8 The cradle chamber - the goddess reasoning

Another attempt to connect with my sister made her stir inside the cocoon, she might have noticed my presence, just like I sensed hers, but that was all. Directly sending her a message failed. Not that I counted on it after all the previous failures.

That was why I instantly moved on to my other idea - using the plant as the intermediary between us to teach my sister how to make her body.

I established the Imaginary character creation screen, a simple one where each slider had a picture next to it explaining the way it worked. Prepared a set of base models to import, not so subtly pointing at how I would love her to look like. Guided the plant so that a lot of 'system messages' were left in the chat, they should cover more troublesome parts of the process as long as she could understand them. And tried to pass the leadership to my sister. She only had to realize my intentions and take it from there.

Nothing happened - it was possible that the plant didn't help to pass forward the imaginary character creation screen or shattered it into incomprehensible bits and pieces.

I tried again.

There was no reaction - Crea might be the reason why it didn't work.

And again.

The figure inside the cocoon turned this way as if wondering what I was doing.

Next to me, Crea snorted shortly in disregard.

'Strange, I was monitoring everything and sensed you working on a body, when suddenly the girl started doing the same. Even though I warned her repeatedly not to. A coincidence?'

'I can't make anything without the plant's help, and she's also connected to it.'

The original goal of plan B assumed creating a body together with my sister, right under the goddess nose. But this result was fine as well. If my sister started to work on her future appearance, then Crea's intentions of forcing a body on her without any interferences shouldn't be possible now. Without us cooperating with each other, there was a risk of mixing both my idea with hers which would most likely result in some kind of an abomination.

Crea sighed deeply, probably wondering if she should let it go or not. Judging by her squinted eyes, narrowed lips, and crossed arms, the 'not' was clearly winning. But then, as if recalling something, she changed her approach and relaxed.

'My previous behavior was inappropriate. But I want you to understand that each of those bodies costs a small fortune, and it's hard to accept that someone who just became an elf could handle them better than the person who made this place.' She started voicing every message she sent, which resulted in an interesting effect of hearing two Creas. One was talking directly in my mind, the other was probably saying the same content but in an unknown language.

I nodded, the tone of her verbal and telepathic messages matched. The irritation of someone who had his hard work easily surpassed by a random passerby was also understandable.

'The problem with elves is that we're too similar to each other. Everyone's pretty and more or less fits into one of the limited number of templates. We lack many of the flaws of other races, but without flaws, there's no variety. Which means that everyone's boringly good looking. There are pros and cons to that situation, but one of the negatives is that it's really hard for us to imagine an elf that's different from what we're used to. I didn't even believe that it was possible to have a truly unique appearance before seeing yours.' Crea made a short break to cast me another look full of recognition and envy. Then she gracefully sat down on one of the roots and gestured me to do the same opposite to her.

'In other words, I've got some flaws that make me unique? And you want my sister to be unique as well? How and why? And why you don't let us work on it together, simply pass a message or two between us?' I was starting to believe that my flaws were connected to the elven ears and those glistening scales, the only two things she had pointed out. But then, if she wanted my sister to be flawed as well, why did she ask for a change in those two features? Not to mention that Crea herself had those, so in what way I was different from her? Without a broader base of elven samples, I wasn't able to make the connection - It made no sense.

'Don't misunderstand. You're unique in a positive way, not a joke or a monster, neither I want your sister to become one. What I want for the two of you is to become the leaders of a new era of elven history, one tied to a revolution full of rapid changes. I was planning to make the two of you the flag bearers of change by introducing you as the first elven twins. Although just this is lacking and hard to recognize at first glance. That's why I was looking for something else… and then!'

I already realized what she was referring to, and eagerly waited for the following words. They were going to be like my first small victory. Though the question of why she picked this moment to start talking about this was also on my mind.

'You've created this body and showed me that changes could be way more drastic than I ever imagined, yet still deeply rooted in elven ancestry. Exactly what I needed.' She stopped for a moment, observed my reaction, and went with a final push. 'Are you capable of creating another suitable body, a perfectly flawed sister of your dreams with whom you could share all your joys and worries? If yes, then I will let you make the final check before ending the process, you will be able to freely modify the body your sister is designing. This is almost like working on it together, isn't it?' She shot a quick glance at the silhouette inside the cocoon.

All that talk about becoming a leader, a revolution full of changes, sister of my dreams walking the same path as me - it was all aimed to sway me to Crea's side. I realized that, yet smiled widely, dreaming of the glory to come.

Victor Yelvesfor, this name wasn't that bad.

This attempt to boost my ego and the feeling of importance was well received. Especially since I was wondering if there was going be a place for me in this unknown world and this seemed like a really interesting job offer. Actually, it was more than 'well received', it was super effective. She could easily win me over if only she gave me a satisfactory answer to the vital part of my question.

'And… why exactly I shouldn't ask my sister for an opinion on this matter? Changing the result of her work without her approval is not the 'working together' I'm familiar with.'

The goddess clicked her tongue and said a few thorny words without bothering to provide a translation. She shifted slightly as if preparing to stand up, but it turned out that she just wanted to smooth out her long black dress. Her new sitting position allowed her a better view of both myself and the cradle.

'So stubborn. Because that girl won't try to introduce flaws in the appearance of her long-awaited second body. Her own imagination and elven origins limit her, she won't be much different from any other pretty elven girl, just a silver version. I could forcibly modify it, but then that thorny ball of pride would start doing everything in her power to go against me out of sheer spite. You're the only one she can forgive for messing with her body. Also, if by any chance she decides to recreate the body she used to have, she will inherit its previous owner bad reputation. We wouldn't want that, would we?'

