T. A. Star
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36 - I’m the Bad Guy
🕑 Added 2024-07-09 00:00:05 +0000 UTC
Phoenix had been happy to see Uriel again that morning. She had wanted to thank him for helping her out last night. His presence had become a desperately needed comfort lately. No matter how crazy things got or how much she messed things up with Paul, Presley, or anyone else, he had been there for her. Uriel was a pillar of reassurance that it was okay not to be perfect or have all the answers.
She wanted to tell him that. Let him know how important he was and try to be a pillar for him as well. To reassure him that no matter his secrets or fears, she would be there just like he had been… then she could go have a slightly embarrassed panic attack with Jacob about whatever his response might be.
The appearance of another deity suddenly interrupting that plan was unwelcome, and she suddenly worried that deities would start showing up whenever she expressed a random wish aloud. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage in the future, but for now, she was simply too startled by one in her bedroom.
The goddess looked human, similar to Camilla, but with wavy blonde hair that reminded her more of Kara. The stranger was clothed in a form-fitting glittering green dress that reminded Phoenix of sequins, but she didn’t think plastic was a thing in this world –which she was fairly sure was used for those on Earth.
As the deity smiled brightly at her, legs crossed as she leaned back in the cloud-like chair, Phoenix found herself prompting, “And… you are?”
The smile twisted slightly as the beauty playfully replied, “You’re the one with an overpowered aura. What does it tell you?”
Phoenix focused on her own aura senses for a moment as the divine flavor suffused the room, and it felt… tricky –like she couldn’t trust that it was even an aura at all. She raised a brow at the goddess and said, “That you’re a liar?”
The smile didn’t drop but the goddess held up a perfectly manicured finger as she said, “Okay, first: rude. Second, it’s not lying if it’s done in jest, right?”
“Pretty sure it still counts as lying,” Phoenix retorted, eyes narrowing at the deity. She could feel Uriel tense beside her, reminding her that she was once again giving snark to a divine being that had far more power than either of them.
“You can’t always just blurt out the truth,” the goddess chided, seeming almost offended by the idea, “It’ll spoil the surprise, and who doesn’t like surprises?”
“Bomb disposers?”
The deity surprised her by snorting a laugh, “Okay, that’s a good one.”
“Chemists. Mathematicians. Ritualists,” she continued listing off.
Emerald green eyes rolled at her as the bright smile dropped slightly, “Alright, I get it. Sometimes people don’t want a surprise but that’s not all the time. The Trickster –which is me– just brings a bit of fun and mystery to the world,” the goddess said with a mischievous grin.
Phoenix frowned at the revelation, “I’m a bit disappointed that the ‘Trickster’ is a woman, feels a bit sexist… like saying we’re all liars and cheats.”
A brunette eyebrow raised at that as Trickster pointed out, “You know us deities don’t actually have a set gender, right? Would you prefer this?”
Suddenly, Phoenix was staring at an incredibly handsome and muscular man. Still blonde but in a deep green suit she had seen other noblemen wear before. The strong baritone voice then asked her, “Do you feel better when the god of tricks is a man? Like women aren’t as good at pulling off a fantastic prank.”
“Well, now I feel like the sexist,” she muttered, waving her hand through the air as she amended, “Sorry, turn it back.”
Trickster returned to her previous appearance, giving a small sigh of contentment, “Now then, as I was saying before the introduction. I have an offer to make,” the goddess gestured towards her, “You wish for a mask, and I just so happen to have some skills in that department.”
“You… you want to mark me?” Phoenix asked incredulously.
“Sure,” the goddess replied with a shrug, “That’s the current trend, right? I’d love to get in on that fancy immortal action too,” the blonde said with an excited little wiggle and grin, “If you’re in the market for more Favor, that is.”
The Wayfarer hesitated slightly, not sure how to speak her thoughts without insulting the goddess, but ended up with, “Aren’t you… you know… evil?”
“Psh,” the deity scoffed, “A few harmless pranks, and suddenly I’m the bad guy. You’ve done your fair share of tricks since arriving here, you know.”
The goddess leaned forward and almost reminded Phoenix of Scholar with the amount of excitement the glowing woman was showing, “I think my favorite so far was when you managed to get Ohsen Ruwena monologuing to surprise him and then killed yourself to escape!”
