Side Story - Ferio 4: Breaking the Mold

AN: Maybe fixing the family is possible.

Ferio tapped her fingers on the chestplate she held in her hands. The sample of the new armour she had commissioned for her knights was not exactly what she had expected when requesting it, but it would serve its purpose just fine. A little flashy, perhaps.

With the return of Classes, the Goddess of Life and Light had decided it was for the best to update a few things in her own church. First and foremost was new equipment, destined for her followers that had gotten a Class that in some way showed their allegiance to her. And for those that want to follow me in the future. With the death of Epemirial and her ilk, it was only a matter of time before the number of mortals that followed her would skyrocket.

The boost in power would bring her a little closer to her goal of acquiring a third Domain. Not something that, to her knowledge, had not happened before. Except maybe for Mother, Ferio added in her mind. Of course, that begged the question if Aperio even had any Domains to begin with. In the past, she had certainly thought so, but now neither Ferio nor her mother were sure about that anymore. Probably not. Considering that everything originated from Aperio, Ferio doubted that her mother would be bound by such a limiting concept as Domains.

"Oh well," she mumbled to herself, pushing on the chestplate until it deformed and finally broke. "Seems sturdy enough."

Mortal armour would never offer protection against the strength of a divine — be it a sapient divine or a monster that had acquired such a status — but neither was it meant to. Its intended purpose was to serve in fights against other mortals; a duty it would fulfil just fine.

She discarded the broken piece of metal, throwing onto the pile of other samples she had previously tested. Most of them were in a much worse state than the one she had just added to the pile and would not be worth using, but it still paid to get a wide variety of goods. Maybe I should import some armour from another world.

While it did not break any rules, it would still pose a few problems to bring in equipment from somewhere else. Ferio shook her head and dismissed the thought. Verenier, she knew, was special compared to every other world. The why of it, nobody knew, but it still remained a universal truth that it was special. Indeed, it was the reason so many deities had gathered here.

For the Goddess of Life and Light, Verenier was home. It was the first world she had seen and the one she had grown up on. Is the one Mother still likes best.

She sighed. There had been some progress towards reconciliation with her mother, but a true understanding was still a ways off. But then, why had she expected Aperio to behave like her mother when she still could not recall most of her old life; did not want to remember her old life.

Of course, there was also the matter of her mother's girlfriend. Ferio was not all too fond of Caethya, but she could not properly formulate why that was. Something about the relationship just did not sit right with her. Still, it was not her place to tell other people who to spend their lives with. She wouldn't do anything to drive them apart. Would go against my own doctrine.

"You can come in, Candrial," Ferio said as walked towards her desk. "If you knocked, I might also invite you in sooner."

"I apologise, my Lady," the bronze-skinned Elf said, bowing slightly after she had entered Ferio's office. "I have come to inform you of some recent happenings at the Council. Your mother has appeared there, and demanded that Lady Vinmaier make a list of all the indentured servants in Ebenlowe."

"I see," Ferio replied, taking a seat behind her desk. "Not unexpected, but a lot more forward than I would expect from Mother." She hesitated for a moment. "Maybe I should attend the next meeting?"

Candrial lowered her gaze at the question. "With all due respect, my Lady, I think it is best if you let your mother do this on her own. Your presence would likely influence her judgement in one way or another."

"You are right," Ferio replied with a small sigh. "I just… want to make this work, now that she is finally back."

"I understand," Candrial replied after a moment of silence. "I still think it is best to let her do this how she wishes to." The Elf paused again, tapping her chin lightly. "There is also the matter of the All-Mother's partner. I am sure she knows that you do not approve of her, but if you wish to form any sort of relationship with Lady Aperio, you will have to accept her love for Caethya."

"I know," the Goddess of Life and Light sighed. She knew full well that whatever it was her mother and that mortal had was more than just a bit of confusion on Aperio's side. Whenever Caethya was around, the All-Mother was a little more relaxed; the world itself a little calmer. Quite unlike now.

The upcoming judgement of the indentured servants obviously did not sit well with the All-Mother as the currents of mana that flowed through all of space were more than a little unstable at the moment. Of course, thanks to the System, that instability did not affect much, but Ferio could still feel it influence her magic when she forewent the help of the System. Let's just hope the effects lessen with distance to Aperio.

If some newly-minted deity tried their hand at free-form magic and the anger of the All-Mother threw it out of whack, bad things could happen. Ferio had discovered herself the dangers of runaway magic when she had wound up accidentally blowing up the third moon Verenier used to have. Aperio had been… less than pleased at the time. Not because she particularly cared about the moon, but because it ‘threw the balance of Verenier off' — whatever that actually meant.

"Sometimes I think being a mortal would be easier," Ferio mumbled to herself. "No need to deal with the amalgamation of everything and nothing that calls itself your mother."

