The Path of Dei

POV: Dei (That city lord guy)

I walked as proudly as I could in front of my people, or at least what was left of them, as I led them deeper into the depths of Pangea, towards where the Life-Giving Tree met with the soils of the land. The great trunk already blotted out half of the sky, the sheer enormity of the organism just...there were no words for it, or the aura of power it radiated. My rag-tag group of a hundred people, all that was left of my once sprawling city, had almost reached the most far-reaching of the roots, which stretched for thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of miles in all directions like great, wooden serpents. Why we were travelling towards the base of the Tree, not even I know at this point. We had originally been driven from the city by a horde of beasts so large that not even I could fend them off, and never stopped running...though the me now could do so without a problem. That woman had finally put me on the right path towards the rumored immortality with her words on all the different cultivations. The great beasts and deadly environments had tempered me into a cultivator of great strength, and my people, which had only ever numbered in the low thousands to begin with, was now down to a mere hundred. (Though that hundred was composed of all the strongest in terms of cultivation, each stronger than the pre-disaster me.) That was twenty five years ago.

With a sigh I stopped mid-flight, turning to my followers and pointing down towards the dense foliage below. "We rest here." I commanded. Various sighs of relief sounded out from my fellow cultivators, who were also in mid-flight, as they descended down towards the dense foliage below, their senses scanning the world for any threats. Thankfully this part of Pangea was pretty low-tier in terms of cultivation, despite being so close to the Life-Giving Tree. It was nothing like the gauntlet of ferocious and terrifying beasts we had to run through a few years back. We lost many a good man in those times. One cultivator, however, stayed up in the air with me, looking up at the Tree. Though the others could not yet see it, she and I could.

The signs of battle.

Long scars lined the trunk of the Tree, the sheer distance obscuring all but the worst of the damage to me. Even I, as dense as I could be at times when it didn't have to do with cultivation, could sense that this must be the reason for the current chaos, which simply coincides with my theory that the woman I met that one fateful night so long ago truly was some extremely high-level cultivator...to the point where she had a hand in the workings of the world. Everything had started shortly after her abrupt disappearance, after all. I couldn't help but try and connect those two dots.

"I wonder what caused it." I mused, rubbing my ever-lengthening beard. I could cut it, but then again, that was a pain so I didn't. The woman beside me remained silent, staring at the Tree with an unreadable expression. I sighed and shook my head, still remembering when I first got to know the woman. I had grown interested in her and her husband after the Woman's appearance, wondering what in the world could've caused her to have taken an interest in the two. I still don't understand, but what I do know is that, right up until her husband died to protect her during the illusion beast raid, I had never seen nor heard of a couple so suited for one another. Not even the sappy romantic love stories that normal mortals had been strangely obsessed about (I actually blame it on the religion and their strange stories about the love between deities and mortals) could compare to these two...words couldn't really describe it. It wasn't a love that could be described through poetry or song, it just was, and that's all that was needed. Anyways, she had changed after that. She had thrown herself into cultivation with a fervor, training like a woman possessed and bound and determined to never lose anyone ever again. Personally, I was thankful that she never tried to commit suicide...outside of battle, that is. When it comes down to the wire and a fight breaks out between us and the beasts that threaten us she will charge forwards heedless of the danger.

She's the kind of woman that is a boon to have on your side, and would also be your ultimate worse enemy. Many people do not fear death...few actually yearn for it. That is what makes her so terrifying.

"I do as well." She said absently, a dangerous light flashing in her eyes. The entire land of Pangea was in chaos, so whatever had caused the destruction to the Tree was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. I shuddered at the thought of her finding that person...I may have a more profound cultivation base than her, but she is still an opponent that I would not want to face.

"Calm yourself, Celene." I said sharply, noticing her aura surging slightly.

"Sorry. Lost myself for a second there." She said with a forlorn sigh, reigning in her aura. "I'm just...going to scout around for a bit."

"Mm. I'll come find you in a few hours." I said with a wave of my hand, teasing her for the one time that she had disappeared for a few days instead of just a few hours while scouting. That doesn't mean I was kidding, though. She'd still take forever and a half just to 'scout' if I didn't go find her from time to time.

