— Sean —
"Oh, poor girl…" Didi sighed upon hearing of Marika's initial shenanigans with Destined Death. It was a sympathetic sigh, but far from an approving one. "That's a terrible trap to fall into, especially in one's first days of godhood."
"Actually, I wouldn't be so quick to judge, my Death," I said, defending Marika. "Not when you don't know the full story. Destined Death was… not as it sounds."
To illustrate my point, I brought an illusion to life between my hands, showing the Rune of Destined Death as it was known by the Lands Between. Black and red and purple, it was a cross, with the horizontal bar curved downward. And immediately upon seeing it, those with a feel for such things frowned as one.
"That-…" Hades hesitated.
"That is no mere Death," Destruction said. "That is-…"
"Oblivion," Didi finished for him. "You're right, Sean. I shouldn't be so quick to judge. That Death is… too complete. Mind and body and soul — it is an End, to be certain, but one without any chance of beginning again. No cycle, no eternal rest, no peace or balance to be found. Just… Complete. And utter. Oblivion…"
"Sooooo~… Girlboss is beating the allegations~?" Harley asked with a grin.
"She may just be," Didi nodded. "I certainly wouldn't stomach that rune in my vision of Order. Then again, the solution can't be so simple and unnuanced as completely cutting out Death."
"It was and it wasn't," I waved my hand so-so. "Never let it be said that Marika was a woman without any flaws. But she was trying to change things for the better in her own poorly thought-out, consequential way.
"When she reforged her Elden Ring without Destined Death, her Golden Order was truly established. But man and beast and even divine could still die. Technically. They simply did so at the Erdtree's will. Death was no longer 'Destined' for all. Old age vanished before golden Grace, yet violence always remained. A mortal man wouldn't simply die when his time came. Not unless called to rejoin the Erdtree, still born from the Crucible, still the melting pot of Life itself, even if the Erdtree had evolved beyond 'mere' Crucible in the eyes of many.
"Yet, at the same time, those blessed with an abundance of Grace by Marika and her Erdtree were essentially immortal. The Erdtree wouldn't call them back, for they were too blessed, too full of Grace. Marika's most important motivation for removing the Rune of Destined Death was so her children and her chosen couldn't fall into its embrace without a fight, and so she couldn't be so easily replaced by the Greater Will."
Lucifer nodded along with the reasoning, no stranger to going against the 'natural order', "Because this Greater Will cared not for which Order ruled, just that there was Order."
"Precisely," I confirmed.
"Supreme beings are not for us to understand. It is why we cultivators must defy the Heavens and break fate with our own hands," Su Xing mused before flinching. "Err… No offense meant, Stepmother."
"No, no, dear child," Didi chuckled and soothed. "Your philosophy is as valid as any other. Besides, I might be supreme in my domain, but I have six equally Endless siblings. None of us are supreme over all."
"You'd be thinking of the Presence," Delirium nodded and bobbed and wiggled in her seat. "Even for me, madness lies that way~…"
"Ah, dear old dad…" Lucifer sighed. "The Existential Cunt. The Bastard Supreme. There's a reason the peak of existence stands alone."
"I am marrying into a truly terrifying and frankly fascinating family…" Dai Wei muttered to herself. Still, that fact seemed to make her look at my son even more fondly.
"I'd say you get used to it…" Alice deadpanned. "But you absolutely don't."
Dai Wei nodded in complete acceptance, "Then, I shall be relying on you, Future Senior Sister."
Alice flinched at the responsibility but still found reason to preen, "Senior, eh~? I do like the sound of that. About time I got some proper respect around here."
Didi lovingly rolled her eyes at our daughter's antics and brought the conversation back to Marika, "I can't say I approve of her actions… But I don't think I disapprove either. Even Death can be taken too far. It sounds like the Lands Between suffered under threat of Oblivion, rather than the embrace of true Death."
"It's still a rather extreme course of action," Destruction pointed out.
"It's an extreme situation she was put in," Didi shrugged. "Elevated to godhood and puppeted by that Elden Beast, if not the Greater Will itself."
I nodded my agreement, "Then comes the knowledge that you're just one more iteration of Order. The knowledge that your divine salvation, your own godhood, is inherently temporary. The knowledge that all you build is destined to fade with the ages, as so many others have realized… Except you… You can do something about that reality, can't you? While you still hold godhood in your breast? It might cost you everything, yet… it might just win you the same…"
Marika appeared in the mirror behind me, her visage shining with all of its golden tragedy. Blonde, statuesque, divine… She was glorious. She was doomed from the start. And still, she found it in herself to resist a supreme Greater Will.
