Quetzalcoatl’s arrival was anti-climactic. There were no flashes of lightning, no roaring of thunder to herald his arrival. The veil between this world and the heavenly parted, and he stepped through.

The reaction to his people was predictable. Every Aztec immediately fell to their knees, kowtowing. Most reacted with fear. A few of the priests did respond with religious fervor. The High Priest was the only person not to abase himself, yet even he lowered his head and knelt on one knee with reverence.

“What is a godling of the Tuatha de Danann doing here? Why are you sacrificing and offering the essence of Asgardian godlings to the Aztec Pantheon?” Quetzalcoatl’s voice whispered his words sibilantly. The hissing of the snake and serpent was a reflection of his form and was the reason he punctuated each word with that sibilant hiss.

Quetzalcoatl wasn’t as large as he could be. He had decided to manifest himself at half the height of his people. He had taken the form of a feathered serpent with wings of gold and vermilion. His appearance reminded me of one of the small fire lizards found in the fictional world of Pern. His size and appearance were misleading, he might appear harmless, even cute, but I would have to be an idiot to believe that.

His [Domain] belied his appearance. It was oppressive, erupting in tidal fury from him. Each release of his [Domain] clashed with my own, forcing me to exert my entire will as I stood in the eye of a hurricane powered by his Divine countenance.

Quetzalcoatl was the God of winds and rain, the creator of the world and humanity. He was an [SSS Rank] God on the same level as Odin, Shiva, or Ra. The feathered serpent God was known as the patron of priests and merchants as well as the God of learning, science, agriculture, craft, and the arts.

His [Domain] gave him dominion and influence over aspects of reality that mirrored Zeus, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Demeter, and Apollo. His power was formidable, and the aura he exuded was oppressive.

Yet, I managed to withstand that pressure and remain standing.

Quetzalcoatl had referred to me as a godling. His label of my rank was not a mistake, nor a dismissal of my power level, even though the System and my Pantheon consider me a Demi-god. I would have to check my stats when I stepped into my [Ring of Hidden Depths] next and had access to the System again, but I believed identifying me as a godling meant I had passed the barrier between Demi-god and a [Rank S-] God.

“I come with a warning, an offer, and an opportunity,” I replied, the High Priest looking up at me in amazement at my ability to answer without any seeming difficulty. His shock might have been because I spoke their language fluently, as much as because I was not affected by Quetzalcoatl’s divine presence.

“The leyline barrier that is protecting your people from the other continents is going to fail soon. I believe that the trigger that will precede that event is when Mount Vesuvius erupts. That eruption will be so powerful that it will sink Atlantis and shift the oceanic leylines enough that the barrier will fail.

“It will take time, centuries even before humanity on the other side of the globe are technologically advanced enough to cross the ocean, but they will. And when they do, they will bring death to the natives of this continent.

“Weapons the likes you have never seen. They will bring a disease that is so virulent that only one in ten people will survive. They will make war against your people, loot your treasures, and steal your land.

“They will become a swarm of locusts. An invasive species that cannot be ignored only endured,” I finished, my prediction a warning based on the history of Earth.

“How can you know this?” Quetzalcoatl demanded. “I have seen no evidence of such events; there have been no portents that even hint to such a catastrophe.”

“The Tuatha de Danann are unique among the Gods. You know this. We don’t splinter into Avatars, clones of ourselves seeded to rule across the multi-verse as the Pantheons of other Gods do. The future I foretell has already happened in the world where I originated. I speak [Truth] as only a Demi-god embraced by the Tuatha de Danann can.

“Your people, your civilization will fall. But the armies of Man have made a mistake, and there are wefts to the weave of time that can change what might be. They have attacked the Sidhe of this world, a race of people that did not exist in my world.

“In their bloodlust and xenophobia, they have moved to eradicate my people. This war of eradication is a warning of what will come. They would see us extinct. They would see all the magical races extinct. And once that is accomplished, they would see those who worship differently, have a different skin color, or have the slightest deviation beyond what they consider normal and acceptable become extinct.

“My arrival has changed the course of history in a world that would see the Sidhe extinct. [Fairy] has returned. [The Wild Magic] stirs again. Our magic has returned. And most importantly, the Summerlands are open once more, and the demi-fey prosper.

“The Sidhe have a chance now. I have established colonies in this half of the globe, out of the way Sitherns that are so remote, so inhospitable to man, that no one will ever contend for that land.

“To do so, I needed to breach the leyline barrier that protected this continent—a breach made possible with the return of magic and my knowledge of [Fairy]. I can offer you the same method to move across the barrier.

“I can offer you a way to fire the first salvo, to protect your people from the armies of Man that, like the tide, is inevitable. They will come, but you can act first.

“You would have my people invade? War against Olympus, Asgard, Hindu, and Egyptian Pantheons?” He asked, pondering the opportunity and if that opportunity stood a chance of success.

“Not exactly,” I answered. “I would have you demand a Conclave of Gods. Gather the Pantheons of every God and create a Senate. A governing body that hosts every God, one where a quorum of Gods is required for any substantive shift in policy and politics for the people of Urt. A body of [Authority] that can police the actions of God and mortal alike.”

Quetzalcoatl froze in thought. The beating of his wings stilled, and if he had been an actual flying beast, he would have fallen as gravity asserted itself. But he was a God, and for that moment in time, as he considered my words, the rules of gravity, time, and reality were ignored.

He focused his entire intellect, divinity, and Domain on my suggestion and what it would mean for the world writ large if a consortium of Gods from every Pantheon was required to reach a quorum.

I had considered making this offer to Coyote, but I didn’t trust the trickster enough not to shape my suggestion into something that would serve him and the people at the expense of everyone else. I believed Quetzalcoatl would see the futility of shaping a Senate that could be corrupted or biased to support one Pantheon over another.

“This idea of a Senate, the ability to traverse the barrier, comes with warning and opportunity. What is it that you offer for your help? And what is it you hope to gain from the Aztec people and Gods?”

“I offer you the secret to the technology that will be developed, the secret to the creation of Huo Yao, flaming medicine. It will change the landscape of war, and the people that master the secrets of this alchemical process will become masters of war.

“In addition, I will give you the secret of vaccination, a tool of medicine that will protect your people from the disease and pestilence those on the other side of the world would spread.

“In exchange, I need you to keep Odin and Zeus occupied. Keep them focused on the establishment of this Senate of Gods while I complete a quest that will change the future of the entire multi-verse.

“A future in which Odin and Zeus kill and absorb the Divine [Domains] and [Mandates] of every other God in existence until they are the only two left to contend for dominion of existence.”