A/N: Oren POV as Sophia tries to talk Aureo down. Surely a Goddess of Wisdom can handle one angry River God, right?

  -x-X-x-

  “I don’t… I don’t understand.”

  Sophia’s shock is reasonable, given what Aureo just told them. Oren though… he can’t say he’s all that surprised. He’s been watching the River God since they rescued him and even as Aureo y healing in the water of his domain while they talked, Oren had come to one simply conclusion. The God of Goldriver was not okay.

  Who would be after everything Aureo had been through? The god had been tortured for months by the God Hunters. He’d had everything stripped away from him. His health, his power, his dignity, his pride. They’d reduced him to a mere shell of his former self. Rescuing him and healing his physical injuries wasn’t going to be enough to fix him if something was off upstairs.

  To be fair, the River God had put on a brave face. Quick as a whip and eager to ugh to cover his pain, he’d clearly fooled Sophia with the act. Oren saw through it though. He saw the micro-expressions as Sophia and Aureo talked back and forth, he saw the God of Goldriver for what he truly was. The most telling moment had to be when Sophia told Aureo that Oren was an Otherworlder.

  Oh, the god had made all the right noises and said all the right things, but what Sophia had failed to notice was that truthfully, deep down… Aureo was relieved that Oren was an Otherworlder. Oren hadn’t really understood why at the time, but he was starting to get it now. Aureo was harboring a deep, seething, visceral hatred for all things mortal. By beling Oren as an Otherworlder, he was able to divorce him from his hatred, to separate Oren from the native humans he so desperately wanted to kill.

  At Sophia’s confused words, Aureo just ughs again as he rises out of the water, fully healed. He doesn’t walk or step out of the spring, no he quite literally rises up out, with the water moving beneath him to guide him to nd. His feet hit the sand and he barely falters upon his regrown foot, even as he strides with purpose over to the open-air bedroom on the other side of the cavern.

  His intentions are obvious given his complete nudity. Oren was pretty sure he hadn’t been fully naked back when they’d rescued him, but the healing spring seemed to have treated the scraps of clothing he’d still had on in the same way it’d treated the muck, filth, and dried blood. Namely by doing away with it all and leaving him pristine and also entirely naked.

  Sophia averts her gaze of course, blushing a bit as Oren focuses more on Aureo’s response than his looks.

  “I’m not sure what has you confused, Sophia. You said it yourself; I need to take my revenge on those who wronged me.”

  Throwing open the wardrobe, Aureo reveals a rack of robes, all in different shades of blue. He begins looking through them, even as Sophia makes a point of studying the crystals on the ceiling. That doesn’t stop her from seeking crification though.

  “I just… wasn’t it the city leadership who wronged you? I read a letter from Commander Hogarth. I know they turned on you and sold you out to the God Hunters. They deserve to pay for that… even with their lives really, after everything that happened to you. A swift death is more than fair in payment for months of torture.”

  From the surety in her voice, Oren thinks that st sentence might have been a domain thing. She is a Goddess of Equity, after all. It’s interesting that her divine power seemed to take that view on things, but he can’t really find it in him to disagree with her. Aureo on the other hand turns his head sharply in Sophia’s direction, his eyes narrowed for a second. When he realizes that Sophia isn’t looking his way and why, the River God snorts derisively.

  “A hard death is no less than they deserve. I wouldn’t know given what I am, but I’m told drowning isn’t a fun way to go. It’s no less than they deserve though. No less than they ALL deserve.”

  Aureo picks out a robe of cerulean blue and puts it on, wrapping it around himself with a sigh. Sophia chances a look down and then reorients onto the River God now that he’s clothed. Nevertheless, she looks downright stricken by his words.

  “The whole city though? Surely there are innocents among the popuce. People who had nothing to do with your captivity. Do they really deserve death?”

