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IGIWS: FIRST DRAFT: Ch.334 Nils Screwed Up The Future.
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 04:08:28 +0000 UTCUp in the clouds above the Kingdom of Fiafyr were three goddesses having a sort of stand-off. The Goddess of Balance, Iyomelka, was glaring at the Dark Elven Goddesses, Nils and Nebulus, who were a little nervous seeing Iyomelka's eyes glowing white with rage.
At some point, Nils knew Iyomelka would call her out for speaking to that foreign Princess, Hilda Stoneworthh. But Nils was annoyed that Iyomelka refused to let her speak to Rya by putting up a spiritual barrier to prevent her from doing so. And Iyomelka didn't stop there; she put up a spiritual barrier around all of her followers to prevent the twin goddesses from speaking to any of them just in case they tried to find a workaround by using someone else to deliver the message about saving the last of the Dark Elves.
Normally, Iyomelka didn't have to put up a spiritual barrier to stop other Deities from speaking to her followers because their faith is in her and her alone. It's only when a follower questions their deity that they become open to other gods' influences.
Since the moment Rya entered Iyomelka's astral domain and departed with Nils and Nebulus positioned at her altar, a significant transformation occurred. Idols throughout the realm of Fiafyr and in various churches and temples began to depict Nils and Nebulus kneeling before a standing Iyomelka. The Church of Balance welcomed two new goddesses into its worship, enhancing the primordial essence present among the three deities.
This increase in divine potency might have incited concern among other gods. If they were aware of the strength these three goddesses possessed, they could have attempted to initiate a holy war aimed at suppressing them and exiling them from Tertius. However, by ensuring that Nils and Nebulus were revered, Iyomelka effectively created a holy barrier to protect her followers, preventing the two elven goddesses from communicating or getting influence over them.
Unexpectedly for Iyomelka, Hilda, a devout follower of the Divine Three from the southern region, began to question her gods. Nils viewed this development as an opportunity to devise a strategy to counter Iyomelka's stubbornness. Ideally, Nils would have had Hilda talk to Rya and tell her to save the Dark Elves in the West, but since the Foreign Princess hated their chosen one, that was out of the question; nonetheless, Nils saw a different opportunity when speaking to Hilda. The goddess's objective of hastening Rya’s marriage to Quinus was their aim; then, Iyomelka wouldn't be able to invoke the threat posed by Paul and his brothers as a justification for preventing any communication between them and Rya. The dynamics among these divine entities have shifted, raising the stakes considerably in this ongoing narrative.
"What were you thinking?!!" Iyomelka yelled as a burst of energy shot out of her eyes and created a small hurricane across the continent.
"Calm down, Iyomelka," Nebulus said, waving her hand and calming the storm before it grew any bigger.
"I wouldn't have done anything if you would have let me talk to my chosen one, Iyomelka! So, you have no one else to blame besides yourself!" Nils shouted.
"Delusional as ever! I was going to tell her when she was in my domain until you two little idiots came barging in, claiming I was trying to steal her from you!?! She still hates you, and I don't blame her!" Iyomelka snapped, causing lightning to strike the sea.
"W-Well she needs to learn a sense of humor!" Nils huffed.
"Sister... I don't blame her. We did try to drive her insane for our entertainment... I don't know if I would be as forgiving as her..." Nebulus mumbled, not wanting to see the dark look on Iyomelka's face.
"Oh, so now it's my fault—"
"No, Nils! It's both of our fault for being assholes!"
Nils wanted to retort, but her sister bit the bullet and took responsibility, so she had no choice.
The older Elven Goddess sighed and looked at Iyomelka, who was still frowning at her.
"Alright! I'm sorry... But why you do stubbornly refuse to give me my chosen one?!"
"You want a reason? Fine, she's not ready, and she has bigger problems to deal with before she can save Yoona and your followers. And she still hasn't forgiven you. So, what will Rya do if you suddenly show up in her mind and demand to go west to help them?"
Nils was about to speak before she thought about it.
"She would... Um... She..."
"She might abandon them, Nils," Nebulus said, looking her sister in the eye.
"But—"
"It's your fault. If you treated her right from day one, then she would have been a loyal champion. But now she's my loyal champion by falling in love with my chosen one," Iyomelka said with a smirk.
"Grrr! I hate this!" Nils snapped, stomping her feet for a few seconds before calming down. She sighed and looked at Iyomelka. "So, you are saying that you are the one who can speak to her? And you think that's better than me?"
"Yes. She needs her life to become more stable before she will be open to the idea of traveling west to help the rest of the elves."
Nils wanted to argue, but she knew she was right.
"Fine... But when will you talk to her?"
Iyomelka sighed and closed her eyes. She was accessing her clairvoyance to see all the multiple timelines. Her face started to grimace the further in the future she went. The timeline where Rya was Quinus' only wife was cloudy and hard to see. It became too much, and Iyomelka opened her eyes and rubbed her temples while panting.
