AO 6 Ch 36

 The goddesses had assured me I wouldn't have any more debt to Lucy, at least not for another quarter. Missy could make her think we had tried and of course it would fail.

All three of them were fairly against Lucy, which was fine especially if they could help me escape that particular responsibility.

I was more concerned with what was happening with Maribelle and the rest of my anchors. My mother had placed me in a room under guard by House Aldis' anchors. Then, all five of my anchors had scurried off on their own, which was highly unusual. My anchors never left me alone. Their sudden departure was beyond strange. And now, I was getting an unsettled feeling.

So while I sat there in my guarded room, I pondered my next moves. Unfortunately, I didn’t get far before Missy appeared in a little twinkle before sitting down next to me on the bed. "Hopefully that wasn't too much for you," she said, her tone suggesting an apology.

I kept my mouth shut, unsure of how to respond.

"Sorry if it was too much," she added after a moment of silence.

"That's fine," I replied. "It was a little uncomfortable, I admit. But at the end of the day, what else should I expect from hanging out with two goddesses of fertility? Of course, they make a bunch of dirty jokes and tease."

Missy's eyes searched my face for a moment before she shook her head and sighed. "You really are hopeless. Maribelle prayed that I would keep you safe. Sounds like they have much to discuss. I would have sent Bastet here so you could get to know her. But she and Ditzy were too busy eavesdropping on your ladies. So, I guess you're stuck with me, Ard."

"It's all right, Missy. You aren't so bad." I pat her knee.

"Thanks?" she said, her tone questioning.

"You're very welcome. Well, if I have the goddess Missy herself here with me, perhaps now would be a good time to figure out the last of my soul magic before we do anything too dangerous." I waited to see what she thought.

Missy cleared her throat and nodded. "Go right ahead. If you encounter any difficulties, I'll be here to help you out."

"Thank you," I said, my tone unusually serious. "I'm sorry if any of that was weird or awkward for you. I noticed you weren't entirely comfortable with their jokes."

"Yes, that was it, Ard." Something seemed to have shifted. I wondered if Missy had reflected on the moment and decided she was being silly. "Which magic are you going to try first?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking about light. Life is going to be, I think, a little strange. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to do, but light will probably do something more noticeable." I shrugged.

Missy nodded and gestured for me to continue.

I pushed the magic given off by my soul straight into my raven sphere, opening up the light side of it and pouring that magic out, activating it in the air in front of me. I pushed the magic out in front of me, only for the whole scene that was my bedroom to shatter, fragment, and scatter before re-coalescing.

As that happened, everything was split into far too many images. Too much information flooded my mind at once, and I immediately regretted using this magic.

Pain threatened to rip my mind and soul apart. Rather than deal with that pain, I tried to focus on a single image, pulling my awareness forward and into it. I saw a strange scene of Sienna and I with three children scattered about playing. One of the children looked just like me, only with darker hair. I couldn't help but stare at the image, losing myself in it for a moment before I was physically pulled back.

My magic disconnected, and Missy's hand was on my collar.

"Ard, are you okay?" She shook me again. 

I blinked, glancing around at the room to reaffirm where I was.

"Did you see that?” I asked immediately.

“No. You were activating your magic, and then nothing.” She stared at me.

“It was, I don't know, everything disappeared, and then there were a whole host of fragmented images, and when I looked at one, I had three kids." I was still processing what I had just seen.

Missy blinked several times, putting a hand on my forehead as if to check if I had a fever. "Well, you're not sick, and I don't think you've eaten any strange liquids or herbs lately, have you?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I did not take drugs, Missy."

"Well then, the easiest answer is that you somehow took a glimpse at the future, or perhaps a possible future if your description of fragmenting images is correct." She answered.

"I can see the future?" I said, about to activate my magic once more, only for Missy to put a hand on my shoulder to stall me. 

"Ard, it would be very wise of you to take looking into the future with a..." she paused, and I waited for her to continue.

"Looking into the future is dangerous, even for gods," she said slowly. "Odin, the god whose spear you now have, sought wisdom of the future at the cost of his eye. And Odin was the king that used to rule over Freya and Thor; he was not someone to take lightly."

