"Is that what He's been up to?"
Dancing in a circle of twelve fir trees under the light of three silver moons, the veil of a young woman's form exchanged dialogue with the rhythmic whisper of the wind. A soulful dance, lively and heartfelt; granted her the capacity to speak directly to the aspects of whatever plane she found herself standing upon or within, as long as there was but life to respond to her call. Clad in a dress of vines that reflected the moonlight like mirrors, bearing eyes as blue and deep as the oceans she saw act as her womb in a previous, and simultaneously future, life. Her lush, almost white-blueish hair was covered by a cowl. She had borne many names to her visage over the course of existence, but only her original name seemed fitting when addressing her with naught but admiration in the eyes of mortals and immortals alike.
'A name that only my brothers have not forgotten.'
The wind howled sorrowfully, for even it could not recall the true name of the Paragon whom had conjured them. The woman shook her head.
"I do not fault creation for being unable to remember. Only our eldest brother knows why Time ravages us all as it does." She reached out a hand, and the wind caressed her palm. "Among all of us, His is the most delicate position of all. Life can't exist as it does without his intervention, for life cannot progress without experiencing time, so I also do not fault him for acting as he does, even if it is, at times, to our detriment."
The wind began to rage vertically in question, threatening to uproot her from her position. She instead, detached from her corporeal form.
"Life without Death is not sustainable, so I would ask you to calm your temper."
But the winds did not quell their questions, as the woman soon realized; they were not questioning her. The firs as well, were glistening with a different hue that before... Everything was beckoning her to look up at the moons...
She lifted her gaze skyward to see the three moons now each bore a monochrome halo about them, and the three were captured within each of her eyes as they hung over the realm around her. The updraft suddenly ceased, and all of the dew which had collected on the canopy of the forest around the woman, along with the wind's prior force, was collectively forced to the ground around her; tearing the cowl off her head, and revealing the flowing strands of starlight and lightning flowing from her crown as she was caught in a trance.
The voice of her brother filled her head as an imperceptible shockwave embraces each molecule within her realm without disturbance of position or energy from the halos around the moons.
"Ksenxi. I'm sure the winds of change have told you, but I have chosen my successor. Unfortunately, I will require your assistance, as well as Anduro's. Find me... at our birthplace, and do not delay!"
The Halos dispersed, and Ksenxi caught herself just before she would have fallen back to the ground, returned to her corporeal form. She shook her head, her hair dancing about with the momentum and sighed gently.
"Using such an extreme method to beckon me? You have truly outdone yourself this time." The winds whirled around her wrists, curious about her tone. "He acts as he speaks. But to call us -there-... What purpose does that serve? And calling us both into attendance immediately..." She lifted her head back up to the Three Moons; Luaea, Iroxoz, and Varesti.
The Maiden of Life, Corporeality, and Energy; Ksenxi, the Paragon of Phases, couldn't help but feel uncertain as she conjured a door wrought of regal oak that led to nowhere in particular. As she walked forward to the door, a myriad of different species of flora sprung forth in full bloom from her wake. She opened the door, and with the tempest returned from whence she came as fast as the thought sprung to her fathomless mind.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lee stood upon thin air, looking out to a star-flooded night sky; radiating with light despite the darkness. Deducing that the reason he could stand on thin air must mean that he had lost the vast majority of his mass, he raised a hand to his sight; only to gaze right through it.
"Guess that confirms that, so how did I... ah, right."
He could experience, but not feel, sensation; his body was no more. The new voice in his mind saw fit to speak up.
'Don't worry about this too much, it's just a temporary arrangement. I am glad you're back to consciousness so soon after taking that in, though... Even with Time's Keeper, without a *Spark,* I expected some repercussions.'
"And this isn't one?"
'You can mock my choice of words, but all things considered, you should be considering yourself lucky that your soul, or the Triad forbid YOUR MIND, wasn't infected from that' grudge's source.'
"The Triad?"
From the East, the West, and the North, three gateways manifested leading inward from realms unseen. From the West way, a form stained crimson in the shape of a man, cloaked in the marrow of bones, interwoven with a tapestry of flesh; stepped on the same level of altitude as the beholder of the sight. Lee struggled not to wretch, despite lacking a corporeal form.
