A Real Goddess Would Let Nobody Die

"Miss priestess," an older man wheezed. "What are the villages like, in the Sacred Realm?"

Telf looked up over his head, and across her audience. Again today, people not only filled the nexus shoulder-to-shoulder, but also spilled into the aisles.

She felt different this morning, but of course she did. It would be stranger if she felt the same after no less than a visit to the Sacred Realm, and everything that had happened there. Once upon a time, just a single lullaby had changed everything.

Today's Telf no longer felt like a slave girl who had become a Helper. Today's Telf was a Helper who remembered being a slave girl. These people gathered in the nexus believed that the woman they were listening to, covered in the gleaming blue of the Armory and speaking from the front of the sky-home, had seen the Sacred Realm, could meet personally with the True Goddesses whenever she wanted, and had been chosen by Them to look after everyone. And they were right. Telf had been chosen for the holiest job in the holiest place in the entire world. Because she had earned it. The Goddesses said so.

She knew the answer to this man's question because she had been to one of those 'villages.' The truths of the Sacred Realm were more incredible than what anybody here had imagined.

"Most people in the Sacred Realm live in very large villages called 'cities.' Every city has more people than all three of our domains, combined. There are buildings one after another to the horizon in all directions, all of them shining like the surface of a lake at midday, some so tall that they have more than a hundred floors. Since there are wide streets in between, it's like the buildings are the walls of an enormous gorge, and the streets are rivers at the bottom. Bridges connect the tallest buildings so people can move around without having to go all the way down to the ground."

Had anyone else told such a fantastic tale, it would have been laughed off, but that had come straight from the priestess herself, so it was the truth. Her audience stared at the sky-floor, or off into the distance, trying to imagine what she had described.

This was a good place to end things, for today.

"I must see to breakfast, for the children," Telf announced. "I will always be here, every morning. Until tomorrow, think on today's lesson from Scripture: the Violet Goddess teaches that we should never be halfhearted, in anything we do."

She bowed, and stepped back inside.

Yesterday, Prosperity had come to the sky-home just before breakfast, carrying the sacred statue. Today, She came just before lunch, carrying a special portal.

"That will take me to him?" Telf asked, in a low voice. They were alone in the bedroom she shared with Arelvi, but she was afraid of the children overhearing.

"It goes straight to Our rooms," Prosperity answered, just as quietly. Her earrings flapped a little as She nodded. "So, keep it secret, from everyone. Only you may use it, if you need to get Me in an emergency. Zyriko is always listening, when he's awake, but he does need to sleep."

Telf carefully took the platform from Her. Unlike all the others, this one was completely featureless, a simple disk of gleaming sky one pace across. It could be mistaken for a small, circular tabletop or tray.

"By Your rooms, You mean...Your Sanctuary?!" she whispered.

Prosperity smiled, and nodded a single time. "Yes."

Telf tried to exhale her nerves. It wasn't like this would be her first visit to a holy place.

"I can go? Now?"

It had been months since she had spoken with the Messenger, and she had prayed, ever since, that this day would come.

'Never forget that it was you, your strength, that got your family here. We only gave you a map and a place to go.'

Telf's eyes welled up. She had not forgotten, and she remembered something else, too: The Sky Goddess hadn't answered Telf's most important prayer alone.

Her Goddess hugged her.

"I love him for a reason," She murmured, guessing the gist of what Telf was thinking. "Whenever you're ready, Zyriko is waiting for you. I will look after the children, until you're back. Keep in mind that he's almost always linked to Me, kind of like how you were linked to Keekee, so he knows you about as well as I do."

Releasing Her Helper, She backed away, and asked, "Have you memorized all the villages, somehow? You said you wanted to thank him once for each of them?"

Telf shook her head bitterly, her own earrings flapping.

"No, and I couldn't read a list even if I could make one." That would need to change. It was too shameful to be the only Helper in thousands of years who couldn't really read or write or do sums. "I'll try to get the point across another way. Once I can read better, I'll do it right."

Sky-eyes stared straight into Telf's.

"Unearned opportunities; undeserved hardships." Her Goddess' voice was firm. "Zyriko is like Keekee. He doesn't need words to know what you want to say. For him, 'doing it right' means honesty." She tapped Telf's chest. "Direct statements, from the heart. No more, no less."

Once She was satisfied that Telf understood, She opened the door, and stepped into the hallway outside.

"I'd best get to the children. Your own lunch is waiting for you, on the other side!"

