A Real Goddess Would Let Nobody Die

Over the centuries, the Temples in different cities had specialized. Each focussed on supporting different aspects of the Goddesses' Renewal.

The Temple of the Sacrifice in Rokesha served as the main hub and administrative center, trained new Helpers and Guards, offered advisors to other cities aspiring to open minor or major Temples of their own, and planned the grand festivals, most recently the 500th birthday of the Red Goddess.

Izena smiled to Herself. Izenakee had grown into Her role nicely, and was as accustomed as anyone could be to worship, after 475 years of divinity, but the event had gotten through to Her nevertheless.

The celebration had started at the very same Pool where a girl, nervous but excited, starstruck but determined, ostensibly ordinary but seeking to learn how special she was, had learned that she was a red mage. It had been just before dawn in a mostly empty Dome, to recall the original scene. A little bit of the enthusiastic girl, thrilled to learn that the Goddesses needed her, that she could help if she wanted to dedicate herself to helping, had crept back in.

Then the door had opened at dawn, to a city covered in red, the sky pink with sunrise. Izenakee had known what was coming, it was not possible to hold a surprise party for The Listener. She had known that there was a vast crowd waiting for Her on the other side of the door, and what was on their minds. She had known that She would be going through the city to meet with well-wishers that day. But when She had walked through that door and felt the explosion of adoration and joy from the millions who had packed the city for the sole purpose of celebrating Her existence, it had amounted to a red magic attack for which no amount of preparation mattered. Holding Herself at minimum power had only been enough to keep Her conscious. That minimum was much larger than it used to be.

At first, She had giggled shyly and looked at the ground, which had sent the crowd into a delighted frenzy, creating a feedback loop until Her knees had given out. The world was still riding that high months later: they had made the unflappable, all-knowing, radiant and immortal and beloved and adored Red Goddess turn as red as Her rubies and sink to the ground, chest heaving, eyes tearing, left hand on the Temple entryway's stone floor and right on Her pounding heart. They had gotten through to Her. She knew how much they loved Her back. She knew what She did to them.

It had been the highlight of Izena's century. An absolute masterpiece of teasing. It would be ammunition for decades, at least. Contentment swelled in Her entire body. Menelyn giggled. Izenakee rolled Her eyes, but Her impression of redness now had a tinge of pink.

Izena sighed, eyes lidded. So good. Would She faint at Her 600th birthday? Would Menelyn need to have a resurrection spell ready at Her 1000th?

The Temple of the Liberation in Ezenta searched for, identified, activated, and trained mages, serving much the same role as the Academy it had replaced. It currently had one young novice red mage in residence, the first to be found after Izenakee.

Izena smiled again. What if Izenakee had followed Torezia's path? What a complete disaster that would have been, even if that Izenakee had founded a red mage lineage. Who else would have the drive required to work every minute of every day as Izenakee did? Whose hair could Izena have played with every day for the last 475 years? Izena shuddered at the thought. She had no desire to return to those touch-starved days of untouchable aloofness.

The Temple of the Deliverance in Benevin offered a peaceful retreat, a getaway, and a museum recording the Goddesses' activities and displaying related artifacts. Some of the more popular exhibits now stored there were the defunct amulets of the Solenn Guard, the sofa and bed of the first Sanctuary, and Izenakee's useless rod.

The Temple of the Anastasis in repopulated Kanenn, closest city to the site of Salvation's Greatest Miracle, the city in whose army Menelyn's Daddy had served, whose region Menelyn had fled, and the only Temple in the far south, was a memorial to war and brutality, especially the Ancient War. It sought to remind visitors of the loss caused by cruelty in general, of that total war in particular, and of the value of the total peace brought and maintained in the Age of the Goddesses, under the usually unspoken threat of Justice's direct intervention. It dispatched diplomats to resolve disputes and served as international neutral ground. Violence or threats in any of Their Temples were among the few acts that the Goddesses had confirmed to be blasphemous.

The Temple of the Renewal in Esto organized reconstruction, both in a direct short-term sense in response to disasters, and also in the general long-term sense, trying to revive the marvels of the ancient world. The Goddesses were at this Temple today, and had been asked to discuss an extraordinary proposal that apparently might require Justice's help.

Izena did not need to act directly nearly as often as Her adorable little Sisters--

Frantically, Izena put Her impulse to squee in a box and set it on fire, but it was too late. In fact, that sequence of emotions backfired. Menelyn giggled at Her. Izenakee gave Her a knowing grin. Sigh. It was unfair. The Black Goddess was supposed to be the unstoppable offense, but sharing a body with one target, and the other being the greatest telepath of all time, made that challenging.