'Well, speak of the Devils...'
The West figure scanned the horizon from edge to starry edge, laying hollowed eyes upon the other two gateways. He then turned curiously to face the specter of Lee.
"Damn, he wasn't kidding when he said you'd be in a state..."
Lee would have furrowed his brow, if he had one to furrow.
"Excuse me? Do I look like a mirror to you?"
The figure seemed to stare deadpan.
"In more ways than one apparently."
"Uh, the fuck!?"
"You two, would you mind not starting shit above these hallowed grounds?"The North Gateway rippled, and Aitu Xiore stepped out from the other side. All twelve wings furled upon his back as he drifted towards Lee. The first figure looked towards Aitu Xiore, bemused."I'd hardly started anything, apparently the lad fancies himself a mirror-."
"Anduro, you and I both know what you did. If you're trying to play a child over half a million years of age for meager attention from my prodigy, maybe Arius made a mistake..."
Anduro sneered.
"Yeesh, you didn't need to go that far... fine, fine. I apologize."
'Arius?'
'You aren't ready for that talk yet; hell, Anduro must have touched a nerve for him to respond like-'
"Making full use of that voice from inside, Lee?"
'Damnit.'
"I won't chastise *you* for that," Lee felt that Aitu Xiore's words were not for him, with his deference on the key word, "But you are correct that talk is much too early. Too many variables exist at play to divulge such information. And the matter of holding up my end of the bargain for your actions is still yet to be fulfilled, but *She* should be arriving right about-."
A fierce gale howled forth in a chorus of dissonance as Ksenxi was carried in on her tempest from the Eastern Gateway.
"Now."
She gracefully hovered over to Anduro and slapped him across the face.
"I'm pissed at the both of you, but moreso at you for letting this child be reduced to this. Aitu, were you not clear with him again?"
The Paragon of Thresholds rose a finger and spoke hushedly.
"Sister, first and foremost, I wholeheartedly apologize for how I beckoned you, truly. The truth of the matter is that it was in fact, out of our control at the time. Surely, you wouldn't want to mess up the integrity of the Origin..."
"Wait a minute... You *exposed him* to YOUR BEATING HEART... without even awakening his spark!? IN THE ORIGIN??"
"Again... we did not have in option in what to do, only how to achieve victory. It was either that, or Arius *dies in his sleep,* That is something that can not be permitted. If a mesophysical grudge of that degree were allowed to fester on that side of the fourth wall then do you need to even think of the consequences???"
Lee had heard enough.
"So, just to confirm... I'm supposed to trust you when you're just airing out each other's dirty laundry before giving yourselves a proper introduction, while I'm reduced to this... Look, I get sibling quarrels, and I'm sure the author of this absolute trainwreck of a scene between siblings did as well; but clearly we're all here because of me and my *willingness* to act. Can someone bring me up to speed? Please."
The four sat in silence for a brief moment, and Ksenxi shook her head. "That is a fair point, though I would say it's quite audacious for a mortal stripped down to merely a soul to say such a thing, even if he possess such a gift... But, no. You are correct. We, are Three of the Eldest Supreme Deities imagined by humanity. The Triad of Sapience, if you will. We have that lovely prick who insulted you earlier and argued with your benefactor while you were fighting so nobly is our Younger Brother, Anduro; Baron of Flesh, Blood and Marrow; He is the Paragon of Vessels."
"Which I, *again*, already apologized for..."
Lee murmured, "Wasn't a very fucking good one..."
Ksenxi cleared her throat and continued.
"You've already met Aitu Xiore, and He is the Eldest of the Three of Us; The Lord of the Mind, of Time and of Death; The Paragon of Thresholds. If I had to infer the reason as to why he needs us to help him fulfill your end of the bargain, I'd say it's because-"
Aitu Xiore chimed in. "Alright. I'll explain that much at least, but please introduce yourself first."
Ksenxi nodded. "I'm holding you to that, *dear brother*, on your prodigy's behalf." She turned to Lee... and to his surprise and disbelief of her brothers; bowed with an extended arm.