"… I mean, when you put it like that, I totally get it," Ivy admitted after a moment of stunned silence.
"It's the only way," Savage nodded, quickly growing impassioned by the subject. "Strive! Strive against the coming night! Stand! Stand against your callous masters! Struggle to the last! Struggle against all that would see you forgotten and replaced and broken!"
"It's kind of beautiful, and so very human, when you put it like that," Destruction said.
"Yet not perfect," I agreed. "Never perfect. Marika was mortal once. And to her very end, thousands of years later, that core of truth remained. It was trampled upon. Controlled. Her position was threatened and made insignificant by cosmic wills, even as she reigned eternal. But I like to believe that a part of Marika never forgot her terrible, tortured origins. And that it was her desire to never return to them that drove her most extreme actions."
"How was poor Marika made so brutally aware of her replaceable reality?" Aphrodite asked.
"Well, that…" I laughed sheepishly. "Is something of a tale in itself. And part of the blame may just fall on me. Or at least, I was responsible for the one who was responsible…"
"How so, Father…?" Su Chen asked softly.
"Remember that god-slaying apostasy I mentioned?" I explained. "That was what awakened Marika to the true nature of things. It was a rival to her Order, led by a second Empyrean to boot. A Gloam-Eyed Queen… And she… She was my daughter. Mine… and Marika's."
Didi, expectedly perked up at that information, "More stepchildren~?"
"I'm not even a little bit surprised," Alice scoffed.
"Golden baby momma goddess~… Getto~!" Harley grinned.
"… We have more siblings?" Su Chen asked.
I laughed at that question, "More than I can reasonably list, spread across 69 lives. I, uh… got around."
"As Alice said," Jason deadpanned. "Not even a little bit surprising."
"Any other not-surprise kids we should know about from this life?" Ivy asked.
I shook my head, "Melina was the only child I bore on Marika. After she ascended to godhood, but before she truly established her Order and Age of Plenty. Marika's three eldest demigod children were sired by three different men, three she thought could become her Elden Lord. Melina by me, Godwyn by her first Lord, Godfrey, and Messmer by her last, Radagon. Godwyn and Godfrey, Messmer and Radagon… well, we'll get into them at some point here…"
Aphrodite sighed fondly, "Ah, there's nothing quite like spreading love~…"
"If that's your criteria, I could've been your champion, too," I teased.
Aphrodite smirked, "A goddess should have her pick, no~?"
"Denied!" Didi immediately held up her hands in an 'X'.
"Of course, my Death," I soothed with a smirk. "I wouldn't have anyone else. No matter how hard Desire and her disciples might try, they'll never pull me from your side."
"So," Diana pulled the conversation back on track. "Gloam-Eyed Queen? She was an Empyrean, a potential successor to her mother? How did that relationship turn into a god-slaying apostasy?"
"Indeed, our daughter was so chosen," I confirmed. "Melina, Gloam-Eyed Queen. Melina, Empyrean. Melina… Vessel of Destined Death…"
"Oh, poor girl," Didi sighed. "Expected, of course, that your daughter would have deep ties to Death, Sean, but still unfortunate."
"Her age would've been a dark mirror to Marika's Age of Plenty. Death to follow Life," I continued. "She wielded the Black Flame of Death, of Oblivion, that could burn even divinity to ash. As she gathered support, however, things quickly spiraled out of Melina's control. She crafted her own followers, swaddling them in the skins of gods. But they were feverish. Fanatic. As were Melina's mortal followers. They aimed for anyone even remotely connected to godhood. Anyone, anything at all, the cultists would slay the gods…"
I showed a representation of the god-slaying apostasy in the mirror then. Melina stood on one side, wreathed in Black Flame and staring with dark eyes. And Marika stood on the other, wreathed in gold and silhouetted before an impossible golden tree. Mother and daughter, Death… and Life… pitted against each other by the Greater Will's all-consuming cosmic need for Order.
"At the end of the apostasy," I said. "Marika could only have our daughter put to the sword by her bound beast, Maliketh. She didn't kill her, however, not fully. Melina, dear Melina, lived on in spirit, confined within the Erdtree where both Marika and I made a habit of visiting often."
"It was… a tense family dynamic," I chuckled. "But still far from the worst I've been a part of."
"That…" Savage, of all people, hesitated. "Yes, I think that would lead me to overthrow the Order of things, too."
