Demonstration Of Power

Amaris kept her eyes glued onto me as I pondered how to best prove my divinity. I contemplated using my "Unfettered divinity" power but quickly realized that using such a powerful ability would be wasteful if done here.

I looked at the handmaiden and opted to ask her a simple question. But not before I rechecked and confirmed that one of my flagship powers, "Banishment of lies" was active. It was.

"Amaris, tell me... What would sufficiently prove to you that I am a deity?" I asked the handmaiden, my eyes locked onto hers. She was brave, and our eyes made reasonably intense contact. She was silent for a moment as she considered her position and my question.

"Hmm..." She said after a few moments. A look of confusion and hesitation crossed her face as she considered how to reply. I saw her facial muscles tense up, and a smile crossed my face when I realized a likely reason behind the slightest tension she was showing: she probably wanted to lie and my powers made it impossible for her to do so. I didn't call her out on it though. Instead, I waited.

Her muscles relaxed right before she opened her mouth to speak. "Why don't you know what would prove to me that you're a god?" She asked, a satisfied smile on her face as she spoke. I looked at her and chuckled.

"Do you think that's something I would know because I'm a god? That's an odd leap of logic. Do you think the gods of old knew everything?" I asked her, curiously. I found her question amusing. She gave me a curious look and then mulled over my question.

That said, it was actually interesting for me to hear a mortal talk like that. For a moment I wondered about how much mortals actually knew regarding the old gods.

It wasn't impossible for them to believe that the gods of old were actually all-knowing creatures. I knew they weren't, logically, but that doesn't mean the mortals knew that. A moment after my introspection though, Amaris spoke once more.

"No, you're right. I was being... silly." She said a smug smile on her lips. "That said... I honestly don't know what would prove to me that you're a god." She confessed. I sighed.

To be fair, it made sense for her to not know. I couldn't blame her for having that attitude. That said, I had an ability for moments like this.

I rose a hand and pointed it in her direction. This was actually unnecessary but it was useful for demonstrating that I was targetting her. Without uttering a word I activated my "Entropic manipulation" ability and began to rapidly age the dwarf.

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The princess's handmaiden was a spry hundred-and-fifty years old. She was positively young for a dwarf. That didn't matter to the god who she was trying to get to demonstrate his divinity.

Before the princess's very eyes the handmaiden began to age. It was slow and subtle for a second, as the servant's lengthening hair was hidden underneath a cap she wore in the presence of her mistress. Other signs were also difficult to spot since the handmaiden wore a blacksmith's smock over her toned and muscular body.

The princess watched her servant and did her best to hide her shock as her closest ally rapidly aged in front of her. The aging process stopped being slow when the servant's face began to droop downwards, and as the rapid onset of old age caused the woman to begin to feel abrupt but slight bone pain.

The dwarf began to shrink ever so slightly. She also widened a bit, as old age took a toll on her physique. Althos, opting to be merciful stopped when wrinkles began to emerge on her face.

"I just proved that I'm a god." He declared, confidently. She looked at him in confusion and uttered a reply.

"What? Wait..." She said, questioning him and then questioning herself in confusion. She paused as she heard herself. The god smirked at her.

"Is there a mirror anywhere close by? You might want to take a look at it." He told her. Her eyes widened in fear, as she turned and walked into the room she and her mistress were next too. A second after she vanished past the part of the room the god could see from where he stood she screamed in shock.

"What... What happened to me?" She asked, loudly a second later. Althos replied to her without skipping a beat and without lying.

"I aged you. I'm a god of chaos and life. And... many other things. Advancing your age is something I can do easily. That said, hold still. I'll undo it right now. That's something that is easily within my capabilities as well." He said, speaking loudly enough to be heard by her with ease.

The god easily reached out to the handmaiden with his mind and began to undo what he had just done. He gently reversed the aging she had just endured and brought her back to her actual age within a few seconds. As he did so a smirk remained etched onto his face.

A few moments later the dwarven handmaiden returned, a humble and awkward look on her face. She looked thoroughly mortified.

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I studied the dwarf for a moment. There was a look on her face that mixed a number of emotions into one strange look. The three of us were silent, and then I began to talk.

"So I'm a god." I reminded the two of them, and as I spoke I began to grin.

"I can do a lot. I can do more than what I just did actually. If I wanted too I could actually make you a baby! I've never aged someone that far backward though." I told the handmaiden. A look of fear filled her eyes, and I chuckled internally as I saw it.

"That said, I'm far from malicious. I like helping people more than I like harming them. Especially when doing so grants me more power. Which it did when I helped Rachel." I told the pair, speaking frankly. This surprised them.

"Wait, how did helping me grant you power?" Rachel asked, sincere confusion coloring her question. I looked at her for a second, quietly studying the dwarven princess.

"Should I tell her the truth?" I mused to myself. It was tempting. I liked the truth. I tended to be honest when I thought that being honest wouldn't hurt me. And in this situation, I didn't really see how it could. I had all the power here and I wasn't trying to make a deal with Rachel or Amaris.

I studied the pair for a second longer and noted their curiosity. After a moment of hesitation, I ultimately realized that this was a moment for truth-telling. I smiled, not arrogantly or excitedly, but a genuine and relaxed smile.

"Now's the time for honesty. I'll tell you two a story. My story." I said, speaking relaxedly to the pair. Their eyes widened in excitement as they looked at me and waited for me to begin.

"I'm gonna tell you the whole truth. So let me go back to the beginning. To when I came to life. A whole eleven days ago." I declared, my grin turning more mischievous when I said that last part. The pair of dwarves looked at me, stunned, when I revealed my real age to them.

I feigned offense and gasped, in unreal pain, when I saw Rachel's expression. She reared back, flinching at the display.

"Rachel! I told you I was extremely young when I answered your prayer. Don't you remember?" I asked, pretending to be offended. She nodded, but her look of shock didn't change.

"You said 'Young', but you're... a baby!" She told me, reacting fairly albeit perhaps a bit too honestly to my actual age. I grinned again, and expressed, using my hands, that it was no big deal. And then I began to tell the pair of dwarves the wild adventures that led me to where I was now, in front of them.

My projections were still out and about in Puerto Rico even as I told the dwarves my life story.