5:9 The Shape of the Problem

Reika felt the ground shift beneath her feet. She stumbled, actually, rocking side to side and having to steady herself upon the wall of gunk that was her universe. She looked left. Right. Up then down. “What was that?” she muttered, grumbling under her breath as her Domain screamed at her. Something had changed. Changed with a capital C. But she wasn’t certain what yet…

Then one of the cells of her universe exploded in a shower of ice, and she went running over to it, cursing the whole time.

***

Alexander heard Morgan’s word, but not clearly enough to understand what it meant. He looked up from his work, fashioning little suns in the Heart of his realm, and glared in Morgan’s direction. “What are you up to?” he muttered, momentarily forgetting he was holding nuclear fission between his claws. Then said sun exploded, bathing him in fire, and he started over again. But the thought of Morgan never quite left his mind.

***

Elvira felt, heard, and understood what Morgan said more than all the others. She just didn’t care. She was building the inner parts of her Wall Realm, and, frankly, had better things to do than worry about the machinations of some stupid wolf spider dog thing. Besides, even if her Walls shuddered a little, they were immutable. Their purpose had not changed at all.

Gilles, on the other hand, perked his head up.

“If Father had felt it a danger to us, He would have stopped the mutt,” Elvira said absently. “Now, hand me that bit of the Bulwark. I want to make a window.”

***

Ironically, Keilan did not feel Morgan at all. The one who prided himself on being most aware of what was going on around him was weeping as he tried to merge too elements together, and while they did, they never did so as cleanly as he knew they could. The Mirror Realm kept distorting it.

“Why aren’t you working?!” he cried, throwing the elements in the air in frustration, and burying his face in the palms of his hands. As such, he completely missed that the two elements blended together perfectly, once his attention was off of it. And Morgan’s [Word] went entirely unnoticed.

***

All these scenes and more flooded my mind as I returned to the Four Realms and other universes, having waited for this incarnation to return before filling my mind. I had to resist the urge to chuckle. Well, at least Keilan was funny.

“For those who wanted to see it, this is now what is under my protection and control," I said, gesturing grandly to the absolute mess that was my universes. Come to think of it, I didn't even have an actual name for it yet beyond its individual parts. The Statera Cluster? The Heavens? No, I was the Heavens. I'd probably better figure that out, because individually listing each of the universes was going to get tiring.

The beings who had wanted to visit my universe spread out behind me.

"It looks a mess," Reilly drawled, sucking down booze from his gourd.

"Well, that's what happens when you have six construction projects happening at the same time," I grumbled. "Seven, really, if you count that the One World's still getting fixed up. No, eight if you count Morgan.” Though currently, only three were in direct line of sight of us.

Sehuyun's body had been changed a little, condensed and twisted down into a ball of intent-laden primordial chaos that hovered outside the One World, slowly orbiting it like a macabre moon. I needed to get it inside the One World sooner rather than later. That was just another part of the construction process, though.

Her old universe, on the other hand, formed rings around the One World, and was slowly being poured into the hollow-ish center through the hole the Four Realms had created in the surface — now fixed and repurposed for just such a task.

And the One World itself, though it was far healthier than it had been in quite a while, had cracks still forming on the surface. Though these, I felt, were far more purposeful than what had been happening before. The [System] was doing something specific with them, perhaps making smaller Worlds, so it was no longer just One World? I wasn’t quite sure yet, because I didn’t think it was sure yet.

And that wasn't even to mention the growth of my children's universes. And the effects that had come with Morgan's second word.

I sighed. Yeah. It's a damn mess.

"Why does that orbiting ball seem like it wants to eat me?" Licht asked.

"Because that is what is left of our dear dragon friend. That's a bit grotesque, don't you think, Statera? Using her body as part of your universe..es." Rising Wind Crashing Waves asked, the great stag stamping its hoof and snorting.

"Yes. But also no. Considering this entire thing is my body now, everything seems a little grotesque. And also a little necessary." I admitted.

"Wait, that ball was a body? That makes sense, now, actually. Our own Origin Deity sacrificed itself to turn its body into the universe. I would argue that it is, in some ways, inevitable," Licht said.

"It does raise an interesting question," the Emperor muttered. "Who is more powerful? The one who creates the land, the land itself, or the one who overthrows the created?"

"Well, when you're all three, it doesn't really matter much," I deadpanned, and the Emperor chuckled a little.

"Fair enough. Well, don't just stand there. Show us around. Explain it to us. Explain what you can offer and need." He gestured airily, and I turned back toward the massive group of people.

Nyxteria, the great bird of space and time, had already fluttered forward a few hops, muttering about things that it wanted to keep forever. The Progenitor took one final glance around and said, "I will come back another time," before disappearing through the portal.

