Then there was seven

Haero exhaled as he relaxed his back to the boulder behind him. All around him were gods and devils, some segregated away while others mixed. It was mostly the unknown gods who were taking this initiative to interact with the devils.

Haero found it strange, how these beings had gone from attacking to aiding in the defense of their realm. Knowing it was a universal threat that prompted all beings of the star rings to unite was the only reason he didn't call it a ruse. The male was tired his liquid metal skin shifting with each breath and movement of his body.

His mind trailed to other things. There was mother and why she had been late to the fight. While he blamed her not he was more worried at the bruised sight of her. It reminded him of how infallible she was. Long had he seen her as an immovable being. The story of her taking down a Void wolf when he was a babe flashed through his mind. Now instead of the scene of a victorious female, it was replaced by the sight of the chaos beast biting her arm off.

Haero frowned as he glared down at his fist. 'Weak'. He knew he was nowhere close to the strength Mother would show. Yet he would strive to get there. Still, Haero frowned as he remembered his second issue. Someone who should be stronger than he was.

'Him'

Why he never appeared when all that was life was threatened angered the Suneater. His blood churned his heart and core heating and boiling with his rage at the thought of what could have been if they had been weaker. Haero knew he had no right to be angry at his weakness. Yet he saw the inaction of that being as something unacceptable especially when there was something to be lost. Their mother.

Haero snorted before rising his feet dragging through the stones of the ground. His eyes flashed for a brief moment past the Bridge of Burdens before he focused his gaze on the nothingness.

"Sol's Call - Ascent' The words were nothing but a whisper as they took effect. Waves of golden fire flowed out of his core and wrapped around him like a sentient entity. His body flashed as it formed a pillar of fire that rose high into the nothingness and connected to the Sol. When the fire pillar vanished leaving a scorched ground with intricate symbols on it the Suneater was gone.

Sol was everything a sun should be and more. The divine energies of the flame radiating off it were enough to serve the God who made it his home. It was a constant cycle of energy where he fed the Sol with his divinity at little intervals leaving it to burn the energies and forge the fires that gave the realms their light. In turn, the fires now potent and filled with raw divinity were absorbed or controlled by him.

Sol from his perspective was an ever going firestorm, explosions of energy and terraforming land beneath his feet. All propagated by the ever-increasing divine core of the Sol. His skin was immune to the lashing of the Sol and when a new form of energy arose he simply grew immunity to it but lacked control of the energy.

Something Haero aimed to correct. If the true firstborn refused to aid then he would. He would grow strong enough to be his mother's shield. No more would she place herself before him and danger. He would be powerful enough to be her spear. No more would she lack a powerful arm to strike. Yes while she had all of this as seen by the forces of the Unborn, Haero felt it demeaning to be weaker than those not his mother's true children.

'When I'm done... ' he sat in a lotus style eyes shutting. "... I'm coming for you, brother".

*

In the two realms Torheim, Feryrire, and the third new realm Taursa the four children as well as the sixth administrator made their separate plans.

Tora sat on her throne her eyes examining the white lightning as it ran over her arm, the streaks and sparks lighting up her fur as it flickered from one hair follicle to the other.

The more she looked at it the more it was overtaken by the bright lightning that she remembered had been used by her mother. Even she had felt the pricks of terror and danger it brought when not even used on her.

"As expected mother of mother.' a scene flashed through her mind. Fangs digging through flesh and crushing bones. " But not infallible.

"Haero must be beating himself up over this and Freyr will not have a good night's rest." gold mist escaped her lips in an exhale before she focused back on her lightning.

Her two perks granted her power in both offense and defense while also improving her agility tremendously. Yet she was sure there had to be more ways to grow stronger that wouldn't need both perks.

"But how?" she pondered. The Umnduni sighed as she relaxed back on her white seat. 'For now, I'll just train my lightning and speed."

*

Off realm in the Soul Temple, two administrators sat silently. One silently resting and the other just sulking.

"Mother would always save us a thousand times. No matter what. While it's alright to feel bad about it, sulking over it is not the way Freyr."

"I know. But what more can we do? We run the dungeons constantly. We train and practice our skills yet..."

"Yet nothing. You fail to understand something, I bet Haero also thinks the same. Your distress blinding you to the fact that our enemy was a creature while not on mother's level was also nowhere on our level." Freya frowned as she continued.

"We all gave our best at our current growth. Sulking because we couldn't hurt such a leviathan will do you or us no good. It will do Mother no good." she smirked at the Oragon whose head bobbed up.

"Then what. We keep training?"

"Indeed. There is no other way. The only difference is no more dungeons. We've outgrown them, no matter how we see it. I think is time we headed out". Freyr glanced at her surprised.

" You don't mean..." he paused as she nodded.

"Look around. The realm is empty and I'm sure so too is Torheim. Even our younger siblings know to find strength somewhere else." Freyr grumbled.

"This time though it'll be just like all those times back, the five of us against the realms." she mused with a smile.

"You mean six, probably seven," Freyr explained on seeing her confused expression.

"There's the Devilless. Also, there is our other brother who remains in the wind. If I know Haero well he won't let his absence from this battle slide, especially after Mother lost her arm because of us."

Freyr sighed before standing and walking away from the black throne. The male joined her as she moved to a stair that curved up and around till it came out at the top of one of the temple walls. From there both siblings stared out into the realm.

"I do wonder what this brother is like. Even more why he refuses to show himself or where he could have gone. Why would Mother hide him?" Freyr questioned, it was obvious all thoughts of the previous matter had been forgotten by him for the moment.

"We'd have to wait and see".

*

Ayarat sat by the edge of the bridge staring down past the rushing waves of the star river and into the dark tapestry that was the mortal realm. At this point, Ayarat couldn't deny not knowing her mistress was a Creator goddess. Her powers and strength in battle went far more than she had expected.

" Yet she is weak in combat". It was a clear fact that the Deviless had picked up on. Due to life trade, she could not have any thoughts or try to have any thoughts to do bad to her mistress. Which meant Agarat had only one option left.

"If I can't let her fall, then at least I best increase her strength. " Deeming it important to keep her mistress strong to stay safe Ayarat made her decision.

*

Ozai was one of the five who barely spent time on his symbol of power. Mostly because it was more a chair than anything else. It always dazzled him how such a seat could be seen as a star in the little world of Vaustaris. He preferred to stay in the Lunar Castle where he could feel more comfortable. The blood God was focused, his gaze wandering into the distance where far-off clumps of rocks and dead planets floated in the vast space of darkness.

His eyes examined the solar system that held Vaustaris, the twin suns, and the various other dead planets. His attention moved on to the darkness where the circumference of the twin suns' gravity and energy ended.

Ozai knew there was a lot he could do with his position as God of the plains yet it was something he found himself lacking in.

"Mother grows stronger each day. The gap between her and us increasing day by day. Why, we train just as she does and..." Ozai paused as he remembered something an Unborn had said.

While the Unborn had spoken only to the higher gods he and his siblings had ways of listening in on such meetings. The Unborn's words rang in his mind. The mockery it had in its voice as it belittled the higher gods.

"Mother has been cuddling us". While his very statement was wrong in that the creatures in all her dungeons had no such orders to refrain from killing them, his thoughts were also right.

Ozai had realized that while they were always in battle, they were never truly in danger. At their young stage, they had the Unborn as guards. Now they had their immortality.

It made him wonder if, beyond the walls of their universe, their immortality was moot. If that was why Mother returned bloody and bruised. It also made him wonder if truly strength came from battles in adversity as the Unborn had hinted.

Ozai knew there was only one way to find out.

[END OF VOLUME ONE]