Trickster gave a single clap of her hands for emphasis as she leaned back again, “You didn’t get to see it, but the look on his face when your head hit the floor? Priceless!”
An almost malevolent laugh escaped the goddess’ lip. Then that emerald gaze met hers as she added, “But being able to keep your resurrection a secret from your own party for soooo long… Major kudos on dragging out that particular reveal. It’s almost as impressive as your self-destructive friend here,” the deity said with a wave toward Uriel.
“You both have my sister constantly banging her head against a wall in frustration and practically screaming, ‘Just tell them already!’” the goddess mocked in a higher pitch before giving another laugh and saying in her more sultry tone, “You have been quite entertaining.”
“Which sister?” Phoenix found her curiosity asking.
“I do have a lot, don’t I?”
“Scholar?”
“Bah, she’s never as fun as the others with her cheating mind-reading,” Trickster complained, “No, I was talking about Witness, goddess of truth –so they say. Such a gray area, in my opinion.”
Uriel seemed like he was about to speak up, but the goddess continued, “But the truth isn’t always the best choice, you know?” she gestured towards the mage again, “Uriel Karislian knows. It could easily end up hurting someone, and you could lose a friend… or more.”
Phoenix curiously looked between the two locking gazes and was about to ask what Trickster could mean by that when the deity once more took control of the conversation and redirected it.
“Anyways, back to my offer,” the goddess said, gesturing back towards Phoenix, “I’ll bless you with the ultimate poker face talent, letting you better control those pesky emotions that threaten to overwhelm you, and you let me get a bit ‘handsy’ –as you say– with marking that pretty little soul of yours with my Favor.”
She thought about that for a moment, probably far longer than some would approve of. Uriel’s hand slipped into hers to draw her attention as he gently shook his head, “It’s a trick, Phoenix. It’s always a trick with–”
“You’re one to talk,” the goddess interjected, the smile gone from her face, “You who hides in plain sight. Tricking the entire world into believing you’re nothing more than a tragic shadow.”
Uriel fell silent and looked away from them, which made her angry. “Don’t talk to him like that,” Phoenix snapped, “I hid my secrets because I was scared. I’m not going to let you bully him into feeling guilty for doing the same thing.”
An almost cruel smile stretched across Trickster’s face as she said, “What if I’m trying to trick you into saying that? What if my genuine offer was given knowing that your friend would warn you away? What if I offer him the same? Would you deny him a useful Talent like that?”
They both turned to the goddess in surprise at that, the mischievous grin going wider.
“I thought the gods were only marking me with Favor because I can’t die,” Phoenix said in confusion, “Last I knew Uriel could still die…” she trailed off before turning to him and asking with wide eyes, “Are you immortal too?!”
Trickster laughed aloud, and Uriel gave her a flat look, “No. I would have told you if that were the case.”
“Is that so?” the goddess said, her voice dripping with disbelief, “You haven’t told her your other secrets, so why should either of us believe you would tell her something like that?”
Uriel glared at the blonde, and the deity addressed Phoenix instead, “Perhaps I’m simply confident that you, the proven immortal, would protect this undeserving man with your life. That the risks of granting him my Soul Mark are rather low when taking into account the current level of protection he has.”
“It’s a trick,” her best friend repeated, squeezing her hand once more, “Don’t let her get inside your head. Even the truth can hide a lie. We don’t know her true intentions.”
“My boy, I am a deity. We all have a very singular goal by our very natures,” the goddess said with a roll of her eyes.
“Yes, and yours is to trick people into believing lies,” Uriel snapped.
Trickster scoffed, “Please, you need to think larger than that.”
Phoenix contemplated that for a moment before clarifying, “Everin said one of the reasons the gods wanted to make me Chosen was to spread their influence. The gods gain power from it somehow? I think he called it Aetherius, right?”
“Yes. We gain Aetherius from a few things,” the deity admitted with a casual shrug.
The door slammed open as Everin appeared in a rush, holding a giggling Presley to his chest as he said, “Don’t listen to a word Trickster says!”
The poor panicked voxen’s rainbow fur was the poofiest Phoenix had ever seen it before, and she asked incredulously, “Did– Did you sprint here?”
