Chapter 687 - An Olive Branch

“I know you,” Zeke said, keeping his skills on the verge of activation.  In less than a second, he could take on the form of a [Primordial Titan] and lay waste to the entire building via [Eye of Judgement].  Or if the newcomer turned out to be who he expected her to be, then perhaps [Primordial Wrath] was in order.  “I thought you were a tree.”

“Of course I am not literally a tree,” Aja said, pushing her white hair behind one sharply tapered ear.  “Neither is my brother, by the way.  My true race is lost to history, but the closest description that you might understand is the dryad.  You met one of those at some point, did you not?”

Zeke thought back.  Then, he remembered Eta, the dryad who’d helped him after being enslaved by the dwarves beneath Min Ferilik.  He’d almost forgotten her entirely, which was quite telling.  How long had it been?  Subjectively, hundreds of years.  In reality, a century. 

Being gone that long had purged many acquaintances from his memory.  The important people remained at the forefront of his mind, but he struggled to remember everyone else.  The best he could do was conjure a vague and blurry image. 

“But you’re not a dryad.  Right?”

“Not as such,” Aja answered.

Indeed, she only vaguely resembled Eta, save that her skin had taken on the texture of sanded wood.  If she’d stood still, it would have been easy to dismiss her as a carved statue.  The only thing that fouled that impression was her eyes, which glistened with moisture and intelligence.  They also bored into Zeke like she was trying to learn his every secret, right then and there.

Perhaps she was.

Who knew what sort of powers she possessed?  For all Zeke knew, she truly could learn all there was to know about him with a single glance. 

Maybe that would give her pause.

“What do you want?” he asked.  “I came here to rest and recover before reuniting with my companions.  Not to find an uninvited and unwanted guest in my room.”

“I believed us to be friends.”

“What gave you that impression?” Zeke asked.

“I assisted you in the Mortal Realm.”

“Then you abandoned…Abby, trading her like a shiny toy to your good friend Shar Maelaine,” Zeke recalled.  At the time, he hadn’t been terribly concerned with his former lover’s fate, but after they’d been reunited, she’d explained everything to him.  It didn’t make him regret anything he’d done, but it definitely caused some enmity towards the so-called tree goddess.  “If that’s how you treat your friends, then no thanks.  I’m good on my own.”

“You can’t truly believe that.”

Zeke shrugged.  “It’s worked so far.  Plus, Oberon’s still out there.  We’re pretty tight.  He’s helped me out since the beginning.”

“And you trust him?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She let out an audible sigh.  “Then you are not a fool.  Oberon is a self-serving misanthrope with a death wish,” she stated.  “Putting your fate in his hands is asking to be sent to the front lines of an unwinnable war.”

“And?  What you offer is different?” he asked.

“Of course.  I am the eldest among the elder gods.  Even my brother came after me, though through a very different route,” she answered with a broad smile.  “I can give you opportunities for growth no one else can.  You wish to gain levels?  The War Galaxy is under my control.  You could spend millennia fighting there, gaining untold strength.  You could become a greater god in less than a thousand years.  Unless I am grossly mistaken, you will be a strong one indeed.  Few could stand up to your might.”

“So, that’s what this?  A recruitment pitch?” he asked.

“A friendly invitation.  Come to my realm.  My people will guide you here.  Then, we can discuss your future in earnest.  You will gain no better opportunities elsewhere.  Not with my brother.  Not with Shar Maelaine.  And certainly not with a destitute beggar like Oberon.”

“Destitute?”

“He barely has a million worshippers left.”

“Ah.  I guess that’s not many,” Zeke admitted.  Though he had no real context, a million didn’t seem like a lot. “And how many do you have?”

“A lady never tells,” she said, leaning forward eagerly.  “Many, many more than that, though.”

Zeke frowned.  He certainly didn’t want to ally himself with a weakling, but Oberon had treated him fairly well throughout their relationship.  He’d saved his life more than once, and he’d authored many of the opportunities upon which Zeke’s power had been built. 

In any case, it wasn’t as if he intended to take Aja at her word.  As far as he knew, there was nothing preventing a god from lying.  It was entirely possible that she merely wanted to get him into her realm where she would hold some advantage over him.  Then, she’d either kill him for progression or keep him captive. 

If she could.

Given the power he felt wafting off of what he expected was nothing more than a projection, he believed that truly was the case.  The projection before him wasn’t nearly as powerful as he was, but it was just a sliver of her soul.  By comparison, it was much stronger than what he’d felt from Oberon’s projection back in Seraphane. 

“And if I refuse?” he asked.

“Until you make an alliance with one of my contemporaries, the offer remains open,” she answered smoothly, and with the beneficent smile.  “I encourage you to…ah…shop around.  Find the best deal possible.  Compare your options.  And when you realize that I am your best chance of progression, I will be waiting.  You merely have to visit my embassy in the Nexus, and they will guide you to my realm.  In the meantime, I would like to give you a gift.”

Divine energy swirled around her, but after only a few seconds, he smile turned to a frown.  She scrunched her nose in concentration, but that only lasted a few more seconds before she let out a sharp exhale.

“Not exactly what I’d call a gift.  Or maybe there’s a cultural difference I’m missing?  Does making faces mean something important in your culture?” Zeke asked.