"Soooooo~ not cool~," Delirium nodded in an unknowable rhythm. "The Greater Will's kinda a cunt for setting a mother and daughter against each other~…"
"Melina still had a purpose and place in Marika's Order, her plans," I assured. "One that would inevitably come to be. Awakened to the callous Greater Will, Marika began setting… contingencies in place. And Melina was chief among them. Thousands of years later, Melina would fulfill her burning purpose of Death, the final strokes of Marika's Ordered prison…"
"Yeah, but she shouldn't have had to…" Persephone grumbled.
"I agree," Hades nodded along with his wife. "This Greater Will and its Elden Beast are cruel, cruel masters, indeed."
"To their machinations, perhaps Oblivion is not such an overreaction," Didi considered.
"It was certainly preferable for Marika in the end," I gave a sad smile. "… But I'm getting ahead of myself.
"Melina's apostasy and the sealing of Destined Death were the beginning of Marika's Golden Order, but it was far from the beginning of her reign. Before that, she had to fight to establish the Era of the Erdtree. And she did so with a great warrior by her side. Godfrey, first of Marika's Elden Lords. Godfrey, the Elden Chad."
"Oho~?" Savage perked up at the sound of that. He perked up even further when I recreated Godfrey in his prime in the mirror behind the bar. "OHO~!"
The monster of a man, of a demigod, stood victorious with a spirit-bound lion-beast clinging to his back. More than 10 feet of hulking, shredded muscle. A great axe of brutal steel as tall as himself. Godfrey was the living embodiment of strength, and under his former name, the living embodiment of savagery, too.
"If Marika was the goddess chosen for the Erdtree, Godfrey — formerly Hoarah Loux — was the ultimate champion to win the Crucible that came before," I said. "He was a man of such might that if Marika hadn't chosen him for her first Elden Lord, he could've very well taken the spot by himself."
Needless to say, the massive, half-bestial, half-lordly demigod was an instant hit in the bar.
"Fuck yeah!" Harley cheered.
"Dude's wearing a lion as a cape!" Alice exclaimed.
"I do not say this lightly," Diana nodded solemnly. "But… would."
"The axe is of surprisingly good craftsmanship," Hephaestus noted.
"I do not think I would stand a single chance in any of the Heavens," Su Xing admitted. "He looks like a truly terrifying and overpowering opponent."
"Worry not, Betrothed," Dai Wei said. "You wouldn't have to fight him. Future Sister and I would slip paper knives into his back and poisonous potions into his meals long before it came to that."
"Aww~…" Aphrodite cooed over that. "Isn't that the sweetest form of Love~?"
Largely, everyone rolled their eyes back at her. Su Xing, of course, looked like he could suddenly cook an egg on his forehead. I gave him an approving nod that only made his blush worse.
"Regardless, THAT is a warrior worthy of a goddess!" Savage declared.
"And the fact that he was willing to fight in a goddess's name already puts him leagues ahead of… Hercules…" Diana hissed the last word.
"He was that," I agreed. "So long as he was fighting, conquering, he was happy. He had purpose. And fortunately, there was plenty of warrior's work to be done in the beginning. All stood in opposition to the Erdtree. Everything it claimed was won through might and spilled blood, with Godfrey often at the conquest's head."
I let the mirror show Godfrey's conquests then. The demigod carved through champions like butter. He sundered summoned spirits. He broke beasts. He massacred men on battlefields across the Lands Between.
"In a land of constant storms, the Storm Hawk King fell to Lord Godfrey," I narrated. "He raised a great castle in its place to help himself conquer the rest of the southern lands. Then, he turned his sights to the recently established Castle Morne, from which an old foe challenged him."
In the mirror, storms raged. A hawk godbeast cried its royal call from within them. From the ground, Godfrey cried right back, shouting his battle cry so that it forced even the winds into submission. Freeing sky met brutal conqueror in a battle that mirrored the storms around. And when the Storm Hawk King fell, Godfrey paid the proper respects for a battle of Crucible competition before taking the hawk's throne.
Armies of men were his next enemy. Landing from beyond the Lands Between, they raised a castle, named Morne, to rival Godfrey's new Stormveil. A man dedicated to revenge led them. His sword was a melted monstrosity of symbolism and grief, all the remaining swords of his annihilated clan made into one. Godfrey's overwhelming might still stomped the man's dreams of revenge into dust.
Hades chuffed, "What an utter menace."
"Bruu~taaalll~!" Delirium whistled.
"To fight with him or fight against him…" Savage sounded comically confused and torn by the choice, like a kid made to choose between a puppy and a kitten. "I-I… I can't decide…"
Diana nodded in similarly comical understanding, "'Tis always the case with heroes and champions, is it not?"
