POV: Shin (Skeletal Deity of The Cycle)

My hands remained clasped in front of me as I casually looked around the table, only ever meeting Statera's eyes. Those eyes...I grinned inwardly at Statera's earlier display, remembering the way the being easily saw through all of our attempts to hide our own domains, and then completely baffled everyone but the Deity of Beauty with her own. Even now, as Statera struggled against her eyelids as they grew ever heavier, I was unable to sense what her domain was. It was vexing to say the least, but at least I was getting more and more on her personality. Statera had already fallen asleep a few times throughout the course of the meeting, hinting at a very short attention span.

Well, even I will admit that the information the Great One was giving didn't appear very interesting. There were small nuggets of information contained within, but I, for one, wasn't too interested. The Emperor, however, was, and was clearly showing off his leadership abilities as he directed the conversations and information given with only a few well-placed comments. He was in total control of the information given and received, and no matter how hard the others tried, he dominated the conversations.

Other than myself and Statera, everyone else appeared vested in the meeting. I, for one, much more enjoyed the chance to analyze my fellow Origin Deities' personalities rather than whatever information was being given. My "plus one," Ze, was handling that bit for me. As my personal assistant, she had access to information every other being in my universe did not...even knowing of my own existence. Most beings considered Ze to be the pinnacle being in my universe. It was quite fun blowing the minds of those who did manage to get powerful enough to learn of my existence, though that number only amounts to two, including Ze.

"Of course we should push further into the Void. Pushing the barrier further into the emptiness of the Void would give our universes more room to grow, and therefore speed up the process of being full-fledged universes." MR-10, the pyramid with a nasty attitude hidden beneath its monotone voice, droned. Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd, but I just frowned when I looked at Statera, who was likewise frowning and suddenly completely aware.

"That's stupid. The Void is...dangerous. Things...lurk in the Void, things capable of....death." The mortal behind Statera spoke, narrowing her eyes at the collection of deities. I, for one, was wholly unsurprised that Statera had brought a mortal to the meeting, sensing that the deity was as whimsical as she was mysterious. I wouldn't label her as powerful like the others do, however. To my senses she would probably rank in the middle of all the beings present, with the top spot going to the Emperor, surprisingly. It was just...every time I tried to look at her, I could only imagine a vast ocean...seemingly simple on the surface, but filled with uncountable mysteries beneath.

"You're just a mortal. We are origin deities. We are able to do things you mortals would never be able to dream of, much less be capable of. The Void poses no threat to us." Nyxteria deadpanned. Statera stood then, and all eyes fixated on her.

"No. I agree with her. While not a certainty, mortals do have a tendency to take after their deities...and that happens to include fears. What mortals fear is the unknown; what the unknown translates into for us origin deities is the Void." Statera said coolly.

"Hmph. There's nothing in the Void - it is, in the truest sense of the word, empty. There is nothing for us to fear from the Void." The Emperor said cockily. I couldn't say whether I agreed with him or not, after all I had never truly ventured out into the Void, and the Great One had hinted at dangers that lurked within the Void, but I wasn't too certain what could be lurking in the first place. It was a Void, as the name implied. What could lurk within that wasn't a deity? Statera sighed and stood up, slipping her left arm out of her purple robes, the fabric bunching up under her armpit and revealing her flawless skin.

Then, her arm began to disintegrate. Or, more accurately, the primordial chaos that made up her arm began to flow back into the six balls of condensed chaos that floated behind her.

"This injury has yet to heal after close to one and a half million years," Statera said, watching with very calm eyes as the rest of the primordial chaos vanished, "and was inflicted upon me by one of the beasts that lurks within the Void - a Paradox, a something made of nothing that was bent on wiping my universe off of the face of the cosmic map." The injury itself looked grievous. Almost her entire left arm was gone, the injury stopping just at her shoulder. Golden light gently glittered from where her arm ended, showing that it was slowly healing, while a thin line showed where the injury was previously. It looked as if a quarter of her left breast had been bit off.

Silence reigned, and Statera looked at everyone coolly, those eyes of hers now instilling her own emotions and thoughts into all who met her gaze. I couldn't help but grin inwardly at her, cackling to myself. "It was a freak accident of course," Statera continued, "a rogue spirit managed to find a way through the barrier by using an illusion from a recently destroyed universe. This, in turn, caused a Paradox to be born within the barrier itself. I didn't end up killing the beast, if such a thing is possible, only forcing it out of my universe at the cost of my left arm and a good chunk of the primordial chaos. Then the barrier managed to keep it out, and the Paradox faded back into the Void.