That left, well, almost everyone else. MR-10 hadn't personally come, but he did send a drone. The chaos butterfly Sylphina had likewise opted to remain behind. But all the others had come.

"Right," I said, clapping my hands together. "Make incarnations. We have a lot to go over. But let's be honest, frankly — the best thing I can offer is advice, and probably balance. I have, and will have, a great selection of energy materials and things like that, which you need for balance. Feel free to roam a little bit. If you have questions, I'll be there."

The casual way I said that seemed to set everyone on momentary edge. Only Reilly snorted.

" Your sight was bad enough before, now you literally are everywhere. Well, all right, let's go then. I have a dog I want to go see."

And just like that, they all split off, creating incarnations, shooting off as they went to explore. I watched them go, leaving this body here, letting my attention split between what I was becoming and what they were doing.

This felt like a weird version of show and tell, in some ways.

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*

Fang Xu and Celene welcomed the guests from other universes with open arms as they descended into the soul of the Four Realms, of Statera's new existence as the Heavens. As well they should. Xing Wu, on the other hand, was not quite so welcoming or trusting of these overpowered strangers. He watched everybody mill about in the Holy Palace — all these strange beings who were far more powerful than he, but not by as much as he would have feared.

He had to fight the scowl that threatened to etch itself onto his face, solely because he had his daughter on his shoulders and his wife on his arm. He was getting the feeling that they were there specifically to keep him from causing trouble.

"Relax," Inesa whispered, as Sequoia kicked her heels, pulling on his horns as she wiggled on his shoulders.

But in particular, there were four people who annoyed him and worried him the most.

The first was the bird, Nyxteria, who strutted around like an overgrown peacock behind Fang Xu and Solana, loudly asking for bits of their fire, or a feather from Solana so it could — and he quoted — "put it in a crystal so Nyxteria can admire it for all time." It had already gotten a bit of Celene's light and a touch of Fang Zhu's flame. Why it wanted more of his light, he didn't know, but it worried him greatly. Solana, predictably, was having none of it, the phoenix flying around to avoid the bird. But it just seemed to be everywhere at once. All the time. Nyxteria existed in all places, at all times, at once. Xing Wu found it as unnerving as the idea of Statera Luotian seeing through him like glass had been at first.

Then there was that little upstart, S. The undead one. He was powerful. Xing Wu would guess about as powerful as Morgan, if not slightly more so. He wasn't sure what gave him that impression. It was one that stuck with him regardless, and S just…rubbed him the wrong way, as if everything he represented went against everything Xing Wu did.

And finally, there were the other two. The two fixated on him, standing there poking at his back and chattering away as if he was not there.

"See, I told you he has protagonist energy. Capital P, Protagonist," the Rival said.

Xing Wu grit his teeth, and Inesa pulled his arm a little closer. Judging by the little smile on her face, she was enjoying how much their conversation was annoying him.

"Indeed. I almost didn't believe you at first," the First replied. The First…the Rival's friend? Xing Wu wasn't sure of their relationship, only that their nature was, obnoxiously, the same. Well, that, and the Mad Scientist had been pinging him like crazy, warning him about the First and the Rival being together.

There was a lot going on to piss him off.

"Breathe, dear," Inesa said. "You know he's just doing it to rile you up."

"I know. It's working," he ground back. And the Rival chuckled.

“You know we’re just playing with you, kiddo. You’re the first of your kind in this universe, after all! It’s novel,” he teased, and Xing Wu just rolled his eyes.

It was then, in that moment, that he felt something sweep over him. It was sticky, cloying, like it was looking for something, and his entire soul rejected whatever it was.

It all happened in an instant. Sequoia was off his shoulders with a happy whoop, and placed into Inesa’s arms, both of them gently moved away at the speed of starlight to the opposite end of the hall. And Xing Wu was in the First's face, one hand half-poised to strike — because he wasn't dumb enough to actually start a universal incident over somebody looking too close – and jaw clenched.

"You do that shit again," he warned, "and we will have problems. If you have questions about me, you ask. It's one thing if the Heavens see through me. It's entirely another if some little upstart tries it."

The immediate vicinity went silent as the First — that purple-skinned, godlike being — blinked rapidly.

"I apologize. No offense was intended. I did not expect you to notice, if I am being quite honest." He turned his head to the Rival. "They're an annoyingly perceptive bunch, aren't they?"

The Rival nodded sagely. "You have no idea."

And Xing Wu's scowl just deepened.

"No. I'm sorry. I did not — you're right. I apologize. That was overstepping on my part. I have grown lax in the past few eons and my manners are not where they should be. I do apologize, your nature just intrigues me. The one you call the Balance of All Heavens is the Heavens, and you are among the Pillars – not one pillar, but many. Not holding up the sky, but connecting heaven and earth. And you, the heavenly warrior."

