Chapter 58: The Awakening

I woke up in an infirmary bed. I understood that the others would still be in a coma for a long time to come.

"Where am I?"

I could barely think. My memories... what is this place?

"Rose?"

Rose, that was my name, but who said that?

"A half-elf?"

The female half-elf looked shocked and saddened.

"Rose, do you not remember me?"

"Apologies if we were close, but I barely remember that the mortals call me Rose."

"What?"

"My name is Kala, the queen of gods. Now, where am I?"

_

"You don't remember anything?"

"No, odd dwarf."

"Huh... Celios what is this?"

Celios looked confused.

"This certainly is odd. She has awakened, but it seems that whatever bound her to the body fully rescinded."

"What are you talking about child? Since when was there someone who could bind me."

"Lady Kala, what is the last thing you remember?"

"I was just chilling in my palace, then I'm waking up here with 9 of my aspects passed out like we just fought a major battle."

"Do you not remember the 300000 years in between?"

"That long has passed? Have I been asleep that long?"

"Do you remember the name Rose Hood."

"Yes, and I know it has something to do with me, but I can't tell what."

"It's the name of the body you are in."

"I see."

Celios then turned to the dwarf and another elf before whispering.

"Lady Kala has fully awakened, while she doesn't have access to her full power, it will take some time for her to remember anything about what her shards were doing."

"Shards?"

Celios sighed and returned to me.

"Lady Kala, you were... overthrown."

"WHAT?!"

I was overthrown? How? Why?

"Did I do something wrong?"

Celios quickly stammered.

"No, m'lady, the others... including me, were jealous of you and took over."

"Then why do you stand with me now?"

"You used domination. My mind is still torn, but I am leaning more towards serving you again."

"I see, so I finally pacified you."

"Yes."

"What led up to me doing so?"

"In a rage and attempt to weaken you further I killed someone close to you."

"I see, now checking my status I see I have been forsaken, but it is lessening."

"Yes, my lady. The mortals saw you destroy me in combat and have begun worshipping you again."

"Wonderful, but who died?"

The elf looked sad, along with the dwarf.

"He was a wolfkin named Royce, you two were very close."

The half-elf showed confusion.

"Why are you talking to her like she is Rose? Did she not just take her body?"

"Half-elf. I believe I understand your confusion, but upon analysis, I can confirm that this body is mine, not taken, but almost as though I was born in it."

Celios elaborated.

"The shard of Purity, when corrupted, attempted to destroy a dragon's nest, the matron was a paladin and sealed it into an egg, which developed as an arcane dragon perfectly suited to your power."

"I see, so this Rose Hood is the name that was given to the shard of Purity."

"Yes."

The half-elf was taken aback, she looked at the dwarf and elf, but they nodded.

"Hood was a god?"

"Yes, so technically this is still her, just without the memories."

"Given your expressions, I suppose I was close with all of you. I apologize for not remembering you."

I bowed in apology.

"I suppose that there is no reason to hide that Rose was Purity anymore."

The elf said something interesting.

"Wait, Purity hid her nature?"

"Yes, she made it seem like Purity acted like a partner instead of being her. That made people confident that she could hold back her power and maybe even prevent you from going into another rage."

Celios froze...

"I went into a rage? Is everyone okay?!"

"Yes, just Celios was hurt. It happened when he killed Royce."

"I see... I suppose a rage is enough punishment, but I must apologize for my children's foolish actions."

The dwarf looked confused.

"For a god, you are very humble."

"Take it from someone who rose a whole pantheon, gods are weird, so I usually had to apologize for their shenanigans."

"I see."

"Anyways, would I be able to meet the king of this realm?"

"I suppose, we were about to notify him that you woke up."

My body is a dragon, how interesting.

"Well, we should go then."

"Alright, it's about a- WOAH!!!"

So, this is what the palace looked like. Interesting.

"Could do without the weapons pointed at me."

Then they were all sheathed and the guards looked at their empty hands in shock.

A man with a regal presence stood.

I bowed a bit.

"I assume you are the king?"

"Yes, but Rose, do you not already know that?"

"How did we get here? No one chanted teleportation!"

The king realized something was off.

"Hello, your grace, my name is Kala."

"Kala? Isn't that what Celios called her?"

"Yes, I believe you are familiar with the aspect of purity who was named Rose. As of now, I do not remember anything from after I was split into 10 shards."

The king looked saddened.

"Does that mean that Rose is no longer existent?"

"No, Purity is still my core as it always was, so I am still also known as Rose, but I lack my memories for the time being."

Most sighed relief, they must have been very close. The king had a question.

"I thought Wrath was the core."

Wrath?

"Who?"

Celios appeared next to me.

"He means Understanding. When we shattered you, we also made it seem like Wrath was the core, so they would remain disorganized."

I grimaced.

"I taught you idiots too well. But why Understanding, out of all of them."

"Because we may have also corrupted you with evil, and Wrath seemed like a better core alternative than Innocence, as Purity was known as."

"You... corrupted me..."

I smashed his head into the ground.

"Do you know how dumb that was?! Thank goodness I managed to purify myself. Everyone would have died if I didn't."