I rolled my eyes at them, but continued, "Godfrey's time as Elden Lord was a time of war, of conquest, of securing the foundations of Marika's reign with bodies as the bricks and blood as the mortar.
"After the southern lands, he turned his conquering eyes north. First to the Fire Giants, for their Fell Flame God could directly threaten the Erdtree. I participated in this war, actually. It was… brutal. It was always going to be when the average soldier could only scratch the enemy's toe. Still, we had champions and fervor and the Grace of the Erdtree on our side. We fought, we bled, but we prevailed."
"Oho~? Are we finally going to get a glimpse of you in this life, Sean?" Lucifer asked with a grin.
"You just might," I replied, chuckling and urging the mirror to follow my lead.
"In that life," I said. "I was one of Marika's Numen. But we maintained a different cultural origin from hers. We were Nox, Numen who revered the night and the stars. And this was well before our fall…"
"Ominous, Future Father," Dai Wei noted. "Your people were doomed to fall?"
I just nodded, "Eventually, the Nox would engage in heresy of the highest order. My people would attempt to buck the Order of things, more against the Greater Will than Marika. Marika was Numen, after all, just like us. But that didn't stop some of us from slaughtering a divine vessel down the line. It was that high treason that would eventually see my people exiled underground, cursed to live under a false night's sky and degenerate in forgotten Eternal Cities…
"But at the time of the war with the Fire Giants… we were loved. We were valued. We were Marika's people. And I was the one to lead our Nox Numen into war against the Erdtree's most dangerous foe, those Giants' Fell Flame God."
The past iteration of me stood at the fore of a great army of Nox Numen. Then, our skins were untouched by the darkness that would eventually come to taint us from being exiled underground. That version of me — Sean Caine of the Nox, of the Lands Between — had my silver hair and golden Grace in my eyes. I wore black plate armor with a silver sword to match. And alchemical quicksilver answered my every call.
"Sword sorcerer?" Hecate asked.
"Sword alchemist," I corrected. "The Nox were innovators, advanced even in our downfall. Our greatest innovations were ones of silver. Pale ghost flames. Pearly spiritual puppets. Quicksilver weapons that shifted at the wielder's whims. Even artificial life — some born of platinum and cursed by all, others born of flowing silver, mimicking everything in their path.
"We Nox made our kin. The Albanurics. The Silver Tears. The Failed and Monstrous Dragonkin. Yet that was also where the shunning began. Artificial life, not born of the Erdtree? Perish the thought! Our silver children were looked down upon and much, much worse…"
Destruction nodded, "Alchemy is an art as blessed as it is cursed."
"It certainly is," I sighed. "I did what I could for the Nox's silver children while I was Elden Lord. The Albanurics in particular. They were loathed, with little good reason for it other than their nature. But in the end, the Nox Heresy would mar my efforts…"
"It's a bit hard to stand up for your people when they make themselves enemies of Order," Maz pointed out dryly.
"True, very true…" I shook my head, "I'm getting ahead of myself again. During the war with the Fire Giants, I earned glory and renown. All on the back of my people's silver. And when the last Fire Giant was confined to merely tending the embers of their ruinous eternal flame and the Erdtree's Age officially began, I continued to fight by Godfrey and Marika's side."
The mirror showed scenes from that war. Fire Giants to rival skyscrapers, falling one by one atop snowy mountain peaks. Champions of Gold, giving all they had against their goddess's foe. And my silver Nox, holding the line with all of our innovations.
Morphing Silver Tears mimicked Giants and Trolls to give us living bulwarks. Nox Swordstresses flowed in battle like liquid metal. The Sean from that life stabbed his sword deep into flaming flesh until alchemical quicksilver reached fiery veins. Then, we watched me leap onto the next Giant with a whole new sword already forming in my hands. Eventually, the Fire Giant War faded and only one power in the Lands Between remained to challenge Marika's Golden Order…
"Finally," I began. "Godfrey led us into Liurnia of the Lakes, home of the Academy of Raya Lucaria and the Carian Royals. They held to sword and sorcery there, and venerated the Moon and the Stars. My people were sympathetic to others who revered the night's sky. Being forced to fight them must've been another step towards heresy in the eyes of many…
"Two wars were fought there. Both times, the Carians, their knights, and their sorcerers held the line. Radagon emerged in these wars as a Champion of Gold. And when peace was finally won, he married into the Carian Royal Family to bring Liurnia into Marika's fold."
"These are significant conquests," Savage noted with a familiar eye. "How long did they take? A lifetime? Two? Does the metric even apply to a land that has sealed death by old age?"