"I was lucky it was a young one, and not one of the ones that threatens to devour all the other universes within the multiverse. By my estimation, they grow bigger and stronger in response to the strength of what they devour or are trying to devour." Statera said, her arm re-forming as she slipped it back into her robes and sat back down. She didn't speak further, and the Great One filled the silence that followed.

Thank you, Statera. Though Paradoxes are not the worst of your worries, and you have a while yet before you truly need to begin worrying about them, it is always good to remain cautious. The position the barrier is in now is meant to minimize risk while maximizing growth potential. Now! Let us move on to the part that won't bore Statera and Shin; the rankings.

I stared at the box for a moment before nodding my head, acknowledging the silent dismissal of the previous conversation. The Great One obviously wanted to move on, but I also imagine there is only so much that can be spoken about while we are still so young. I clasped my hands on the table, idly looking around the room and noticing that the oni, Rising Wind, Crashing Waves, was staring at me in what I assumed was amusement before looking away, turning its attention to the ball of light that was now floating above the center of the table.

As I watched the ball of light as it shifted and swayed, I casually reached for the small cup of tea Statera had placed on the table, which was still perfectly warm. A small sip had me pleasantly surprised with the flavor - I wasn't one for teas, but this one was pleasing all the same. It shocked my body with a mixture of warming and comfortable energies, and I shot Statera a grateful glance. She just smiled, having caught my look out of the corner of her eyes, and continued watching the ball of light as it flattened out into a screen.

Rankings

The rankings of origin deities, at this early stage, are not only meant to inspire friendly competition between the twelve of you, but also aid in regards to how your universes are growing. It will tell you what you need to work on by comparing your universes to the others.

I nodded to myself, having heard this information from the Great One before, and then some. This...competition was actually relatively new in the cosmic scale of the multiverse, having only been implemented a couple dozen Greater Cycles ago, and had been met with instant success in regards to survival rate of the universes during the trial period. I'd been particularly interested in the purposes of these...meetings...and so made a point to inquire about them to great extents. It was a simple purpose these meet and greets served, but an important one.

First Ranking: Personal Power

1. Reilly

2. MR-10

3. The Emperor

4. Shin

5. Nyxteria Mahakali

6. The Progenitor

7. Yueya Oshun

8. Statera Luotian

9. Chun Nihaad Teva

10. Sylphina Luanhua

11. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves

Although personal power is important, remember that it is not all encompassing. This ranking is based off of power that can be used when cut off from all external sources, including boosts from prayers, like Rising Wind, Crashing Waves receives, and boosts from your respective universes, like Sylphina receives.

Silence reigned for a few moments before the Emperor stood up in shock.

"WHAT?!" He bellowed. "How could Statera Luotian be beneath me in terms of power?! And how could Reilly trump me?!" He roared. I stared at him in amusement, and I saw a few others giving him the same look. Though I was surprised at the fact that Reilly and MR-10 evaded my assessment of their power, I didn't let it show on my face. Statera, on the other hand, looked mildly confused.

"I've just been getting rather lucky lately, that's all." Reilly explained with a chuckle.

"But that doesn't explain Statera. Is it just a quirk of hers to be able to see through us like she does, or what?" Sylphina, the butterfly, asked with a rumble.

"I believe, that is part of it," The Progenitor said slowly, looking at Statera, "but also not. Yes, her eyes are some of the reason she can do what she does, but it is also because in terms of enlightenment she is second only to myself." I raised my eyebrows a bit, more at the Progenitor losing its speech pattern for the longer sentence than at its revelation. Statera obviously had more experience than any of us combined if her posture was anything to go by, so it only makes sense that her enlightenment would be deep.

That is indeed correct. In terms of enlightenment, Statera is just a tiny bit behind The Progenitor...though that is due to many events that have passed in her universe limiting some of her growth more than anything else. While enlightenment does increase one's personal power, it does not do so to a great extent. Instead it deepens that power, gives it more uses and makes you able more effectively and efficiently use that power. In regards to enlightenment, Reilly is actually ninth on the scale.

I hummed and nodded. That made sense, but it made me wonder why the Great One didn't take that into account when measuring personal power. Hmm...it was probably because it was another source of "power" altogether. If the personal power was like a martial art, a fighting style, then enlightenment was the experience. No matter how much one trains, all that training will be useless in the face of one who is experienced.

