(Raina POV)
Sending a signal through the link I have with Stephanie, I soon feel the connection open as she asks with worry, "What is it? What's wrong? You usually don't contact me this fast!"
Taken aback slightly by her tone, my expression then softens as I remember what happened during our last conversation. I honestly should have expected this.
Trying to ease her worry, I say, "It's nothing bad. I just wanted to confirm something important with you before I did anything."
Hearing this, she responded with the normal aloof tone I know her for, saying, "Oh, if that's the case. Then what can this bussy goddess help you with?"
Holding myself back from laughing at the quick change in tone and knowing that she will not be able to stay calm after what I will say next, I tell her, "Well, I just wanted to confirm what I read in this book about Elinaria being the goddess of progression and discovery?"
The moment I finished speaking, my ears were almost blown out by Stephanie shouting, "What did you just say!"
With my ears still ringing, I ask her, "You know I am a kitsune now, right?"
Stephanie then responded shouting the same thing, "What did you just say!"
With the ringing in my ears now worse, I say to her, "Stephanie! Kitsune!"
Seeming to get what I was implying, she responds in a lower volume but still shouting, "Why are you now a Kitsune?! How are you now a Kitsune?!"
Chuckling slightly now that my ears have stopped ringing, I answer, "You would have to ask a little fox that I must have pushed a little too far about that."
Stephanie then asked me with disbelief in her voice, "But how? That shouldn't be possible."
As this was easy to answer I said almost immediately after, "She messed with my cultivation mat, and it worked."
She did not appear to belive what I had said as she started saying, "But that should not have been possible. You would have been able to notice and it would not have allowed you to cultivate. The only way that she would have been able to do that is if-" She never finished her sentence as she then shouted in the same ear-ringing volume, "Elinaria!"
I then heard a sickening, tearing noise, followed by a sound like shattering glass, grinding stones, and tearing steel, mixed together in such a way that made my ears bleed before I heard a new set of voices.
"By the way, Teacher Helcior, Why was I not supposed to touch that world?" Asked a voice that I recognized as Elinaria from my last conversation with Stephanie.
"That's because only gods that either had roots in that world or ones that ascended from there may give permission to new deities to use their world." Explained a male voice that I also recognized from the last time I talked with Stephanie.
Elinaria then asked the man, "Then which camp does Stephanie fall into? Did she ascend from that world?"
Before Stephanie could say anything, the man, who I was guessing was named Helcior, said, "No, she did not ascend from there. She was one of the gods that did have some roots, though. However, that world is special, and I was the only person who could give permission to use that world."
Elinaria took the bait that was offered and asked, "Why are you the only person who could give permission to use that world?"
"Because I am the deity who ascended from that world, and I am also the one who put a reincarnator there who destroyed it. That is why when I say be careful who you choose to give your blessing to, as I am not simply warning you as a teacher but as someone who has made that mistake before and paid dearly for it." Helcior explained with a hint of melancholy in his voice.
"But I am pretty sure that Vale won't do anything to destroy the world." Elinaria countered with the argument of a child.
It was here that Stephania spoke up and said, "I am fairly certain that the only way Vale will destroy that world is if she was enslaved and forced to do it."
From what I could hear, Helcior did not jump or anything. He merely commented, "The only way for her to destroy the world is if she is enslaved, huh? So I just need to make sure that doesn't happen." As he kept speaking, he got quieter and quieter until I could barely hear him.
Elinaria then spoke up and asked, "What did you say, teacher?"
Helcior responded, saying, "Nothing that you have to worry about."
I felt like exposing him, but since it might help Vale I did not say anything.
Elinaria then foolishly asked, "By the way, why did you visit Steph? Did you come to watch what Vale was doing again? I don't think I would be able to join you but I could at least set the TV to show what she is doing."
Stephanie then began to talk in that same tone a mother uses when you have royally screwed up, "You see, Raina just called me, and do you know what she just said?"
I then heard Elinaria say, "Oh no," as there was the sound of a chair scraping on the floor and a few steps.
Helcior then asked, "What did you do this time, Elin?"
Stephanie did not seem to notice as she kept on talking. "She told me that somehow Vale managed to modify her cultivation mat in such a way as to turn her into a Kitsune without her noticing until it was too late."
Helcior then said, "Elin. This is the point that you should start running."
She must have gotten far, though, as I heard the same ear-bleeding sound as earlier before I heard Elinaria asking to be let go.
She was not let go, however, as Stephanie then asked, "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"
Elinaria did not refuse and instead said, "Well, since she tried to steal my daughter, who is a kitsune, then why should she not be one? Besides, I needed to trade for a favor with one of the kitsune goddesses for help with that one."
At this moment, I stepped in and said, "I really don't mind, Stephanie. As she said, this does make me closer to my daughter in a way. I also deserve it for pushing her too far at that time."
Stephanie then says, "That doesn't make everything better, Raina."
As she pauses between sentences, I interrupt her by saying, "Vale a kitsune, Stephanie. It is in their nature to mess with those who get on their bad side. Meaning she would have messed with me anyways, so all Elinaria did was take advantage of the situation presented to her."
Stephanie then insisted, "That does not make this magically better."
Returning the argument I say, "And your overreacting is not helping either. I think what you should be more concerned about is the favor Elinaria mentioned."
Stephanie then pauses for a moment before asking Elinaria, "What was that favor?"
Elinaria, seeing a way out, then says, "It was just a small favor to help out with one of their projects. In exchange, I would get some of their fur, as one of them was placed under a shedding curse as a prank from one of the other kitsune goddesses. Otherwise, it would have been a major favor."
Stephanie then asks, "What project did they ask for your help with?"
Elinaria Responded to her question with a confused tone and explained, "They only asked me what I wanted to use it for as the favors compensation. Though when they heard what I was doing, they said something about being able to begin the kitsunes of Helhiem project or something like that."
When she said that, it suddenly got so quiet that even a pin dropping would have sounded like a bomb going off.
This lasted for a few minutes, so I decided to break it up by asking, "By the way, I was calling because I was wondering about your authorities, Elinaria."
With the silence broken Elinaria responded with a slight bit of gratitude in her voice, "Oh, what about them?"
Now, with her attention, I ask, "I just want to make sure that what I read in this book is correct."
There was then another pause before Elinaria asked with confusion, "What book?"
With my theory starting to be proven true, I say, "The one Vale pulled out of her inventory."
"Wait, What?!" Elinaria shouted loud enough to make my ears ring. I heard some shuffling on her side before she said, "How was she able to craft that? I have still not even chosen what attributes I want!"
It was at this point a Screen appeared in front of both me, and I assumed the deities I was talking with that had words written on it.
{[If a deities authorities are not set before they have beliviers then their believers will be able to chose for them.]}
{[Your authorities have been chosen to be {Progression}, {Discovery}, and {Foxes}]}
{[Please chose the name for your holy book now.]}
Befoer anyone could say anything Elinaria blurted out, "The Ethereal Codices of Progression and Discovery."