God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Arc 4 - 2. Mortal relations

Vain was not in the public library, or the private one attached to it that only the gods had access to. He was not in his study near the library, or any of his other studies in the other towers of the castle. All that filled those rooms were papers and scrolls and a history that D'Argen was starting to doubt. Vain had too many places where he worked, but nobody ever opposed it. Each study contained the information on different topics.

D'Argen decided to wait for their head scholar in one of his smaller studies, the one that held maps and routes and delicate parchments that were sealed with magic to keep them from turning to dust. He was looking through the glass covering over one such parchment when his vision swam. He caught himself on the edge of a shelf near the glass box and started rubbing his eyes. When the vertigo subsided, the parchment behind the glass was still blurry. The characters on it were foreign and strange. The feeling reminded him too much of Varuba's staff and that cursed pillar—

Were the two related?

A pounding started between his eyes.

He left the study to go back to the main library. All of Vain's studies were accessible to any in the castle at any time. Yet if Varuba and her culture were real, D'Argen suspected that Acela would want that information kept from the mortals. The private library that stood out from the public one was a single and small room. There was not much in it.

As much as Acela liked having total control of the mortals, she was also a true believer that knowledge should never be hidden. Yet that small room had hundreds of books with information that no living mortal would ever know.

"What good does it do them to know of the eclipse?" Acela had asked once, offhandedly, as she marked a few books down to be locked in that room. An eclipse was one thing, but the event that made every single god in all of Trace lose access to their mahee was another.

As D'Argen walked the halls back to the library, he was greeted with both surprise and the much rarer pleasure. A few of the other gods stopped him to greet him, to tell him how glad they were he was awake, but none of those conversations lasted long. It was much more likely they had been glad he was silent for the past seven years than that he was back. Especially since he was back now with the plan of stirring up more trouble and, as Acela liked to call it, conspiracies.

The sound of metal striking stone made D'Argen's feet falter. It sent a shiver down his spine, reminding him of Vah'mor's glaive as it struck the marble floors of the castle hall when they chased him down. He had been so lost in thought he did not realize he had crossed almost the entire ground floor of the castle. But there were no training rooms on the ground floor. Even Vah'mor knew to keep their blade—

D'Argen wiped that thought away on purpose. He knew he would have to see and meet and talk with Vah'mor again in the future, but that did not mean he was ready for it just yet. Instead, he turned to follow the sound. It was irregular. It silenced for so long at some points that he thought he imagined it. Those around him were calm and collected, making no note of it and making him doubt his own mind once again. When he finally reached the source, he was blocked by a set of doors that usually remained open. The meeting room was one of many on the ground floor where any mortal dignitaries that visited could sit and enjoy themselves while waiting for attendance with Acela. The doors usually remained open to reveal the space was available for anyone to enter. Vah'mor's glaive made the marble break from the other side of the doors.

D'Argen pushed the doors open and a sudden silence took over the room. There were over a dozen mortals inside, half of them dressed in rich fabrics, bright jewels, and precious metals. Acela and Zetha were there, as were a handful of other gods. All turned silent and stared at him as he stepped in.