Part 1
“You’re resigning?” Taenya asked Neptis, as Neptis packed what little belongings she owned.
“I’ve made my decision. My lady no longer protects you from me. I must walk the path laid out for me.” Neptis replied, pausing to look at Taenya. “If you force my hand, it will not be pretty, and I’d rather leave on a positive note.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You never will, old friend. You are peaceful, tranquil. I am a warrior at heart, and my place is on the battlefield, not here at our lovely university.”
“So you really are leaving, then?” Demeter asked, leaning in the doorway. “Can’t say I’m surprised, you’ve been getting fidgety for months now.”
As Neptis began to answer, she noticed time around her was slowing down, and frost began to cover every surface. Knowing exactly who was coming, she elected to sit down at her desk and simply wait.
“Neptis, this path will be difficult.” Eigengrau flatly stated as she moved Demeter, and walked through the doorway. “If you start down this path, there will be no going back.”
“So why did you come? To scare me into a quiet life of a professor?” Neptis asked, arms crossed.
“I am not aware of what Vordea told you when she healed you, as you were outside of even my reach, but I know where this path leads if you elect to follow it.” Eigengrau replied, walking closer. “So, there is someone you will have to convince if you wish to do this.”
“Who?” Neptis asked, her curiosity overtaking her anger.
“Me. Well, an aspect of me. One that only one other mortal, if you can call her that, has ever seen.” Eigengrau replied, a faint smile forming on her stoic face. “Are you prepared?”
“Prepared for what?” Neptis asked.
Eigengrau responded by pointing her finger at her feet, creating a casting circle around her bare frost covered feet. With a grin that revealed her jagged, shark like teeth, her entire body flashed white, her gray robes became blue and white, her short black hair turned flame red, and her empty black eyes filled with colour, twinkling a brilliant green.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Neptis asked, angrier than before. “You just look like Sirene!”
“Because I am Sirene, you absolute dullard!” Eigengrau shot back. “Do I need to spell it out for you or can you put it together yourself? Need some drawings to go with it?”
Neptis stood up and quickly walked up to Eigengrau, putting her nose right against hers. “You looking for a fight, bitch?”
“Try me!” Eigengrau shouted, before pausing, closing her eyes and rubbing her nose, then putting up her hands. “Wait, let’s back up. I came on too strong. Neptis, are you familiar with the concept of apotheosis?”
“Becoming a God, if I recall?” she replied, moving back to her desk. “What does that have to do with me wanting to become a warrior?”
“First let me explain why I’m who I am.” Eigengrau answered, taking a seat on the bed. “Time is a flat circle. In the previous, hmm, let’s call it kalpa-”
“Dwarven word to describe a cycle of time, right?” Neptis interrupted.
“Yes, works well, doesn’t it?” Neptis nodded, so Eigengrau continued. “So, in the previous kalpa, I was Sirene Ignitis. I became so powerful that I achieved apotheosis. In essence, I became Eigengrau, the stoic Goddess of Death and Time. My Godhood ended that kalpa. It came to a crashing end, and I found myself at the dawn with Vordea and Agbus. They understood what happened immediately, and we established our respective purviews for this kalpa.”
“So who I’m talking to right now-” Neptis began.
“Is Sirene Ignitis. You’re not talking to Eigengrau the Goddess. We’re two sides of the same coin. We decided it’d be better for me than her to talk to you.”
“I wonder why” Neptis asked with a laugh, causing Eigengrau to laugh back in response.
“Yes, her deadpan voice and dead fish personality isn’t suited for this.”
“So, how does this all relate to me? You considered it a big enough deal to stop time.” Neptis questioned, gesturing around at Taenya and Demeter, frozen mid-sentence in the room.
“Because, young lady, if you follow this path of becoming the warrior you yearn to be, it will happen again!” Eigengrau emphasized, causing Neptis’s eyes to widen in shock.
“What? You couldn’t mean-”
“I do! I’ve already seen it! You’ll become a Goddess!”
Neptis sat in silence for several minutes, staring straight down at the floor, her head in her hands. Eigengrau sat motionless, looking at Neptis. Eventually, she stood up and placed a hand kindly on Neptis’s head.
“It will not end the kalpa.” Eigengrau said quietly. “It will rewrite it. Your power is not my power.”
“If you didn’t want it to happen you would have just killed me.” Neptis replied. “So what’s the trick here?”
“You are going to take one of Vordea’s purviews, greatly diminishing her power in the process. I didn’t have the benefit of someone warning me what I was going to become if I pursued my path.”
“Would it have changed your mind?”
Eigengrau snorted in response. “Hah! No. Same for you, right? You’re special, you know. You’ve got a divine spark in your soul. It just needs the right kindling to become a flame. The problem I faced won’t happen to you until the next kalpa comes to pass.”
“That’s cryptic.”
“It’s intended to be, little Godling. Eigengrau the Goddess is unconvinced of your success, but Sirene Ignitis the mortal woman is. Prove those who would doubt you wrong, no matter who they may be. Maybe one day we’ll see you at a certain Inn, Eigengrau will be waiting for you there.” Eigengrau said with a goofy grin on her face. “Take care, Little Neptis.”
As Eigengrau finished speaking, her frost receded, and the flow of time resumed. Demeter was confused to find himself leaning on the other side of the doorway, and Taenya was equally perplexed to see Neptis to have seemingly moved from her bookcase to her desk in the blink of an eye.
“What just happened?” Taenya asked, blinking in confusion.
“I stopped by for a private chat.” Eigengrau replied, still in her Sirene Ignitis personality. “Sorry for the confusion. I’ll be going now.” Eigengrau turned, began to walk toward the window, and vanished mid-step.
“Neptis, listen, I need to tell you something before you leave. I don’t want to have any regrets.” Taenya said, moving closer to Neptis. “It’s hard to say this...”
Neptis smiled gently. “You love me, don’t you? I’m sorry that I can’t return the feeling, but at least have this.” Neptis planted a kiss on Taenya’s lips, and hugged her tightly. “Goodbye, Taenya.” Neptis turned, grabbed her bag and staff, tapped it on the floor and disappeared in a wisp of white smoke.
“She always loved flashy exits.” Demeter said, shaking his head.
“I’ll miss her.”
“You might be the only one besides me. Terribly sarcastic, dismissive, haughty, violent, allegations of sexual assault, and those were just the complaints from the Professors!” Demeter said with a laugh, slapping Taenya’s back.
“Sexual assault? Wish she would’ve assaulted me.” Taenya sighed dreamily, and flopped onto Neptis’s bed.
“Do you need some... alone time?” Demeter asked with a raised eyebrow. “I can come back later.”