Duty Before Desire

The gate flashed into existence and looked just as John had imagined it, a ring of twisted wood with several crystal nodes evenly spaced around its face. To complete the Stargate look, a small growth extended from the side of it like a limb, twisting into the shape of a disk, a hemisphere of amber at its center. A hologram appeared above it, showing a perfect copy of the doors of the mine, down to a slightly different shade of yellow depicting the runes etched into them.

“Kiera says the same sort of thing happened on their end,” Verida informed them. “Only it’s a copy of the World Tree shown.”

“Guess using landmarks as the address works,” John said. “Do we want to test if travel is one way or two ways?”

“What do you mean?” Verida asked.

“Well, there’s a sci-fi series that uses things like these,” John explained. “In that show, travel’s one way. Trying to go through the receiving gate will just delete you from reality.”

“I think we should hold off on testing that for later,” Brenda advised. “We already have enough to talk about.”

“Right,” John said slowly, his gaze falling onto Verida. He wasn't sure exactly what Brenda and Verida had talked about over the last half hour, but it seemed to bolster the goddess’ confidence for the discussion about to happen. “Let Kiera know that they should dial in from there to be safe.”

“It’s done,” Verida said. “Do you want me to describe how it looks?”

“Why not?” John answered. “I have a pretty good guess but hit us with it.”

“Well, Vivian’s taken the lead,” the goddess relayed. “And she’s pressing the central orb.”

The words had scarcely left Verida’s lips when the gems in the gate lit up brightly and the interior of it flashed as if lightning had struck, filling the open space with a prismatic sheen that rippled like water, blocking from sight everything on the opposite side. A second later, a rock flew out of it.

“I suppose I’ll just let them know that rock came through unscathed,” Verida dryly remarked. A second later, Beth ran through.

“Woo, back in civilization!” she cheered, arms lifted up in a victory pose.

“You didn’t have to run, you know,” Senka jibed.

“Have to? No. Wanted to? Hell yes!” Beth shot back. “You know I’m not good with just sitting around. Vivian wouldn’t even let me scout the area more.”

“Yes, because after everything today, the last thing we needed was for you to go missing in the woods,” Vivian said as she stepped through the portal. “Honestly, a two hour wait isn’t that much of one. You could have taken a nap.”

“What am I, six?” Beth smirked.

“At times, it feels like it,” Vivian sighed as the rest of the group walked through the gate, with Teri leading her comrades through last. After a few seconds, the gate shut down, the veil of energy dissipating like mist, and the redhead glanced around the clearing. “Oh, Brenda. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Verida has something she’d like to discuss with all of us, so John and Senka picked me up,” Brenda revealed.

“Y-yes, something important about how we can ensure that something like today happening again is less likely,” Verida said.

“Can it wait a bit?” Teri asked. “I feel that putting off meeting with the elders will probably lead to more headaches than it's worth.”

“Yes, of course,” Verida answered. “Yeah, we should get that disaster dealt with before, um, moving on to that topic.”

‘Looks like we’re going to be holding off that conversation for a while,’ Senka thought to John.

‘Yeah, but if we can keep the elders off our backs for a time, it’ll free up Teri,’ John thought back. ‘I feel bad that she’s getting stuck with the “overly domineering” parents trope in our weird romance story.’

‘True,’ Senka replied. ‘I wonder if Verida has a plan for that too. They weren’t too keen on helping us find the mine in the first place, so I don’t know if she’s got some way to make them bend the knee.’

‘Maybe if she plays up her subduing of Fortuna, she can use that to show her power. That she’s able to play the protector, but needs their help to fully realize that,’ John mused.

‘Might want to share your thoughts with her before they go,’ Senka advised.

‘Yeah, that’s a good idea,’

Verida would have smacked herself for forgetting about the two other goblins, but she didn’t want to ruin their view of her. She had to play up the air of being in command and unflappable. She wasn’t sure just how they would recount the day’s events, but she hoped at least that Gryit’s tale would align with Teri’s version more. Lelib was not someone she was familiar with, and if he was the pick of the elders, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him to not reveal too much.

‘At least I’ll be able to understand them without issue,’ she thought, feeling Kiera’s influence on her. It was a bit like wearing a scarf wrapped around her head and neck, rubbing against her throat, mouth and ears in particular. Not having to rely on Teri’s translation meant she could quickly counter whatever points the elders brought up.

