Chapter 324: Important Discussion between Two Apostles
[Velvet POV]
It’s been about two weeks since Luna’s ascension. Over this time, we had been relaxing at…
“Soleil, would you consider this place Luna’s old home or home in general since she lives in the Divine Domain now?” (Velvet)
“Umm. I guess old home. Why?” (Soleil)
“Just monologuing in my head.” (Velvet)
“Big sis really rubbed off on you, huh.” (Soleil)
“Meh. It’s not like she’s the only one that does that. I’m pretty sure everyone does.” (Velvet)
“True.” (Soleil)
Anyway, over this time, we had been relaxing at Luna’s old home after leaving the dragon island. We didn’t do much except laze around. A few times when we went out we were approached by some of the workers at the shrine and asked about Luna. It was things like if we knew about her secret or if Luna was a goddess, then what about us who were her closest friends? What were we? Since it would probably help in the long run, Soleil, Ophidia, and I decided to let slip we were Luna’s Apostles. It didn’t take long after that for most of the village’s residents to hear about this and before we knew it, we would be nearly mobbed when we left the shrine. Soleil’s parents weren’t any different since they were also people close to Luna.
Aside from this, though, we also started to notice changes regarding the world around us. Skipping the most obvious being the stars in the night sky, I noticed that the people of the village, Soleil and Mio included, became fluffier. It wasn’t at the level of Luna, but it was a noticeable difference. Even my hair started to become fluffier to the point that I had to ask Soleil for tips in taking even better care of it.
Another thing was discovered by Ophidia. Though her space magic was more potent than normal since she was the Apostle of Space, her space magic seemed to improve even more since the mana consumed when using it was decreased. While we were trying to figure out if anything else changed in that regard, we discovered that space spirits were also appearing intermittently. Even though they were lesser spirits, just seeing the little grey motes appear and disappear was a big thing.
In regards to the stars, the people of the village would all douse any source of light at night so that they could get a better view of the sky. The two fox constellations would periodically move around like they were trying to observe as much of the world as possible while at other times they would look at each other lovingly. Other constellations would appear sporadically before the lines that connected the stars faded, though people like Soleil and her mother who could use stellar magic could still see the lines.
At the current moment, Soleil and I were sitting under a tree in the courtyard of the shrine. Soleil’s head was in my lap as I was playing with her ears and hair. Her tail was moving around in enjoyment and her ears would twitch when I hit a nice spot.
“Hey Velvet.” (Soleil)
“Hmm?” (Velvet)
“Are you bored with not having big sis here?” (Soleil)
“A little, but then again, it’s always been a little boring when she went off for however long rendezvous with Goddess Tamamo.” (Velvet)
“True, but this time it’s permanent. I’m a little sad our big, continent wide journey is over.” (Soleil)
“Who said it had to be? We’re both Luna’s Apostles, so it’s technically our job to go around and spread the good word about our fluffy star goddess.” (Velvet)
“That’s also true…Come to think of it, I need to start figuring out how I’m supposed to spread the word about talismans and how to make and use them…Ugh, that’s going to be so hard.” (Soleil)
“I don’t think it will be. You have the status of an S-rank adventurer as well as connections to important guild personnel as well as heads of state. The right words to the right people and you won’t have that much to do before the information spreads like wildfire.” (Velvet)
“Yeah, you’re right.” (Soleil)
We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that. As we sat there and enjoyed a calm breeze that was blowing through the area, Soleil suddenly opened her closed eyes.
“Velvet. We need to actually start wedding planning. We have the place, but not the dresses or anything else we need. Also, we need to figure out who we’re inviting, how long it’ll take for them to get there, and the date in general. And-” (Soleil)
I kissed Soleil to get her to calm down and stop talking. When I pulled away, I patted Soleil’s head.
“Soleil, I get what you’re talking about, but there is no need to get so stressed about it yet. Before we start with any of that, let’s first get both our parents in the same place se that we can all discuss it together. We have no idea what we’d be doing if we did this by ourselves, so let’s save it for later.” (Velvet)
“Alright. But if we’re getting our parents together to help with this, are we getting yours to come here, or getting mine to go to the capital? Either way I feel like it’ll get in the way of someone’s work.” (Soleil)
“I think it’d be best if we get yours to go to the capital. I’m sure Lady Amagi can handle things by herself just fine with your mother away. And from what I’ve seen so far, your father hardly gets any business aside from the knights.” (Velvet)
“Ok, then we can bring it up with them later.” (Soleil)
Shortly after this conversation ended, Mio came into the courtyard.
“Soleil nya, Velvet nya.” (Mio)
“What’s up, Mio?” (Soleil)
“We have visitors nya. It’s the twin princesses nya.” (Mio)
“We’re coming.” (Velvet)
Soleil slowly rose from my lap, but not before giving me a quick kiss. She then extended her hand to me to help me up and I took it. We then followed Mio to one of the meeting rooms in the shrine. There, the two princesses were sitting side by side. Across from them was Skadi and Ophidia. Mio, Soleil, and I sat down next to them and we all exchanged greetings. Once that was done, I immediately asked what the purpose of this visit was.
“Our father sent us with a letter asking about Luna and that new magic affinity.” (Selene)
“He also wanted us to ask if there were going to be any more changes now that she is a goddess.” (Selena)
“And, we just wanted to get out of the castle and see the lights in the sky without the lights in the city getting in the way.” (Selene)
“Plus we wanted to inquire about when Luna’s wedding would be.” (Selena)
They then handed over a letter that was sealed with the crest of the royal family. I opened it and read the letter before passing it around to the others. While I mulled over how to reply, Soleil spoke up.