  Stepping in front of a standing mirror, Aureo fluffs the colr of his robes for a moment, letting the silence drag on just long enough that it’s not clear if he’s going to respond or not. Finally, just as Sophia is starting to squirm, he does.

  “Yes. They do.”

  Turning away from the mirror, Aureo looks to Sophia… and Oren thinks the madness in the River God’s eyes is more apparent than ever given the way she freezes up.

  “They are all complicit, Sophia. Every st one of them. The city nobles sold me out for their own gain, certainly, but every single person in this city went along with it. They all sided with their leaders over me, their god.”

  Sophia bites her lower lip.

  “I… I’m sure most of them didn’t see a single copper of the money the God Hunters paid the nobility for you though. They’re just…”

  As the goddess trails off, Oren can see this is difficult for her. She doesn’t necessarily want to be stuck in this position, defending mortals. Not after how the people in Oakvale had treated them. Not with all the things the God Hunters have done.

  Aureo also senses Sophia’s hesitation and whether he recognizes where it comes from or not, the River God nevertheless capitalizes on it, pouncing on the perceived weakness.

  “They’re just what, Sophia? Living their lives? Going about their days? That is where their complicity begins. Not a single one of them does not know me as their patron god. Not a single human being in Goldriver was unaware of my existence. And yet… where were they? When I disappeared, did they question it? When the God Hunters took over the Temple District and defaced the statues there, did they try to stop it?”

  Oren watches Sophia fret for a moment before her eyes suddenly light up.

  “Y-Yes! At least for the first part, yes! I… Oren and I met a young woman in the city before we came for you. A waitress at an upscale tavern. She mentioned you. She talked about her father’s worship of you, how they missed your presence greatly!”

  Now its Aureo who pauses and hesitates. Sophia takes a step forward, continuing on.

  “You don’t need to drown the entire city. You don’t even have to get your hands dirty, Aureo. The God Hunters are all dead! If you reveal yourself to Goldriver, if you tell them what the nobility has done, I’m sure the people will rise up and tear down their leaders for you. You can be their god again!”

  For a moment, Sophia seems to be getting through to the River God. At the very least, he doesn’t immediately blow her off. Aureo truly looks like he’s giving Sophia’s words the consideration they’re due. Which makes it all the harder for her when he finally shakes his head.

  “No. You’re wrong.”

  Oren’s jaw clenches as he hears Sophia make a wounded noise in the back of her throat. Aureo hears it too of course, offering her an apologetic smile.

  “I do not truly believe every mortal is evil, Sophia.”

  That, Oren can tell, is a lie.

  “In fact, some of my followers did try to reach me during my captivity and rescue me from the God Hunters.”

  That on the other hand, was not a lie.

  “The God Hunters delighted in telling me about it. About how this or that follower had died screaming before ever reaching my cell.”

  Sophia looks stricken once more, while Aureo gazes off into the distance for a moment.

  “… I don’t bme those mortals for failing to save me.”

  Oren recognizes that as another lie. Aureo’s mask is damn near fwless, but under his contemptive expression is seething rage. He did in fact bme the mortals who died trying to save him for their failures. In his broken madness, he was putting all of humanity in the same basket.

  “But they represent the sum total ‘value’ of mortals in this city. Everyone else didn’t even try… or contributed directly to my suffering. For that, they must pay. For that… they will perish.”

  This was bad and only getting worse. Oren was more than happy to sit back and let Sophia try to talk the River God out of this. Not only did they need Aureo’s help still, but also he figured the Goddess of Wisdom would have the best chance at talking the god down. However… Oren was not about to let Aureo drown a city.

  He might be a monster. He might have more divine blood on his hands than even the God Hunters. And sure, he might not even be from this universe. But those were still people up there. Living, breathing people. Oren didn’t have a problem with killing to defend himself or Sophia, especially when it was kill or be killed more often than not. And the God Hunters, generally, tended to be just as monstrous as he was.

