"When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long."
― Hakim Sanai
"She's killing herself…" Ven squinted at the woman in the void. She'd opened up her core, lifesblood on display as she tried her best to pull the fragmented space together. "I wonder if she'll attack if I try to help?"
Ven drifted closer. Pale as marble and dressed like a queen, the woman either ignored him, or was too focused to notice. Lines of power flowed from her soul, into the depths of the broken multiverse. Ven shook his head and reached out a hand.
"You'll die before you can fix this place, at least like that…" His words shocked the woman's eyes open, whites exposed as she darted back. Ven dismissed her reaction and began to draw. "I can fortify what's left, but it will only buy you time before the whole system collapses."
His hand darted in practised arcs, scripture that reached out and held the chaotic space in place. A drop of system flame and the work was done. His formation would hold for a month, maybe more if the True God's worked together to reinforce it. Ven turned to the guarded woman and waved his hand. The violent female angel tumbled from a gate of light, a plate of roasted duck still in hand.
"If this is a friend of yours, you can have her back," Ven shifted his attention back to the void. It was about time to burrow free of this multiverse and search for his original, he still owed his own True God's visit. "Anyway, I'll be going…"
"Wait!" The woman shoved the confused angel aside and blocked Ven's path. She locked eyes with him, as if she could gaze into his soul. "Who are you… I can sense intact fragments of my multiverse within you!"
"Lady Fate!" The rumpled angel returned to the woman's side and glared at Ven. "This… man… has stolen many of the life worlds from the lost universes!" She placed a hand on her sword, uncertain. "The mortals are alive and well, but his realm is separated from the rest of existence…"
Ven sighed and stirred the power within his body. If these women wanted to fight, then this multiverse would likely die as a result. Local space barely qualified as such, one good shove and the whole place would come down around them.
"Look, I'm not the one who caused all this, I'm also not about to stand still and be captured…" The runes on his chest filled with light as his eyes opened to truth. The women before him were shells of their true power, neither had the strength to stop him if he wished to leave. "Why are you so weak? My eyes tell me you hold dominion over fate, but you're weaker than the avatars of some Concepts I've met."
Both women hesitated, as if caught between a wolf and a long fall off a cliff. The angel moved between Ven and Lady Fate, ready to buy time with her life.
"My power is tied to the multiverse that birthed me," Lady Fate bit her lip as she sized him up. A range of emotions flipped onto her face, one after the other, until she settled on determination. "You really saved worlds from the Titan's wrath?"
"I did," Ven shrugged. He'd been pretty biassed as to WHICH worlds, but he'd still saved many lives. "I also defeated the Titan, he's not… dead… but he won't be bothering you again."
Lady Fate's eyes widened as Ven turned to leave. She held up her hand to stop him once more and went down on one knee. The angel beside her almost fainted as she tried to pry the woman to her feet.
"If you can save them, then you can save others…" The proud woman met Ven's confused gaze as she pointed to the last of her multiverse. "This place is doomed, but every mortal you can spare from annihilation is a weight off my soul!"
Ven frowned. He turned his eyes of truth to face the clustered core of this half-dead place and sighed. He could hold more within his realm, but if he acted now… This woman, and even the angry little angel, deserved to be saved as well. He had no idea what the consequences of adding foreign Concepts to his inner world would be.
"Give me a minute…" Ven slipped the bulk of his focus into his realm, enough left behind to guard his body from any tricks. He teleported to the system star and called out to the woman within. "Hey, System… what would happen if I brought Concepts or Gods of Faith into my inner world?"
"Hmmm?" The system avatar drifted from the core and tilted her head. "You've had a Concept here since the beginning, Lady Syy holds dominion over the laws of chance and probability, as for Faith Deities…" She tapped her chin. "They could enter, but only if they accepted you as the head of their Pantheon."
"Syy is a Concept?" Ven shifted his focus to the academy on Eden, where Kalina's partner lectured a large class on the nature of understanding laws. "How is that possible, she was on the surface of the Relic World…"
"Ask her yourself," the system shrugged. "Do you plan on adding more to the realm?" Her face became serious. "If so, then try to keep it within reason…"
The system's words trailed off as Ven's face became sheepish. A disgusted sigh fell from her lips as she turned her back and retreated back to the core.
"Whatever, I'll be burning your wishes if I need to act," she flipped her hair and gave him a final glare. "My power isn't free and you're not the only one who needs it."
Ven smiled as she vanished below the flame. She could use all the wishes she liked, as long as she continued to help him. His focus returned to his true body and the face of Lady Fate.
"Take me inside the barrier and I'll see what I can do," Ven nodded to the hopeful woman. "Just make sure none of your Gods attack me… I don't think your multiverse could survive the battle!"