[center][h2]A Change of Ideas Part 2[/h2][/center] [center][b]Two Years Later, The Coast of Atokhekwoi[/b][/center] Hate. It was something that Asceal had once struggled to imagine, something learned from cruel experience, and now? It was staring her in the face. The Selka before her glared at the Goddess and for the first time she understood what it was to be reviled. To be something worthy of nothing but disgust, contempt, and hatred in the eyes of another. It was not something she had expected, and it shook her to the core. Worst still, the Selka man had paired his look with a veritable flood of insults. Each one had struck her like a blow. She’d come in response to a prayer unlike any other she’d received, one that cursed her name and accused her of bringing death and suffering to those she’d never even seen, let alone spoken to. The invectives came as soon as she’d materialized before her accuser, and in the midst of his vitriol she’d learned why he loathed her so. Which left her as she was now, dim, tears streaking down her face, and a silent visage regarding her sorrow as little more than what she deserved. The worst part of it all was that she knew that was true. She’d looked into the furious Selka’s mind and she’d seen the truth of his words. Her ‘chosen people’ the few Selka she’d blessed, had used what she’d given them in a way she hadn’t, no, couldn't have anticipated. They’d taken a gift of life and used it to bring death. Perhaps one of, or any of her siblings would have foreseen it. Give someone the ability to endure nearly any injury and they could act with immunity. They could decide to take what they wanted, and who would stop them? A tribe with clubs? Crude spears? If all it took was a moment to recover then an attacker could simply outlast any reprisal. Which was exactly what Ovmo had done. Before her was a bruised and bleeding man whose only crime had been carrying his bounty of fish from the shore to his people. A bounty that others desired. His injuries were slight, but the food he’d lost was a greater blow that any club could deliver. Tonight his children would go hungry. Asceal had taken his angry words, even the blows as he’d tried to exact his revenge on her, and known that it was infinitely less than what the Selka had endured. She knew, even without peering into his mind, that no words could soothe him, and no actions could restore his faith in gods, least of all in her. So she didn’t try. With a motion she healed him, and with a thought she evaporated. She hadn’t followed Ovmo and Shufoyu to their home, but she’d heard their prayers and the prayers of their people. She was there before the furious Selka she’d left had even managed to blink. She didn’t take the time to revert to her original form, nor did she take care to moderate her presence. Just over thirty Selka tried to scatter as a searing light engulfed them and rendered them temporarily blind, but each and every one halted as the voice of a Goddess boomed, “What have you done?!” Most of the Selka were frozen in shock, some flinched, but only two tried to reply. Shufoyu, cradling a young child and covering its eyes with her hand, managed a halting reply, “My Goddess I- I don’t know what you mean, but please, please, there are children here.” At the Selka’s words Asceal felt a rush of shame that almost eclipsed her fury. In the span of a moment the searing light faded to a soft glow and the red burns on the Selka around her all but vanished. Still, she asked again, this time with cold edge to her words, “Shufoyu. Ovmo. What have you done with the gift you were given.” Shufoyu, busy fussing over the child she held, glanced nervously at her brother. She opened her mouth, but didn’t manage a word before Ovmo all but shouted to the air, “What you told us to do Goddess! Everyone in our tribe knows the magic you taught us. Some have taken to it better than others, but we taught them all! Isn’t that what you wanted?” There was a moment of silence, and the next words emanating from the glowing air seemed calmer, “Yes. That is what I asked you to do. Tell me Ovmo, what have you, what has your tribe, used my gift for.” The Selka seemed to pale, but it didn’t stop him from puffing out his chest and declaring, “We’ve used it to keep our people healthy, to keep them fed! We’ve cared for your chosen people!” “My chosen people.” The disembodied voice of Asceal mused, “Tell me, Ovmo, how has my magic managed to keep [i]my[/i] people fed?” Ovmo deflated a little, him and a group of Selka exchanging nervous glances before he spoke again, “We’ve healed out hunters after their injuries. We’ve kept the children healthy and strong so they can help store fish for the winter. Your gift has helped us in countless ways Goddess! You have our- our greatest thanks!” To Ovmo it was a clever evasion, but to Asceal? She’d looked into the Selka’s mind the moment she’d arrived. She’d known the truth before she even spoke. Asceal had hoped Ovmo would offer an explanation, hoped he would show remorse, but instead he’d lied to her. Perhaps to some it would just be an omission, but to Asceal? Ovmo had lied. Her tone became biting and again the light surround the Selka seemed to grow unpleasant, “Your thanks. I gave you a gift Ovmo, and in return you lie. You lie and you thank me. Did you think I would never