‘Why is it that I, a goddess with a focus on growth, find it easier to deal with these weeds than trying to grow protection for my friends?’ she lamented. She hated how obstinate the elders, mainly Vrexty, were. To think of them as weeds was even an insult to weeds. At least those stubborn plants still had positive effects on the land.

She pushed down her frustrations and focused her mind on the task at hand. She needed to impress upon them that she ultimately triumphed over Fortuna and that she was afraid to risk anything more than inconveniencing them. And that her actions have ended up benefiting the Kingdom as a whole by revealing the mine and the resources needed to establish the first two gates.

‘Play up the positives, brush aside the negatives. No big deal.’

“Are you ready?” Teri asked in English as they neared the village. Already, Verida could hear the faint sounds of activity. The faint memories from Yerda about life before the corruption came to the forefront of Verida’s mind, causing her to smile sadly.

‘I won’t let them fall to a similar fate,’ she thought before answering Teri. “As ready as I can be. Dealing with your elders is not my idea of a fun time.”

“With you there,” Teri agreed, her lips set in a frown. “But, are you okay? I mean, today’s been one hell of an adventure and I’m getting some pretty heavy vibes from you.”

“There is a lot on my mind,” Verida answered, the words coming hesitantly out of her mouth. She did not want to think about the upcoming conversation she wanted to have with them and didn’t want her nerves about that flaring back up after Brenda’s pep talk. Between the two tasks ahead of her, she wasn’t sure which one she would prefer to forestall.

While her initial task had a much preferable outcome if things went well, it held a darker, more bitter potential, one she did not want to admit was possible. Dealing with the goblin elders, while far less pleasant, even a bad outcome didn’t hold as much consequence. The goblins did not have the luxury of just leaving. Outside of the Kingdom, they had no guarantee of safety or stability. Would they abandon Pruzonia for the uncertain wilds after one incident that was resolved with little issue? Could they make such a decision and have their people follow?

Despite holding most of the cards, dealing with the elders made Verida consider this the more onerous task after a moment of reflection. There was little good to be found with the elders, even if an unfavorable outcome mattered little in the grand scheme of things.

“If you want to get some things off your chest, I’m all ears,” Teri offered, wiggling her ears for emphasis.

Doing her best to ignore the sexual connotations of Teri’s innocent words, Verida smiled at her. “Well, a bit of it is the thing I wanted to talk to everyone about. So I hope this meeting will be quick.”

Teri’s expression shifted as if she tasted something sour. “Not sure if that’s going to happen. You know how they are.”

Verida sadly nodded as they reached the village’s boundary. Several of the goblins stopped their activities and bowed in reverence. Verida smiled at all they passed and headed for the elders’ tent. Around them, more permanent structures were already being erected. They were still only the frames, but it was progress.

“Honered elders,” Teri spoke in a crisp voice when they reached the tent, “we have returned. Goddess Verida has joined us and wishes to speak with you.”

“Come in, come in,” the voice of Elder Tjkon came from the tent and Teri held open the flap for Verida to enter. She did, finding the interior only held the one elder. Tjkon sat on his chair, his eyes closed, only opening them once Teri, Gryit and Lelib had entered and closed the tent’s flap.

“Before you ask, Vrexty and Bryit are attending to personal matters at the moment, so it’s just me holding down the fort,” Tjkon said. “I hope you don’t mind, honored goddess, if I ask my kin for their report? Though, if I may be frank, I think whatever you wish to speak to us about is entwined with our shaman’s report.”

Teri glanced at Verida for a moment before speaking, “Your wisdom shines through, honored elder. Indeed, our foray out into the wilds did lead to our path crossing with the goddess’, though not by our action or hers.”

Verida remained mostly quiet as Teri recounted the events of the day, only adding her perspective when it helped to elaborate a point. Once Teri reached the end with the creation of the gates, Tjkon let out a hum as he scratched his chin in thought.

“Certainly an ill omen if another god can step into this land and throw their weight around,” he said in a measured tone and Verida found herself envious of Teri’s empathic abilities. Tjkon had one hell of a pokerface, if she recalled the saying correctly. “However, the ending of your tale shows that our faith has not yet been misplaced. I presume, honored goddess, that your display of power there was one that you can perform again?”

