A Real Goddess Would Let Nobody Die

<I just told Her, 'at least he knew right away that You were the Goddess of Beauty,' but She still is feeling humbled, like She needs to pass Her title to you! Teeteeteet! She's so proud of Her appearance, and then this! Poor thing! No, don't worry, She's not mad at you, or Zyriko. None of Us are that kind of Goddess. Follow Our Creed and We will die for you, like Izena did.>

Suri was relieved, but then she finished processing the last sentence. The Black Goddess had died?! She had needed to die?!

<Yes. We can talk about that, too. Now, the next step is to deepen the link, to simulate a face-to-face meeting as closely as possible, so you can meet Us all as properly as can be, under the circumstances. You will feel like you are in the room with Us, in My body. This will cause you to lose most of your awareness of the world around you, but Zyriko laid you both down, and you are in a safe place, so this should be fine.>

Suri managed to tilt her head a little. Zyriko had indeed laid her out on the sofa, while the Language was being inscribed into her. He was laying with his eyes closed on the sofa on the opposite side of the table from her.

<He refused to leave you until I told him that you were nearly done! And then--> She snickered again. <Poor little Sister!>

Suri swallowed. That was one of the only actions she was capable of performing, at the moment, incapacitated on the sofa.

<Did he really mean it? How is that possible?> she asked.

<Oh, he meant it!> The Goddess' voice hummed with amusement. <I think it's partly that he finds your blue extremely attractive. Alright, this is an aside, but I do love young love! I cannot help Myself. We will get to your ambition to remake your world and all that in a minute, but first, the stuff that's actually important. Time for personalized romantic advice from the Goddess of Love Herself. Ready?>

...Suri was a twenty-five-year-old whose life had been a continuous anti-romantic nightmare for a decade, currently in the midst of a strange desperate-but-not-desperate romance of around an hour that bizarrely felt like years, deeply uncertain about exactly how she should be approaching her forthcoming life as a newlywed, and whether she was truly being sensible. She was listening.

<Let's get to it, then. First, I'm serious about Zyriko loving your blue. Seriously, young lady, get your nails back to it, starting tomorrow. You've been doing it every day since you were, what, five-and-a-half? Do not change now. I know it feels like putting in more effort ought to be better than sticking to easy and familiar habits, but Zyriko wanted to marry the person you already were. Always remember that. If you want to give Zyriko a thrill again in the future, are feeling like you want to put in some extra effort, then go for more blue, more of you. You are what he wants! I suggest blue highlight underneath your eyes, made from your materialized mana, as a good first idea. Just a thin line underneath. I think he'd like that a lot. I know you worry that you are already too excessively blue, but you are marrying the one guy in the Universe for whom no such threshold exists, as long as it's your blue, and who cares about all those other idiots? Not you, that's who.>

Suri fervently agreed.

<That's right. He liked the blue from the beginning--believe Me, I know--and then your charms broke something in him. Take responsibility and go wild. Really and truly, I am serious, blue earrings, blue dots on your cheeks, whatever. You know you want to, and there is nothing you can do with your blue that he won't love. Nothing. Red one time was good, that was well done, but he loves your blue.>

This was not how Suri expected her meeting with the Red Goddess to go, but she didn't mind.

<He loves wearing your blue, too, being marked by you. Walk up and rub your mana on him whenever you want to remind him who he belongs to. He...> She giggled. <Yes, it would be as you are imagining.>

...Good to know. Thanks, omniscient Love Goddess.

<Don't mention it! You two are adorable and well-matched, but the timeline and age gap and all the rest are understandably making you hesitant. Do not blame yourself. Zyriko would be the same way, even worse, if he had never been able to talk to Me, and he understands your position. In fact, he is surprised by and grateful for how much you have reciprocated already.>

Compassion had replaced amusement in the Goddess' voice.

<You feel like you need sanction for how you feel, since it's all so unconventional. You want things to be mutual, but the primary thing preventing that, the thing you need to work through, is your niggling worry that there is something wrong with you, that feeling the way you do is irrational and improper. So, accept My sanction. Love Herself approves of you. Your feelings are valid; do not deny them. Your choices have been correct; do not doubt them. You two are unique; typical standards do not apply. I affirm it all, and in this domain, I am infallible.>

It had been a long, long time since Suri's chin quivered, but this had hit her limit.

<These conversations are the sacred purpose of My existence. It is neither possible nor necessary to maintain a mask in front of the Goddess of Empathy. This reaction to speaking with Me is normal, not shameful. You have lived for decades under constant, crushing stress, and now Someone is finally Listening to the words that no one else can hear. Soak in My Love, lose yourself in it, and let it all out.>

Suri did, and her Goddess waited, humming a lullaby in the background.

The lullaby finished when Suri did, and the Red Goddess continued.

<Good. Now, back to how that lovestruck dork can think how he thinks.> The amusement was back. <You already know this, but you do not appreciate how powerful the effect is: he loves you for the connection you share, and how you have mutually saved each other from terrible situations, and all the rest. This alters his perception.>

Suri did know that Zyriko loved her, she had felt it directly, but hearing the literal Goddess of Love Herself state it as fact was still thrilling.

