Pantheon

Shyrn

"Okay, so," says Aur. "I know they were born on Shyrn, and I know Shyrn is our last stop. I don't know if there's a correlation. I feel like there is? Moa?"

"We're literally standing in my apartment, Aur," replies Thess.

That's the first impression the four of them have on the swarm of children playing in the family room.

A bunch of little faces turn towards them in shock, with a sort of slow, frozen synchronization.

Moa is used to kids. Kids should be screaming, running, exploding with questions for the sudden strangers. This is weird. Are they scared?

No, she doesn't think so. They're just shocked. "Hey," she says. "My name's Nooni. That's Cantia, and Morrie, and Thess." There's no need to let them know they're in the presence of goddesses.

"H...hey," Thess almost whispers. They're nearly a mirror image of their siblings - same sandy skin, same jet black hair.

"We know who you are," replies one of the oldest. She's a girl, between ten and twelve, and sitting on the arm of one of the chairs. Her voice is slow and careful and clipped.

Thess looks at Moa with an expression of panic, and Moa nods and rolls her eyes with amusement. Then she remembers – Thess has probably never met any of these kids in their life.

"Where are your parents?" Igan asks. She knows where they are, she knows how Shyrn works, but everyone wants to escape the awkward, slightly scary silence.

"Work," responds the same kid shortly. All adults on the enclosed, floating cities of Shyrn work on an egalitarian, rotated schedule. "But we had off school, so we're here."

"You in charge?" asks Moa.

For the first time, the girl smirks. "Effectively."

"Rude," a boy protests from the other side of the circle. Moa smiles. Sibling rivalry, always a good icebreaker.

"Well, if you're in charge, it's only right if we know what to call you. What's your name, kid?"

The girl scowls. "How about I tell you that, after you tell me what you're doing teleporting into our apartment?"

"You could have teleported into the middle of someone and killed them!" the boy chimes. "What if you did that!"

Aur laughs, taken by surprise. Moa smiles. They are all like Thess.

"Your sibling has very impressive control over their powers," says Igan, in the same low warm voice she uses with the pantheon, because she thinks of them all as children anyway. "I would trust them to get anywhere that we would need to go." Thess blushes as the attention turns to them, but not in pride. They look shy, pulled into themself.

"Thess is on a heroic quest," Moa chirps, throwing an arm around Thess's shoulders and pulling them close. "They're gonna save all the Realms with their magic."

"That's really vague," says the boy.

"What about your magic?" the girl teases. "I'm Laila, by the way."

"Oh, yeah, that's a thing too. Trust me, Lady Laila," says Aur.

"You gon' save us from the Blight?" comes a quiet voice from by Moa's leg.

Moa's smile drops for a second. Yeah, inevitably, it would come around back to there.

"Don't be silly," says Laila without missing a beat. "The Blight isn't a magic thing. It's a science thing. They can't do anything about it."

"Huh," says Aur, genuinely curious. "How come you think that?"

"Well," says Laila, matter-of-fact, "if the goddesses or the Called could do anything about it, wouldn't they have by now? Uh, not to be offensive or anything."

That is just a little bit offensive, so Moa doesn't know how Laila thinks she's helping with that. Laila shrugs like it's just common sense. "If there's any way to stop the Blight it lies with the Shyrn researchers." She says that part carefully, avoiding everyone's eyes, like she's way less confident all of a sudden for a reason she just remembered.

"Yeah..." says Thess. It's the first time they've addressed any of their siblings since they introduced themself. "How long...do you think that'd take?"

Boom. There it is. Laila bites her lip and looks down.

"Because, I've been feeling something, since I got here?" They look to the other three, as if for reassurance. "For the first time? Like the place is...barely holding together, it feels like. And it, uh. It doesn't feel good."

"Never does," says Moa.

"So you know what to do?" asks Igan.

"Uh, yeah. I think kind of...I always did," they say softly.

Moa suddenly wonders what it'll be like spending eternity with Thess in the pantheon. It feels almost like being a parent. They'll leave for Envah after this, and from there they'll be able to watch Thess grow and develop into their domain and role and –

Only Thess doesn't stretch out their hand and fix the crumbling, days-from-destruction infrastructure of every city on Shyrn. They don't reach into themself, like how goddess magic works, and shift everything back into alignment.

Instead they ask, "Which one of you - us - is the youngest?"

The siblings exchange a fleeting network of bitter glances, almost enough to be missed outright. Moa doesn't miss them. She thinks Thess does, but then Thess ducks their head in shame for asking. Kids often have strained relationships with their Called siblings.

But Laila goes over to one of the benches around the walls and picks up a sister, depositing her in front of Thess's lap. The sister looks almost three, and she giggles and stares up at Thess in curiosity. "Her name's Varico," Laila says shortly, and stands by and watches.

"Hey, Varico," Thess smiles. Then they don't close their eyes, don't move their hands, but something – an electric shock, a figment of understanding – passes between the two of them.

Then Varico sneezes, and the magical lights flicker in the ceiling.

She sneezes again, and a circle of lightning shivers out from her across the floor, fractaling into the corners and disappearing throughout the city. It ricochets through every cranny with a clean, fresh power Moa can feel, and when it's done the city is more stable than it's ever been.

"There!" Thess chirps, and turns beaming to the three of them. Their grin drops when they see the three goddesses' utterly shocked, frozen faces.

"...what...did you DO?" Aur asks, hushed.

Thess looks like they're about to panic again. "I – I Called her," they say, bewildered. "Should I – have fixed it myself? Should I not have Called her? Is that not what I'm kind of – supposed to do?"

"You...what?" says Moa.

"C...Called Varico?"

"We don't do that."

It's Igan. She delivers the words in a fast, low monotone.

"What do you m – "

"We never Call," says Moa. "We can't Call. The Called abilities always manifest by themselves – they Call to us, not vice versa. You can't – you can't unlock magic in a kid."

Thess is quiet for a long time. So is everyone else in the room, even Varico, somehow realizing that they're witnessing a turning point in history.

"But..." says Thess slowly, "...if I was...if I was the goddess of magic..."

Oh. Of course.

It seems so obvious in retrospect.

Moa thinks about her long, unbelievable life, and feels a thrill of fear at the knowledge that nothing will ever be the same again.