“Presley told me Trickster showed up,” the Emerald Caster explained, setting down the child, who happily trotted over to sit beside Phoenix.
“Everin goes fast!” Presley giggled.
“Well, now that you’re here,” Trickster said with a grin, neatly folding her hands to rest her chin on as she leaned forward to watch them all, “Do you care to test the bounds of your newly appointed position, oh Avatar?”
The voxen almost snarled at the goddess, “I’m merely here to make sure Phoenix doesn’t make the mistake of listening to you.”
“Oh? Playing daddy in Paul Wayland’s stead? Don’t you have a shiny new playmate to spend your time with instead?” the goddess taunted.
Everin took an enraged step forward before suddenly freezing with wide-eyed surprise.
Trickster burst out laughing, “I’m guessing my siblings just yanked your leash there? See, I’m not the only one with goals and rules to play by.”
The voxen scowled and then turned to look at Phoenix, “Don’t listen to Trickster. She’s a part of the Voidsworn Syndicate and–”
“Technically, I’m not,” the goddess clarified, “The Voidsworn Syndicate and the Delegation of Radiance are mortal organizations. Determined by the participation of mortal followers. Seriously, they call me the liar, yet you deceive this Wayfarer into thinking a bunch of gods got together and decided to be ‘evil’ based on your mortal notions of what that even means.”
Everin seemed to tense up and clench his jaw as he focused on Phoenix, “And her followers are usually evil… A trait they get from the goddess, I would wager.”
Phoenix scrunched her nose at that, not because she didn’t believe Everin but because he didn’t deny that what the Trickster said actually was the truth.
She glanced between the goddess and voxen before looking towards Uriel as she said for Everin’s benefit, “Trickster offered to bless you in exchange for a Soul Mark. She… implied that she could cultivate your Talent to help you control your emotions rather than… going berzerk.”
Phoenix turned back to look at Everin, “I don’t understand why she would try to trick us about that. Uriel said it’s because gods do their concepts, which makes sense, but I don’t think that’s all they do, right? Isn’t blessing people and giving Soul Marks something they all can do?”
She glanced back towards the goddess who was smiling back at her with a Chesire grin that threatened to drive her insane trying to figure out exactly how many steps ahead this deity was in the verbal game of tricks. It was the dread pirate vs the Sicilian again and she felt like the princess caught in the middle.
“That’s true,” the Avatar seemed to reluctantly admit, “They are not limited to only performing their concepts. In fact, some of them are incapable of doing so, like the Avenger, for example. They need mortals to carry out those tasks.”
“But why? That’s what I was asking before you arrived. Does having someone like me give them more Aetherius in addition to spreading their area of influence?”
Everin looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment before walking closer and explaining, “Yes and no. Deities gain Aetherius by followers worshiping them or giving them offerings. One deity might trade Aetherius to another for bending some rules. The most common source, however, is simply living beings doing their concepts. You’re not a follower of the ones that granted you their marks but you’ve definitely been performing a lot of their concepts.”
Then the voxen glared at the goddess again and stated defiantly, “But that’s why you can’t accept Trickster. The goal of gods is to make moves that result in more of their concept being performed. In spreading and growing both their influence and power as much as they can. If you accept, you’ll be helping tricks to spread.”
“Friendly pranks are hardly the worst she could promote,” the deity countered, “Both of you serve Rebel, and she’s toppled nations. How many deaths lie at her feet?”
“Don’t you dare to–”
A wave of aura rippled over them again, crushing even her overpowered layers to crumble before the weight of it as the goddess said in an eerie calm, “I dare to. Do not forget who you are speaking to, fox kit. I may be the more playful and tolerant of deities, but I do not take orders from mortals.”
The pressure lessened, and Phoenix released her tense grip on Uriel’s hand, who was gripping hers just as tightly in shared fear.
The goddess smiled at them again, pointedly ignoring the voxen and saying cheerfully, “Well, my offer still stands, and we’re running out of time to chat. Take your time to think about it if you want, a divine blessing to hide your emotions in exchange for one tiny little itty bitty Soul Mark. Simply call upon me, and I will seal the deal.”
Then the Trickster was gone.