"A few hundred years, maybe?" I shrugged. "Lifespans were wonky in the Lands Between, even before Marika sealed Destined Death. Enough runes could make any mortal last a millennium or two. Most, of course, still lived and aged and died, but those powerful few…? Well, they were often there to stay."
"Much like the past Ages of Legend, then," Savage nodded in understanding.
"I don't miss those times," Hades said. "Delaying death for mortals always leads to so, so much paperwork…"
"Damned heroes keeping you away from our marriage bed," Persephone scowled.
"You could always help him work those late decades~…" Aphrodite teased and hinted with wiggling eyebrows. "Under his deathly desk, perhaps~?"
Persephone honestly considered the suggestion, "… Hmm. Maybe those damned heroes are good for something after all…"
Hades was quick to nod along, "I see this as an absolute win. Only if you feel up for it, Springtime, but I would welcome you keeping me company while I pull underworld overtime."
She leaned over to kiss his cheek, "For my hardworking lord of the afterlife, it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice."
"Dude," Harley pouted. "Why is it that the couples associated with Death are always the sweetest ones around?"
"Must be something in the River Styx," Aphrodite tittered.
"Please don't give Mom and Dad any ideas," Alice pleaded.
"… I don't think they need them, Stepsister," Su Chen gave a little, teasing smile.
"Gag," Alice rolled her eyes. "So, Dad, that's all of the Lands Between nice and conquered, right? What next?"
"Next…" I said. "Godfrey lost much of his purpose. He was a man of war, a demigod of war… Without it, he was lost. His son, Godwyn, was taking up much of the Elden Lord's other mantles and duties by then, too. And so, the light of Grace in Godfrey's eyes faded. He and his warriors were dubbed Tarnished and politely invited to leave the Lands Between to continue fighting on distant shores."
"Politely," Two-Face snorted. "Sure."
"It actually was kind of polite," I chuckled. "Marika would have a use for them again eventually, but then, her Order needed something different. The Erdtree's conquests had all been won. Now, she didn't need warriors, she needed someone to hold those victories together, someone to bind them… with a silver fist."
"Marriage time~!" Didi excitedly clapped. "Did the two of you love each other, Sean? And the wedding! How was the wedding? Was little Melina made the flower girl?"
"Were you wed in front of the living embodiment of her Order, with invitations sent to all of the Outer Gods~?" Delirium chimed in.
"Oh, and the bedding!" Aphrodite couldn't resist, either. "You simply must tell us about bedding this golden goddess of yours!"
"In order," I chuckled. "I think we did love each other, but it was nothing compared to what we have, my Death. The wedding was… something of a spontaneous affair, with Marika all but eloping with me into the Erdtree so that, yes, Melina could witness our union. She could not, however, be the flower girl. I heavily resisted being anywhere near the Elden Beast and inviting the Outer Gods would've been ill-advised."
"And for the bedding…" I smirked. "I showed Marika why silver is always mentioned right alongside gold. I showed her that I could and would get her to stop thinking, worrying, scheming over her divine troubles, if only for a time. I showed her that the Elden Beast was far from the only 'divine beast' worth her time… I firmly staked my claim on her Elden Womb, even if Melina was our only child."
Throughout my audience, men and women alike nodded in satisfaction.
"Nice."
"Nice~…" Harley and Ivy were of the same mind.
Hephaestus grunted, "Sometimes, even gods need a good fuck."
Aphrodite outright laughed at her husband, "Sometimes? I would say 'often'!"
"I do hope the Father's skills pass down to the Son…" Dai Wei mused.
Su Xing sat up straight in his seat, "…! I shall strive to never disappoint, my Silver-Tongued Darkness!"
"Have I ever mind-broken a goddess…?" Savage wondered aloud. "Oh, this just cannot stand!"
Aphrodite was quick to offer her assistance, "I'll put you in touch with Hestia."
"Gaia knows she deserves a good fucking and so much more for what she puts up with," Persephone giggled.
Chuckling, I continued, "It was a carnal battle for the ages, lasting five days and five nights that first time. The Erdtree shook from branch to root. Grace all across the realm quivered. And when it was over, the Golden Order knew it had a new Lord. Godfrey was Marika's first Elden Lord. Radagon was (quite literally) her other half. But me? I was her Consors Imperator."
"Consors Imperator?" Lucifer raised an amused eyebrow. "An interesting choice of title."
"It was only fitting," I explained. "For the one who would hold, consolidate, and forge an empire from all the Erdtree had won."
"Fuck yeah! Empire-building!" Harley cheered. "We love some good empire-building!"
Hephaestus grumbled, "I'm willing to overlook the use of that damned fucking Latin for the sake of empire-building."