"One bloody time." She muttered to herself, shooting off into the distance in a beam of prismatic light, chased by my amused chuckles. I then turned and descended down to my group of followers below, piercing the dense jungle canopy to find them already forming a 'treehouse village' with their cultivation abilities. The many wooden huts built around the trees' branches would serve as our home base for a week or two while we replenish our supplies and caught up on some much-needed sleep after a few months of constant travel. We simply hadn't found a suitable spot for this kind of rest until now, and even though my choice seemed quite random, the fact that we hadn't run into any vicious mystic beasts or feral cultivators for the past week (and I couldn't sense anything dangerous currently) spoke volumes to me. Besides, we could easily abandon the huts if push comes to shove, and I have faith in our detective formations and abilities.

I myself did not make a hut, instead waving my hand and causing the natural elemental essences of the surroundings to swirl, forming a small house out of earth and ice and wood on top of the trees. It wasn't a simple task for me, but I enjoyed doing it nonetheless. Even something as routine as this could get me more used to controlling the essences of the elements, just as I use the power of wind rather than my cultivation base to fly. Always training...oh for the love of everything holy, I'm just as bad as Celene, aren't I? Just a cultivation maniac.

Once things settle down, I should get out more.

After getting over my sudden personal dilemma I turned my attention back towards my people, flitting about and making sure everyone was getting properly settled in and the initial defenses were set up. It took a few hours, but everything was eventually made satisfactory for the first night, at least. Celene, however, had yet to return.

"Dei, come sit with us! Demorain just pulled out a bottle of essence wine!" One person, who was sitting around a campfire down on the ground rather than in the huts with a group of five other people, called to me. I smiled and floated down towards them, looking at the one named Demorain. The man was very battle-scarred, his horns nothing but stumps on his forehead, with one eye missing and a toothy grin. He's the kind of guy who would give the average person nightmares if they met him on a dark night.

"Essence wine...the last time I tasted essence wine was twenty years ago. Where have you been hiding it all these years?" I asked teasingly, accepting the small cup of alcohol and downing it in one smooth motion. A sigh of gratitude escaped my lips as I tasted the liquid...it wasn't as tasty as the sword qi whiskey I had the pleasure of once acquiring, but it was still damn good. "Ah, that's good stuff." I said.

"Right?! Demorain's been saving it for a special occasion." One of the other cultivators said, elbowing the now blushing man. I raised one eyebrow at that as the others just laughed at him, slapping him on the back good naturedly. "He finally asked for Illianna's hand in marriage today!" I grinned at that, nodding my approval towards Demorain, who was pouring himself another glass of essence wine. He'd need it at the rate the other four were drinking and teasing, congratulating him on the only thing worth congratulating anyone in these harsh times. I'd have to put something together for the two, when our resident priest (who I often clashed with...though it was just as much my fault for picking those fights than it was him trying to convince me of his beliefs) finalized the bonds. It wouldn't be anything too fancy, nothing like what would've happened before all of...this, but it was as good a reason to celebrate and relieve some tension as any.

"Congratulations. Sorry I can't stay, but I've got to go find Celene. She disappeared while scouting again." I told them, handing the cup back. Demorain snorted and looked me in the eyes, his one good eye strangely milky despite being able to see out of it perfectly fine.

"Speaking of, when ya' gonna' confess to 'er, mmm? Anyone wit' 'alf a mind 'ould cee ya like 'er. Be a man 'bout it an' tell 'er." The man slurred, obviously much more drunk than he had let on. I gave him an incredulous look, which was soon compounded upon by the sidelong looks of inquiry by the other four as they quietly sipped their wine. A long sigh escaped my lips and I shook my head.

