Gardenia slid into the courtyard that housed the starseeing pond, somewhat surprised to see Sidus sitting on the island watching the serene waters. She'd seen many that looked as he did but had never expected to see the powerful god she gave devotion to appearing so very forlorn.
Stepping cautiously close, she spoke, "Lord Sidus. It may not be my place to make this offer, as I do not understand the complexities of your station, but I am happy to listen to whatever troubles you even if I cannot offer respite."
He straightened somewhat, the anxiety still clear in the way he held himself but much less so. Any that didn't want to see it would likely be able to overlook it, "Gardenia. Thank you for your concern," his eyes slid from her to the starseeing pond and for a moment she saw the same searching gaze Ashterra seemed to hold sometimes, as if she was looking at the water for some sort of answer only it held, "How is Ashterra doing? I know you have not known her very long but is she acting…herself?"
Gardenia contemplated his question. Ashterra had slowly become more withdrawn, almost frightened of interacting over the course of the day prior. She still spoke and responded to questions but there was a deep and jarring difference, she had stopped offering anything without being spoken to.
"The first day of our journey, she was normal. The second day, yesterday, she acted normal but all of us could tell it was an act. I am hoping to talk to her shortly, Lunarilia is concerned she is unwell."
Ashterra gave her the impression of someone that took all of their duties seriously but that was not truly the regal type. Her presence had given Gardenia the chance to see more of what she was beginning to suspect also lay beneath the regal calm exterior of her own god. Sidus was a powerful, ancient god, preceded only in age by Umbra. With as calm and gentle, as cool and level-headed, as he always seemed it was easy to forget that his domain was that of the stars themselves.
Stars were not cold things though they might appear so to a casual observer, providing warmth to the worlds that they watched over. They were also dangerous things, able to destroy with very little effort. Seeing the slight bits of Ashterra's temper, seeing Sidus' reactions to the one he named his daughter, had led Gardenia to begin wondering if the daughter did not, perhaps, take very much after her father.
He waved a gentle hand and the water in the pond rippled slightly, revealing an image of several Starborn standing together and chatting, "The Starborn are my greatest creation and my greatest regret. They were the first children forged of a god's power to be born, preceding even Umbra's own unique creations. We did not know then what we do now, just how many things impact those precious creations and what role they play in the worlds we govern."
He went on to explain that the closer a race was to their god's more powerful divine form, the more of that god's duties they would take on and the longer it would take for them to be born. The Starborn were truly powerful creatures but the scale of magic they needed to work was beyond what a living being that was not a deity was capable of. From the very first to walk from their pond, he'd felt intense regret at the burden they had to shoulder.
Gardenia listened, eventually putting together only two questions for the god that sat before her, "Where does Ashterra fit into that regret and, considering how concerned you are, why have you not checked on her yourself, Lord Sidus?"
Another wave of his hand changed the image, showing Ashterra's grove though it seemed odd. A heavy fog distorted the image, keeping the majority of the grove from observation, "She is my greatest treasure, my child with so much more truth to it than even we gods can put into words. She has her own divinity, formed of mine but entirely separate, and she is capable of using it almost without thought. Her grove is sealed from all of us right now. Only those she allows in can reach her right now and, despite how troubled she is, she is not reaching for me."
Gardenia watched the foggy image of the grove silently, casting her memory back to the prior day while looking for anything that might give some clue into her suddenly strange behavior, "Lunarilia tells me that she has been having nightmares," she said as she grasped at anything she could to help her god with the dilemma he was facing.
"Yes," he said softly, "Terrible things that are causing her so much anxiety that it is sending shock waves through her magic and causing her pain. It is strange, though, as she should not experience them here due to Lucrum's interference. Fantastoria is supposed to be the only dream of her true body right now."
It meant that the dreams originated in Gardenia's world, nightmares so terrible that their effects spanned across worlds. Remembering Ash's words from the prior evening, Gardenia spoke up once more, "Who is Stella?"
He waved his hand again and the image of Ash's grove was replaced with a Starborn that appeared the same age as her with a sable coat and sparkling silvery eyes. Just like Ashterra, she had five horns though hers weren't in the same configuration. Another wave of his hand placed a second image of the same unicorn but clearly older, the numerous horns forming a crown in their growth.
"Stella was the first. Just as Ashterra is now, she grew more horns in order to take the burden of cleansing the world's magic upon herself," he glanced away from the images, his powerful pale blue eyes curious, "They never had the chance to meet. Did Ashterra mention her?"
"Only to say that she thought Stella would have handled things better," Gardenia responded.
Sidus frowned slightly and turned back towards the images he'd conjured as he explained in a quiet voice that he understood where such a misunderstanding could have come from. Stella had died thirty-thousand years prior to Ashterra's birth, living to just past one-hundred-thousand years old before her death began what eventually became known as the great hunt.
"When the Starlight Elves remember Stella, they remember her like that," he motioned towards the second image, "After all, three full generations passed between her death and Ashterra's birth and she lived through ten full generations of elves. There is likely no one alive on Terra that remembers Stella in any form other than that of the Starborn with a crown of horns," his gaze moved towards the first image he'd conjured, "But at Ashterra's age, their horns were much the same save that Ashterra has so much more magic to cleanse than Stella did. The world was still very young as were all of the races when Stella was born. She cleansed a world that was, in terms of magic that could be corrupted by emotion, very much smaller than the one Ashterra guards over."
Sidus frowned as he thought about what Gardenia had overheard, waving his hand and bringing back the foggy grove he couldn't touch. Corruption was not something he had contemplated as being what kept him from Ashterra. Emotion twisted magic from its original purpose and when that twisted magic settled into a living creature, it could amplify emotions to the point of insanity given enough time.
Ashterra knew from his stories that Stella had not been the perfect creature she was remembered as. If her emotions were out of control, though, it would explain a lot.
Corruption wasn't normally intelligent, though. He should have felt it the moment she'd come back from the dungeon. His scowl deepened as he realized what had happened. Lucrum told him that he hadn't been able to recover all of the lost fragments of the Godsborn that had created the monster at the dungeon's depths.
It had planted a seed of itself within his daughter when she'd absorbed the dungeon's magic and that seed had bloomed when her nightmares made her vulnerable.
Ashterra's light was drowning in her own emotions as they slowly ran wild. He reached a hand for the grove, resting his palm against the edge of the barrier she'd created. None of his Starborn had ever survived corruption but Ashterra had divinity to guard her, "Please find a way to bring her to me," he said softly, as much to Gardenia as to the power that had crafted the gods themselves, a gentle plea that he wasn't destined to lose her. With that quiet wish, he was gone to take care of his duties, taking the image of her grove with him.