Now alone, Telf set the platform on the sky-floor, and tried to calm her nerves. On the other side of this portal was the same Messenger who had guided her family out of slavery, and who was always watching over everyone on the surface. Not only was Telf the only person allowed to meet him, she was the only person allowed to know who he was! There were many, many thousands of people who wanted the Messenger to know how much 'she' was appreciated, and it was Telf's job to speak for all of them.

Also, according to Prosperity and Her Sisters, he was just as gorgeous as the mortal White Goddess. It was so, so, so stupid, but that was making Telf extra nervous.

"Fluhhhh."

She straightened out her uniform, made sure her hair was tidy, and checked the sky-paint on her cheeks and under her eyes. Once she was feeling fabulous enough, she took another breath, stepped onto the platform, and activated it.

At first glance, it seemed as though she had been taken to another room in the sky-home. Everything here was that same gleaming blue, and the overall style was very similar to Telf's bedroom. That mirror and vanity were exactly the same as the ones she had just been using. The brushes were familiar, and so were the vials of paint, except the red one. But no, Telf had been in every room in the sky-home, and this wasn't one of them. She was in the Sanctuary of the Blue Goddess.

"Hello Telf, and welcome!" a man's voice called, from behind her.

With a jolt, she spun around, and there he was, seated on a chair carved from sky, next to a sky-table with some food on it, across from an empty chair. If Telf had seen the Messenger by chance in the Blue House, she would have immediately known who he must be. He was the first person she had ever seen, other than herself and the Sky Goddess, who wore Her Essence, and also...Prosperity's description had been accurate.

"My apologies," he said, bowing his head a little. "I didn't intend to be behind you. The problem is, only Twilight could foresee what direction you would be facing when you used the platform. I'm Zyriko. And, just so we're clear..."

<I serve the Red Goddess as Her Messenger.>

He smiled, gestured to the table, and then to the chair opposite him. "Would you join me? Since you've had enough frogs for one lifetime, I thought you might appreciate some fruit and biscuits, for a change."

Telf was stuck staring, mouth slightly open.

The Messenger chuckled.

"You really are just like Suri! Excellent taste, by the way," he said, pulling a little on the shoulders of his own similar outfit. "It truly is the most beautiful color in the Universe, no? I love this room."

Orange Sun disks took in the sky blue room, sweeping from one side to the other.

Alright, being frozen like this was ridiculous. Telf had met and spoken to the True Goddesses! She could manage a normal conversation with the Messenger.

"It is beautiful," she agreed, in her priestess voice--she had more than a little experience quashing nerves. "And thank you. Fruit and biscuits does sound good."

She walked over as steadily as she could, and sat down across from her host, back straight and never looking down.

He nodded approvingly, with the slightest of smiles, and traced her path with a finger.

"When we first spoke, you hesitated to accept an invitation to the Sky Goddess' home," he recalled. "Now you stride across Her bedroom, dressed in Her Essence, and sit at a table with me, not a hint of shame to be seen, right after accepting and using a portal She made specially for you. Well. Met."

Telf looked off into space a little, while she considered what the Messenger had said. All facts, of course.

"A starving runaway slave covered in jungle muck and bruises does not feel like she belongs in a holy place," she explained, returning her eyes to him. "But where else does a gleaming priestess belong? This is my job--privileges, worries, and all. Doing it halfheartedly would go against the Scripture I preach."

There was nothing slight about the Messenger's smile now.

"The Helpers on the Garden may have been fortunate enough to be taught how to read," he said, "but there are other strengths that cannot be taught. When we first spoke, I said something that bears repeating: You have what it takes to be trusted with an important job. I am glad that you have come to believe it, too--really believe it, to your core."

"Somehow, I do," Telf agreed. The Goddesses did say so.

It was time to get to what she was here for.

"But, I came here today to make sure that you know, really know, how much everyone trusts you. How relieved everyone is, that you exist, and that you help. I want you to know that the people you help do not forget about you. How could we? Everyone knows someone will answer, if they call for help! They know that the Messenger is watching over them. Do you realize what that's like, for people like us?" Her eyes were welling up again. "Sometimes, we got lucky, and the Red Goddess answered, but that was rare, and we never knew what we could expect from Her. But not you. You can be relied on, and hearing from you means practical help, soon. We're not from the Garden. We're not used to that. No one can or will forget."