“I don’t understand…”

“I can relate,” Zeke admitted.  “My usual response is to just hit things I don’t understand with a hammer.  Seems to be working out so far.”

“What did you do?  Is that some new skill?” she asked. 

“I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You blocked the quest I intended to give you.”

“Oh.”

“What did you do?  How did you do that?” she demanded, clearly agitated.  “It was as if you were entirely disconnected from the Framework.  No.  That’s not right.  The connection is there.  But it’s thin.  Like if I tried to offer a quest to a peer.  But you are no greater god.”

Zeke shrugged.  “Never claimed to be a god,” he said. 

“But you…oh.  I see.  It vexes me, but I see.”

“Care to share?” Zeke asked.

“You know your own nature well enough that any insight I may offer would be useless,” she answered, having regained her composure.  “I do not know what you are, but it is something different.  Perhaps unique.  This only reinforces the notion that you must have proper guidance.  With me, you will get that and more.”

Zeke considered turning her down then and there, but he was afraid that if he did that, she might react poorly.  She might have been little more than a sliver of a soul, but even that could lay waste to The Dusty Lizard.  Zeke didn’t want to be the cause of that, so he said, “I’ll keep that in mind.  Unless there’s nothing else?”

She shook her head.  “Remember the offer.  Give it due consideration.”

Then, without further delay, she simply disappeared.  Zeke used [Unfettered Truth], hoping to ensure that she was truly gone. When he did so, he saw far more than he wanted to see.  It was like looking at the world through a magical microscope, and it gave him a million insights into the world’s construction, all in a single second.  But most of all, he saw the residual energy Aja had left behind. 

He suspected that if he truly wished to, he could follow that to her domain.

Not that he had any interest in visiting that realm.  As curious as he was, his lone intention at the moment was to get some rest.  After a good night’s sleep, he would head to Oberon’s domain. 

But just as he let the skill lapse, he felt another presence looming over him.  This one was far more oppressive than Aja’s, and it put Zeke in mind of the Creator.  He didn’t need an inspection skill to figure out whose attention he’d drawn.

“Waymaster,” he said in greeting.  “How can I help you?”

“Primordial.”

Zeke turned, seeing nothing.  Instead, the oppressive presence was all around him.  In fact, Zeke felt like he was in a giant’s fist.  All it would take was a simple squeeze, and he would be no more. 

“You know what I am?”

“Of course.  I am old enough to have seen many of your kind.”

“And?  Why are you here?”

“Curiosity.  My world is in constant motion.  I see all that pass through my ways.  And yet, very little changes.  You represent one such change, and I could not help watching you,” the Waymaster stated.  His voice was ethereal and strong, yet it carried with it an almost lackadaisical tone.  Likely appropriate for an ancient god among gods.  “I would not have spoken except for the little tree’s insistence on breaking my rules.”

“Oh?  I wasn’t aware you had rules.”

“Everyone has rules.  The difference is that there is no barrier to me enforcing mine.  In this case, the little tree chose to flout my prohibition against projection,” he stated.  “I apologize for taking so long to sense it.  She took precautions against my sight.  You will not be disturbed for the rest of your tenure within the ways.”

“That’s…kind of you.  What if I chose to stay for all eternity?”

“Then I would be disappointed,” he admitted with a sigh that shook the building.  “But my promise would remain true until the end of time, soon though it may come.”

Zeke felt his jaw almost drop.  If all he wanted was safety, then the Waymaster’s pledge was the best he could ever hope to receive.  However, the second revelation was more interesting.

“The end of time is coming soon?” he asked.  “You know this?”

“I sense it.  Our existence will soon reach its terminus.  Perhaps that is why the Creator has bestowed such gifts upon you,” the Waymaster revealed.  “You are special.  Uniquely suited for strength.  However, you could never have achieved what you have without the Creator’s thumb on the scale.  He works through his Framework, giving you one challenge after another until you failed. 

“You did not fail.  No matter what obstacles he put in your way, you rose to the occasion and emerged victorious.  There is power there,” the Waymaster explained.  “The philosophical question is thus – are you responsible for it?  Or is the Creator?  From him, all power flows.  But without a vessel, it is nothing.  For he can create, but he cannot fight the battles himself.”

“Can’t it be both?” asked Zeke.  The way he saw it, that was the only viable answer.  The Creator created, but it was on the creations to perform.  Like a coach and a player, though with far higher stakes. 

“Perhaps,” the Waymaster answered.  “We shall see.  The time grows short.  Reality will soon end.  You may be our only true hope.  Do what you must.  Progress how you can.  And let nothing stand in the way of your mission.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Or stand back and do nothing.  Non-existence by its very definition cannot be painful.  Perhaps that is the secret underlying all of reality.  We fear our own unmaking, and yet, it may offer the only freedom available to us.  Interesting.  I must ponder this,” the Waymaster said.  “Good luck, Ezekiel Blackwood, the first Primordial to exist in recent memory.  You will need it.”

Then, his presence disappeared. 

Zeke took a deep breath of anticipation.  Then, he sighed.

“What?” Eveline asked.

“Nothing.  Just half expecting another interruption,” he said.  When one didn’t come, he undressed and threw himself onto the bed.  He was asleep in the space of a second, though his last thought before unconsciousness overtook him concerned the nature of his own existence.