"Ha. You're funny, Demorain. Obviously, you never saw her with her late husband." I said, shrugging. There was no use denying that I didn't want to get romantically involved with her (I honestly didn't, platonic relationships are underrated), they wouldn't believe me anyways. "And you obviously don't understand the ice queen herself. She'd chop my head off before I could get the second word out." That got a chuckle from the group, and I just grinned, stepping back and floating into the air, not so much as a rustle of a breeze surrounding me. My skill with flying had reached such a level. "I'll be back." I told them, and shot off into the night, expanding my senses to find Celene. It took about three hours of flying in an ever expanding circle to finally find her aura, situated about an hour flying in a straight line to the north of our impromptu tree-village and not moving. Silently I approached her from the sky, listening to the sound of music drifting through the trees as she sat beside a river, playing on her lute.

The notes were heartbreakingly sad at times, and as I sat there listening, they slowly transformed into a strange melody that reminded me of fond memories, reminiscing about the good times. The forest swayed alongside the music, even the night insects chiming in tune to the notes. The world stilled for a moment to listen to her playing, myself floating off to the side with a somber expression. When she finished playing, all was silent for a few seconds before the world resumed. Celene then turned to look at me, a half-heartbroken expression on her face.

"Sorry." She said, grabbing her lute and shoving it into her storage ring. She was the only one in our group with an interspatial ring, due to both its rarity and her being the only one to find one off of a dead cultivator. "I got distracted." She said slowly. I just sighed and shook my head, saying to myself that at least she doesn't neglect her duties. Knowing her, she had properly scouted a few hours out in all directions before sitting down to play her instrument. I'd only ever heard her play it a few times, and every time it seemed to get exponentially better. I was about to open my mouth to reply when something tickled my senses. It was familiar...but strangely unfamiliar...and by the way Celene was looking at me expectantly she couldn't sense it.

What in the world...? Celene started to say something but I held up a hand for silence, wondering just what this familiar feeling was. It wasn't bad...like I recognized it from somewhere and knew it not to be a threat. My brows furrowed as I started to float off, already feeling clueless and, for some reason, disregarding any suspicion of the situation I should've held.

"Dei...?" Celene asked, noticing my abnormal behavior. I didn't respond, getting frustrated at my not being able to place it, moving off towards where that aura got denser. She silently followed as I tracked that aura like a gods-damned bloodhound, even stopping to sniff the air. It was strange, that my nose could actually pick up on the aura as if it was a smell. Which it wasn't. What in the world was it?! For a few minutes we tracked the aura, it slowly getting thicker until even Celene could sense it, her expression flickering when she did. She was apparently much less sensitive to it as I was, but at least she didn't give me questioning looks every once in a while. My people may trust me, but they're still people. They're bound to have doubts. "What is this...?" She asked, and when I turned to look at her I was momentarily shocked. It was as if all the tension that had accumulated in her over the past few decades was slowly leaving her, revealing the carefree beauty she once had been.

The sound of laughter then caught my attention, and I shot forwards, heedless of any danger there might've been just so I could see what was going on.

When I broke through a particularly dense bunch of trees, the scene I was met with was, well, mind-boggling. A good-looking middle aged Fae with glossy black hair that showed signs of greying and magnificent horns was...well, tickling a toddler that was obscured by his purple and silver robes in the middle of a clearing. And the life there was absolutely flourishing, the natural elemental essences thicker than I had ever seen them and causing the grass to grow wildly, all emanating from the duo. It was a picturesque scene, and when the man turned to face us I found my breath was caught in my throat.

His facial features were very clearly masculine, but when I looked into his eyes, all I could see were the eyes of that woman. That green-eyed, beautiful woman. It was his next comment however, that cemented my idea of who this was even further.

"You again-?! I don't believe this! Well, I do, but this is ridiculous! And you even brought...GAH! Like I don't have enough work to do already!" He all but shouted, standing upright and glancing down at the toddler behind him, smiling wryly as he realized the irony of his statement. Wait, that's not the point! The point is that he recognized me, and his eyes are the exact same as the woman's, and this crazy theory of mine would thoroughly explain my weird thoughts about his looks earlier because it was just like with that woman, and I don't know how it's possible but apparently that guy is her but apparently she's a he now and I don't know how I know but I just do and thisisalltoomuchtotakein!!! "Dude. Chill." He said, raising one eyebrow as he bent to pick up the toddler...except it wasn't a normal toddler. Instead of being Fae, it appeared to be another race entirely, with big twitching red-furred fox ears atop its head and nine swishing fox tails connecting to its rear end. Our eyes met and the toddler gurgled something incomprehensible, pointing one chubby finger at me before whispering intelligently into the man's ear.