<But do not misunderstand. It's not all about altered perception. I can see your self-image now, presumably more authentic than his image of you, and let Me say this: I have now seen enough examples of extremely powerful and benevolent mages to be confident that this pattern is not coincidence. If a powerful mage has a beautiful soul, their mana's impact on their appearance turns someone who might have been attractive into someone inhumanly gorgeous. Like you.>

As was often the case recently, Suri was blushing. What could anyone say to praise like that from a literal Goddess?

<Nothing! Be proud. Many people have appearances that they did not earn, but if My conjecture is correct, you earned yours, at least partially. Rededicate yourself to maintaining the strength of character responsible.>

<This is why Zyriko also, is, You know...>

<Yes,> She giggled. <It is so difficult to pull your eyes away from a sunset in progress, isn't it?>

It was.

Suri could feel how adorable the Goddess thought they were.

<And, you will understand the last factor when you see Kennalaria,> She continued. <She is so dazzling, so ethereal, that She doesn't seem real. She is Beauty, not beautiful. Zyriko immediately identified Her as the Goddess of Beauty without introduction, but Her total transcendence combined with his deep fixation on you softened Her effect. She did not fully register as a human. And now, for you to see Her and My elder Sisters, We need to proceed. Get comfortable, and I will bring your mind into Me. We are in a place called the Temple of the Stars. I will let you appreciate the view for a bit first. It will be good to have an adjustment period, and there is no need for Us to rush Our conversation. Take your time.>

The world around Suri faded out, and she was staring out at a field of stars. This place was aptly named.

<You are seeing what I see, now. Zyriko is here, too.>

<It's good to see you, in a manner of speaking,> Zyriko said. <Don't worry about me. I've had some time to chat already. Say what you want to say, and I will listen.>

As far as Suri could tell, she was suspended in the middle of empty space, stretching in all directions, inside transparent walls formed by blue magic.

<Yes, this Temple is a construct of blue magic, the finest jewel of Our Garden,> the Red Goddess confirmed. <It was built by the mortal people who live under Our care. It's that world there, above Us.> She leaned back a little, to bring it into view. <Where We are can be accessed by a lift from the surface, but Kennalaria brings Us here in a few jumps with Her magic. We will use Her jumps to reach your world, one day.>

A circle of blue and white and green and brown hung in the distance. This construct was beyond anything Suri's world could possibly produce.

<Was this built as an act of worship?> Suri asked, in awe.

<I suppose you could call it that. More precisely, it was built as a gift of gratitude, mostly to My elder Sister Menelyn, for everything She has done and still does for this world. It was also partially a gift to the rest of Us.>

Suri's admiration was so intense that she felt nauseous. <It was given freely? Something like this?> She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear the words.

<Not only freely, but over Menelyn's protests. She argued that She had never received a reward, that none had ever been needed before and none would ever be required. She urged that the resources be used for the betterment of society rather than on so extravagant a gift. But, it was built anyway, because it is what that very society wanted to use its resources for. She was so squirmy, when the final appropriations vote was unanimous, 1000-0, and all the delegates smirked at Her. It was adorable. It is still today a source of pride, for the people of Our Garden.>

Suri could tell that her body was crying again, on the sofa. These were True Goddesses.

<It is wonderful.> That was an understatement, but what else could she say? <Why build this, specifically?>

<Menelyn is the Goddess of the Sun, of Day. She shines like the Sun, and so although She dearly loves stargazing, She cannot see any from inside the atmosphere, even with Izena's help. The people of the world wished to give Her something very valuable, in partial repayment of what She had given to them, and this was the only thing they could imagine that would be valuable to Her, something that She could not make for Herself.>

<She is here, right? We will meet Her?> Suri asked.

<Yes, Zyriko already has. Menelyn and Izena are standing behind Us, waiting, as is Kennalaria. I will turn around when you are ready.>

<They are truly magnificent,> Zyriko added.

<Can I see what You look like, first?> Suri asked. <I only ever got a hazy image, before.>

<Of course.>

In her mind's eye, Suri saw a woman a full head shorter than herself, with pinkish-red everything, like Suri's blue, wearing clothing and jewelry made from ruby-red mana. Dawn-wearing-Dusk, as Zyriko had described. Her hair was elaborately braided up off Her shoulders except for some wavy strands artfully hanging from the sides, unlike Suri's free-hanging ringlets. But the most remarkable feature of Her appearance, which would have made Her obviously divine even if Suri didn't already know, was Her intrinsic radiance, and the sense in which She stood outside the material world, immune to its filth and decay. A True Goddess, untouchable, even by time and entropy.

<I am glad that you approve! I must credit My Sisters. Izena braids My hair into whatever style fits Her whim every day around dawn, and that aura of divinity and immortality is from Menelyn.>

Suri took a moment to indulge her urgent impulse to worship. She was, right now, not only connected to the mind of a literal deity, but also viewing the world through Her eyes, from that divine form she had just been shown: the body of a True Goddess, inside Her Temple, suspended above Her Garden.

<I am also impressed with you, young lady, and you as well, Zyriko. My elder Sisters and I were not so very different from what you two are now, millennia ago. Zyriko is about the same raw strength as Kennalaria, currently, and She still needs a few more decades of growth to reach your level, Suri. The awe you feel is a product of time alone.>

Suri let out a skeptical chuckle. Yes? If she and Zyriko were immortal deities with millennia of maturation still remaining, then she might agree that there wasn't much difference.

<Thank You for giving us this opportunity,> she said. <I am ready to see the Others. It is why I am here.>