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Khaine could barely hide her grimace as her sister once again attempted to convince her to support Hoeth in his bid for the throne. She had to give Isha points for consistency and persistence, and it wasn’t like the goddess wasn’t making some good points. Isha wasn’t a foolish goddess by any standard, and she’d always been charming and persuasive. That’s why they kept sending her here, instead of Hoeth coming personally. Well, that and the fact that Hoeth’s actions had directly led to her imprisonment in the first place. The problem was, Isha was operating under incomplete information. And it was somewhat tiring to listen to treaties and arguments, no matter how persuasive, when she knew it was completely pointless.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a communications talisman suddenly burst in front of her, sending a simple and short message just for her ears. “She’s in the Divine Planes.”

Khaine didn't need the sender to specify who they meant with "she", as there was only a single person they could be referring to. She recognized the sender of the message, and there was only a single reason why they would contact her, especially with her being here under house arrest. She wasn't supposed to be getting messages. Theoretically, she wasn't supposed to be getting visitors either, but the royal family had always been an exception to that, even if they had rarely visited before the recent events. The decree had caused all of them to make their plays at a frantic pace. Well, now the game had gained a new dimension.

With a confident smile, she stood up, cutting Isha off mid-sentence, and with a quick gesture her earlier humble clothing was replaced with her full Divine Regalia. As the Goddess of War, it was only to be expected that she would wear armor, and hers was a mix of red, orange, and gold with heavy decorations and a clear phoenix theme. Even her helmet’s visor was shaped like a striking phoenix. A heavy halberd was in one of her hands, while a curved sword was in the other.

“K-Khaine? Sister? W-what’s going on?” Isha asked, suddenly afraid.

“It is finally time for me to leave sister.” She replied with a confident voice. “You can try to stand in my way, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Instead of answering, Isha vanished in a burst of magic with a distinct feeling of the life element. Khaine didn’t want to look down on her sister, but Isha had always been more of a diplomat and a healer than a fighter. Unlike her sister, Khaine couldn’t use magic to exit, and it was also somewhat symbolic for her to leave on foot. With a small scoff, she walked out from the house that had been her abode for the last few decades. She faced no resistance as she walked the tiled path towards the exit of the realm that housed the palace of the Heavenly Emperor, in fact, she met no one until the exit was already in sight. She wasn’t surprised to see an older man with gray in his hair standing by the exit, thoughtfully stroking his beard. Despite his age, the man had an aura of power around him that could not be dismissed, even with her strength, and he wore the golden phoenix robes that signified his station, even if most of his face was obscured by strings of beads hanging down from his headdress.

“Going so soon?” The man asked with a playful voice.

"It is time father," Khaine responded simply, mentally prepared to fight her way out if she had to. She wouldn't win very likely but was rather confident in her ability to escape. At least unless the man called for the imperial guard. Even then she had a good chance of leaving, although it would become much harder.

“She’s here then.” His words weren’t a question. “Ynnead has finally come home.”

"I will go to my daughter, father. No matter what you say. She needs to take His place, but until she's ready, she'll need protection." She stated firmly.

"Oh you'd be surprised, but I'm not going to stop you. You and Ynnead are both eligible to participate. In fact, with the situation being what it is, I welcome more of the blood, as it might become necessary. Most of you will fall during the fight I suspect.” Khaine could see the man looking into her eyes from between the beads, and in his eyes raged the flames of the most powerful phoenix in the universe. “In fact, I’m surprised you stayed as long as you did. You’ll note that I wasn’t forcing you to stay.”

“I didn’t want to give Hoeth and the others more reasons to go after her. While I might have been able to protect her by staying with her constantly, my presence would’ve only drawn more danger to her, and she needed room to grow.” Not that the soul she had chosen really needed much help.

The man seemed to either agree or not find her words consequential, as he moved right along. "She has returned to her old realm. You'll find that entering it might be harder than you thought. And daughter. Keep your eyes open for Eldrazor. Ynnead is far from the only soul with the potential to win. And some of the others have the advantage of time on her."

Khaine knew very well how dangerous Eldrazor could be. You didn’t become one of the Sins without some skill at least. Especially not that particular one…

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”This place is lovely. So peaceful and relaxing.” Hope commented while sitting on a rock in front of the tower and staring over the nature-filled plains. She could see a snow-capped mountain in the distance, and the sun was softly shining down on them.

“Makes sense when you think about it.” Valor agreed. “We are in the realm of a goddess of Mercy. From what I know, the divine realms reflect the god that created them. How could they not?”

“So, basically Wrath made this place? And this is supposed to reflect her?” Envy asked with a weirded-out expression. “That doesn’t sound right somehow.”