"Wh-who are you...?" Celene asked the question that I couldn't quite voice, because I had met her -er, him -before, I just still don't have any flipping clue who he is.

"No, you can't." He said absently to the toddler. Then he sighed and looked up at he. "Dei knows me. Anyways, seeing as this little talk will take a while, why don't you come sit down? I'll get some tea ready."

POV: Statera Luotian (MC)

I quietly stared at the duo before me, bouncing Reika's child on my knee. The little nine-tailed fox/kitsune (as the little tyke was technically both) was growing quicker than I expected, looking like a three-year-old Fae after a mere quarter of a century, but it was still within the proper time-frame for divine beasts. Though, technically speaking, this was the first divine beast to appear in the Four Realms, as per the blue boxes statement after it had remembered about that little fact. Apparently the boxes were rather distracted and it had slipped its mind to notify me of such an event.

But I'm getting off track. Dei and Celene sat before me, staring intensely at me with question-filled gazes as steaming cups of herbal tea sat before them, filling the grassy meadow with a fragrant aroma. Well, considering that I did just create the tea and table and chairs that we now sit in from thin air, that kind of reaction is to be expected. Tables and chairs, Dei can create. Herbal tea already at the perfect temperature and made from a number of medicinal herbs found only on Elvira's Holy Mountain? Not so much.

"Who they?" Kei, the little nine-tailed fox, asked. I looked at the duo pointedly, and Dei smiled thinly, his eyes never leaving my face.

"I am Dei. This is my friend Celene. Who are you?" He asked, the question laden with all the meaning he could convey in those few words.

"I'm Kei!" Kei chirped, bouncing up and down on my knee and leaning across the table, pointing one chubby finger at Dei. "You smell weird. So do you. But you smell weirder." Kei pointed at Dei and Celene in turn, saying that Dei smelled stranger than Celene. It was a strange way of sensing Dei's affinities towards cultivation, and his cultivation base, but it did give me an idea. If I thought about it, Dei was still walking on the...well, not wrong, but rather not the best cultivation path for him. That path was very obscure, even to me, but Kei, on the other hand, already held an understanding into the mysterious 'powers' of the universe that was on par with my own...and she didn't even understand what that meant.

"Dei." I said, looking at him. "Would you be so kind as to watch Kei for me for a few minutes? Celene and I need to have a chat." I told him. Dei just stared at me for a moment before a glint of understanding appeared in his eyes.

"Sure. Come on, kid." Dei said gruffly, standing up from the table and reaching towards Kei. To my surprise, Kei allowed him to grab her (albeit awkwardly, as Dei was unsure how to handle the toddler) and move off to the edge of the meadow, where the two sat down and just stared at each other. A snort escaped my lips at that, before I turned towards Celene. While it was a little surprising that Kei had immediately latched onto Dei, it wasn't that surprising, I suppose. Dei did have a relatively...interesting destiny, and his cultivation would be intriguing to little Kei. Both were things that Kei could sense, but didn't understand yet, and children found everything as wondrous and interesting. Plus, Dei did sound like Kei. It would be just like Kei to like someone simply because their name sounds like hers. With another sigh I turned my attention towards Celene, who was looking at me with a guarded expression.

"I just said that to get him to stop staring at me. Poor Kei...now she's the one being stared at..." I said with a sigh and an awkward chuckle. At her blank expression I continued. "Dei's going to be expecting some sort of explanation, or advice. Heh, he's even straining his ears right now trying to listen in on our conversation. He can't, of course." I said, trying to make small talk.

"You know Dei?" She asked, raising one eyebrow. Oh dear, it hurt just looking at her. Well, at least her other half is scheduled for reincarnation in the next few years. I'll have to work it so that they meet again soon. This is just painful.

