The gods had gathered before me for my farewell, milling about in the grand hall of my palace. Or, at least, some of them. I hadn’t wanted everyone to know I was going to be leaving for a time, so only those who needed to know were present. That included a few of the major elemental gods, such as Aeriel and Argent, as well as the Big Four, Kei, Randus, and a few others. Fu Hao and Stilicho were busy elsewhere, but I had long since informed them of my departure, while the Mad Scientist stood close to my side, looking incredibly interested as she adjusted her glasses.

  Magic flashed through them, giving her a glimpse of what my children truly were. They were a marvel of formation magic, though like all things they were imperfect. Ironically, it had been I who suggested she add a secondary filter to the glasses in order to protect her eyes from the sheer power my children radiated. Though her cultivation had grown as her natural curiosity drove away some of her apathy, likely due to my presence, she was still far from powerful enough to be able to withstand my children’s auras on her own.

  Especially now, with how powerful they were growing.

  “How long will you be gone?” Alexander rumbled, the great dragon curled up on himself while the god of fire and goddess of water clung to his horns. He gently shook his head, and the two giggled at each other.

  “I am uncertain.” I told him. “It could be a thousand years. Could be less.” In truth I expected it to be no more than ten, as there had been no objection to bringing the Mad Scientist along, but there was no telling with Mr. Boxes. A being that powerful could probably warp time to the point that no one would even notice I was gone. I doubted that would be the case though, as this seemed like a great stress-test. How would the Realms react to my presence well and truly vanishing from it? How would it fare without me?

  The thought made me a little nervous, but I trusted my children. To some extent. I was more nervous about it than I should be, to be completely honest.

  “Quite the motley crew you have collected here,” the Mad Scientist muttered. “These must be the First Gods. Fascinating. I’ve never met any so…young.” I shot the avian an amused glance. I’d kept a close eye on her for the past few years, to ensure my choice was, indeed, not incorrect, and had frequently sought her out for advice and simple conversation. Not that her advice was really useful for myself. Her perspective was unfortunately limited, though she did have her moments.

  In truth, she was just…refreshing. She simply didn’t care I was an Origin Deity. Or, perhaps a better way to put it was she found my existence and presence fascinating, an object of study, rather than some great being. Add to that I couldn’t perceive her future, even if I could predict it, and she provided a touch of chaos I had not realized I so dearly missed.

  “And who is this one, Mother, that you would take them along with you?” Keilan asked, peering at the Mad Scientist but politely not trying to peek through the perception filter I had placed over her. At her own request, she wanted to remain anonymous from my children. I did not blame her for such a desire; the attention of the gods could be a cruel thing, especially for one with secrets such as hers.

  “We have been over this, Keilan.” I said firmly, narrowing my eyes at my child. Frustration was welling up within him, and while I could see it would soon reach a precipice and he would level out emotionally, it was still making him far more irritable than he should be. “I cannot take you right now. She, however, may provide some of the insight and perspective I need.” Keilan grumbled a little but backed down, Reika patting him on the back and whispering something that had him perking up just a tad.

  “I know,” Keilan sighed after a moment. “I just cannot contain my curiosity. Going so far as to hide her karma from me? That is quite interesting.” I just smiled at him. I hadn’t hidden any karma from Keilan; he was trying to peek into her future and far past, neither of which existed to him. All he saw was what her karma already showed – a twenty five year old Avian girl of middling power, even for a cultivator. It was funny, I had placed a perception filter over the Mad Scientist, but in this case the truth was harder to believe than any fiction I might conjure. So some things could still be seen.

  Keilan just wouldn’t recognize her without me directly pointing her out.

  “Perhaps when I get back, I will allow you all to study my nature.” The Mad Scientist mused. “Assuming, of course, you allow me to study you as well. I have multiple theories I wish to test, having such powerful beings before me.” The way she said powerful seemed odd to me. Almost as if she meant will be powerful, rather than are powerful. It made sense, in a way, as we all still had much growing to do, but…it felt odd for her to refer to my children as such.

  “Theories? About what?” Gilles asked, popping his head around Elvira with furrowed brows. His interest was palpable, and Elvira rolled her eyes fondly at the man.

  “That is for another time.” The Mad Scientist deflected, looking up at me expectantly. I nodded at her and clapped my hands, drawing all attention back to me.

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  “It is time. Now, you all behave, alright? Don’t go throwing any parties now that Mom and Dad is leaving for a time; or, if you do, I expect you to clean up your mess. Tend to the seeds – “

  “We understand, Father,” Elvira said with a slight bow.

  “You can trust us.” Alexander agreed.

  “I do.” I said with a sigh, glancing up at the timer Mr. Boxes had placed in the air above me. Five seconds. “I love you. See you soon.”

  “Have a safe trip,” Reika and Keilan both said, and as soon as the timer hit zero, I vanished from the Four Realms.