"I am Ksenxi, the Maiden of Life, Corporeality, and Energy. I am also regarded as the Paragon of Phases." As Lee reached for her hand, he half expected for it to pass through her, she firmly took hold of it, and he could feel breath within him, despite lacking a physical body. Astonished, he stammered as he hesitantly clasped her hand. "P-please, raise your head... You only knew after the fact... r-right? This didn't involve you, did it? I saw how you... uh... reprimanded this... how did you say... lovely prick-?"
Anduro interjected, "Hey!-"
"Well he's fucking right when you said you provided a shit apology," Aitu Xiore cut him off. He turned to Lee. "And you are correct that she only learnt of what happened after the fact, but I suggest for Anduro's and your sake (a slight chuckle came from Ksenxi), that you let her express our understanding of our shortcomings, as well as how we feel about them. It is not a light thing for any deity to bow to greet a mortal, much less my sister. She... is much more stern with most of her creations. She is after all, what allowed for your environments to give rise to you.
"I promised that I would explain our part in all of this Lee, but first, for the sake of saving face for my sister and myself, as well as allowing you to regain your composure (it would seem), may I start by fulfilling my end of the bargain?"
Lee yelled awkwardly, "YES, KINDLY. I WOULD LOVE FOR ALL THIS TENSION TO BE OVER WITH THAT THING TRIED TO BRING ME APART ON A NARRATIVE LEVEL AND IT TOOK THREE MONTHS TO RE-PIECE ME TOGETHER WELL ENOUGH TO BECOME COGNIZANT AGAIN! I'd very much like to be brought up to speed and don't spare me the details. If you need to worry about the effect of an anafabula-**"
"There is one. Only one. And it's locked away by Two, one of which is Arius. We Do not need to worry about that, not for the time being; so, I will divulge as much as I can, after we have reconstituted you... but the tl;dr of it is that mesophysical grudges are not constituted by narimes.**
"Alright. I can... live *again* with that... not sure I would quite call my current delimma... living. Am I allowed to choose how I look?"
Ksenxi held her head up to meet his gaze, smiling warmly. Turning back to Aitu Xiore and Anduro, she shot an ice cold stare to the both of them out of sight of Lee, but he could feel the two shudder.
"Your physical constitution being up to you should not be a problem," Anduro relented under his Sister's pressure. "If you're willing to accept that as a form of apology for my... unbecoming mannerisms..."
"That's... a step forward I suppose," Lee struggled to come to grips with the abrupt change of pace.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The four of them started descending through the atmosphere, for approximately 21 kilometers until they all touched down upon the peak of a mountain. Before them, an altar stood stalwart, even older than the three Lee found himself in the company of. He could tell, simply by the look of it.
"This altar, Lee," Aitu Xiore elaborated, "Is a conduit for actualization to become simplified; and is how we were brought to *any* plane of existence at all, from our origin as proto-stars. We were wrought and given form within reality, through sacrifice."
Lee shirked upon the mention of sacrifice, but Aitu Xiore continued.
"This was not a sacrifice born of barbarism or superstition either, but a one-way pilgrimage for three noble souls. Three who gave everything and anything they had to let humanity have a chance to survive... to live... to thrive. But right now, the altar is inactive."
"So your purpose in bringing me here is-?"
"The three of us are going to awaken the leyline this mountain rests on top of, and then you're going utilize the altar in its activated state to actualize the form you desire."
"I see... and as for you needing your siblings?"
Aitu Xiore groaned inaudibly. Self-evident explanations were not typically his forte at explaining delicately, but he had given his word. He could still feel his sister's gaze boring into the side of his skull.
"Since your physical body was not just mangled, but obliterated by that mesophysical grudge, I can't restore it through strictly temporal phenomena. Even if we *could,* your role would require something a bit more specialized anyhow. I'm genuinely unsure if your original physical body could handle what would be required. So, I requested the help of those more suited for creation and containment."
"But wait a minute, you referenced Tsukimichi Moonlit-"
"And I did not lie, because the reference was apt in more ways than simply the mechanic. Only difference is that you're going to be experiencing a blend between transmigration and reincarnation; and there's no bimbo-kami to fuck up your day."
"Only mesophysical grudges?"
Aitu Xiore answered with silence.
"Sorry I asked. Let's get this over with."