  But standing aside and letting an entire city of innocents drown just so they could stay on good terms with Aureo and hitch a ride to go and see his Ancient God of a father? That was looking to be a step too far for Oren. And would you look at that… he still has a certain Celestial Dagger on his person.

  … He didn’t want to kill Aureo though. Not just for of his usefulness to them, but also because the River God had been through a lot. He was the victim in all of this. Surely he could be talked out of going too far. Oren knew it would never be him who did the deed, but Sophia… surely she wouldn’t just give up. Indeed, he’s proven right a moment ter when Sophia breaks the silence once more.

  “What about after though?! If your father can help Oren and I track down the gods behind all of this, we can put a stop to them. And from there, without their divine backing, the God Hunters will surely crumble! If you destroy Goldriver now, there’s no turning back the clock. What if you come to regret it?”

  There’s another pregnant pause… but this time Oren can tell Aureo isn’t actually giving Sophia’s words any real consideration. At this point, the River God is simply humoring her. After a moment, he just shakes his head with a chuckle.

  “You’re right that there’s no turning back the clock, Sophia. Even if the God Hunters are disbanded, the damage is already done. I wasn’t alone down there. You know that. Everything in this region with an ounce of divine blood was fair game to those bastards. They took gods and goddesses I’ve known for centuries and reduced them to corpses. They destroyed divinities that have watched over these nds for longer than this city has existed.”

  Aureo is barely keeping it together now. If Sophia were anything less than the beauty she is, Oren suspects that he’d probably be sneering. But in this case, he’s clearly still trying to be ‘gentle’ with the goddess. His tone softens, even as he takes on a chiding voice.

  “What gives the humans the right to continue profiting off of the fruits of divine bor? Even if the God Hunters are gone, so are all of my peers. All of my kin. Taken from their domains, tortured to death down in the dark of those catacombs. There must be a reckoning, Sophia. There will be a reckoning.”

  His words hang heavily in the air for a moment before he smirks.

  “I also feel I must correct you on something you said. I’m not intending on destroying Goldriver. Goldriver is the river, not the city. I and the river were here before the city… and I fully intend to make sure that we’re both here long after the city as well. Even if I have to take matters into my own hands.”

  Well damn. It doesn’t look like Sophia is going to succeed at talking Aureo down. This was it then, was it? Oren was going to have to step in.

  “Please… Aureo, you don’t have to do this. You’re only lowering yourself to the God Hunters’ level.”

  Even Sophia starts to sound defeated. Fuck, maybe she’s going to give him the order at this rate. Oren tenses up, ready for whatever comes next. Or so he thinks anyways.

  “You’re wrong Sophia. I do have to do this. But you’re also wrong in another way. Because I already started doing it five minutes ago.”

  What? Oren furrows his brow at that, his hand falling to the dagger of the Celestial Dagger. Only, before he can make a decision, the ground beneath the three of them begins to shake. More than that, Oren hears a lot more thanks to his enhanced senses. Admittedly, he’d heard the distant sound of rushing water and hadn’t thought much of it given all that Aureo had already said about the underground sections of his river.

  But now… the Otherworlder’s motion of inaction costs him as the sand they’ve been standing on flows away from the stone ptforms that are suddenly lifting up under their feet. Without really thinking about it, Oren leaves the dagger sheathed and moves towards Sophia instead of Aureo, fshing to the goddess’ side with all his speed and taking hold of her arm to steady her before she can fall off the rising stone.

  The look Sophia shoots him is too complicated for even Oren to put into words… or maybe he just doesn’t want to try. Either way, they’re both torn away from their locked eyes by the light coming from overhead and when they look up, they’re damn near blinded by the sun’s rays as they realize the cavern’s crystalline ceiling has come apart.

  They’re climbing now. Climbing out of the depths. Climbing up from under the city… into the sky.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: "WHY AM I SO BAD AT THIS?!" - Sophia, Minor Goddess of Wisdom (presumably)

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