She consoled Herself. It was a testament to Her prodigious skill that She still managed to pursue Her favorite hobby even under these circumstances.

Anyway, Her existence, the threat, the certainty that evil would face Retribution, was the primary role She played. Occasionally She had to roast some bandits that missed the memo, or hunt down a rogue mage with delusions of grandeur, or dismiss from existence a sea monster that had been sighted too close to shore or shipping lanes, but only a few times per year. This might be interesting.

The Goddesses entered the designated chapel-slash-conference room, and chatter ceased.

<They are nervous in a way that makes Me think that they are afraid We will strongly disapprove, but they mean well. I do not wish to intrude on their thoughts unnecessarily. Let's listen.>

Izena nodded. "Thank you for inviting Us, and for your work toward the world's Renewal. We, I most of all, are curious what you have in mind? What could require My help?"

A blue mage stood to speak, gulping but determined.

"I am blue mage Ezennic, and lead the preliminary exploratory studies on the project. We wanted to get Your opinions on whether it is feasible, or maybe blasphemous, before we invest too many resources."

Izena was very intrigued now. Blasphemous? "What is the project? Do not be too concerned. There are not many things that We would consider blasphemous."

She quickly tried to think of anything remotely plausible that they might worry would be, and would also be a major project.

Might they want Us to try fancy new outfits grown with blue magic? What for? Would that really be such a big project?

Large scale weapons manufacture? But for what possible purpose?

"We want to attempt to rebuild the f-facility at World's End. It was a unique wonder of the world for centuries, an-and its loss has been harmful for the study of the oceans. And their appreciation by the public. No other location is suitable, and due to practical engineering concerns, the design would need to be similar."

Oh. That fits.

Izena could tell that Menelyn was considering the idea, and was not reflexively hostile.

"I see," Izena replied. "Wisely, you do not plan to attempt rebuilding it without being able to guarantee that the catastrophe will not be repeated. You want to know if I could exterminate the...problematic species in advance, or if We could offer advice on how to guarantee that it would not be a problem."

"Y-yes, exactly. It would be a very long term goal. The original was a generational project. But, the sooner we start, the sooner it would finish."

Izena thought for a while. The laboratory had not been an intrinsically bad thing, that was true. It had learned a great deal about the world. It had been filled with people who helped others. A storm fly had remembered his time there as an injured storm nymph so fondly that he returned a millennium later. It had been a good place, before being defiled.

Menelyn spoke suddenly.

"It was a monument to curiosity, and the people who worked there provided help with no expectation of reward, to the creatures of the ocean out of compassion, and to visitors out of a sense of shared love for the world. Thank you for your proposal. It deserves to exist, if We can guarantee that evil will not co-opt it again. The idea is not blasphemous."

Izena had reached the same conclusion. "Agreed," She said. The proposal team's relief was obvious.

Izena looked at Izenakee. The last great red mages had suffered a great trial to deal with the problem created by the last facility. Would She be upset?

"If I can help, I will," She said.

The team was smiling now.

"Let Us consider what We can do to make it safe," Izena said. "Culling? Design changes? Some kind of red magic damper?"

Izenakee was powerful now. She might have enough range to be able to locate them on the ocean floor, to make culling practical. But, vaporizing many leagues of ocean to kill something at the bottom in many locations seemed a little rash, if it would even be effective, and Izena did not like the idea of repeatedly descending through the enveloping dark to the abyssal floor. Menelyn could probably keep Them safe, but that would be the worst possible mix of crushing boredom and anxiety.

She snorted. Hehe, 'crushing.' Hers was truly a transcendent existence. The puns came as naturally as breathing.

As Izena was considering how best to deliver that masterpiece aloud, Izenakee suggested a much better idea.

"I will find and study them, from the surface, and learn their techniques. The wild ones will be weaker than the one in the laboratory. I will be well outside their range, without the building's amplification effect, but they will be within Mine, if not now then soon. I will teach them empathy. They will learn their own horrible nature, their intrinsic evil, when I subject them to it. They will be hungry. I will order them not to eat. They will be starving, but their choices will not belong to them. They will die, and rot, unless they feel remorse for their gluttony."

...Izena's knees were weak, Her pulse pounding, one hand on Her chest. She loved poetic Justice almost as much as She loved Her littlest Sister. What a transcendent existence worthy of worship. She deserved Her name.

"Every single one. They are anathema. I will finish what My predecessors started, both as a red mage and a Goddess," the Dread Goddess concluded.

Izena and Menelyn were on the ground now, gasping. They hadn't grinned this ferociously in 545 years. Izena could feel Menelyn's satisfaction. Menelyn could feel Izena's. It was a feedback loop.

"One for every orphan," the Sun Goddess whispered, eyes wide.