Side Story - Kiro 3: The Anticipation Of Truth

 AN: Would you look at that? It's a Kiro.

The Goddess of Magic had left her Dominion, and as Mayeia prepared to attempt to visit the All-Mother she was practically vibrating next to Kiro. It had been easier than expected for her to find Aperio again, the woman seemingly not caring much that people knew what she was.

Jerien had caught word that the followers of Ediscio were agitated, their God having descended to somewhere above the city. Kiro had then relayed that information to his Goddess, who had quite quickly found a giant island floating above the city wrapped in magic that obscured it from the senses of mortals and even mimicked the weather of where it happened to be.

How exactly any of the magic worked was not something he knew, and though Mayeia had started to ramble about what the Creator might have had to do in an effort to explain how any of it was possible, he understood none of it.

Now they were in her personal chambers of her local temple, the Goddess switching between dresses, hairdos, and glasses faster than Kiro could follow.

"Is she okay?" Jerien asked, leaning a bit closer to Kiro. "She was lively already, but this?"

"I'm fine," the Goddess said, seeming to have finally decided upon a white and gold dress. A diadem made from golden leaves also twinkled atop her now-black hair. She turned around, placing one hand on her hip while the other adjusted her eyewear. "Glasses or no glasses?"

"Why do you even have those?" Kiro asked, glancing at the rimless glasses his Goddess wore. It was also the only thing that had never changed during her makeover session. "I doubt you actually need them."

"I needed them for the first fifty or so years of my life," Mayeia said, taking the glasses off and looking at them. "Before the System fixed my eyes. I keep them to remind myself of my origins; it is good to stay humble when you are a Goddess. There is always a bigger fish."

"You mean Aperio?" Jerien asked.

"Not just her, but yes." His Goddess had put on her glasses again, no longer alternating between dresses and hairdos but jewellery. "Upsetting the All-Mother is not something one should do. I have heard a few rumours, and three dead Gods support those rumors."

"How can you be so sure she is the All-Mother now?" Jerien asked. "Last time you did not appear to actually know."

"Ediscio was kind enough to answer some of my questions, and confirmed that Aperio is the one I have been seeking. He did warn me that she might be a bit aggressive at the moment, though he did not tell me why."

Kiro scratched the back of his head as he looked at Mayeia. "And you still want to meet her after what I did?"

"Yes? You obviously did not upset her enough to warrant death, so why should I be scared?" She paused for a moment, Kiro feeling her magic settle around him. "I think it goes without saying that you should not repeat such follies in the future, yes?"

"Of course," he replied, swallowing heavily. "It won't happen again."

He was once again glad he had chosen the right deity to be his patron. Mayeia was not a particularly harsh person to interact with. The worst she had seen her do had been similar to what had just happened — an overwhelming display of her magic, and a slight warning. He doubted she would ever do anything unpleasant, but there was still a small possibility that he could at some point be forcibly sent back to Earth.

He did not want to leave. His life had been dull, boring, devoid of excitement, and lame. Going back was not a prospect he wanted to think about, especially if he considered the fact that he could actually be someone here. He might not be the Hero that had to save the world, nor was he as strong as some of the people he had read about, but life in general was good here.

He was far from being the strongest, though Mayeia's blessing did make him stronger than the average inhabitant of this world. He wanted to keep getting better. Perhaps I can ascend as well? He had already met the Creator, and that had to count for something. She did mark me, as well..

His Goddess turned around, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him. For a moment Kiro thought she could read his mind, but his fears were allayed when a few suits appeared next to her.

"You can't go like that," she said, more dresses materialising behind her. "And neither can Jerien."

"Do I have to?" the Beastkin asked, taking a half-step to stand behind Kiro. "I think my normal clothes will do just fine."

"Your normal attire barely counts as clothing," the Goddess chastised. "And I am well versed in the customs of your tribe, so don't go pulling that card. There are a great many dresses and ceremonial robes that were made for the purpose of meeting a deity."

"I have a robe," Jerien mumbled in reply, knowing that Mayeia had a point.

Kiro had asked her a few times why she only ever wore what amounted to underwear in his mind, occasionally with an open robe overtop. Apparently she did not like the feeling of clothes on her fur. It was restrictive as well, and she had enough confidence in her abilities to be the last one standing in combat to claim that armour would also be useless.

The entire argument made little sense to him, but he had grown tired of repeating it over and over. Instead, he had gotten her an enchanted robe that offered more protection than most armours a usual adventurer would wear. Better than nothing.

"Yes, you do have one," Mayeia said, presenting them a matching set of suit and dress. "I think these would look good on you two. Much higher quality than your other things as well!"

The fabric felt soft in Kiro's hands, impossibly so. He also felt a small draw on his mana, the piece of clothing neatly interwoven with enchantments he could never hope to spot with his eyes alone. What are all those for?

"They should provide adequate protection from anything below level four-hundred," Mayeia said, the Goddess no longer paying them much mind as she tried on a variety of ear decorations, some of which covered the entirety of the long, pointed form. "Not that protection will mean much if the All-Mother decides we should not exist. You can't exactly hide from her, now can you?"

Kiro waved Jerien off; he knew the last words his Goddess had spoken were more directed towards herself than either of them. "Don't mind her too much, she is just excited."

"Of course I am excited!" Mayeia said, turning around. "We are talking about the All-Mother, the Creator! She made all of this. The System, magic, and every single world. I have so many questions, and finally I can maybe get some answers!"