"You must've had your work cut out for you, Father," Su Xing said. "But I am looking forward to hearing the strategies you undertook. They will undoubtedly be exceedingly helpful during and after my own conquest."
"Well," I smirked. "Godfrey had his wars. Radagon had his children. And I had my reforms. I did everything I could to keep the heart of Marika's won domain beating strong. I swayed the people. I politicked with the nobles. And when needed, I ran roughshod over schemes and complications with silver Grace. Marika may have been the Goddess, but us Elden Lords were far from toothless."
"Speak softly and carry a big stick?" Penguin posed.
"More like keep pushing forward no matter what with the full might of the natural Order at your back," I chuckled.
"Marika's Order was no democracy. She and her Elden Lords propped the whole thing up and held it tightly. Resistance was futile. But it was also my job to make it seem like that wasn't the case. Play nice with the nobles and powerful vassals, so that they wouldn't mind playing nice with me. It just made everything easier and more stable."
"Of course, it likely helps the Order's stability when the Queen and her consort are Goddess and Demigod respectively," Didi noted.
"Oh, sure," I nodded. "The truth was clear for all those willing to see it. But it was just polite and responsible to make them at least feel seen and heard. Of course, I didn't do something so dumb as establish a senate or anything. The nobles' powers were kept firmly within their own domains, and even then, they were still checked and balanced so that the laymen and women didn't crumble under their ruling boots."
"I mean, when your lord can't die of old age, you'd better hope he's a good one," Riddler pointed out.
"Sure," I nodded, acknowledging the point. "But the Erdtree and Marika's Grace still had the final say on Life. Those I found unworthy of their positions could and would be called to rejoin the Erdtree early."
"Ah, the perks of a divinely run state~…" Lucifer chortled.
"It wasn't all flexing my newfound divine authority," I defended myself with good humor. "That was most of it, sure. But I also had a whole 'Bread and Circuses' movement going to keep the people full and entertained. And considering all you've heard about the Lands Between, you might be able to guess at the scale those circuses reached…"
"Dragon-riding jousts?" Delirium instantly chimed in with a guess.
I nodded, "After a brief war with the remaining Ancient Dragons, yeah. The war wasn't for that, of course. But in the Golden Order's victory, Godwyn — my stepson at that point, good kid — struck up a friendship with the Dragon Prince Fortissax, and that did wonders to ease relations. The Dragon Jousts were volunteer-only. I once rode a lovely Ancient girl named Lansseax in one, and then rode her straight through our Erdtree-wood bed with Marika to celebrate our victory."
"TMI, Dad," Alice's expression scrunched up at that information.
"Wifey and hubby double-teaming a dragon? Nah, that's objectively cool as shit," Harley commented.
"Erdtree climbing contests?" Delirium guessed again.
"It happened once or twice," I nodded.
Then, she guessed again, and kept on guessing, seemingly the only one willing to test the Madness of the Lands Between, "Spirit carousel?"
"We, uh… had spirit theatre…? No carousels, though."
"Demigod throwing contest? How far can a mortal throw a demigod?"
"… I don't think any of the children would've been able to stomach something like that."
"Gravity magic strongman competitions?"
"Yeah, but Rahadn always won those."
"Best Outer God tournaments?"
"… Those would've been wars, not tournaments."
"Seeing what happens if you dig far enough straight down? Do you end up falling from the stars?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't put it past the Lands Between. We did not, however, think to test that for entertainment."
"Most eldritch alchemical creation? I've heard of a dog that only inhabits right angles! Wonderful, wonderful little pupper~!"
"That… may be one of the single most harmlessly horrifying things I've ever heard."
"Who could nom-nom-nom the most runes?"
"That was just the whole Lands Between, considering runes were quite literal representations of strength."
"Demigod demolitions?"
"Those always made for a good show, yeah."
"What about~?!"
"I think we get the idea, Del." Destruction stopped her. "Perhaps we should move on to the other things Sean accomplished in his rule as Consors Imperator?"
"Well," I considered aloud. "I put down some civil strife here and there before they could become wars. But much of my reign was spent on integration. Godfrey conquered quite a bit. And he left me to glue the pieces together. Liurnia in particular was a hot topic. Some accepted the Gold, others didn't, but almost all of Liurnia still had their own culture and beliefs. As I said earlier, they looked to the Moon and the Stars."
"What exactly does that mean in the Lands Between?" Hecate asked curiously.
