, mountains, oceans… rivers.”
Sophia nods. That lined up with what she knew as well, that’s why Raythe was so strange. But not only that…
“He hunted Oren and I down. Eventually, he came for us personally, but not before sending all manner of obstacles our way. And the majority of those obstacles… took the form of God Hunters.”
That gets a reaction out of the River God. Aureo comes up into a seated position in an instant, turning to face her with BOTH eyes open now. The other seems to have healed at some point in their conversation, because both of his eyes are staring her down, glowing slightly with power.
“… Excuse me.”
Sophia smiles thinly.
“It’s why we came to Goldriver in the first pce, I’m afraid. Raythe is dead, he made it clear that it was him or us… and we chose us. But before he died, he spoke as though the God Hunters were his pawns. He talked like they were working for him and others, even if unknowingly.”
Beneath the water, Aureo’s hands curl into fists at the same time that his jaw clenches.
“… Others. You mean other deities.”
Sophia nods enthusiastically. She’s admittedly a little eager to get to the heart of the matter. Maybe finally they were closing in on some answers.
“The impression that I got from Raythe led me to believe he had the backing of other gods and goddesses. And looking at how fast the God Hunters spread across the Mortal Pnes and how quickly they inserted themselves into so many pces where they shouldn’t have been welcomed nearly as quickly as they were, I have to wonder. How much help did they have? And who among the divine would stand to gain from all of this deific blood being spilled?”
Aureo looks disturbed by her questions. Good, because they disturb Sophia as well. Someone had set Oren against the Heavens and from what he’d told her and the things Raythe had said, she was confident it wasn’t JUST the God of Lies and Duplicity. There was more at work here. There were more hiding in the shadows, she was sure of it.
“Do you know anything about these gods? I know you were surprised by Raythe’s domains, but please think long and hard on this. Have you ever heard even a whisper of anything like this before? Perhaps it wasn’t just gods of the nd and water who stayed behind on the Mortal Pnes when my father built the Heavens millennia ago. Perhaps there was another group of gods who were in hiding all this time."
Aureo looks stricken by the thought. He looks down at his restored hands and a shudder runs through him.
“Perhaps… but the idea that the God Hunters have divine backing gives me little soce Sophia. I… don’t have any idea who you could be talking about, I will admit. I’m only a little over a thousand years old and like you said, the separation of the Heavens and the Mortal Pnes was… thousands of years ago.”
Well, he’s twice her age still, but Sophia isn’t about to admit that. Still, it’s distressing to hit a dead end. While she’s gd they were able to save Aureo, she finds herself wondering where to go from here…
“I think I know who would know, however.”
Sophia blinks, pulled from her thoughts by Aureo’s next words. He looks thoughtful for a moment, his eyes moving to the stream that leads away from his healing spring briefly before going back to her.
“My father Oceanus is an Ancient God of the Seas and Winds. He was around before the separation of the Heavens and the Mortal Pnes. If anyone knows about these hidden gods, it would be him.”
Oh… oh that sounds perfect! Sophia can’t help but smile.
“Yes! That sounds like exactly who we need to talk to! Maybe he could tell us what’s going on and where we might go from here!”
Aureo nods, before looking to the stream again.
“My river actually goes all the way to his domain. Now that I’m healed, it would be child’s py for me to transport the three of us to the coast. And from there, I can contact him.”
Is this what it feels like when everything is going right? Sophia isn’t sure she’s felt this light and happy in ages. Smiling from ear to ear, she’s about to ask Aureo when they can leave. But before she can, he continues on.
“Of course, we can’t leave yet. I have unfinished business here in Goldriver first.”
Oh… right, of course. Sophia swallows thickly, the knowledge she’d gleaned from Commander Hogarth’s letters weighing heavily on her mind. The city leadership had betrayed Aureo to the God Hunters. They’d let the God Hunters pay them off and sacrificed a friendship between Aureo and Goldriver that had sted longer than any of them were alive.
Sophia would be a hypocrite if she demanded Aureo ignore his vengeance for the sake of her own. She couldn’t in good conscience try to talk him out of going after the Goldriver Nobles who betrayed him while she was pnning to use Oren to kill everyone involved in his summoning, the sughter of the Heavens, and the propping up of the God Hunters.
Letting out an explosive breath, Sophia slowly nods.
“I understand. Oren and I will help you take your revenge on those who wronged you.”
Oren shoots her a look at that but doesn’t question her, thankfully. Aureo, meanwhile, lets out a little ugh.
“I appreciate the offer Sophia, but that won’t be necessary. Your Otherworlder is certainly a powerful tool… but I’m no slouch myself. Flooding the city and drowning its inhabitants will be far easier than having him sughter them all singlehandedly anyways.”
Wait… what?
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A/N: Oops, he's genocidal.
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