"Congratulations," Xing Wu said, forcibly relaxing himself. "You figured me out. I'm really not that complex of a puzzle. Probably could have, and should have, just asked or, I dunno, listened to literally anyone talk about it and you would’ve learned the same thing.” He took a step back and fixed the two with a glare that he hoped could wither, but that he knew had lost a lot of its true weight from back in the day.

"I sense that you and I are of a kind," the First said slowly, and Xing Wu rolled his eyes, already turning to walk away.

"No, we are not.” Xing Wu denied. “I know your type at a glance. I don't even need to read your soul. You're the type of soldier who has lost faith. Nice to meet you, enjoy your time in the Four Realms."

"I wouldn't call it lost faith. But there will come a day your strength will fail you –" The First's words chased him across the hall, or at least tried to, because he just let them wash over him like water on stone as he walked back to his family, cutting him off with a mild comment.

"My strength has already failed. That's why I am not the only Pillar."

Sequoia leapt into his arms, the little green-haired girl's eyes shining with glee. "Again," she breathed. "Do the fast thing again."

He chuckled, shook his head, and thought of the First no more.

*

The Emperor was a man of many talents. One such talent was that he understood quite a bit by observing the hierarchical structure of a world.

The Four Realms, for instance, was a clan. A family. Oh, sure, it had its inner struggles and things, as they all did. But at the end of the day, they were all blood, and were coming to terms with coming into contact with all these other families — and with some of their eldest members going off to begin families of their own. That was the Four Realms.

Because of this, he had already decided he would open trade with Statera Luotian long ago. That harmony They strived for. That innerness that allowed for evil and good to be created by mortals, even the feelings of anger and joy and sorrow and grief and everything in between. To allow all those to exist, and to feel them in their entirety, and still be himself, not let them control him: that was something his people needed. Because when Origin Deities traded, he was beginning to realize, it was trading concepts and understanding, so that each might grow in turn, as much as it was raw energy and things like that.

So instead of speaking to the top brass of the Four Realms only, he walked among the mortals. To see them. To watch them. To observe them. The myriad races. Fae, Karae, avians, elementals, dragons, and immortals. This constant movement of qi and life and power and souls and memories while an old empire fractured, shattering slowly and painfully from the inside.

And the goddess who had built her divinity upon it watched, and accepted, and gardened in the Heaven Realm.

"You are," he said slowly, appearing and sitting beside her, "making the correct decision as a person. But not the right one as a leader."

The Celestial Empress, Alanna — Statera whispered the name in his ear, from everywhere and nowhere — looked up at him, almost completely unsurprised.

"How do you figure?" she asked, setting her trowel down.

"Because the correct choice is that people must exercise their free will. And so long as you sat on that throne and forced people to obey you, through sheer charisma and power, that free will could not grow, and would instead fester. At the end of the day, you built a mortal empire. And it is the nature of the mortal to grow and change, for better or worse.”

"This decision is causing untold suffering," she replied, voice devoid of emotion. "The government I put in place, the ideals I left behind are breaking the mortals, as everyone thinks they could do better than the other. And greed and ambition are allowed to grow until it is poison from the inside."

"Indeed," the Emperor agreed. "That is happening, but I believe you already know what I'm going to tell you. It is not your fault. They chose this. They chose to do this. You had to grow in your way, and they make their own choices. You are not responsible for them, or for that," he said bluntly.

"I am aware," she said, though she did not sound like she believed it.

"Yet this is also where you fail as a leader. Because if you wanted to truly show your people the way, you would build a kingdom in heaven. An eternal one. To show that it can be done. Again and again, until they get it through their thick skulls." he finished.

"I do not care to take over the Holy Mountain and become a queen and empress again. There are others who will take that role," she replied.

The Emperor laughed. "I said a leader, girl, not an empress. And I apologize for misleading you when I said kingdom. Kingdom of conscience. Kingdom of heart and soul. A leader leads by example. And I can see you dancing on the edges of it. But quite frankly, you should do what you do best. Different than what your trailblazer, Xing Wu, does. No?"

"And what's that?" Alana asked.

He smiled and leaned a little closer. "Inspire people to follow. You led them that far. Now lead them further, and let them follow." And then he was gone, leaving the young leader with the shape of her problem.

"Thank you," Statera said from everywhere and nowhere, and he grinned.

"Advice isn't free, you know," he replied.

"But I didn't ask for it," Statera said back, and he laughed.

"Then consider it a gesture of goodwill."

And he frowned a little, not letting his inner thoughts show. Not even to Statera. Because a true leader never let that show, except to themselves and to their closest.

And he turned his gaze elsewhere. Now. I think there's a little kingdom forming in Sehuyun's old universe. And the One World. Which to visit first?