Aaric found Hades at the edge of the castle, sitting there and looking at the ocean with Cerberus sitting beside him.
"How was the trip, Aaric?" Hades asked Aaric when he noticed him.
"It was great. I have a question, though. That was one of your universes, right? How come no one worshiped you there?" Aaric sat beside Hades and asked.
"Well, there are many different ways we make universes in the Waking-Realm," Hades started as Cerberus moved over to Aaric to get some pats.
"I started that universe by just manifesting someone called All-One in the universe. I gave him restricted omniscience and omnipotence, confined to that universe," Hades added, and Aaric nodded while patting Cerberus's snout.
"All-One then grew bored and abandoned his omniscience and omnipotence, forming two beings, Veldanava and Ivarage," Hades concluded and shrugged.
"So, you just made All-One and waited to see what he would do?" Aaric asked, and Hades nodded to that.
"I remember you telling me gods don't need worship and all that. But my dad has been visiting another universe and establishing a foothold so we can gain worshipers to ascend on Makara's suggestion. What's up with that?" Aaric asked Hades.
"You know about Divine Flowers, right? They are one step above Divine Seeds and give full godhood instead of the demi-godhood you may get from the seed," Hades said when he saw Aaric nod.
"However, Divine Flowers contain the memories of the god they were meant to be," Hades stopped speaking when he heard gears turning in Aaric's head.
"So, we need Divine Flowers that are formed by being worshiped in our own names and our own stories. That way it won't impose another personality and memories on us?" Aaric said with a fist in his palm.
Hades nodded with a hum.
'I don't think me and Mom will need that with the plan I have in mind,' Aaric thought to himself.
"How powerful does that method make someone? By Dreamlands standards," Aaric asked and added the last part for clarity.
"Well... it gets you a foot in the godhood door if the Flower is formed in the Waking World. And you can just train and comprehend all sorts of elements and divinities to get more powerful. If the Flower is formed in the Dreamlands, you become as powerful as the worshipers thought you to be... with some limits," Hades said with a shrug.
The Divine Seeds and Divine Flowers formed in the Waking World were weaker than those formed in the Dreamrealms.
'Yeah, I'll find a much better way for Dad. My Dad won't start as a weak god,' Aaric thought to himself with conviction.
{Request received: Gaining data from the Dreamlands, Divine Energy, and your ritual talent to find the best way}
Aaric smiled as he heard the message in his mind.
"Where do the souls of the people who die there go?" Aaric asked Hades after pulling himself out of his thoughts.
"In the world you just visited?" Hades asked, and Aaric nodded. "Well, in my Underworld. That universe is still under me after all," he concluded.
"Can I... get someone from your Underworld?" Aaric asked, hesitantly.
"You wish to revive someone in that world?" Hades asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, if they agree... and if you agree first," Aaric said, scratching his cheek.
"Go ahead, enter through this door, and you will be face to face with the person you wish to meet," Hades said with a shrug, and a door formed beside him.
"I thought you would be angry at my suggestion," Aaric muttered, getting a chuckle from Hades, who extended his hand to pat his head.
"Well, can I get a little gift for them? I don't know what a soul would want," Aaric said cheekily.
Hades shrugged before forming a portal beside him and taking out a wooden trunk from it. Hades opened the wooden trunk, and Aaric leaned in to see what was inside.
"Wow," Aaric whispered when he saw the contents of the trunk.
It was full of Divine Seeds and Divine Flowers, giving off different colored lights.
"You can have all of them," Hades said with a shrug and chuckled at how comically wide Aaric's mouth became as he heard that.
"But... why?" Aaric asked; there was more than one question there.
"Because you asked," Hades said with a grin, but Aaric did not speak and just looked at Hades.
Hades sighed and gave Aaric a side hug. "You and your family are good people, son," Hades started as Cerberus sniffed the contents of the trunk and tilted his head.
"I have an infinite number of souls, and I always get more of these seeds and flowers because I have a lot of worlds in the Dreamlands as well, and we can't have too many gods running around," Hades said, getting a nod from Aaric.
"And if all this leads to your family becoming a pantheon of their own... that is what I want," Hades finished, letting out a breath.
"Thank you," Aaric whispered.
'I have always had the best people around me,' Aaric thought to himself with a smile and looked up as he did when he wished to thank Vasuki and God.
"Leave now and let me enjoy the scenery in peace," Hades said, pushing Aaric away.
Aaric got up and placed the trunk in a spatial storage after taking out one seed from it. He then waved at Hades before entering the door Hades had conjured.
Aaric entered the door and found a beautiful garden with a small cabin and a lake. Aaric saw a beautiful girl standing by the lake and looking at it intently.
"Hi, I am Aaric," Aaric said, standing beside the girl.
"I'm Shizu," the girl said, looking at Aaric before looking back to the lake. The lake water did not give them their own reflection but the reflection of Rimuru and what he was doing.
"I saw you with him, just some time ago... How did you?" Shizu asked with a little hesitation.
"I did not die... I am just friends with the manager of this place," Aaric said with a chuckle. It seems Shizu thought he had died and came there.
"Do you wish to return to him?" Aaric asked Shizu, who was just looking at him in confusion.
"Yes... but, that world..." Shizu's face fell as she thought about the world where she had arrived unwillingly and had only suffered.
"That world has changed. I think he did it for you, so no one else suffers as you did," Aaric said. He knew she had seen the world change and it was just the bad memories that were holding her back.
"He is so far above now... how could I stand beside him?" Shizu whispered, gazing at Rimuru, who had a face just like hers.
"This might help," Aaric said and held out a Divine Seed. It was formed in the Waking World and was weak, but she would still be a Demigod with it and would be able to stand beside Rimuru with its help.
Shizu did not know what the seed was, but she could sense the power inside the seed.
"Thank you," she whispered to Aaric, who held out his hand to her, and she took it with a smile.
Aaric placed the seed on her forehead and saw a portal forming beside them. Aaric led Shizu to the portal. "I wish you good luck for your new life," Aaric said to her as she entered the portal after giving him a wave and a smile.
A/n: I added an auxiliary to explain the cosmology of the gods in my Fic.
How about you guys show some love by giving me those sweet power stones?