Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 108: Discussion with Gods

Everything I had learned, everything I knew said that this was impossible. Danu, Beleros, and Cyronax were in Sleep. And if they were here and active, then the strings of Fate for all life in our Universe were about to be snipped.

I hoped my shrine to the Sidhe Pantheon wasn't the impetus that sparked the final battle between Gods.

But their words vibrated with realism, a truth that was so profound it could not be ignored. Still, I questioned the impossible, until I finally broke and asked.

"How are you here?" I asked worriedly.

"And if you are awake and made manifest in this Universe, what about the local Gods and Pantheons, how will they respond to your presence?" I continued my fear and concern palpable.

<Your actions have allowed a small part of our Divine Will to manifest, to briefly project part of Our dream into these vessels. Your actions have fulfilled certain requirements that needed to happen before we could manifest and give counsel. Systems Integration will remake the rules and laws for this Universe, but until that is done, everything this is, is in flux.>

<The Tuatha de Danaan Pantheon is unique among Gods. Our ties to the Summerlands allow us to act here. And although Our Power is constrained and bound to allow Us to only offer advice, it is possible because of your actions. Your thoughts. Your desire to seek Our council. You have summoned us to take part, to guide you in the decisions you are about to make, and to explain to you what the ramifications of those decisions may be.> Danu explained.

<Worry not. These actions are not the prelude to Armageddon. The local Gods are enjoined from interfering in your choice by System.>

<One caveat though. Although the Gods in this Universe have been weakened, this world's Gods do exist, don't assume their historical inaction means they are limited. Their Power is real. Their Divinity is absolute. They are bound and constrained that Divinity to a faith-based system, belief and worship empower them. Apathy, agnosticism, and atheism weakens them.>

<Most have been forced to restrain their powers less they fade completely. The Pantheons that have fallen from grace; Olympus, Norse, Shintoism, Shamanism, Voodoo. All-powerful once. Now fringe followers at most worship those Pantheons. Fewer and fewer people believe in them, diminishing the pool of power, as the Divine, they can draw from.>

<They have allowed themselves to become forgotten, to release and sublimate their domain and their aspects to Monotheism or Atheism. A world that worships the religion of Science and Commerce. A methodology that mankind has embraced on this world because the Gods have limited their interactions with their followers,> she continued.

<Even those Gods and religions that are popular, the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, even these Gods have been weakened, their messages corrupted.>

<The evils done in the names of these Gods have diminished them. Especially the God of Abraham who sent the world His son; the Redeemer, a man willing to sacrifice himself to demonstrate a Universal truth, that forgiveness was attainable by all. A message of love and redemption, sent in an attempt to stave off and save humanity from the horrors of their human nature, had His message of love, peace, and acceptance corrupted by proselytizers who have used his words to wage holy war.> Beleros said entering the conversation for the first time. His voice was reminiscent of crackling fires and summer breezes.

<The Holocaust, The Crusades, Witch Burnings, Slavery, Children allowed to be separated from parents and die at some artificial border or strapped with explosives and promised a wondrous afterlife if they kill the infidels. This planet's people have done much to destroy the gifts and messages that the Gods have offered them.>

<That they corrupt the teaching of their Prophets and Sages in order to rationalize their actions has diminished the faith of legions. Too many of this World's residents are jaded and lacking in faith. They have realized that orthodoxy and religious fervor are nothing more than the beginning of insanity.>

<They believe that greed and wealth have corrupted even the most devout. Entreaties for tithes and donations from the faithful are too often used to fill the coffers of the avaricious. Those unable or unwilling to look behind the meaning of the great teachings are emboldening their flocks to hate,> Beleros concluded.

<They pick and choose passages and verse, to use as weapons against those they would deem different. To scare those who have still managed to retain their faith, messages preached of intolerance and persecution. It is one of the reasons System opened a dungeon between our two worlds,> Cyronax continued. <The local Pantheons have despaired, unable to devise a solution, so they have agreed to transition, to use the lessons they have learned in this Universe and begin again under System constraints.>

<Some will be demoted. Forced to become Demi-Gods and re-earn their divinity. But for those that remain empowered and brimming with Divinity, they will be required to become more active in the lives of their followers. They will be denizens of a new Pantheon of Gods. System constrained. And once again able to manifest.>

<They will be able to answer prayers, anoint priests, paladins, and champions. And to punish those that would twist the dogma and use the faithful.>

<Your decision, to claim the planet, will influence the type of 'back-story' the planet will evolve into. The monster types that are spawned. The benchmarks for leveling. How children and the infirm are protected. And the type of class system that will be generated, as well as how to achieve those classes.>

"Do you know what happens if I chose not to claim the planet?" I asked. Most people would have chosen to rule. But I knew I wouldn't be staying on Earth. I had grown more Sidhe than human, even in these few short weeks, and I wanted to return. There were oaths that bound me, and people that I owed allegiance and duty towards.

