PREVIOUSLY
Elm held the black core of Ameth, and just from touching it, she felt all of her powers return to her since it acknowledged her as the victor, and as the old saying goes, to the victor, the spoils of war goes. She couldn't believe that in such a small condensed core, was the divinity and dominion of a god, and that by simply consuming this little ball, she would be able to become a god.
Becoming a god usually meant a lot of responsibilities, since it meant you would have to take care of your followers, follow the Heavenly Codes, etc but that was only if you followed the first step. Yes, the second method wasn't really impervious to responsibilities but then Ameth was a god who had devoured it's predecessor and chose to live in seclusion which meant that if Elm consumed the core, she wouldn't be burdened with any of the responsibilities that would typically be left over by the predecessor.
Being a god had a lot of benefits but it didn't mean you were invincible. But of course, having complete immunity to the domain of a equal-leveled god or being, was something she really liked after the previous fight with Ameth.
Oh, even Elm had to admit that she got lucky Ameth was so talkative. Although now, she wondered why all of her enemies always liked to brag and talk instead of simply killing her and finishing the job.
Oh well.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
CRACK!
Elm looked around her. Now that the god-dictator of this realm had been defeated, the realm was finally breaking apart, and from it, released the souls of all those that Ameth had consumed.
"Sashs. . ."
"Hashs. . .Ah. . ."
"Thna. . .you. . ."
It may have sounded gibberish to anyone else, but to Elm who had a universal translator thanks to her constitution, she could understand how happy and free everyone felt. Some of the souls even felt pretty strong, almost as strong as the current her, and she wondered how they could get themselves killed.
She met all of the farewells and thank yous from the souls with a stoic nod, before watching the last soul ascend towards the heavens.
Elm gripped the core of a god tightly in her grasp, and realized that she needed to get stronger even faster if it meant that she was struggling against a low-tiered god that badly.
It was time for her ascension, something that had been long-awaited, but also something she didn't plan to do this early into her plans.
It was time for the Celestial Hero to ascend into a god. Oh, and the little serpent should be awake pretty soon too.
***
The alpine mountain pass glittered under the strange moon and stars like a blanket of crystals, covered in ice and snow. The evergreen trees rising up along the pass made Elm think of the winter wonderland of the Swiss Alps. But there was a gloom and darkness lurking here that put her on edge.
They were following the decline of the pass, as that seemed the most likely direction they would find anything. Only a madman would try to ascend the pass in these conditions. Either way, her inner map didn't give her any clues upon settlements or camps where other people might be. From mountain peak to the valley and lake below, she was still too far away from either to scry any marks that might denote settlements. It just looked like a cartographer's map of a mountain range and a nearby gorge cutting through the rock.
"Oh, it's pretty cold, ain't it?" Pochi chattered. "I'm starting to feel a little chilly."
Elm stopped in her tracks. Was it even possible for a demi-god devourer to be cold-blooded? But then again, she couldn't really blame him since the chills in this region seemed to be tied to a god's domain, so it was no wonder a serpentine creature would feel cold, despite his demi-god status.
Elm took a breath, but realized she didn't really have to do that anymore.
She was a god now. And, gods don't really need to eat, sleep nor drink. Well, they could but most of the time, they didn't because why eat or drink mortal food when you can feast on the purest of energies dancing in the air.
Taking a look at Pochi, she saw that his normal purple skin changed to a bluish-white and a tiny icicle had begun to form on the end of his beak. Elm grabbed one of the waterskins. It still radiated warmth. She kneeled and pulled the tentacle close, rubbing the warm waterskin over his body.
Then, she snapped her fingers and her authority encased his small body. It was like brushing a giant cucumber with a small heat blanket.
Pochi smiled at that. "Ah, so you do care." His little head bopped along the ride, as he snuggled deep inside Elm's pocket, while Elm trekked forward.
"But seriously, it makes no sense a demi-god like me should feel such cold!" Pochi grumbled, shaking his head. "It irks me to no end. Reminds me of that one bad trip to the Alps."
"Hm." Elm grunted.
"Still the charming talker, I see," Pochi quipped. "I thought you'd be more of a chatterbox after you became a god. Oh right, about that, how do you feel now that you've become a god?"
"It will feel better when I get some quiet," Elm responded sharply.
"Well, that's more words so it looks like you really are a god now," Pochi snickered. Oh how he loved teasing this grunt of a woman. "By the way, where are we going now, supes?"
"Supes?"
"Oh right, guess you don't really know that word, um, it's similar to the word 'Hero'," Pochi responded. He had to be careful of his lingo.
". . .You say the weirdest things, little snake," Elm said, before her eyes glazed with distant tears. "Just like my brother." She whispered that last one to herself.
Elm pointed over to the chilly ice-top mountains in the distance. It was so far away that the average mortal wouldn't be able to see it but to a demi-god and god duo, they could see even the smallest of snowflakes over there.
"There," Elm said grimly. "I'm retrieving my armor."
Pochi's eyes narrowed. "So we're skipping straight to there now, huh?" He whispered to himself quietly. He may not have known much about this timeline, but he was sure Elm wasn't supposed to be making this much progress this early. After he heard what happened over in the mausoleum from her, he wanted to shout that the battle against Ameth wasn't supposed to happen as well, along with her ascent to god-hood.
Pochi, being a demi-god now, could see how Elm had blended into the world, like all gods could. She had no aura, no power, and no presence, or so, the average mortal would think since they weren't worthy of gazing upon a god's form. But to a demi-god like Pochi, he could clearly see that although the difference between the two's titles were only a single word, the real difference between their power levels were astounding.
He felt hungry again.
"Let's rest here." Elm said suddenly, and took him out of her pocket, setting him on a log nearby. It was only then that Pochi had realized he had been dazing and that it was night now.
Pochi lied there and observed the strange stars and the strange moon above them.
The moon in this reality or world was bigger, probably closer to the planet. It had more of a green tint than a yellow one and there was a ribbon of magenta gas swathed across the atmosphere near it. These celestial bodies felt a lot brighter and more clear here, probably because there was less pollution in this world. He wondered if it had to do with his location or was the world itself. He wondered so many things before he heard a thud from his left.
"Felt you were hungry." Elm took out the body of something that was a cross between an elk and a polar bear. From the looks of it, it was a creature that nearly cracked into a demi-god status too.
Pochi felt his stomach grumble, and realized that he could ponder about the world another time.
"Bon Apetit."