“I still have trouble believing she’s the Sacred Lady.” Valor admitted. “The Sacred Lady has always been portrayed as the paragon of virtue in all the legends. And while I would never speak ill of her, Wrath’s…well, Wrath.”

“She can be many things.” Hope smiled mysteriously. “She’s lived so long that she has been everything you can imagine and more. She’s been a monster and a paragon. A demon lord and a hero. A good friend and a bitter rival. Family and an enemy. There’s a reason she has the Name Karma.”

“From what I understand, no one has been able to take her place as the new Goddess of Mercy. That means she could probably take up the role again. Would be quite a power boost.” Valor pointe out. “Would make things easier for us, that’s for certain.”

“It’s not that simple though.” Karna’s voice came from behind them. She’d slept for two days straight, and the three others had been waiting for her to wake up. “You’re not wrong when you say I could do it, but things are never that simple.”

“Incompatible divinity?” Hope asked, knowing what the problem was.

“Not incompatible per se, as it’s still me, but it would be…limiting.” Karna shrugged.

“Sorry, a new reincarnator here. Incompatible divinity? What’s the problem exactly?” Valor lifted his hand up like a student in a classroom.

"Right. You probably wouldn't know. Godhood in this universe works a little differently, probably because it's a straight-up power boost instead of just being a separate source of power. When you gain a fragment of divinity in this universe, it will make you stronger and nurture it into a proper godhood with the associated benefits. The problem is that the further along you go in your godhood, the more the divinity imposes limits on you.” Karna explained.

Hope picked up the explanation. “The easiest way to think about it is that you have to act according to the tenets of your divinity, or you create discord with that divinity. That discord will make it so that the divinity no longer works properly for you. The more in harmony you are with your divinity, the more benefits you gain from it. A minor god acting in full harmony with their divinity might overpower a major god that is actively working against theirs.”

“So, a god of say…justice has to act in a just way or they create said discord?” Valor asked to make sure.

"In a nutshell. It's a little more complicated than that though. These things aren't usually simple yes or no kinds of choices. All your actions and behavior matter. Instead of a binary choice, it's more of a scale, where everything you do moves you towards harmony or discord. Heck, for some gods even their looks matter. Can't be the Goddess of Beauty without looking the part. Now, going against your tenets once or twice isn't too bad, unless you make some kind of heinous sin directly contrary to everything you stand for, and you have some leeway to interpret things, but it does put some restraints on what you do. For instance, when I was the Goddess of Mercy, the mercy of a quick death was a part of what I stood for, and one of my tenets was that being merciful to your enemies was to be cruel to those you love, but I was still expected to be self-sacrificing and generally peaceful. I might have been the most feared Goddess of Mercy in history, but mercy still isn’t the most flexible of concepts. In the current situation that can be a bit problematic. I’m not saying I won’t do it, but I’d rather not do it just yet.” Karna said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, I can see how that could be an issue.” Valor nodded, considering the implications.

"Now something to consider, is that the same holds true even when you only have a spark and you aren't a god yet. It's just less important. That's also why you shouldn't just accept any random spark you find. It's important to get one that you're compatible with. The best would be a naturally occurring one that you create for yourself, but those tend to be rare and only available when you become strong enough. We might not have the luxury of waiting that long.” That had been the reason why Karna had advised Arjuna against choosing the spark as a reward when one had been presented to them.

“How does one create a spark naturally?” Valor asked, leaning back against another stone.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's one of those things I haven't really studied because I don't spend a lot of time in this universe." Karna replied a bit apologetically.

"This is all very interesting, but I think there's an elephant in the room we need to address even more than this." Envy interjected. "And now that we're all awake, we might as well. You all read the decree. This thing turned into a big tournament. A tournament with only a single winner. There are four of us, and potentially even more allies. I'm all for working together to win, but only one of us can win. That poses a problem."

"Potentially. On the other hand, maybe not. There's no point in creating problems arguing about this when the whole thing might become moot later on. We could agree on one of us right now, and then that person might die before we win. If we win. Are we actually trying to win? Do we want the position? I kind of like things as they are." Hope wasn't in a rush to argue about the subject.

“She has a point. We might change our minds a hundred times between now and the potential victory.” Valor agreed.

"That's fine, but we need to address this eventually. At the very least we have to decide if we’re playing to win. If we’re not playing to win, then we shouldn’t play at all. Otherwise, we’re only setting ourselves up to lose.” Envy wasn’t quite as willing to let the topic go.

“I vote we go for it. Even if I have to do it alone, I’m going to aim for a win.” Karna suddenly declared.