Kiro did not reply. Instead, he leaned his sword against the wall and started to take off his clothes. Jerien gave him a confused look before realisation dawned on her. It was easy to forget that Mayeia was the Goddess of Magic; privacy was not something you would not truly have while you were in the reach of her aura.

"This is weird," she mumbled, holding the dress she had received at arms length to better inspect it.

"I have no interest in either of you," the Goddess of Magic said, already facing her mirror again. "And it's not like you've never seen eachother in a state of undress before. Besides, you're not taking off all your clothes."

Kiro turned away, trying to hide the redness that started to creep up his face as he pulled up the pants of his new suit. A coat of fur like Jerien had would be quite welcome now, at least to hide his embarrassment.

The rest of the suit quickly followed, a small drain on his mana causing it to conform to his body. The fit that resulted was incredible, easily worth a few month's salary back on Earth. Not that I made much to begin with.

"Why do we have to come with you again?" Kiro asked, looking into the mirror that floated near him. "I would rather not get split apart again."

"I can do without a visit to her as well," Jerien chimed in, her voice a bit strained aas she tried — and failed — to lace up her own dress, the addition of a hole for her tail seemingly making it harder than it should be. "She's scary."

The Beastkin struggled a moment longer before realizing that a bit of mana solved the dress issue for her. Kiro held back a laugh, but then had a thought that suddenly made the situation not so funny anymore. Jerien was a lot smarter than she let on, and very much better at magic than he was. Her failing to notice such an obvious enchantment was worrying, and showed that the whole affair was taking a bigger toll on her than he had previously assumed.

"Kiro is my disciple," Mayeia said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, there are a few things I want to ask the All-Mother about him — not bringing him would be rude. You, Jerien, are free to stay here if you wish, however. You are neither my disciple nor did your God ask you to visit the All-Mother."

"But I can't just leave Kiro alone," the Beastkin protested. "That monster almost killed him once already!"

"She is as much a monster as you or I. Humiliating Kiro is hardly something I would consider evil." Mayeia briefly paused in thought. "Mind you, she did supposedly do a few unsavoury things to people who offended her. The sources for that information aren't entirely trustworthy, though."

"Why are they not trustworthy?" Kiro asked, his eyes wandering between Jerien and his Goddess. "Wouldn't it be in the best interest of all the Gods to know how to deal with the Creator?"

Mayeia snorted at the question. "Some Gods are really stupid. And there is an entire faction that despises the All-Mother. ‘Repens Nabu’ they call themselves, though that name doesn't even mean anything."

"The ones that fell were part of that faction, weren't they?" Jerien asked.

"Yes," the Goddess of Magic replied. "Only Natio is still alive, however — as a janitor, no less. Good riddance if you ask me. Neither Vigil nor Inanis have brought much good to any world for as long as I have been alive. They only ever sought to expand their power and influence like many others in the Repens Nabu."

"Is there even something you are supposed to do?" Kiro inquired. "Something that justifies the power you hold?"

His Goddess turned to face him, the smile that usually adorned her face nowhere to be seen. "I became a Goddess through hard work; my own achievement. I am under no obligation to do anything that I do not want to do." She paused briefly as if to make sure they fully understood her point before continuing. "The Elder Gods, though? They all carry a part of the All-Mother that gives them their divinity. How they got that, and what they are supposed to do with it, is not something they have ever told me.

"Some newer Gods also got help," she continued, setting herself down in a chair that had appeared out of nowhere. "Natio was a disciple of Vigil during his mortal life, for example; he had help when he ascended. If he had to do it on his own I am confident he would have never managed it."

Kiro wanted to ask what he would need to do to become a God himself, but a small voice at the back of his mind told him that that would be a very bad question to ask at the moment.

"No, as it stands neither of you could ascend," Mayeia said with a sigh. "As far as I know there are currently five people who might be able to do it in the next few centuries. Three of them are apparently getting help from the All-Mother, the [Grandmaster] has no interest in becoming a Goddess, and the last one will likely die before they manage it."

"Can you read minds?" Kiro asked before he could properly think about his words.

His Goddess just laughed, the sound somehow echoing through the small room. "No, I cannot. But I don't have to, your aura and body tell me more than I need to know. That goes for both of you."

"Is that a problem?" he asked.

"Not really, no. Most mortals will not be able to read your aura or body language like I can, but you will run into those that are able to if you proceed to gain strength as you have for the past year."

"Year?" Jerien was incredulous. "You have only been levelling for a year?"

"A year and a half," Kiro replied quietly, his eyes directed at the floor.

"Did you not tell her?" his Goddess asked, shifting slightly in her chair. "She is your girlfriend, Kiro. You went so far together, but there is still no trust? I expected better of you."

"I don't know how to explain it," he said. "Despite being in a room with a bona-fide Goddess, telling someone I came from another world feels like I am lying even when I know I am not."

Jerien's ear twitched. "Another world? I have heard stories of people summoned from other worlds to rid this one of some great evil, but I never thought they were real."

"They aren't," Mayeia said. "It is simply something the Elder Gods made up to mask the fact that they have no idea why the System sometimes shifts mortals from one world to another and gives them more power than they should have.

"Ediscio and I have been trying our best to find all of the Veil Walkers. Even if Ediscio is one of the Elder Gods himself, neither of us has enough influence to just ignore the others. Not even Ferio has that much power, and she is supposedly the daughter of the All-Mother."

Jerien's tail was dangerously still as her gaze wandered between Mayeia and Kiro, and he sighed. It would have been a long day to begin with, but now he had to somehow explain Earth to Jerien. Not to mention explaining why he had never mentioned it before. How do I do any of that?