"Okay, so looking into the future is dangerous," I said after a moment.

"Not just because of the unknowing cost to your body, but there are more than a few instances of those delving in the future getting lost in it." Missy told me.

"That's ominous.” I frowned.

“What if you went into some future and you found it exactly to your liking and rather than returning to the present day and accepting your reality and working towards it, you instead lavished in that future because it was what you wanted?" Missy stared into my eyes, and I had to take her warning seriously. 

"I could see that happening to someone. Taking the future and making it my present, that's the concern?” Sure it was a nice short cut, but it wasn’t real.

“Ard, I would highly limit the amount you try and use that ability, and if you do use it, you need to remain grounded and present. I will not always be here to pull you out." Missy warned me.

I nodded and did my best to show that I was taking her concern seriously.

"Good, now would you want to play with life magic too?"

I gave her a grin. "What do you think it does?"

"Once again, Arden, I do not want to bias you by giving you a definitive answer. Because, in fact, what you think it does will be a big part of what it does do." She told me.

"Honestly," I turned to her. "I always thought it would bring back the dead."

The goddess gave me a dangerous look, but I continued on anyway. "Someone dies… what happens to their soul that was destroyed with their death?"

"That's a good question. I'll let you know the answer when I get to it."

She gave me a look that made it clear that that answer was not good enough. 

"Alright, I get it. This is dangerous stuff."

"I do not think you, in fact, get it. However, acknowledging the danger will have to be enough, I suppose. Otherwise, what am I going to do about it?” She grumbled.

“Quite the conundrum." I grinned at the glare that she gave me. 

"You're playing with dangerous concepts, Ard.” Missy cautioned.

"Yeah, I am. Because, it seems, I'm destined to play with more dangerous people." I let my expression harden. "A god gave someone his spear so that they could take a swipe at me. If you don't think I'm suddenly, poignantly aware of my new dangers, check again, Missy."

Missy gave me a brilliant smile. "Well, now all we need is a wolf to bite Odin's head off. Oh wait, perhaps that's already happened," she muttered to herself.

"Is that how Odin was supposed to die, and why I have his spear?" I asked.

"Yes. You are going to keep it and not toss it in the heap or something, right?" she asked watching me carefully. It seemed that I was keeping her on her toes.

"You bet I’m keeping it. It's way too big for me. But I think it would look really good on a mantel place somewhere. Perhaps once I am convinced that Thor can't use it to hurt me, I'll make a mantel place in the palace for it." I smiled, but then paused, glancing at Missy out of the side of my eye. "If you're going to be super helpful, you mind telling me what the Ardenium does?"

Missy leaned back on her hands. "What do you think it does?"

"Uh-uh, none of this. Just give me a straight answer."

"I can't give you a straight answer, Ard. You're walking a very narrow path. A path that none of us can see except for you. The other goddesses or I steering you would be like..." She hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Like trying to ask for directions across a sheer cliff from a blind man."

"Oh, and you're the blind man?" I enjoyed where this was going.

"Yes. In this case, everyone is a blind man except for you. I might have done this once, but differently than you. Every path has to be from the person who makes it. Feel it out, Ard. I just need  you to feel for the path. So, when you ask me, 'what does it do?' Let's start simply and puzzle that out. Can you tell me anything about the Ardenium Palace?"

I closed my eyes and thoughtfully considered her question. "Can you keep me safe if we both go into Soulgard?" I asked after a moment. Opening my eyes to peek at her, she gestured for me to shoo. And I did, quickly entering into Soulgard. The place had only changed a little since I had last gone into Soulgard. The Ardenium Palace seemed bigger, standing taller, above it all. Its glowing purple form was just more solid than everything else around it.

"Well, there it is," I said, walking up to the palace as Missy joined me. "So what do I think it does?" I rapped my knuckles against the side. "Well, for one, it's definitely strong and defensible."

"Good," Missy encouraged. "Is it magical?"

"Well, yeah, of course.” I answered. That seemed obvious.

“How is it magical, Ard." Missy pushed.

"Well, it's like a giant magic sponge. It soaks up magic, and then I can pull magic through it and use it." I put a hand on the palace as it glowed softly against my touch. "It's also mine. No one else gets to control the palace but me."

