Chapter 181: INTERLUDE. Bitterness
Chapter 181: INTERLUDE. Bitterness
“Hi, Wizards! Fancy seeing you. I thought you were still in the mortal realm… Hm, you look different, somehow. Is it a new haircut? No, no. But something is certainly missing. I remember it being rectangular and having a lot of pages…” God of Bads, dressed as flamboyantly as ever, recoiled in exaggerated shock. “Your Holy Bible of Wizardry! What could’ve happened to it?”
Goddess of Wizards grit her teeth. After the shame it was to sneak through the Heavenly Judgement, she still was greeted with a nosey neighbour almost as soon as she entered Heaven again. She knew very well that God of Bards, as eternally hungry for gossip as he was, won’t ever let her go without learning too much about her troubles than she’d like him, or anyone, to.
“Bother someone else and get out of my palace,” she threw at him. “Is the notion of privacy beyond your limited scope of understanding?”
“My, my. You are testy today, Wizards. Did something happen in the mortal realm? You know, I’d expect you to drag Devourer here by the scruff of his neck, in a cage, and throw him before the entire circle with your favourite ‘watch and learn’ or ‘I should’ve done that myself from the start’ instead of going to sulk in your palace… Don’t tell me you have actually lost to him. Oh, I must write a requiem for you if that’s a case!” God of Bards raised his thin fingers as if to pluck the strings of an invisible lyre.
Goddess of Wizards sneered. “If you don’t need my response anyway, why can’t you talk to me from somewhere far, far away, where I don’t have to hear it?”
“Don’t need your response? Wizards, you wound me. Of course I need you and every glare you throw at my direction. How would I live without them present to serve as the source of my inspiration?”
“If it’s inspiration you needed, you should’ve gone with Rogues to Hell when he offered.”
God of Bards puckered his lips. “Hell? That dreary place? No, thank you. I was made for luxury and exquisite pleasures, fine arts and the music of the spheres. Not for the screaming of tortured souls and hail raining from the sky day and night. Let others deal with it. Like Rogues… Isn’t that amusing that no one still told him we found Devourer without his help already? He could’ve returned to Heaven. I doubt even that rascal likes the place.”
Goddess of Wizards pointedly turned away. “I don’t care.”
“And you, Wizards! How much differently Devourer looks now? Was he truly so powerful as to defeat you? It’s not a shame to ask for help when you need it, isn’t it? Of course, you, the most knowledgeable in magic, don’t need anyone’s assistance… Unless you do.”
“What do I have to do to make you leave?”
“Well, I remember one spell of yours that you used for that exact purpose quite nicely in the past. Can’t say I liked to feel it on my skin, but then again, how can I tell for sure that you don’t want my company unless you physically throw me into a window?” God of Bards gave Goddess of Wizards a sly look. “I may only assume that either without your favourite bedtime stories book, you are still in the process of weaving the spell, or something made magic even harder for you to use. For example… a death.”
Goddess of Wizards clenched her fists and said nothing. God of Bards strolled around her with an almost dancing gait. Despite it, he looked like a shark circling its prey.
“Dear, dear Wizards. You don’t have to be so angry. Stay calm—the guards in Heavenly Judgement didn’t notice you, and I’m sure that other gods still don’t know of your return. As for me… well, I was very impatient in my waiting. So much that I patrolled Judgement Halls personally. Doesn’t that endear you, Wizards? Seems like quite a romantic gesture to me.”
“Fine.” Goddess of Wizards made a slow exhale through the nose. She could admit she lost. Especially after being shown her loss so insistently. “Yes, Devourer killed me. Are you happy now? He gained some quite unexpected powers, and among them, I’m almost sure, a draining curse.”
God of Bards sobered, now that some serious information began to pour out, and drew closer. “A draining curse? Why are you talking like this is something beneficial?”
“For him, it is. I have reasons to believe he somehow convinced one to work to empower him. You know it’s possible for them.” Goddess of Wizards tsked. “Giving them the ability to use magic was a mistake.”
“I’m so glad you finally admitted it. Acknowledgement of one’s mistakes is the first step on the way to redeeming them.” A smirk flashed on the God of Bards’ face and disappeared. “It’s good that I’m here to force you to admit that you were wrong in attacking Devourer on your own, as it turned out. Otherwise, you’d sit there, on your own, and sulk for an entire eternity. Or until Devourer will get to us all.”
“This would be completely irrational, and what I do now isn’t sulking. I was rebuilding my strength and cataloguing information I gained from my battle.” Goddess of Wizards realised how she sounded and bit down her tongue on the rest she wanted to say. “We have to find him again, of course. With all the fated connections I created simply by dying from his hand, it will be a trifle. He won’t ever escape us again.”
“You are intent on rematch? Even now?” God of Bards gestured at Goddess of Wizards’ body. “That’s quite some strength for you to rebuild. Though, as I recall, you put most of your EXP into your magical experiments. Hm… EXP… EXP-eriments… How did I never notice this before? Another word that starts with EXP!”
“You can write a poem with it. Yes, I want a rematch, but I want Devourer safely in a cage more. It’s time to find him again.”