“That is correct,” Verida answered plainly. “Today transpired as it did in part due to the Highest Star, Gaia as you know her as, employing Fortuna as something of a test. Once she had her answer, my ability to pull rank and deny Fortuna purchase was restored and invoked.”

Tjkon nodded. “There is not much that can stand in her way should she choose to act. I do wonder why she is paying attention to us here. To say it’s simply because of your ascension seems too tidy and small for a being as grand as her.”

Tjkon gave Verida a pointed look, one she did not need Teri’s abilities to guess the meaning of. And she wished she’d spoken to Teri beforehand to see if anyone knew Gaia was involved with John’s powers as even if the elders weren’t aware of it, Tjkon definitely suspected the most powerful goddess had an interest in their human ally. And trying to ask Teri in English would just be a bad look.

Instead, Verida simply dipped her head in a short nod. “The Highest Star keeps her own council. To guess her intentions is like trying to count all the drops of rain that fall in a storm.”

“Indeed,” Tjkon murmured. “I suppose that is far from what we can know. Regardless, hopefully your show of dominance will make other deities think twice about disrespecting you. And I’m sure that plus the mine you found will be a great boon for all of us in the long run. Not even Vrexty could argue with that.”

Verida worked to keep the mild shock from her face as Tjkon let out a short laugh. She was expecting at least some level of tension from the elder, an air of uncertainty after having some of his people made into the playthings of a goddess. To see him more focused on the mine was odd. A glance over to Teri revealed she also seemed surprised by his attitude.

“You do not need to mask your surprise, honored one,” Tjkon suddenly said. “You are wondering why I’m not more upset about the intervention of this goddess of luck, yes?”

“Just a bit,” Verida cautiously answered.

“While I can’t say I like that members of our clan were subjected to the whims of an unfriendly god, I’ve lived long enough to know that railing against things beyond my ability to change will amount to nothing,” the elder solemnly said. “And that was before our fate turned. Right now, you and our blood kin have provided us a safe place to re-establish ourselves, at great risk at times. To be up in arms over a situation that was resolved in a way that left no one wounded or otherwise worse for wear would be a pointless waste of energy. Energy that can be better spent to ensure that we’re not put in a position like that again. Wouldn’t you agree, honored one?”

Verida found herself impressed. While she was aware that the two more pleasant elders were somewhat at odds with Vrexty, she hadn’t expected either of them to undercut his more suspicious method of diplomacy. At least not so openly. And he was giving her the opening to keep Teri involved.

“Indeed I have plans to prevent such a thing from happening,” she calmly stated. “In part, that is why I came to inform you directly, beyond common courtesy. Tsxhel’s aid would be invaluable in expediting these plans, if I may employ her skills.”

“By all means, if our shaman is amenable to the idea, that is,” Tjkon gave permission.

“I don’t mind doing a bit more work, if it’s for the good of the clan,” Teri quickly attested.

Behind both Teri and Verida, Gryit let out the tiniest of choked laughs, badly covering it up with a dry cough.

“Excellent,” Tjkon said. “Now, I won’t hold you up any longer. Gryit, Lelib, I thank you for your valiant service today. Go and rest, you’ve earned it.”

Lelib didn’t need any more encouragement and excused himself with little fanfare.

“Don’t stay out too late.” Gryit smirked at Teri before leaving, causing Teri to let out a sigh.

“Honored elder, thank you for your time and wisdom,” Teri said before bowing. Verida inclined her head at the same time and they both turned and left the tent. Out in the open air, Verida let herself relax slightly.

“That went better than I expected,” she said quietly in English.

“I’m glad Vrexty wasn’t there,” Teri added. “But, I’ve got a bad feeling some powerplays are being made. And I don’t like being in the dark with stuff like that.”

Verida placed her hand on Teri’s shoulder. “We’ll weather it. The winds may be able to blow down a tree, but the forest will still be standing after the rain.”

Teri smiled up at Verida. “Good saying.” She shook her head. “We probably shouldn’t be lazing about. We’ve got that idea of yours to try. I bet the others are going out of their minds with boredom.”

‘Don’t think they’ll be bored after I tell them what the idea is,’ Verida dryly thought as they made their way out of the village. ‘I certainly hope Brenda’s view on things is the right one.’