That was true. I was soul bonded with her, given enough time, some pain, and a lot of valuable gifts, she should forgive me for this one offense… even if it was a tad heavy. If I had done it earlier, without knowing anything, I could shield myself by telling her that I was forced into it. Now Crea gave me a new shield, one with engraved letters 'I did it for you'.

And 'messing with my sister's body' had a nice ring to it.

The problem with my new elven self was that every emotion was reflected outside. I just finished re-learning how to walk, taking hold of all the impulses and obvious signs of body language had to wait.

Luckily, Crea must have misunderstood my expression as she followed with:

'I can see that you care about your new sister, but I think that you also care about the dream of standing atop the others, you want to rule over them, be a pioneer of change. Of course, having your twin by your side would make it all even better, but she has to fit the role.' The elven goddess finished her message with a slightly mocking tone, wanting me to fill up the blanks by myself.

Was I willing to ignore my sister's will, just this one single time, in order to make our joint wish come true? A good question, but it wasn't one I had to answer anymore.

During our entire conversation, Crea was talking aloud and kept sending me the meaning behind her words telepathically, but it was neither a sign of her goodwill nor an attempt to make me familiar with the language. The few times when her attention slipped, and she shot a quick look at the cocoon, joined with the following shift in her sitting position, confirmed this. It was a calculated behavior, not a one fueled by kindness. Crea kept an eye on the cradle, ready to immediately stop any unexpected situations - like for example my sister starting the process without the final confirmation.

It looked that I wasn't the only one who switched to plan B after the initial problems. And I had to admit the goddess had good plans. In other words, there were two goals behind this long explanation. One, to indirectly convince the girl inside the cocoon, who heard Crea's words, to change her mind and allow for some flawed modifications or at least prepare her for them. Two, use me to make sure that my sister's body was going to be equally unique to mine.

The reason behind not allowing us to communicate was because the goddess thought it would be easier to handle each of us separately. Convince my sister - I would respect her will. Convince me - I would take the brunt of my sister's wrath. Letting us join forces would turn two matches 1vs1 into one 2vs1. At least she was reluctant to use force which meant that she was planning to create long-term cooperation. That was really important. It made her words and plans more believable, and unlocked additional options.

'Crea. There are a few things I would like to tell you.' I stood up and waited for the goddess to do the same. 'First, it's stupid.' She looked at me questioningly, while I started enumerating everything on the fingers of my outstretched hand. 'The whole scheming thing, if elves like to attach so many strings to simple matters, then I don't even want to know just how messy is your political situation.' She wasn't happy with my message but didn't deny it. 'Second, never try to use me without my knowledge, especially to scheme against my own little sister. This time nothing happened so I will forget about it.' Inwardly, I prayed that she wouldn't snap and that her no violence policy was a solid one. 'Third, I'm a simple guy. I guarantee, if you've told me 'make your little sister the best little sister in the entire world!' and allowed to talk with her, I would convince her to let me make her truly unique and one and only. No other elven girl could ever come close, and we would avoid this huge waste of time.'

'It's not hard to make a unique monster, but she still has to look like a silver elf.' Judging by the tone of her inner voice, I was really testing her patience.

'Do I look like a monster to you?' I pointed at my well-built elven body. 'I realize that it's hard to pass the control to someone who just popped out of nowhere and that you stand to lose a lot. But you're too paranoid, already entangled in the safety web you tried to create. What's the difference between us siblings working on it together or me simply doing it on my own? Both options are equally risky to you. However, you've said it yourself, I'm exactly what you wanted and more. Let me just ask her for permission, that's all.' I skipped the part that Crea was looking down on me and probably didn't believe that I would be able to convince my sister and a few other things that I wanted to say. Pointlessly risking everything just for the sake of satisfaction? Sure, but I had to be able to overpower the other party first.

The goddess stood in silence, pondered over my words and again began to analyze my body. Then, out of nowhere, jerked her head in the direction of the cocoon and started spewing a long stream of elven insults. Each of them different, each of them filled with anger, each made me jump a little.

She pushed me away and went to the cradle. Then tried to do something by concentrating on it, but judging by her expression it didn't work. My sister turned out to be no less talented than me, or Crea's security measures were some kind of a free trial version that had long expired. No matter the reason, this result was a good one for me.

After a minute of futile attempts, Crea angrily turned this way, and I began preparing to face another beast made of air, or worse. Telling myself that this body was too important for her to gravely hurt it was the only thing shielding me from panic.

'Did you plan it out?!' She screamed inside my head. 'You had to! One short moment of inattention when you distracted me with words and gestures and your sister somehow finalized the process? Yeah right!' Crea closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down. 'I swear if she wasted my precious body to create something mundane… There are still a few souls left, I can try again.' She was serious, my shield began to crack.

For the next fifteen nerve-wrecking minutes we stood in silence. From time to time, she released the excess of anger in the form of incomprehensible insults. With her in this state, trying to explain anything would only sound like looking for a fight. Our entire debate had pretty much lost all its meaning. In the end, neither of us convinced the other, but it wasn't entirely pointless, I learned a few things.

When I felt a droplet of fluid hit my cheek, it was the sign that everything was ready. We both watched as the cocoon slowly opened and revealed the figure within which was...

... more than unique.

My sister probably created a whole new subspecies of the elven race. Both mine and Crea's reaction to it were silent, but the reasons behind them were diametrically different.

I was about to scream with joy, but stopped myself, not wanting to startle the kneeling naked girl.

Crea didn't say anything. She only helplessly sat down, probably to digest the sight in front of her. The fact that she didn't kill us yet was a good sign. But it could still happen as soon as the goddess restarted her brain.

avataravatar
Next chapter