"Good.” She seem particularly satisfied with that one by the way her pink lips curled. “Are there any physical properties to it?" She asked.

"It's hard but not brittle.” Almost like scooping, it molded under my touch as I pulled a hunk off. I began to shape it, trying to decide what to make. A sword didn't quite feel right, so instead I fashioned it into a bracer. It felt more right for it to be something protective, not destructive.

Missy circled me, watching, taking careful, measured steps around me. "Not a weapon?" She asked.

“It isn’t a weapon. Weapons are cheap, no this is stability, defense.” I said.

“You want it to defend?” She asked.

"I don't want it to defend, it just does. It's a better defense than offense. It's to protect my soul and those inside of it.” I paused and corrected myself. “Those that I've allowed inside of it, which are my anchors and you goddesses. Not only do I ground my magic in them, but they keep me grounded. And as a result, I, their mage, give them strength to do what needs to be done while ensuring that they survive long enough to do it." I took my hand off the palace and let the bracer float back into the structure as my thoughts formed into something more solid.

"Is there more?" She asked.

"Yes," I said with a hint of hesitation. "But I don't exactly know. It's a place of refuge, it is a gathering place." I frowned at the metal. "It's a shield filled with power."

Somehow, all of this talk was strangely exhausting, and I felt my mind wavering. 

"Good, we should stop for now," Missy said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I hadn't realized how unsteady I had become. "So, what was that?" I asked. 

"That was you, blindly searching that path. All I did was ask questions." She smiled.

"They were good questions," I smiled at her. "You really got the creative juice flowing. My Ardenium is incredible."

Missy playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm going to say this once Ard," she said.

I gave her my full attention.

"I don't think the Ardenium is what is incredible. I think what is incredible is the person who created Ardenium." Her eyes twinkled as they stared into mine.

A giant grin spread across my face. "So what you're saying is, I'm incredible."

"I was only going to say it once," she grinned. “And that’s done.” 

"Oh come on, you implied it, but did not directly say it with my name. I’ll even take something simple like ‘Ard Aldis, you are incredible’." I egged her on.

Missy gave me a look that I had seen more than a few times. It told me I was pushing my luck. But I hadn’t pushed too far yet, so I could keep going.

I waggled my eyebrows at her, tapping my foot as I waited.

"Arden Aldis, you are incredib…ly hard to manage." Missy snickered.

"Good enough. I'm choosing to cut out the last bit," I said with a giant smile. "Today, let it be proclaimed that the goddess Missy said that I, Arden Aldis, am incredible!"

Missy slowly shook her head. 

ut I was having fun, given that she was giving me plenty of leeway. I assume she at least expected this much of my own gloating. Though I paused before I could even get started. 

"Wait, if I'm making my own metal, with cool magical properties, does that mean I'm a... I don't know… a something?" I tried to decide what that even meant.

"You're welcome to your own imagination, Arden. As I said, you're walking a very narrow path. It is up to you to find the next step. If you think you're something, then simply operate on that belief. And who knows, perhaps you might make a miracle happen. You're welcome to your own imagination, Arden." She spoke softly.

"Well, that's pretty cool," I said to myself. "So with the narrow path, what do I do with the spear?" I hooked a thumb as I walked into the palace where it was, the centerpiece chained down with more Ardenium. 

"Truthfully, do what you've been doing. I don't believe that Thor will be able to attack you from it, but should someone breach Soulgard, the worst thing to do would be offer them a weapon of this caliber. So you can't go wrong storing it securely. You don't want to arm your invaders." She told me.

"Yeah, that sounds like a stupid thing to do," I chuckled, only to shift my focus back to Missy, who was hesitating over something. "Is there something else?" I offered. 

Missy looked like she was making an incredibly difficult decision as she stared at me.

I waited, curious to see where this was going.

After her minute of indecision, she stepped up to me and grabbed me by the lapel.

I hadn't exactly wanted to be taught a lesson by the goddess, but she taught me a lesson alright.