The Messenger was just like the Goddesses. Sitting at the same table, meeting her eyes, he listened carefully in silence, then waited until he was certain that she was finished speaking. The false gods would never.

"Every time I help someone, I feel exactly what it means to them, and what I mean to them, my existence. So, I will serve, alongside Suri and Her Sisters, until what I can do is no longer needed," he vowed. "I will not always hide in here. I plan to start working internally as myself, openly, and externally as the Messenger, for as long as the secrecy is necessary."

More grimly, he added, "And I am all too familiar with what the false gods do to people. Suri's parents pretend to be a false god lineage, this you know, but my parents are, and not just any. They are, I believe, the worst false gods on this continent, and possibly in the entire world. Imagine if the Limbots or Emmoyers could hear your thoughts." He nodded at Telf's horror. "I protected people whenever I could--I have become very skilled at keeping secrets--but often I could not, and I felt everything victims felt."

Telf had never thought about where the Messenger came from.

"Your parents, will they be at, um, the party?" she asked.

"Yes. We don't want them coming here, and they're more curious than anyone about what happened. One of our major goals is keeping them from getting too nosy. I've told them, you know, 'No, the climate is so terribly unpleasant here. You mustn't trouble yourselves! We shall see you soon, once the pacified territories are in a satisfactory state.' That's kept them at bay, but wouldn't work forever."

That made sense. This was the kind of thing that Telf had never needed to worry about.

"While we're on the topic, I may as well tell you: In the worst case scenario, my family, the Zyzz, would be probably the gravest threat. They would surely make a claim to all Keyic territories, in my name, but do not be deceived. Although they are my family, they are not allies. The people in the Blue House will handle the politics as best they can, but we will make sure that you are informed enough to understand the situation and participate in decision making, before we..."

The Messenger trailed off, and frowned.

"Actually, maybe we're starting that now? It seems like Suri's mother is coming here? Strange." He stared off into space for a few seconds, then rose from his stool. "Yes, she is. Want to come meet her?"

Telf followed the Messenger through a door that led to another room, smaller and emptier than the Sanctuary. Some kind of entryway? He opened the door on the opposite wall, and Telf recognized what lay beyond as a typical Blue House hallway.

The woman standing there was definitely Prosperity's mortal mother.

"Ah, Zyriko! Just who I was--"

She noticed Telf, over his shoulder, and blinked at her a few times.

"Ah, you must be Telf!" she exclaimed, suddenly. "I have been so distracted that it slipped my mind! I'll leave you to it, soon, but I simply must speak to Zyriko, for a moment. No no, you can stay! I will be brief."

She stepped inside the smaller room, and returned her attention to the Messenger. She seemed excited.

"Now, Zyriko, I saw something this morning which so bewildered me that I have come seeking your counsel. I was walking to my office, as I do, when I happened to encounter my lovely daughter in the hallway."

Glancing at Telf, she added, "I'm the Sky Goddess' mother."

<She's very, very proud of that,> the Messenger explained, as if it weren't obvious.

"The family resemblance is strong," Telf replied, as polite as she knew how to be.

"Ha! How flattering!" Honestly, Telf would be no different, in her place. "So, there I stood, watching my daughter, but I could not believe what I saw."

She paused.

"...Was She acting strange?" the Messenger prompted. He seemed...stiff? Like he was struggling not to laugh, or something?

"She was! That lovely daughter of mine, as you know, has long been the, mm, quiet and brooding sort. For the last, oh, twenty years, were I to cross paths with Her in the hallways, She would be trudging along, worrying to death behind that impassive facade about something or other, likely having devised a new reason to feel inadequate. But can you guess what I saw this morning?"

"...She was happy?"

Prosperity's mother nodded, seeming more serious now.

"This morning, I saw that quiet and brooding daughter of mine skipping down the hallway. Skipping, Zyriko. As I stood there, flabbergasted, She beamed at me, waved like this," she mimicked a two-handed wave, "and chirped, 'Hi mom!' Just like that. 'Hi mom!' By the time I recovered, She had passed me by, and vanished. Ever since, I have been in such a state, this whole morning, that I couldn't resist dropping by to investigate. Might you, perhaps, have any ideas as to the cause?"

"...Perhaps one or two..."

"Fascinating." She waved her hand in encouragement. "Do share, if you can."

"...Last night...She wanted to dance..."

"Dance? In the middle of the night?"

"She glows, so...and She has a lot to do, during the day. The rest is...that's what the Violet Goddess is like?"