"Within Liurnia, there were two main factions," I explained. "The Academy of Raya Lucaria and the Carian Royal Family. They were both united and rather often at odds at the same time. The Carian Royals looked to the Moon, for their Queen Rennala was chosen by its fullest aspect. She was a powerful sorceress and her patron, her guide, her symbol… might just have been an Outer God in its own right."
"Haaaa…" Jason sighed, deep and weary. "Moon's a god? Fuck."
"It's hardly a new belief," Hecate pointed out.
"But somehow, when Sean says 'the Moon', I think he means it literally," Jason elaborated. "Not as some symbol or domain of a god, but as in the actual Moon is alive and shining down on the Lands Between, watching… directing fate… just generally doing things that an inanimate chunk of rock shouldn't be doing."
"That's about right," I hummed. "But I couldn't say anything definitively. The night's sky above the Lands Between, the Void, wascold, distant, and veiled in occult mystery. But it was also, undeniably, alive.
"And that liveliness wasn't limited to just the Moon. The Stars themselves were just as alive, just as powerful. And it was them that the sorcerers of Raya Lucaria truly reverred. They paid homage to their queen, of course, but it was the Stars that held sway for the practicing astrologists, more than half of Liurnia."
Lucifer hummed right back, "Hmm~… An interesting schism of belief, with the Royals following the Full Moon and the academics following the Stars beyond."
"Alive like the Heavens, Father?" Su Xing asked.
"A bit more than that," I corrected.
"We stare into the darkness, and the darkness stares back?" Dai Wei stoically posed.
I nodded, "It certainly did. Often, starbeasts would fall upon the Lands Between. Other falling stars contained glintstone that could be used in a great variety of sorceries. And through the Void Above, a Primeval Current of stars raged. Those who peered into its depths could very easily find themselves ripped away from sanity on riptides of madness. Of course, that hardly stopped some extraordinary sorcerers from diving ever deeper for eldritch truth…"
"As you do," Hecate nodded in understanding.
Delirium nodded as well, "SWOOOSH~! Look up and find yourself drowning~… Pray and call and ask, and something is bound to answer."
"… Comforting," Ivy deadpanned.
Alice shuddered slightly, "… I am so, so glad I'm not a warlock or wizard. Give me instinctive, inherent magic over imploding my brain cells with impossible comprehension any day of the week."
"And so," I continued. "Integrating Liurnia and its competing halves was a major portion of my time as Imperator. Thankfully, Radagon married Rennala to tie the Moon to Gold. The Stars followed, mostly content with the situation at first. Radagon took the first step, and I brought them the rest of the way into the fold. It helped that Radagon's children by Rennala were… rather close to me and Marika."
The three young demigods appeared in the mirror at that, sitting as if posed for a family portrait. They all bore Radagon's fiery red hair. Just to round things out for the children, I brought the rest to join the illusion. Godfrey's boys, my Melina, and Radagon's firstborn and future twins as well.
"Ranni, Radahn, and Rykard," I pointed at each of them in turn. "Godwyn, Morgott, and Mohg. Messmer. And Miquella and Melania. All were demigods of Marika's Order. All lived very different stories.
"You've heard about my Melina already. Her older brother, Messmer, was a crusader. He was born with a connection to the Infernal Abyssal Serpent, a writhing godbeast with a fire capable of burning all it touched. Marika tried to break the connection in many ways. All failed until she replaced one of his eyes with a seal of Grace. Then, she secreted him away in Lands of Shadow so he could burn the damned Hornsent that once so tormented his mother…
"You've heard of Godwyn, too. He was Golden, the Perfect Prince. But his brothers were not the same. Their births were marred by a Hornsent curse upon Marika, so that her children would bear the same twisted Crucible horns as them. Marika kept them close, but out of sight and mind, for the sight of them brought too much pain, too many memories of torment. They fought every moment of their lives in the sewers of the royal capital as a result.
"Ranni, Radahn, and Rykard were born of Radagon and Rennala. Yet all were demigods of Marika. Ranni was her mother's heir, and an Empyrean to boot, championing the Dark Moon and its Age of Stars. Radahn was a powerful warrior, following in his father's footsteps and those of Lord Godfrey. And Rykard was a charismatic but power-hungry man, determined to forge his own path, even when it led him to ultimate blasphemy. He would eventually merge himself with a devilish serpent and strive to devour all of the gods.
"Then, there were the twins. Melania and Miquella, both Empyreans. From birth, Melania was marked with a flower, a bloom of rot. She was Marika's daughter, but an Outer God laid claim to her as well: Scarlet Rot would plague her forevermore. Miquella, meanwhile, was kind and good and pure… and doomed to fail in his quest to cure his twin. His attempt at growing a second Erdtree, a haven for the damned and cursed, was similarly doomed to fail, eventually falling to his own sister's Scarlet Rot…"
"… Dude. This is just the most cursed family ever, isn't it?" Harley winced.