"Yes, mam. Sorry, mam."

"Stop breaking things!"

"Sorry. Sorry... wait..."

The dwarf snapped and I instantly apologized in muscle memory. The dwarf blanched and I started laughing.

"It seems I was your subordinate. What job did I have?"

He stammered nervously.

"A-adventurer."

"Nice."

He was seemingly surprised that I didn't smite him for snapping.

"Jeez how horrible have my children been."

Celios began sweating and turned away, whistling.

I grabbed him by the head and smiled.

"Celios, what have you and your siblings been doing while I was dormant."

He started whistling harder, so I tossed him out of the castle through the window.

He was screaming.

"Idiots the lot of them. I must apologize for their idiocy."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Eh, he has wings. Plus, he's a god, even if he doesn't remember he can fly, he won't die."

"Also, how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sheath all of my guards' weapons and get here in an instant without teleportation magic."

"I walked through space."

"What?"

"Sort of how you mortals walk, but instead of walking the whole way there, I just put it in front of me and step there."

"Like a portal?"

"I guess you could put it like that, but it's more like picking up a piece in chess and putting it in a completely different spot where you normally couldn't move it. At least not without more moves than one."

"Is that how Celios does his disappearance effect?"

"Probably."

"Interesting, but how did you sheath the weapons?"

"Mind acceleration."

The elf nodded.

"Rose did have a mind acceleration that made it seem like she could stop time."

"Oh, at least I didn't lose every basic ability when I was shattered."

They looked at me.

"I hate to argue, but I think only you would call it basic."

"If you saw what I could do in my prime, you'd be calling it basic too."

Celios flapped up and entered the window. He had a lot of scratches.

"So... many... forks... WHY IS THE WHOLE CITY HAVING A POTLUCK?!"

"Because word was likely spread that Rose was awake."

"I guess."

"Why would there be a potluck for my awakening?"

"You are considered quite the hero around here."

"I am?"

"Yes, you have done a lot around here."

"Alright?"

_

"So, you don't remember anything?"

The strange human, who called himself Asura, asked.

"Yeah."

"Hm, well that sucks. You need your memories back."

"They would help a lot."

A lot of people were kind of sad that I lost my memories, but they seemed to be excited to learn that I was both Rose and the goddess Kala.

"Do you not even remember me?"

A dragonkin walked up. A lot of people gave him side eye.

"No, not really?"

"I am Climond, a friend of yours."

"Clibo?"

"No, mam, Climond."

"Clempton."

"Alright."

He left. He had an odd name.

"Yep, definitely Rose."

Apparently, that was something I had done before.

I was learning new things. As I sipped wine a lot of people who used to be my acquaintances would introduce themselves.

The odd dwarf was named Mammon and the elf Dallel, and apparently the half-elf was my former guardian who I'd call Granny. Her name was Dalla Rogers.

"Hmm... that's why you seemed upset I didn't know you."

"Yes."

"I apologize for losing my memories."

"Oh, don't feel bad. Please."

"Okay."

We began eating and I felt a bit awkward, not really knowing how to act. Celios had already left as he didn't want to intrude.

I just sort of hid my presence and sat in the corner, but then Dallel noticed me.

"I understand that this feels odd to you."

"It is odd. I feel weak, a lot of my power is burnt out, and I still am having trouble believing that the others would do something like that."

"It was hard to believe when you first told us, but we all knew it to be true."

"Interesting."

"Yes."

We sat in silence.

"How close were we?"

"What?"

"How close were me and you? You keep looking at me differently than the others do."

"We... were... close friends."

I could tell he wanted to lie but decided to tell the truth.

"Thank you for telling me the truth."

His eyes widened.

"Yeah, as the god of goodness, I can tell truth from lies. Thank you for not lying."

He smiled.

"I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror."

He was not lying then either.

"Well, I should leave you too it."

Dallel stood up and left. He was a very good person. I could tell why Purity was drawn to him as a friend. But the one I was most interested in was this, Royce.

'Who is he, and why did I feel pain when I heard he was dead? Was he close to me?'

"I'll have to awaken and then I could ask him myself."

"What're you talking about?"

"Woah!"

A tanned man, Jalad, suddenly appeared.

"Sorry, but what were you talking about?"

"I was just wondering. My body seems to act oddly."

"Is this a female thing I'm not supposed to ask about."

"No..."

I gave him side eye and he laughed.

"I'm messing with you. You can tell me."

"I don't actually know what I'm feeling, but if you don't mind, could you tell me a bit about Royce?"

He maintained his smile, but it seemed sadder.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because the moment I heard he had died... I don't know why, but it was like my very being was in pain."

"I see, well he was a good man, and you two were very close."

"How close?"

"... Closer than anyone else."

"I see... were we official?"

"No, despite it being obvious to any onlookers, you two never seemed to realize it."

"Unfortunate."

"I agree..."

"..."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll get back to the potluck, don't be afraid to come over if you have any questions."

Someone... I cared for at that scale... It would take a truly good person for that to happen.

I wondered what would have happened if I was official with Royce when he was killed.