Envy's head whipped around in surprise. She had not expected Wrath of all people to take such a hard stance on it. "That's unexpected." She voiced her surprise.

"It shouldn't be really. You know I've always been somewhat competitive. Besides, there are two very big reasons why I think at least one of us should take the position, even if it's not me. The first one is obvious. We know some of the others that are going to do their best to win. And in most cases, it would be horrible for us if they did. Can you imagine Pride winning?" Karna pointed out.

“That’s a good point. I can’t imagine Pride not taking advantage of the situation and having a bit of vengeance.” Envy grimaced, knowing exactly how much Pride hated them. For someone with the Name Pride, having that pride trodden on by someone superior was a big deal. Both her and Wrath had trodden on that pride several times. “Gluttony wouldn’t be much better, though Pride has a much higher chance of actually succeeding.”

"Let's be frank. Most of the reincarnators I know would be horrible choices. I assume it's the same for you." Valor concurred with the other two.

“What’s the other reason?” Hope looked at Wrath in concern. She had sensed something. Some kind of sadness in Wrath’s eyes when she’d mentioned two reasons.

Karna let out a long breath. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to mention this, but I might as well. There’s a very good chance that this is my last life.”

The three others stared at her for several seconds as if she was crazy. Envy suddenly stood up and gestured wildly while shouting her questions, “What?! How could that be?! What kind of crazy talk is that?! There’s a limit of some sort?!”

“That’s what the Head Judge at the River of Souls told me. Apparently, my soul has grown so much that it’s almost impossible to find a vessel for it anymore. My last life was as a dragon like the one you saw me transform into earlier, only bigger, and now I’m the daughter of royalty with potential the likes of which has likely never been seen before. Literally a daughter of heavens. The judge implied pretty heavily that once this life ended, it might be impossible to find another vessel to contain my soul. You know it’s not an accident or just my techniques that allows me to catch up to you in cultivation decades earlier and the thoroughness of my cultivation. I was given the best vessel available. There might not come another one, and even this one feels a little bit like I’m wearing clothes that are a size too small.” Karna explained patiently.

“That’s…!” Envy took a couple of steps back and forth, not really knowing which way to go, clearly agitated. “YOU SHOULD’VE TOLD ME EARLIER!” She shouted before storming off.

“Should we…?” Valor gestured towards the direction Envy had gone, suggesting they might want to follow.

“No. She needs some time.” Hope said, sounding a little choked herself.

“It seems I should leave you to deal with the news.” Karna smiled a little sadly before disappearing in a burst of flames.

Valor stared in the direction Envy had vanished to. “Is she…are the two of them…you know?” He asked carefully.

"I know what you are suggesting, but it's not quite that simple." Hope smiled a bit, tears now coming into her eyes. "What those two have can't be described with a simple word like love, or even rivalry. The same with me and Wrath. We've known each other for so many lifetimes. Some of them short, while some of them were long. Then we might not see each other for eons, but we always knew we'd run into each other again. The bonds that form on timescales like that are…complicated. For old ones like us, and doubly so for someone like Wrath who's positively ancient, just the knowledge that we will certainly see again, no matter how long it takes, is just something we take for granted. It's...comforting to have such established friends, lovers, family members, and so many more. We've been all of those to each other, and things you couldn't even imagine."

Hope gave a wan smile while thinking for the right words. “The kinds of bonds that beings like us form simply can’t be understood by others.” Her eyes returned to focus and looked towards the direction Envy had disappeared to as well. “For Envy, this is especially hard. Her existence is in many ways defined by Wrath. She was the original source of envy, and that which had driven Envy all this time. To suddenly hear that the eternal goal might not be there any longer is…hard.”

“Wrath is the originator for your Virtue as well.” Valor pointed out. “So, it can’t be much easier.”

"It's…not. However, we've always been close with Wrath. We're family in all senses of the word. She and Envy though…they've danced a weird dance with each other for longer than most reincarnators have existed. I don't think even they know what it is that's between them. You suggested love, and there's probably some of that, but I don't think that's the driving factor. It's complicated as I said." Hope went quiet again, trying to find the words.

“Something like a parent and child perhaps?” Valor suggested. “No, that doesn’t feel right.”

"True, but it might be part of it as well. I think Envy might have always sought Wrath's approval on some level, much like a child would seek from a parent. So, you’re not entirely wrong. But you’re once again trying to simplify it. You won’t truly understand until you experience it yourself. If you’re lucky enough to experience something like it.” Hope got up and dusted off the cloak she had been sitting on. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need some time to process as well.”