know? Or did you imagine I wouldn’t care? You used my gift, a gift of life, to bring misery and death. To abuse your fellow mortals and take from them what you could not manage to attain yourself. You do all this and you thank me. You thank me for giving you the strength to terrorize others.” Ovmo tried to speak, but he found the task impossible. It was as if his tongue had been thorn from his throat, only worse. He opened his mouth to speak, to shout, to say anything, but he couldn’t even make a sound. Most of the Selka around him were staring at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief, but a few? They were only afraid. It was a fear that was more than justified. Seven Selka, including Ovmo, found themselves incapable of making any noise at all. Their words died in their throats. As the Selka around them realized what had happened some began to panic, but not before Shufoyu, eyes wide, shouted, “Please! Ovmo- He couldn’t have! This is too much!” Perhaps if the young woman had held her tongue things might have gone differently, but she spoke precisely at the wrong moment. Asceal’s voice boomed, “Too much!? Your brother deserves worse than that. And you, [i]you[/i]. How is it Ovmo did all he did and you didn’t notice? How is it you didn’t tell [i]me[/i]? Were you not my ‘chosen people’? Is your Goddess only worth addressing when you want something?” The light began to consolidate, and before long Asceal stood before Shufoyu. The Selka held the child, her child, as close to her as she could and all but whimpered, “I didn’t know. I just- I knew he was coming back from the hunts quickly but I didn’t think-” Asceal cut her off, disgust on the Goddess’s face and in her words, “You suspected. Almost all of you suspected. Some of you even knew. You cannot lie to me, you cannot hide from me, I have seen you.” She turned around, her wings flared, “I have seen [i]all[/i] of you. I have seen how you turned a blind eye, how you let evil into your homes because it wasn’t your evil. If you didn’t help them it wasn’t your fault. I can see you thinking that. And I can tell you this: [i]You are wrong[/i].” It was at that moment that some of the Selka, all of the ones rendered mute and some of their families, tried to run. The Goddess didn’t chase them, she only waved her hand and turned back to Shufoyu and the few that remained. Her expression cold, but no longer furious. “They cannot run from what they did. From this day forward they will hunger, but they will never be full. They will love, but they will have no children.” Asceal met Shufoyu’s eyes, “And along with you, they will no longer have access to my magic.” The Selka woman fell to her knees, and she begged, “Please. Goddess. Asceal. I should have said something, I should have asked Ovmo or prayed to you, but please. My daughter is only alive because I used your magic to save her a winter ago. She… She’s done nothing wrong.” Asceal paused, and her walls shattered. The Goddess’s expression shifted to one closer to sorrow than rage, and her voice was low and regretful, “No, she didn’t. All the children that weren’t taken by your brother’s people will be able to use my magic, Shufoyu. Teach them how.” Shufoyu nodded, even as she wept, and the Selka who hadn’t fled with her brother slowly edged towards her. Shufoyu had talked the Goddess down, or at least it looked that way before Asceal continued, “But remind your daughter Shufoyu. Her Goddess will be watching her.” A warning, a threat, and a promise. It was the last thing Asceal ever said to Shufoyu. Luminous wings sprang into action and the Goddess was high above Galbar. Higher than any Selka could see. She was angry, she was sorry, she was disgusted, she was ashamed, and she was terrified. Not because of what she’d done, but because she’d had to do it. The gods had raged against each other, they’d been wicked, they’d even killed one of their own. She knew that. So why had she been so certain mortals were better? Ovmo hadn’t had a reason to hurt anyone, and yet he did. Just as Sartravius and Katharsos had. Asceal shook as she realized what might already be happening, what might already have happened. She felt sick as she considered what [i]would[/i] happen on Galbar if the mortals her siblings had made were even a quarter as flawed as they were. As she was. A part of her hoped against hope that it was just Ovmo, but deep inside she knew it was not. Perhaps katharsos had done something to the ash that grew into new souls. Perhaps it was just the natural way of life. Perhaps it had all been a mistake. Perhaps she should have never come to this universe, and perhaps she shouldn't have tried to help anyone at all. Asceal was paralyzed by the thought, but she had to know. The time for ignorance was over. There would be no more assumptions. She thought back to the moment she’d emerged in the Architects palace, and with her mind ablaze with question and doubt the Goddess went to the one place she could get her answers. She went to the observatory. [hider=SUMMARY AND COSTS] Asceal meets a dude who hates her, she finds out why, she freaks out, she curses some little shits, she gets extremely depressed and goes to the Observatory. -1fp curse of silence -1fp curse of hunger -1fp curse of infertility -1fp curse of deprivation (losing ability to use healing magic) [/hider]