Candrial's ears twitched slightly at her words, indicating that she had not quite understood what Ferio had been trying to say. "I think this world is better because you call it your home. Without your efforts, as well as the other deities you managed to convince, the dark age we are about to leave could have been much worse."

"Could you share this wisdom with my mother?" Ferio asked. "Before, whatever I did was not enough, and now I don't even know what she wants."

The bronze-skinned Elf approached the desk of her Goddess and, after a small nod from Ferio, took a seat opposite her. "If you truly wish for me to speak to Lady Aperio on your behalf, I will do so. But, I think this is family matter that is best resolved by the parties involved.

"I cannot claim to understand how the divine work," Candrial continued, "but from what I have seen, your mother seems to be confused and, dare I say, a little scared. Not of what the world might do to her, but what she might do to it."

"I am scared what she might do," Ferio replied, slumping forward slightly. "Even when I know what she is capable of, seeing her get rid of so many deities at once is… frightening." The Goddess of Life and Light straightened herself again. "You are pretty perceptive when it comes to mana and magic, Candrial; can you feel the shifts in this world's mana?"

"Yes," the Elf replied with a nod. "But only at times. At the moment, I can feel a slight disturbance in the usual ebb and flow, like someone is messing with it. But it's so minor, I had not paid it much mind until my husband began trying to figure out what the root cause might be."

"Did Edisicio tell him to research it?"

Candrial gave another nod. "Yes. His Grace did not give us his theory as to why it is happening, but Ziaciel's talk with Mayeia all but confirmed that it is related to the All-Mother." A small smile spread across her lips. "Now my dear husband is making a long list of pros and cons as he considers asking for a meeting with Lady Aperio."

Ferio let out a small sigh and leaned back in her chair. Talking to Candrial always helped. Not necessarily in the way she wanted, but it did help. Hearing how a pair of mere mortals also consulted with three different deities without making a fuss about it was also refreshing. Not that she expected anything different from Candrial. The Elf had been one of her closest aides for nearly half a millennium now, after all. At least she isn't as formal today.

"I do have another thing I had wanted to inform you about," the Elf said. "The Ocussuary has found traces of other rituals that might relate to the empire you have tasked them to find. It is not much, and the report is not yet done, but I felt like you could hear some better news."

Candrial wasn't wrong. She could indeed use some good news, but the mention of the empire that was likely the one in which her mother had been a slave during her mortal life was not high up on that list. Especially not when most things she had found out about that empire indicated that they had been working on something that was either ways to make a God from scratch, or a way to force the ascension of one of their own.

"Thank you, Candrial," the Goddess of Life and Light eventually said. "Who would have thought that a priestess would be offering advice to her Goddess?"

"Matters of family are not something I expect the divine to be knowledgeable in," the Elf replied. "And your situation is particularly unique. Who else can say that they are the child of the All-Mother?"

"Nobody," Ferio mumbled. Aperio had made it quite clear that she would not make a second child — and the wording there was another thing that the Goddess of Life and Light did not quite like. She had been made. The All-Mother had been very clear in that regard.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, that did not mean much. You could also say that every mortal child was made, but something about how Aperio had said it at the time had just been... off. Almost as though she had been an experiment, brought into being because the All-Mother had been bored.

Ferio shook her head at the thought. The old Aperio was no more, and whatever she had thought about her no longer mattered. Of course, disregarding what she knew to be true about her mother was easier said than done, but holding onto that old image was probably one of the reasons why their relationship always seemed to take a step backwards after finally moving forward.

"Perhaps it would be for the best if you meet with your mother's partner and talked with her," Candrial said as she stood up from her chair and offered a small bow. "You both seem to wish for Lady Aperio to do better, so why not help each other? You know how she used to be, and Lady Caethya knows how she is now." She paused, offering her Goddess a brief smile. "She is also on her way to ascend past mortal bounds. Sooner or later you will have to deal with her, and wouldn't it be better if you were on common ground by then?"

"It would," Ferio replied, her voice quiet.

It wasn't that she did not like Caethya, but she always felt like the woman was taking advantage of her mother while she was vulnerable. What did the All-Mother have to gain from a relationship? In the past, Aperio had told her quite clearly that there was nothing a mortal could offer her besides some brief moments of fun.. But she isn't like that anymore…

"You may take your leave," the Goddess of Life and Light said, motioning towards the door that slowly opened via a touch of her magic. "And thank you, again."

"I live to serve," Candrial replied, bowing again. Once the Elf had reached the door, she offered Ferio a smile before leaving, closing it behind her.

The Goddess of Life and Light remained motionless for a moment before she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She would meet with her mother before she left for Geshwen. She had to.