"Haah... Originally, it was going to be a month from now. But there are too many new timelines that I don't know how long it will take."
Nils chuckled and waved her hand dismissively, "Well when I looked at the possible future of talking to that silly princess. She will do something really dumb that will speed up the marriage process and will have your Chosen One having a second bride. Most likely with that blonde High Wood Elf and will probably lead to the death of that redheaded human."
Iyomelka looked at Nils like she was the biggest moron in the world. "Y-You didn't use clairvoyance when talking to the Divine Three Princess!? What the void did you use, Nils!?"
Nils put on a satisfied smirk, "I used a forgotten technique called Wyrdtrace. It's soo much easier on the spirit and body. Frankly, I don't know why the rest of the gods stopped using it?"
Iyomelka wanted to smack the smugness right off her face. But her anger at Nils's ignorance for using a forbidden Divine ability made her want to scream in her face.
"Because it's a taboo ability, Nils! It's a technique that dooms the faithful, which will undermine your followers!"
Nils looked at Iyomelka like she was some conspiracy theorist whose paranoia bordered on the level of insanity. "Pfft, that's bullshit. Just a bunch of rumors spread by the other gods to keep the balance. If we can't use the power to gain an advantage over our rivals, then we are all fools."
"You idiot, do you know what is going to happen to that mortal girl you just spoke to? You basically guaranteed her death and the deaths of everyone she's going to come in contact with! You have interfered with the fates, and the fates will come for her and everything you hold dear!"
Nils started to laugh like a madwoman. "Oh, please, Iyomelka. If this mortal girl is out of the way, then our chosen ones will finally be together happily ever—"
"S-Sister?..." Nebulus said, as his voice trembled in fear as she used her clairvoyance to try and see the future.
"Haah... Not you, too! Come on! Stop with all—"
"Nils! Rya will likely die!"
Nils's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets as the words came out of Nebulus's mouth.
"Y-you're overreacting. Or this is a bad joke—"
"This isn't a joke, Nils! Stop being reluctant and use your clairvoyance," Iyomelka yelled as she grabbed Nils's arm and forced her to activate her ability.
"Fine! Fine! I'll gladly get a headache just to shut you two up," Nils said as she freed her arm from Iyomelka and then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
It didn't take long before Nils started seeing all the different scenarios playing in her mind. She only focused on Hilda's timeline of events, as it was nearly impossible to see Rya's fate without the princess's involvement.
However, one thing was clear: the possibility of Nieren becoming Quinus' second wife was incredibly hard to see in the dividing paths of the future. Everything she saw either resulted in Nieren's death or Yuliana's death, with Rya killing Quinus or running away before she commits suicide. There were other possible futures, but they were harder to see, and none of them were much better. The few good possibilities were too hard to see.
This bad future that Nils opened up was all her fault due to convincing Hilda that the goddess she spoke to was giving her guidance to stop Rya. And so Hilda will be more agreeable with Leandra's last-ditch plan to ruin her nephew's life. In the original timeline, Hilda refuses to help the duchess as it goes against her beliefs, but now that she has the guidance of a goddess, she is more willing to go through with such a plan.
"Nils. What did you see?" Nebulus asked.
"...We're screwed."
"AND THAT'S WHY IT IS A FORBIDDEN TECHNIQUE!" Iyomelka yelled after listening to what Nils had done.
Nils began to sweat at the realization of the horrible consequences of her actions.
"But, maybe we can talk to that human girl and tell her something else to correct things—"
"It's too late for that! She will question you or me. Then fate will take over to such an extent that it will make it impossible to see the future. If the Fates are unhappy, then their agents will prevent us from knowing what could happen, and we are no better than a traveling fortune teller," Iyomelka interrupted.
"Oh? So, you mean we become those Divine Three idiots," Nils said as her head turned towards the direction of where the Divine Three were.
"Nils!? This isn't a time to joke!" Nebulus exclaimed.
"I was trying to lighten the mood, and it's true," Nils said.
"They are living on borrowed time. I've seen gods like them before. It's only a matter of time before they lose their followers and are exiled from our planet. But they aren't our main concern. It's to fix what you screwed up!" Iyomelka pointed to Nils.
"I'm all for fixing this, but I don't know what to do. And you would think that I would mess things up," Nils said as she waved her hands.
Iyomelka narrowed her eyes and sized Nils up, "If you want me to fix things, then I need reassurances from you two, or both of our chosen ones will perish, and your survival will be in the balance."
Nils was able to question the human goddess, but Nebulus quickly covered her sister's mouth.
"MMMMH!" Nils' muffled cries fell on deaf ears.
"What do you request from us, Oh Divine Iyomelka?"
Iyomelka smiled at Nebulus. "I wish your sister could reason like you." Nils stopped struggling and glared at the goddess.
"What I need from you two is to transfer over half of your Primordial Essence, and two pledge yourselves to me so you won't try connecting to any of my worshippers," Iyomelka demanded.
