Dragons and Draconians [1]

POV: Reika

I hummed as I tended to my garden, singing a happy tune as I continued to pour my power into the Life-Giving Tree, helping it heal. It hadn't yet fully recovered from Sol's fires, though some of those scars would never fully disappear. Still though, I felt happy today. The light from the Sun and Moon warmed my skin, nourishing the Four Realms and causing it to grow explosively. Even the mortals, after calming down a bit from their wars, are growing very fast.

A sudden jolt shook me out of my dazed gardening, and I shook my head with a wry smile. That girl -the one immortal left after Dei reincarnated and the other two became the sun and the moon -was trying to once again reach the top of the Life-Giving Tree. Little miss empress, or the Celestial Empress, as they now called her, had grown far too arrogant for her own good. That was to be expected, however, as she was far and above the most powerful cultivator in any Realm, including the Heaven Realm, which was beginning to gain its own immortal cultivators.

Not only that, but she ruled over the biggest and most powerful city of cultivators, Manu Ti, which still floated in the skies today as a beacon of hope for all mortals. Although many cultivation cities had followed Manu Ti's example, none could match the city's grandeur -not even I could deny that. However, it still paled in comparison compared to the constructs of the deities. How could a city compare to Elvira's Mountain, Keilan's Valley, Alexander's River, or my Tree? How could it, for that matter, compare to Mother's palace, in all its simplicity?

But I'm getting off track. They did good with that city, and it was doing far more good than harm. But the Celestial Empress was tenacious and annoying as ever as she tried to reach the top of the Tree. This time she made it about halfway through the leaves of the Tree before, with a snort, I waved my hand and sent her flying back down. She wasn't quite ready to reach the top, and if she got much higher some ancient and powerful mystic beasts would chase her down. For a second I paused. What will I do if someone does reach the top? Looking around I spotted a few curious beasts, both normal and mystical, as they ran about the planet-sized leaves and massive branches. Each dip in the bark was like the deepest of valleys, each rustle was like a giant earthquake, and was home to innumerous creatures of all shapes and sizes.

Huh. There are beasts up here but no mortals. Strange. I suppose it is meant to be a challenge for them...Suddenly I grinned. Ah, that's it. That's what I could do. Reaching the top of the Life-Giving Tree signifies that they are ready to be granted the ability to pass between Realms. Mystic beasts will have another trial, but, seeing as how no mortal or immortal, only spirits and deities, have traveled between Realms, I figure it's a good milestone to set.

"Lady Reika." A voice said, almost catching me off guard as the speaker materialized behind me.

"Ah, it's you Avidan. What can I help you with?" I asked, turning around and looking at the Deity of Justice. He was young, only five millennia old and having fought in the war of the Sun, yet was not the youngest. In the past thousand years alone five more deities had been born, proof that the small size of the Four Realms had been stifling its denizens. Still though, for Avidan to have such a vague domain as justice...that must be hard.

"Alexander has called all deities to the Karmic Palace." Avidan said, bowing slightly. I smiled and nodded, turning back to my garden for a moment. Oh, would you look at that? The Iceflowers are blooming.

"I'll be along in a moment." I said absently, admiring the field of flowers before me. The Iceflowers in particular were shining brilliantly, their snow-white petals gleaming as icy mists rolled from the stamen, turning the area in which they were planted into an icy wonderland.

"My lady," Avidan said, obviously impatient but afraid to speak out against me. "I cannot leave without you." He said, and I sighed. Why are the young ones always so impatient? Alexander and Keilan are not going anywhere, they can wait a few more minutes. None of the deities that normally stay in the Mortal Realm, such as the elemental deities, have left yet so I wasn't feeling too rushed.

"Hmm," I hummed, glancing at Avidan and shaking my head. "Is there any particular reason why I'm supposed to go now rather than later?" I decided to ask. Avidan frowned, thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "Good. Then go get everyone else in the Mortal Realm and when they're all gathered come get me. I have no desire to go stand around in the middle of the Karmic palace waiting for who knows how long." Avidan hesitated and then bowed before vanishing. Shortly after I could feel all the other deities in the Mortal Realm begin to leave, either physically or via incarnation, filtering towards the Karmic Realm. When Avidan reappeared not but a few hours later I merely sighed and followed, vanishing and reappearing in Keilan's Karmic palace.

Specifically I appeared in the massive auditorium he had built just outside of his palace for entertainment purposes, as that is where I sensed Alexander to be. The auditorium itself was very impressive, with thousands of seats rising up along the side of the Valley and looking down on the stage, the darkness of the Realm only broken by braziers filled with purple and white fires. A giant ball of karmic light hovered overhead for the occasion, illuminating the area for those who could not see solely through Karma and mental energies.

The first few rows were filled with all two hundred and eighty three deities, many of whom sent incarnations of themselves rather than abandon their duties. This was also the reason as to why there were no angels present -they were too busy trying to guide mortals and keep them from doing too many stupid things. I believe two were placed on Tian, this time around...

Kei waggled her fingers at me in greeting from the front row, a mischievious smile on her face.

"Sister." Alexander's voice rumbled out, dragging my attention to him. The great serpent was -well, not in his dragon form. Instead he was in the Fae-like form that Mother gave him, a form I hadn't seen since...well, the beginning of time. His white scales covered most of his body, except for the bronzed skin of his stomach, chest, and face, while to large bat-like wings stretched from his back. A scowl was plastered on his face, and I couldn't help but have to suppress a smile.

"What's got you so riled up?" I asked, watching as Keilan descended from the sky, talking with Elvira. The duo landed next to me, giving me a nod in greeting.

"Your daughter, that's what. I just wanted to talk with you three and Father, but somehow Kei got wind of it and made this into a giant show." Alexander scowled, sending Kei a scathing glare. She just giggled and winked playfully, completely ignoring the look I shot her.

"Well it's not that surprising. This is Kei we're talking about, I'd be more surprised if she didn't do something like this." Keilan said.

"Still though..." Alexander grumbled.

"Quit your whining you overgrown lizard. You're enough of a recluse as it is, you need to show your face a bit more." Elvira chided, earning herself a glare and growl from Alexander. I just smiled wryly as I listened to my siblings bicker, opting to stay out of it for now. My eyes wandered a bit and I found myself looking at Kei again, wondering if Mother's influence had anything to do with Kei's mischievious nature...probably. No, not probably, definitely. It's definitely Mother's fault.

"I'm pretty sure she would've turned out the same way regardless of what I did." Mother suddenly said, abruptly appearing behind me and giving me a little jump-scare, answering my thoughts. In the entire Four Realms, only She, Keilan, and Gilles could sneak up on me like that.