Second Ranking: Universe Size and Density

Size:

1. Sylphina Luanhua

2. Yueya Oshun

3. Nyxteria Mahakali

4. Reilly

5. Chun Nihaad Teva

6. The Emperor

7. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves

8. MR-10

9. The Progenitor

10. Shin

11. Statera Luotian

Density:

1. Statera Luotian

2. Shin

3. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves

4. Reilly

5. MR-10

6. Sylphina Luanhua

7. Chun Nihaad Teva

8. Nyxteria Mahakali

9. The Emperor

10. The Progenitor

11. Yueya Oshun

Size indicates the true, physical size of your respective universes, and how much space they take up in the spiritual sense. Density indicates how effectively you utilize that space, as well as the populations of deities, angels, kami, immortals, and all the other forms of ascended beings and their combined strength in relation to your universe's size. Mortals, spirits, and dark spirits were also taken into account. Dark spirits effected density negatively, based on how controlled their situation is.

Statera's frown couldn't be any harder, and if I was reading The Progenitor right, he wasn't very happy either. Everyone but myself and Reilly were blinking in surprise at the varied results...though I had expected mine. My universe definitely needed to grow larger to accomodate the growing populations of mortals and powerful spiritual beings. Statera's was the most obviously skewed, however, with Yueya Oshun being a close second. I was actually surprised by how...opposing theirs were.

I watched in interest as Statera's mortal friend tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear, a wide grin slowly splitting the origin deity's face as she listened. Surprisingly I couldn't hear the conversation, though if the slight fluctuations of Statera's power were anything to go by, that was an intentional effect.

"Care to share with the class?" Nyxteria crowed, the great bird's star-covered feathers glittering with each word. It was agitated, and seemed to be easily riled. Statera looked up sharply and shrugged noncommittally.

"Not particularly." Statera said with an amused glimmer in her eyes.

"Why not?" Sylphina questioned from her perch atop her flower.

"Well, most of it is a fix for my problem. Too many powerful beings in too small a space. I've known that my universe was out of whack for a long time now, but haven't been able to fix it. Since coming to this meeting my friend here has come up with a few solutions to it...one of which includes asking you all for guidance." Statera explained, and I blinked in surprise. "Remember, this is a competition...but you automatically fail if your universe collapses, which is a very big possibility if we don't balance the density and size of our universes properly. In this case, the size of my universe needs to grow to match the density. It'd actually be safer if my universe was closer to the middle in terms of density." Statera explained. A...mortal came up with that? I hadn't even thought of it that way.

"Asking us for guidance?" The Emperor asked incredulously.

"This guidance wouldn't be free." Sylphina observed quietly. Statera snorted in amusement.

"Of course not. Based on the data shown so far, and from what I've observed, the only two I would ask for guidance in regards to my problem would be either Sylphina or Yueya," Statera explained, nodding to each of the deities in turn. "Sylphina is far more balance than any of ours, so I doubt she would take my advice seriously, however Yueya has my exact problem, only flipped. So I would most likely ask her for help, while simultaneously helping her to increase the number of Ascendant beings within hers." Statera said with a small smile.

"I thought you didn't want to share with the...ah, class?" Teva joked after a brief moment of contemplative silence, the stag's eyes glimmering in amusement. Statera chuckled and shrugged lightly.

"I didn't, but I changed my mind. You would've figured it out sometime during this meeting, but there wasn't any harm in telling you now." Statera replied smoothly, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied smile. My metaphorical brows furrowed as I analyzed Statera's statement. Objectively speaking it was a very simple statement, but taking in the way she said it, with all its subtle nuances and the body language she displayed (Statera struck me as a relatively open being, so I took her body language at face value...unlike The Emperor or Rising Wind) told me that there was a deeper meaning. I hummed inwardly and furiously analyzed it all, swiftly coming to a conclusion.

Statera had truly meant it when she said "there wasn't any harm." She had taken that into account; whether coming to the conclusion she did on our own would have been more beneficial than when she told us. I hummed lightly and looked at Statera in a new light, smiling lightly as I presumed my assessment of her personality was correct. All deities were loving and kind, it was a prerequisite of the job, but there were, obviously, differences. Why, one of the deities I previously served under was an fierce bastard whose first emotion was anger and go-to problem solver was a hammer. Doesn't mean he loved any less, but he was...volatile.

Statera was refreshing almost. Obviously she shared the same goals as all beings in her position - namely encouraging growth in a number of ways - but she seemed to also extend that goal to all around her. It simply reminded me of the vast differences that could lay between those with similar goals. I smiled.

"Are you quite finished?" I intoned dryly, speaking up for the first time since this meeting started and halting the small arguments were beginning to pop up. "Or are you willing to resume the analyzing of our respective abilities and realms?" The deities swiftly shut up and had the sense to look ashamed, to which I leaned back and smiled to myself. Truly, this was very much fun.