Nils finally removed her sister's hand. "WHAT!?"
"Sister. Please calm down. This is the only way we can keep our chosen ones and ourselves alive," Nebulus pleaded.
"But her worshipers are ours too! And if we didn't accidentally land on Iyomelka's alter, then we all wouldn't be getting that weirdly stronger Primordial Essence! She should be thanking—MMMH!?!"
"Enough, Sister," Nebulus said sternly.
Iyomelka waited while Nils' temper simmered.
"I promise that I'll fix everything and save Rya. But I need as much Primordial Essence to use on clairvoyance to find a way to change the timeline with the most minimum effort. The fates are willing to allow us to guide the future as we see fit if we do very little to interact in our creations' world. So, the choice is yours, ladies," Iyomelka stated as the human goddess crossed her arms.
Nils couldn't believe that Iyomelka was demanding that they were willing to submit to her will, and there was no way that either her or her—
"I, Nebulus, Goddess of Time and Space, promise to become servient to Iyomelka if you promise that my Chosen one will be saved and the future is fixed. Is this acceptable, Divine Iyomelka?"
Nils did a double-take as her sister willingly submitted to a goddess who took her freedom to do what she pleased.
A bright blue light shone around Nebulus' neck, and an elegant choker collar necklace with Iyomelka's holy symbol dangled on her neck.
"That's perfect, Nebulus," Iyomelka purred happily.
Nebulus nodded her head and then turned to her sister. "Please, sister. I know you love Rya now, and you want her to survive. And this is the only way is to trust Iyomelka."
Nils looked at her sister and then at Iyomelka. She closed her eyes and recalled all the images of the future where Rya had died. She clenched her fists before opening her eyes and looking at the Human Goddess again.
"You promised that you won't abuse us, and we will be free to leave once the timeline is fixed and Rya is alive."
"The perfect original timeline is gone. I'm only trying to avoid the worst-case scenario so Rya can live a long, happy life with my chosen one," Iyomelka answered honestly.
"Fine. Will you free us if you can fix things to the best possible outcome, and Rya will survive?"
"Yes."
"Then, I, Nils, Goddess of Life, Death, and the Four Elements, promise to obey the will of the Great Goddess of Balance, Iyomelka," Nils stated.
"You made the right choice," Iyomelka told her as a bright blue light wrapped around Nils' neck.
The elven goddess felt a shiver down her spine and a cold feeling around her neck. Looking down, she saw a blue collar around her neck, with a holy symbol hanging from the front.
Iyomelka nodded and held her hands out. Soon, Nils and Nebulus felt half of their Primordial Essence flowing out and into the Human Goddess's hands.
Iyomelka stopped when she took what she said she would take, and then she brought the twin goddesses into her astral domain.
Nils and Nebulus were shocked at how Iyomelka was able to pull them into her domain. They had heard that if a deity submitted fealty to another deity, they could be brought into their domains, but this was the first time the two goddesses had experienced this.
"Okay, I need you two to keep gathering more of your essence. When your reserves are full, send half of it to me again."
"Huh? How long do you think it's going to take?" Nils whined.
"If I knew then, I wouldn't need to take half of your essence, now would I?"
Nils pouted, but she reluctantly agreed, "Find, but you need to let us go if our creations need our help."
"They need more help than you can offer, Nils. Their only hope is that Rya will marry Quinus and find out she's pregnant with Nebulus' chosen one growing inside her. So, are you willing to do what it takes to make that happen, even if it means losing some of your freedom?"
"Fine," Nils grumbled as she knew that Iyomelka was right and they couldn't help their creations without her permission.
"Good," Iyomelka responded as the human goddess sat on her throne and closed her eyes. Soon, all the large floating particles of primordial essence swirled around, and multiple windows showing different possible futures began to play out.
Nils and Nebulus saw one of the windows crack and broke into pieces.
It was of a future where Rya was the only wife of Quinus, and she only had one child. Nieren found a lover a hundred years after Quin died of old age, and Hilda was a nun living back in the Alliance. It was a sign that this possibly was forever gone.
"We really messed up this time, Sister... Didn't we," Nebulus muttered as she watched the last shards of the future window fall apart and fade away.
For the first time in her life, Nils felt a pit in her stomach. She'd always done what she wanted, but she had never had it blow up in her face until now.
"What will happen to us, sister? Will we become forgotten deities? Will we lose our followers? Will we become Void food?"
Nebulus turned her head and saw tears falling from her twin sister's eyes, "I don't know, Nils... All I know is that we need to have faith that our creations find a way out of this mess we've caused."
"Yeah... I'm starting to understand how Mother felt..." Nils said.
Nebulus couldn't say anything back to her sister, so the two sisters held hands as they prayed for their creations and followers to survive this ordeal.
Comments
Alexis Chalifour
Quinus
Alexis Chalifour
I hope qu'inspire will still marry nieren
Micheal Kennedy
Thanks for the chapter
Marek Gwalt
TFTC
