On Domains and Lessons [2]

"Hmm. Funny, Keilan's been working on the same thing lately, though he hasn't come to ask for help yet. He's a bit more stubborn on that front than you are. Does this have anything to do with Tian?" I asked. Elvira said nothing and took a sip of her tea, looking down at it in surprise afterwards.

"Woah." She said, peering at its contents. I just grinned and waited for a response, or question about her drink. "What is...?" She asked, looking up at me quizzically.

"It's a combination of tea trees from my personal garden. You won't find the plants anywhere else in the Four Realms." I replied calmly, taking another sip. Elvira stared at the tea for a moment before looking back up at me.

"You have a garden?" She asked. A full bodied laugh escaped me, and I nodded my head, beaming at her.

"Yes, I do. Reika helped me set it up." I replied, looking at Elvira expectantly. She just nodded and continued to stare at her tea. Seeing as how this would go nowhere fast, I decided to once again take the lead in controlling the conversation. "It's not surprising that you're having troubles guiding the mortals. You've been dealing with deities and high-tier spirits since your birth, and they are completely different from mortals, as I'm sure you know." I explained. She just nodded and sighed, rubbing her face with one hand.

"They're just so...difficult." She muttered.

"Mm. You must remember that the harder you try to grasp them, the more they'll fight. Especially those with lower levels of karmic attainment. They can get particularly nasty when they sense something trying to manipulate or force them." I told her, but this was something she already knew. It showed on her face, but I was patiently waiting until she physically asked me the question she was so dying to have answered.

"What I don't understand is why, after all these years, there have been no angels or immortals from among the Avians? The Karae have had one angel come from them and although the Elementals have neither immortals or angels either they're getting closer. The Avians are falling behind, and I don't understand." Elvira asked, and I smiled. Technically speaking, it doesn't matter what race a soul is reborn as. They all have equal opportunities to grow and become angels, at which point things like race and gender basically become irrelevant. However, souls do have some say in how and where they will be reborn, meaning that if they're looking for a life that will help them rise in karmic attainment or, to a lesser extent, have a powerful cultivation base, they'll be born into an area that will give them chances to do so.

Therefore, when it comes to the races, of course the souls are going to choose the ones where they feel have the higher chances of having what they want. In the case of Avians, they're getting the majority of souls who don't have a desire to go anywhere, either up or down on the scale. The others are similar, though Karae are beginning to attract those who wish to go higher, and Fae have the widest margin by far. They get everyone.

Come to think of it, this is very much like a friendly competition, isn't it? To see who can create the "best race," I mean. And now that Alexander has added his Draconians into the mix, I wonder how the scales will tip? Well, I'm pretty confident the Fae will stay on top, but that's beside the point. It's kind of fun to see my kids so worked up like this.

"No, you don't quite understand it. Keilan has a bit of a head start because he has a deeper understanding about Karma than you do, but that doesn't mean that the Karae are automatically going to have more angels, does it? Just like how the Avians don't naturally have more Qi-cultivation immortals simply because you based their bodies off of the energies in the Heaven Realm." I explained. Elvira nodded.

"Yes, I understand that." She said with a frown. "What I don't understand is what I'm doing wrong."

"Nothing. You're not doing anything wrong, per se, but you're not going about it as well as you could." I replied vaguely. "Your people are tied to you, Elvira. Whether they realize it or not they will grow as you do, and will unconsciously follow in your footsteps....to a degree. As you understand more about yourself, your domain, and your Realm, they naturally will as well. If you want your people to grow you must guide them, yes, but you yourself must also continue to grow." I explained. Elvira's eyes lit up in a strange sort of enlightenment. She had known that instinctively before, but hearing it was another matter entirely. As it always is.

"Oh...oh, I see." She said.

"Do you?" I questioned. "What do you need to do now?"

"I...I..." Elvira frowned and muttered for a second, her thoughts whirring. "I need to understand my domain." She said decisively. I nodded in approval as she stood up, turning to leave and act upon her new revelation. Then, she turned and gave me a thankful smile. "Thank you, Father." She said, and shot off towards her palace. I lifted my tea cup towards her for a moment before draining it and holding it out for a refill. By this point I had gotten used to Randus's whims.

Technically speaking, none of the Big Five have Deific Domains, like my own Balance, except for Alexander. Alexander was far and above the highest when it comes to understanding both mortals, his Realm, and his domain, exactly because of the nature of the Spirit Realm. He has to guide the other Realms through his own, so naturally that forces him to grow and learn quicker. True, Keilan, Elvira, and Reika were all born to rule over their respective Realms, but that doesn't quite give them the domain like the other deities. Those four are naturally different than normal deities. It's a subtle difference, but it's there nonetheless. Keilan, at least, was beginning to find his domain. It lay in Karma and the mind. No one doubts what Reika's is, Life, but she has yet to truly begin to walk that path.

"Raising children is hard." I announced to no one in particular, my gaze falling onto Tian as he went about his life. His attitude was getting worse and worse as the days passed. He was getting angrier and angrier. That was one of his lessons. He needed to learn to let go of the anger that stems from his obsessive desire to protect. It's been haunting him for a while, and while that doesn't mean he should no longer feel anger, it means he just shouldn't hold onto it so long that it turns into hate. Another sigh escaped me.

For that to happen, however, Tian needed to hit a tentative "rock bottom." His personality was too stubborn otherwise.