As her lips met mine and the aggression of her suddenly grabbing my clothes took on an entirely different mood, I pushed her hands away before I grabbed her by the back of the head and pressed her lips to mine to kiss her back.

Our lips twisted and turned, continuously finding a new angle to try as I made out with the goddess.

Her lips were soft and light in a way I hadn't expected and my hands roamed down from her silky hair down over her soft shoulders and damn near every inch of her gave way like a freshly fluffed pillow. Her skin and all of her clothing were as delicate as the finest silk.

We broke away from the kiss at the same moment, both of us panting heavily, having forgotten to breathe. The sexual tension that had just exploded between us was palpable almost crackling like magic.

Missy's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes softened for just a moment before they hardened. "Tell no one," she said. 

"What do you mean, tell no one?" I retorted. "I just kissed a goddess. I think that is worth bragging about." 

She held a finger up. "I did not kiss you to give you bragging rights." 

"Then why did you kiss me?" I asked, genuinely wanting to know the answer. 

Missy tilted her head sideways. "Because in this whole universe, and in my very long life, Ard, you are complex in the most delightful ways, and simple in the ways that every person needs. When it comes to the joys, you make them as complex as possible, making every conversation interesting and amusing." 

"Why, thank you," I said, straightening my lapel even though what I was currently wearing was technically part of my soul.

"And in so many other things, you are simple, Ard." Missy laughed. 

"Hopefully not in the head." I tapped my noggin. 

"No, I think you're smarter than most people give you credit for." She told me. 

"Wow, lay it on thick. You must really like me," I teased, and I only got a slightly amused, half-lidded look. 

"I think I quite do, Ard. Beyond helping me out of the statue, and assisting me with Freya. When I was with your mother, and you were in danger, the thought of something happening to you, and you disappearing altogether was..." She made a face. "...difficult to swallow. And in that, I think I must admit to myself that I'd like you to stick around, and preferably, I'd like that to happen with the two of us growing closer." 

I bobbed my eyebrows. "Well, aren't you romantic?" 

"No, Ard, this is the part where you tell me why you returned the kiss." She frowned.

"Oh, simple. Incredibly gorgeous goddess lays one like that on you. You return it." I smiled. She said she liked my simplicity.

She snorted. "I suddenly understand Emlyn's frustrations to a far larger degree." 

I grinned. "I think I had a recent realization, Missy. I think my life would be dimmer without you. My life would be dimmer without a lot of people. And the question becomes, how do I keep all of these people in my life at once?" 

Missy paused, regarding me and letting me speak.

"You know, do I make each of them a friend, a servant, something just to keep them around? Well, the anchors were a simple solution. I made them my anchors and then I bonded them to me. And now they won't go anywhere. As for Eva, I have a sneaking suspicion that once word of this gets back to the royal court in Zenovia, they'll be throwing her at me if she tries to run away." 

Missy chuckled. "And what of me?" 

"I don't know. And that is both terrifying and exciting. But I realize that I don't want to let you go." I offered her a helpless shrug. “You make me smile and I delight in making you laugh. My life is richer with you in it. Not to mention you’re absolutely stunning. So, if you kiss me, damn right I’m kissing you back and then I’m going to do so much more to you in the future so I can keep you around.”

A brilliant smile spread across her petal pink lips. "In the end, you're just a little greedy," she teased. 

"Damn right I am. But with a woman like you in front of me, how can I not be? Especially if you're offering. And to confirm, you are offering to be something with me, right?" I decided to check before I had to shove my foot too far into my mouth. Well, too late for that.

"I am. So I think there's a few more pieces of the puzzle you have yet to put together." She told me.

"Which parts?" I asked, a giant smile spreading across my lips. "The part where I become a god or perhaps the part where I make a pantheon and get you guys around your rules? Let’s not forget the part where the other two goddesses join too." 

Missy's eyes flickered from amusement into absolute shock. "Wait, you understood everything this whole time?" 

I chuckled and for the rest of time would swear that I knew the whole time. "Of course, I'm not an actual idiot. I just sometimes play like I'm one." 

All of the frustration that was pent up in Missy just escaped with a sigh and a shake of her head. "What have I gotten myself into?" she murmured, looking up at the sky of Soulgard.