Prosperity's mother mimicked the two-handed wave again, and repeated, "'Hi mom!'"

"Right, and the skipping."

"So, you're suggesting that Suri was feeling like the Goddess of Beauty, and subconsciously acting like Her?"

"...That's not exactly what I meant...but I suppose it is one plausible interpretation," the Messenger agreed.

She nodded slowly again, looking right at him.

"It's good that you have some idea. I never want to see that version of my daughter again." She smiled wryly. "The depressed one, I mean."

Her eyes drifted over to Telf, and looked her up and down.

"You are more wonderful than I had hoped, priestess," she approved. "Suri chooses Her people so well that one might call Her infallible, mm?"

She bowed to the Messenger.

"Thank you, Zyriko of Keyic, for indulging my curiosity. I'll leave you to it."

After the door closed, Telf's host heaved a sigh.

"It's quite challenging to have a conversation with your mother-in-law while listening to your wife's embarrassed pleading at the same time," he told her, then pointed to the door they had entered through. "Shall we?"

"What did you mean, about Her maybe feeling like the Goddess of Beauty?" Telf asked, as she followed. "How is that possible? She said just yesterday that She couldn't even have 'Beautiful' in Her written name."

The Messenger oozed fondness.

"When I use my full power, Suri can feel what I think of Her in perfect detail, as clearly as I feel it. Her opinion is that Twilight is objectively more beautiful, but it makes Her happy to know--know--that I disagree, even though She says it means my mind is broken, and admits that it shouldn't really matter anyway. Last night, you know..." He shrugged. "I disagreed especially strongly."

Telf's heart skipped three beats. There were many kinds of miracles in the world.

They had returned to their chairs, at the table. Telf repeated what she knew so far.

"So, at the party, you will see your parents, and show everyone that Prosperity is immortal. Is that all?"

"We will also reveal that I am immortal. It is important for my parents to be confident that I am and always will be an equal partner, so they stay content and, consequently, out of our business." He shrugged. "Honestly, Suri wants to show me off, too."

If She wanted to show, Telf wouldn't mind spectating.

The Messenger chuckled again, and Telf blushed. Right. He was like Love.

"Not everyone who visits the nexus every morning is there for the Scripture." He waited until she understood what he was getting at. That did not help the blush situation. "Anyway, there are a few other objectives. First and foremost, as far as the false gods know, the Emmoyers were sloppy and allowed a revolt, while the Limbots suffered only from unlucky geography. We do not want the lineages to conclude from this narrative that the Emmoyers' less invasive policies are to blame, and it's better to be as tyrannical as the Limbots. That could lead to a lot of extra suffering. We will propose an alternative explanation. Keyic does seem to have some expertise regarding revolt prevention and control, no?"

He smiled, and Telf smiled back.

"Second, we hope to provoke some enemies. We want to continue liberating domains for as long as possible without being seen as aggressors, and it would be so very convenient if some potential targets would make that easier for us by forming an openly hostile anti-Keyic bloc."

"I see the point, but isn't that risky?" Anything that made it less likely that Prosperity would be safe seemed too foolish to consider.

"Yes," he agreed. "But there is no way to avoid any risk, without giving up on our goals. All we can do is select calculated risks. We will try to strike the proper balance, so we don't drive anyone to violence right then and there, rash as it would be for them to attack us on neutral ground. Some false gods will see more advantage in seeking alliance than hostility, my parents most of all, so it should be possible to keep our near-term enemies to a manageable set."

"And whoever they are will be next?" Telf couldn't wait to welcome more newly-freed people, in the nexus. Prosperity was already planning something to deal with the overcrowding issue that had cropped up, the last couple mornings.

"Straight to the top of the list of the damned," the Messenger confirmed. "Finally, we hope to inspire true allies to risk revealing themselves."

"True allies? As opposed to your parents?"

"Yes. Most of the false gods are unforgivably evil, but not all of them." He pointed to himself. "Some hide their true beliefs, like I did. Izenakee has spoken to some, over the centuries, but She doesn't know details. She has only understood the major languages of this world since I first contacted Her about six years ago, and everything She hears is garbled, anyway."

And there weren't many false gods for Her to talk to, compared to regular people.

"Thank you," Telf said, exhaling. "Knowing more about what you're doing makes me less worried, I think because it shows how much thought you've put into the whole thing."

Just like all the Goddesses had all said, this needed to happen. And They needed Telf to do her job, for it to work.

"Good! So, want a biscuit?"