  My connection to the Realms was cut in an instant and I stumbled, pressing my hand against my forehead at the sudden lack of sensation. And for the first time in millions of years, I experienced silence. Pure, blissful silence. No prayers. No dreams. No people, tapping into my Dao and power to fuel their own desires. No gods doing the same. It was just me and my thoughts. My Dao. My soul.

  “Are you ok?” the Mad Scientist asked, concerned.

  “Shh. Just…let me enjoy this for a moment, please,” I asked, voice cracking a little as I stepped forward, tears prickling the corners of my eyes. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to not hear anyone else around and for a long moment I let it flow through me. Then, quietly, just to be sure, I reached out for my connection to the realms, grasping for it like a blind man, and felt it clinging to my soul. But it was quiet. Muted and weak, still there, just…silenced. Satisfied my connection had not been truly severed I let it drop and turned my attention to the surroundings.

  We stood in a round room, the walls made of a white marble with black veins, twelve arches of silver and gold equidistant from each other along the walls. Flags flew over these arches, a round table of grey stone sitting in the very center, twelve plain chairs pushed up against it. No one else was present, and I glanced behind me at the archway I had appeared under, a flag flying above it just as the others.

  It depicted a simple mountain, river, valley, and tree upon it. The flag of the Four Realms. Did the flag depict the shape of each, respective universe? I looked closer at the other flags, examining them and trying to discern their meanings.

  I had no idea what any of them meant. One had seven horizontal lines on it, layered over each other like the layers of a cake. Another had a single, big O, while another had multiple little o’s, one seemed covered in binary, another had a circle with a line through it, while another still had an image of a crown, whatever that was supposed to mean. Without seeing the other origin deities, discerning their godly domains, and discussing the nature of their universes, I doubted I would be able to figure out what their flags meant.

  Perhaps one created a universe like my old one?

  “We are cut off from the natural laws, here,” the Mad Scientist noted, pulling her glasses off and tapping them. I glanced over at her as I circled the table, hands clasped behind my back and robes trailing behind me. What she said was not true. I could still feel them, even if they were muted, though I purposely kept them at a distance so I could enjoy the silence. “Not even my glasses work. I wonder if…[Fire.]” She spoke, and fire erupted from her outstretched palm.

  That was no simple magic. The air burned alongside the flame, and I found myself drawn to it. Her expression was smug as she looked over at me, having made it almost all the way around the table. “Universal laws. Words and concepts that stretch beyond the reach of a singular universe. I admit to not being the most knowledgeable on the subject, but I can at least do this much.” She continued, holding the flame aloft for me to see.

  It was ruining the quiet, and I decided I didn’t like the way it whispered and shook. Maybe Morgan had been onto something, when it talked about silence and the purity of the Void. I could…hear, better, here. Yet the whispering of the flame insisted I look closer.

  It was incomplete. I raised one hand, as if to touch the little flame. It needed to be deeper…my vision narrowed, a power welling up within me as embers swirled in my heart. The room darkened, the ground trembled, the air distorted as heat rolled off of me in waves, the truth of [Flame] - a sharp zap against my spine shocked me out of my trance, jumping a little at the suddenness of it all. Panic raced through me for a moment as I looked the Mad Scientist up and down, afraid I had hurt her with what I had just done – but she was none the worse for wear. In fact, she didn’t even seem to have noticed, toying with her fire as she was.

  Frowning I glanced up at the little sliver of Mr. Boxes that had appeared in the air above me, pulsing like a little nerve ending. As always, looking through the boxes it normally spoke through hurt my eyes.

  “Your first insight into the Truth should be something deeper than such a tiny flame, fool.” It said, voice audible to me, and me alone. Truth? What does that mean? I wondered. Some small part of me knew that Mr. Boxes wouldn’t answer that question, however, and I turned back to the Mad Scientist, who had put out the flame and was now looking about the room. With the whispering fire gone, blissful silence returned. “The others will arrive soon. Get settled, if you would.”

  Did Mr. Boxes give me time alone, to appreciate the silence? Or is this something it’s doing for all the Origin Deities, and we just have not seen each other yet? I wondered as I approached the table and pulled out my chair.

  The moment I touched it, it changed. From the simple white wood it was made of to a velvet armchair, complete with dark mahogany wood around the edges. I admired the craftsmanship for a moment, glancing up at Mr. Boxes’ avatar before settling down into it with a groan. With a snap of my fingers I summoned a similar, smaller chair for the Mad Scientist to sit in, which she took gratefully.

  “Are we early?” she wondered.

  “I assume we arrived exactly when we were supposed to.” I replied, putting nothing past Mr. Boxes. After another moment of thought I sighed and waved my hand, summoning food and drink onto the table itself. Tea steamed in pots and fresh veggies cut into bite-sized pieces lay on plates, while a few candies, pastries, and other such sweets piled themselves up in wicker baskets.

  If this was going to be a long meeting, I would want snacks. And it would be best to leave a good first impression. Excitement bubbled through me as I squirmed in my seat. I was ready. I was more than ready. What would they look like? Who would they be? I bit my lip and fixated my gaze upon the arches around me.

  And the first of the Origin Deities began to appear.