DIVA: A Fateful Discovery #1

deucexm deucexm at gmail.com
Wed Sep 12 06:59:24 PDT 2018


Managed to throw together one of the more momentous plot points in the DiVerse
while attempting to not fall asleep at work today during a 12-hour shift.  Life
is great.  Anyway, have a thing; this part was done back in February, but it
still fits with the rest despite me not changing it.  (I love it when things
work out like that.)

A Fateful Discovery: A DiVerse Alpha Chronicle
by Felix

-1-

All was peaceful - as peaceful as things ever were. And then, in an instant,
they were not.

The Temple of Fortune shook to its very core - the main column, every
compartment, every private chamber; all shuddering as if struck a mighty blow.

Dio's throne room was filled with a sudden nauseating aetheric pressure as the
Deities crowded in all at once - but the God of Time himself was staring aghast
at the Speaker of the Source, a three-headed sinuous serpent that was frozen in
midair; parts of it were missing, glitching in and out of existence with
digitally ravaged edges.

And then in the next instant the Speaker was whole again, spinning in a helix
for a turn or two before shapeshifting into a floating crystalline mass
surrounded by tiny satellites.

"Speaker," Dio began, gravely, and then paused, looking around at the other
speechless Deities. "... what has happened?" he finally managed.

The Speaker chimed like a bell, its satellites orbiting slightly faster for a
moment. "Truth," came the reply. "A most unsettling truth has been discovered."

Dio was ever one to choose his words carefully, and so another heavy silence
gripped the room before he spoke again. "And who is the... discoverer?"

The satellites' orbits became erratic, elliptical. "Consider. Who among you is
missing?"

Dio's jaw clenched, and he was about to look around when he heard Eris's quiet
intake of breath. "Ah, of course," he murmured, covering his face with one hand.
"Who else could be so impetuous as to shake the foundations of reality itself
but our youngest sibling."

One of the satellites smashed into a golden pillar at full tilt, splintering and
then sublimating into nothingness. "Consider," the Speaker repeated, with what
might have been the tiniest bit of emphasis. "Who else among you is missing?"

The God of Time took a deep breath and rose from the throne, his regalia
glittering as they twirled and spun, drawing in the excess aether in an attempt
to stabilize the Temple. "Miranda, Siguna, Freyja, Hekel," he began, naming the
Deities as he counted them one by one. "Bethany, Eris, Tieria. Counting myself,
eight, and the erstwhile Rosewood, nine; apart from her the Pantheon is
complete."

The Speaker's satellites suddenly burst into searing white flames, scoring angry
lines through the air as the central crystalline core vibrated with a shrieking
sound that caused all the Deities - even Dio himself - to recoil.

"IT- IS- NOT."

Never before had the Speaker of the Source raised its voice to this extent -
/never/! Two extraordinary incidents in such a short span, Dio mused even as he
stood paralyzed with shock; this does not bode well for any of us, I fear...

"Remember," the Speaker intoned, and it was a command. "Remember the name you
forbade yourselves to say. Remember what has been lost. Remember why you strive
- and what you strive against."

Dio glanced over and saw Eris's face pale, the Goddess of Chaos biting her lip.

"You chose the path of silence back then, and I did not object," the Speaker
continued, the satellites by now having faded to a soft glow. "Your decisions
are your own. But one of the Pantheon, one of mine own, knows naught of any of
this; and now-"

Silence reigned again for a long moment, no one daring to speak before the
thought came to its conclusion.

"-now she has learned the nature of the /true/ enemy."

Dio's brow furrowed at the intonation, but the Speaker allowed him no time to
ponder.

"Know this: where she has seen the matter at its heart, you are yet BLIND."

And upon the last word the Speaker's crystalline form fractured and fell to the
floor, melting into a perfectly round pearlescent puddle.

Tieria was the first to move, walking over and looking down at his own
reflection for a brief moment before turning to Dio. "If there is something to
be known, I would know it," he began, "and yet... it was our choice, as the
Speaker has said. All of us as one. If we are to decide to reveal anything to
Rosewood, should it not be the same way? Let us dispense with any underhanded
dealings - for the moment," the God of Knowledge continued, with a pointed look
at Hekel (who just smiled wryly), "and be of one accord in this matter."

Dio looked at the puddle on the floor for a long moment, and let out a rumbling
sigh. "I- I need a moment to think."


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