"Know is a relative term. We officially met about...oh, twenty some odd years back. I gave him some advice, we talked some...it was quite enjoyable." I said, nodding.

"Is that why you're here, then? For...tea and a conversation?" She asked almost icily. I gave her a strange look.

"No. What gave you that idea? I'm here to play with my grandchild." I told her. Reika insisted that I call Kei my grandchild. It made sense, but being a grandparent when I'm the parent of the entire universe feels a little weird...no, it makes sense now that I think about it. Reika had just asked me to watch Kei for a little while so she can do a bit of work repairing the Life-Giving Tree, and hadn't quite explained it all properly (no, it was just my unnecessary self-denial.) Celene obviously wasn't expecting that answer, and she shook her head. "You're the ones who came to me. Why are you here?" I asked.

"Dei sensed you and led me here." She answered automatically. I scoffed at that.

"No one just 'finds' me." I told her. "There are many things in this universe left up to chance," By design. I added quietly. It did no one any good for me to micromanage the entire universe, and leaving some things up to chance was actually very helpful when dealing with mortals and freewill. "But no one simply happens across me on a midnight stroll for no reason." I knew what that reason was, but that's beside the point. Managing a universe in an eternal game of ultimate manipulation...I just needed to happen to be in the right spot at the right time for this event. That's all. "So tell me, what is your reason for coming here?" She stared at me for a long, long moment, before she shook her head. My aura was apparently getting to her, opening her up bit by bit.

"I don't know." She lied. I could see it on her, literally see it as little bitty balls of scintillating light, that told me she was lying...or at least half-lying. She did know the answer, but she was denying it herself.

"Yes you do." I coaxed. "Why are you here? Right now? What is it that you need?" She glared at me for a few moments, and I just sighed in disappointment. "See, this is why dealing with you people can be so hard. I can't help you if you don't accept it...I can't help you if you don't want it. Dei, on the other hand, well he's doing fine on his own." No he's not. He's walking on a knife's edge is what he's doing. He's dangerously close to doing something stupid and ruining the entire thing, though I doubt he really understands that. Though I can't tell Celene that, or Dei would be certain to muck things up. This is why I need angels, they'd be able to guide him and make his path a little more stable. That, and my interfering with everything isn't what I'd call good, so someone needs to be guiding the mortals to the best of their abilities spiritually other than myself. I have larger-scale things to think about than single mortals, something I've been learning the hard way the longer I spend time in the Mortal Realm. Can I provide some enlightenment from time to time? Yes. But if I hold their hand through everything, there will be no room to grow. Ok, that's it. I'm not going to deal with the little missy glaring at me like this.

"Right, well good chat, but I think it's time to go." I told her, standing up. Celene looked at me blankly, confusion flashing across her features, and I rolled my eyes inwardly. Still though...there are ways around this pesky little 'freewill' thing and how they won't accept help even if its staring them in the face. "Kei, c'mere! It's time to go, kiddo." I called, waving my hand and causing the table and tea to disappear as I walked towards where Kei had climbed on Dei's back and was now pulling on his hair. She was jabbering away about something, only I knew what (heh, I've always wanted to say that), and the words were just barely shaking Dei's core, his Heart. That was all Dei needed as of now.

"You're leaving?" Dei asked, turning to look at me. I nodded, extending a hand towards Kei, who pouted but took it nonetheless, her mouth clicking shut as I swung her up onto my shoulders.

"Yes." I told him. "But I'm sure we'll meet again. I did inadvertently tie a string of karma around you." Turns out that I had a little bit of enlightenment on Karma when Keilan entered his meditation as well. The strings thing...all people can be tied together through karma...it was one of those things that I knew, but hadn't realized until he entered meditation on it. Kind of like gravity! Every mortal child knows that an apple drops to the ground when you let it go. They just don't understand why. Dei blinked at that, and for just a brief moment I made all the karma strings that touched both Dei and Celene touch on their senses, making sure that Celene sensed her Red String. "Karma is one of the things that ties people together, and has a hand in fate." I said slowly, watching as that 'seed' was planted in Celene before I vanished alongside the karma strings.

There. That oughta keep them busy for a while.