Hades just shrugged, "About par for the divine course, in my eyes."
"How were Radagon and Rennala's kids demigods of Marika?" Alice asked.
"Radagon was Marika," I answered simply.
"… Dad, what?" Alice's replying stare was flat.
I nodded, "They were two sides of the same coin. I think Marika was the primary aspect… but even then, I can't be sure."
After a short moment of silent digestion for that information, Ivy suddenly snorted, "Bad bitch goddess bred herself."
"Twice," I chuckled. "That's how Rennala's children were also demigods, though. They were Marika's children just as they were Radagon's. It wasn't common knowledge and we didn't really tell them… but it's kind of hard to hide that kind of dual-aspected nature from your lover and Elden Lord."
"Nevertheless, the kids who could be were kept close," I continued. "The Empyreans especially, now that Marika felt more secure in her 'Eternal' Order. Back then, that was just Ranni and Melina, with Melania and Miquella yet to be born. I visited Melina every day inside the Erdtree, even if I couldn't outright free her, and Ranni began looking up to me as a mentor. That last relationship might've led directly to the end of my time as Elden Lord and eventual tragic demise…"
"The student surpassed the master…?" Diana asked with a slight wince.
"Something like that," I sighed. "It didn't start with Ranni herself, though. No, the actions of my own people would see me cast out alongside them. The Nox still looked to the night's sky, preferring it to Gold. And when Ranni was chosen as Empyrean for the coming 'Age of Stars'…? Some of them took drastic action towards making that a reality.
"The Nox would craft a weapon from the corpse of a god. A perversion of the Greater Will's Order, capable of slaying its divine vessels. After that heresy was discovered, they were exiled underground, and Marika had no real choice but to remove me from my position on the demands of the Elden Beast. Still, the actual weapon was never found…"
"I'd like to think that was the beginning of the end… but it was probably a long time coming," I sighed. "Radagon left Rennala to replace me as Elden Lord, and people rapidly began to grow disillusioned with the Golden Order. Even Marika herself… Melania and Miquella were born. The peace didn't last."
"I'm guessing Princess Ranni was one of the ones to grow disillusioned, considering her father up and abandoned her mother to become Elden Lord?" Didi put forth.
I nodded, "It helped that through me, she had already learned to be wary of the Greater Will that had chosen her to be Empyrean. The Nox must've approached her then, too. With their help (and likely Marika's, as well, from the shadows), she arranged a dark, dark night for the Golden Order. She stole a piece of Destined Death… and came to me to plead her case.
"She begged me to understand, begged me not to hate her. The Greater Will's control over her was too much. She needed to escape. She proposed a way out… even if taking it would just about break her. Using that stolen piece of Destined Death, she would carve half of the rune into both of us. Hers would be the Death of a body, but her soul would live on to inhabit another form. Mine… would be the Death of a soul, and only my lifeless body would remain…"
My audience was leaning forward in their seats. I didn't keep them waiting for long, just enough for a dramatic, sinking pause… "I, of course, immediately accepted, especially since it would give Ranni, and eventually Melina, the chance to escape their Greater-Will-defined fates."
Didi sighed, "Yes, I expected nothing less…"
"Even without romance, Love is always beautiful~," Aphrodite swooned.
"A heavy sacrifice for your student, Sean," Savage said somberly.
I just shrugged, "Even then, I was no stranger to Death."
"But… shouldn't this death have been more… permanent than your usual ones, Dad?" Alice asked.
"Maybe for a purely native soul," I smirked. "But I think we've well established that I'm built rather differently. I'm undoubtedly very dead to that entire reality, but if I need to return, I'll just send someone else to act in my place."
"I declare… the Dibs!" Savage immediately called out.
"No, me!" Harley wasn't far behind.
Su Chen nodded stoically, "Father, I volunteer…"
"See," I waved at all of them for Alice. "I'm hardly lacking options if the need should arise. Brave, brave souls shall venture into the chaos, The Shattering, I undoubtedly left behind. And I wouldn't be opposed to my champion following in my footsteps as Elden Lord to bring about a new Age of Order in the Lands Between."
Didi chortled, "The former Consors Imperator's sworn immortal bloodbrother, or harlequin-esque lover, or Heavenly cultivating daughter could certainly justify and rally themselves a claim to that throne. Perhaps the Elden Ring still lingers over those Lands Between~… Just waiting to be seized~…"