“Regarding the new magic, I think I have a plan for how to explain it and it’s value, but I think it’d be better if I got as many important people together as I can to properly explain it. Though I guess I could also ask if the guild can let me use the letter boxes to spread the word as well. But if a king is asking about it, it might be good to set up a meeting of rulers or something to talk about it. Though it the two of you want a brief explanation, I can give one.” (Soleil)
“That’s a good idea, Soleil.” (Velvet)
“Yeah. Though in addition to the rulers of countries, you should probably also ask the court mages and probably some people from the Academy in the Elf Nation as well.” (Skadi)
“Mind helping me out with that, Skadi? You’re more well known in the circles of high society in that sense. I don’t have a clue on how to go about reaching out like that except that I should probably do so through Grey.” (Soleil)
“I don’t mind.” (Skadi)
“Alright, then what about Luna’s wedding?” (Selene)
“We don’t know anything. We haven’t seen Luna since she the morning before she ascended. We’ve been letting her and Goddess Tamamo spend some time alone before heading over to Luna’s shrine in the Celestia Kingdom to see her. When we find out, we’ll reach out, though knowing her, she’ll probably just pluck all of the people she’s inviting into a domain when the time comes.” (Velvet)
“Nyahahaha. That’s probably what she was going to do nya. I can’t imagine anything else happening nya.” (Mio)
“It is a very master thing to do.” (Ophidia)
“I guess that means we need to constantly look our best for when the time comes, sister.” (Selene)
“Indeed, sister.” (Selena)
“So, with all of the stuffy, official things done, what do you two think of the stars?” (Soleil)
“The what?” (Selene)
“The glowing lights in the night sky. They are called stars.” (Soleil)
“Oh. We find them beautiful. There are so many and it’s fun finding the ones that make shapes.” (Selene)
“I like the big foxes. The silvery one reminds me of Luna a lot with how it behaves.” (Selena)
“Well, they are supposed to represent Luna and Tamamo.” (Skadi)
““That makes so much sense.”” (Both twins)
“We may not know Goddess Tamamo on a personal level, but we’ve always thought that she would be a calm, collected person, and the blue fox seems that way as well.” (Selene)
“Yes, though there was a few times when she spoke through that mirror, we never really processed much of what was said since we didn’t want to accidentally be rude to a goddess.” (Selena)
“I realize that it’s a bit late, but you don’t really need to worry about that.” (Velvet)
“Miss Velvet, we’re mere mortals. It shouldn’t matter if we needed to worry about it or not, it was instinctual.” (Selene)
“Do you not have any common sense?” (Selena)
“…” (Velvet)
“Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” (Mio)
“Hehehehehehe.” (Soleil)
“Pfft.” (Ophidia)
“Heh.” (Skadi)
“…” (Velvet)
We continued to chat with the princesses before it started to get late. Once we all went our separate ways, Soleil and I sat down at a desk in the room we were sharing.
“Velvet, once the princesses go back, should we start making our way to the Celestia Kingdom?” (Soleil)
“I think so, but we need to discuss this with the others.” (Velvet)
“Then let’s ask them tomorrow.” (Soleil)
“Sounds fine to me.” (Velvet)
Chaos Realm:
Grey: Soleil's idea is a good one for sure.
Atmos: Yeah. It'll help spread stellar magic faster and that way we can see how the people find new ways to mess around.
I'm more excited about how the mortals of the world will develop from now on.
Order: What do you mean?
With Luna being a goddess now, especially with the Authority of Space, the universe outside of this world will finally start to expand. One day, the mortals of this world might start some interstellar expansion.
Grey: Wait, we're getting outer space now!?
Yep.
Grey:...Question.
Hmm?
Grey: How is interstellar travel managed? Like, can people from one planet go and find people on another planet that has an entirely separate pantheon, or is it something else?
Ah. No. All planets and the sentient life that will come to be there will all be governed by the pantheon from the origin world. No matter how far you go, you won't find a planet with a separate pantheon. Think of it like this, every universe in a Sea of Chaos is it's own dimension, they will not, with certain exceptions, overlap. Some things like knowledge or myths may slip through, but for the most part there is no way for people to find another world just by traveling through space.
Order: What are these exceptions?
Something like what I did to allow Grey and Atmos to meet Grey's parents. When worlds in separate layers of the Sea of Chaos are, metaphorically, close to one another, it's possible for a soul or two to slip into the other world in an accident. Another case is hero summoning, but that's something that needs my permission, as well as the cooperation between gods of summoning. There are other obscure exceptions, but these two are the most common.
Atmos: So what I'm getting from all of this is that one day, we're going to end up with even more work.
Yep. Though it'll take several billions to trillions of years for this to actually happen, it will one day, so have fun.
Order: Come to think of it, just how many layers are there in our Sea of Chaos?
I stopped counting a long time ago.
Grey: You know, it's at times like these that I'm reminded that you do a lot more work than we do.
It's not that difficult. Just like all of you, it's to the point where I just unconsciously manage all of it. I mean, Order is in the same boat as me and she hasn't really noticed.
Order: When did I become that important? I thought I was the Goddess of Order for this world.
The second you became my wife, you ascended to primordial levels of importance. You started out as the goddess of order of Luna's world and the small anomaly that was the world of condensed fluff where you and Crisis came from. That's why I didn't do anything when the two of you appeared, since you were both technically parts of Luna's world, even when you weren't. But now that you're my wife, Order, you have the same standing and privileges as me when it comes to the Sea of Chaos. The only thing you aren't is a Goddess of Distruction like me.
Atmos: That's enough of all this complicated stuff, lets see what Luna and Tamamo are up to now.
Fine, but you do realize that Luna can now come after you with full force if you mess with her too much, right?
Atmos: That's a problem for future Atmos to deal with.
Suit yourself.