<The System has a template that it will use, a framework that becomes the starting point, allowing the residents of this World to help evolve to unpack and upgrade to the final iteration of System. You may still be asked for input, but the criteria for what that input might be is unknown. Each Universe that is transitioned into a System paradigm has unique characteristics specific to that Universe,> Danu answered.

"There is no way to stop the process?" I asked. "To leave Earth as it was?"

<Once begun, assimilation is inevitable. If you chose to claim the planet, you will also be required to assimilate into this System's rule-set.> Beleros informed me. <You would retain access to the Summerlands, but your portal settings to Talahm would be erased. You would automatically fail any quests that were related to that Universe, and all Oaths would be rescinded, without penalty.>

I had only been Sidhe for a short amount of time. I was still conflicted and prone to act based on preconceptions and expectations I had while human. But that didn't mean I was ready to forsake Talahm or the people I had grown to know.

People that had placed their trust in me and swore oaths of allegiance. People that had trusted that my plans to start a House, a House that would welcome all Sidhe, and believed those ideals made it worth leaving home and alliances behind. People that believed I was honorable and decent. People that hoped I would make a difference in the lives of those that had no one to speak for them.

Cedric. Uron. Lohne. Brianne. Basil. Blayney. Una. Irvin. Jennie. These people were mine now. Our fates and futures intertwined into a tightly woven web of possibilities and potential. We had claimed each other. To abandon them now went against everything I believed.

In the silence of my heart, I could admit that I wasn't a Saint. I was tempted by the power and authority I would possess if I claimed Earth. But my heart warred with my intellect. I understood, my plans may be nave and simplistic, that there was no guarantee like what was being offered to me here.

But those plans were mine. Crafted with those friends I had made. The first true friends I had made in a long time.

And there was Caraid to consider. I believed that we would stay bound together if I accepted the System notification and claimed Earth, but there was a chance that might not be the case. The Hunt did not ride on this Planet; his ties to the Hunt may require S-Prime to sever our soul.

He'd already sacrificed so much. First his reincarnation by becoming soul bound to me. And then his freedom by taking my place as part of the Hunt. My actions would be offensive and reprehensible if I ignored his sacrifice. If he remained a part of me and I claimed Earth, I would be taking his home and people from him. If we were severed, he would be bound to a body that existed in limbo, only animate in those few moments when the Hunt dispensed justice.

"What becomes of you if I decide not to claim Earth?" I wondered realizing that the people I had come to consider mine wasn't the only variable I should be concerned over. Even as much as I wanted to base my decisions on what was best for me, I couldn't. If I acted on totally selfish reasons, there would be a ripple effect.

This decision wasn't only about me, it would impact an entire world's population, as well as those other civilizations that existed in the Universe at large. Earth was just one planet. There were certain to be others with intelligent life. Worlds that would also become integrated into the System. Karmic balance required their survival, it was much more important than any plans and goals I may have.

These statues, these creatures of metal and magic that I had given life, that had been imbued with the Divine, Gods made manifest, turned their entire focus on me. Their gaze was benevolent and comforting. Their domains melding, the Ying and Yang of summer and winter, a spinning paradox of life and death. As one they reached out to give their blessing. Their powers bestowing a clarity that I had never experienced before.

And that clarity allowed me to understand.

The Multi-verse allowed for a multitude of possibilities. But for all the permutations of Law and Life, there was an interconnection that bound them as a whole no matter those possibilities. An underlying framework that created order out of chaos.

<Gods are unique across all creation,> Danu began explaining. <They can harness the very energies required to shape life or withstand the abyss. They can offer creation as well as oblivion. Each sub-universe has the potential to spark the divine essence of Godhood. The Celtic Pantheon that sleeps on Talahm is but a dream in this world. But there it is real, even in Sleep.>

<No matter the Universe, each incarnation of the divine is inter-connected. These statues have accepted our essence here in this world. You have channeled Our dreams and sparked an awareness of the Tuatha de Danaan that Sleep on Talahm. And in Our dreams, We know that these transient sparks of Our Divine exist. So, what We the Dreams know, Those in Sleep know.>

<The Sidhe Pantheon is unique among all Gods. The Summerlands allow us to experience and know, in all the permutations and possibilities of all the Universes everything that may be, that has been, and that is. We have experienced every conceivable event. We have reigned supreme, been cast into purgatory, been bound by Sleep, and entrapped in the Dream.>

<We have been destroyed, stripped of Our divinity.>

<But one commonality exists no matter which Universe has hosted our essence, that framework that binds the multi-verse together, also binds our destiny. We act. Our will transcends mortal limits because we can surf that thread of interconnectivity to understand and harness new knowledge and experiences.>

<No matter what you decide here and now. Even if our Pantheon is banished or destroyed in this Universe. We will continue. Dismiss any considerations you may have for us; any allegiance you feel you owe the Tuatha de Danaan from your thoughts. Our Destiny will unfold as it was meant. Your choice will simply hasten that Destiny and allow Us to move forward in this Universe.>

<Your choice will not affect our survival,> Danu promised.