Deific Power

Look, Obbie. We knew that Miss Camellia here was, for some reason, obsessed with Lynn already, despite having only met her less than two hours ago. But this little move Lynn did hit Camellia like a truck. Her internal monologue was a complete mess. I couldn’t even string it out for you if I tried.

Lynn dropped her arm, and the ghostly claw faded as instantaneously as it had appeared. “I don’t want to harm you, though, so it’d be better to watch them.” She pointed down into the grounds, where Damos had now arrived and was sprinting towards Phoebe.

“Wait, that’s what his swordfish was. An aspect,” Camellia realized aloud.

“Oh, you’ve seen it already?”

“Yeah. When he saved me in the Crags, he shot out a bunch of magical swordfish and had a weapon that looked like one,” Camellia explained.

Lynn nodded. “Yep, that’s his aspect.”

The two looked into the basin. The woman who had been surrounded, somehow fighting four people at once, now took a defensive stance to receive the shouting (and rapidly approaching) Damos.

Lynn started on a path downwards, gesturing for Camellia to follow. She led Camellia around the rim, passing by all the buildings until they reached a wide, snaking, switchback path down to the training grounds. As they reached the entrance, Camellia asked, “So what exactly is an aspect, Lynn?”

“Simply, an aspect is godly animal power, granted by one of the minor deities.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Camellia watched as Damos held an arm out behind him and, seemingly out of thin air, grabbed his sword…fish. Pulling it from nothing, he swung it in front of him as he ran, charging Phoebe.

Camellia followed Lynn down the first switchback. “From the goddess of the sea?”

“Right. So, you’re now familiar with the goddesses, Tethys and the land goddess. They value combat greatly.”

Damos reached Phoebe, who readied a sword — a regular, metal one — of her own, and deflected his first attack. This didn’t stop Damos, who returned a jab to her left. Phoebe blocked that one with a metal buckler.

As Lynn and Camellia made their way down together, she continued, “But there are more than just the two goddesses. There are minor deities as well, hundreds of them.” She paused to point out a rock to Camellia before she tripped over it. “The minor deities aren’t nearly as powerful as the goddesses. Then again, the goddesses' power is unimaginable, so to humans, the minor deities are still vastly stronger.”

A flash of blue caught Camellia’s eye. Damos had jumped back a few steps, and his arm now glowed a bright blue. He held his weapon in front of him as he focused, totally still.

“Just as Tethys is the goddess of the sea, the minor deities have their own purview.” Lynn motioned upwards, towards a small shark that meandered nearby. “They are the lords of all the animals around us, essentially.”

“Oh, I get it. Damos worships the god of swordfish, then?” Camellia asked.

“Sort of, but not quite. It’s more like he’s been blessed with its power, a vessel to represent it amongst humanity. He channels it, focusing its power to make it his own.” She pointed down at the two combatants.

Damos raised his arm, still glowing, and released the energy. In a burst of movement, he furiously jabbed, summoning a wall of swordfish specters the same as he had done when he saved Camellia. He thrust his sword forward in one final, dramatic maneuver, sending them all at Phoebe with a bright turquoise spark. But the swordfish didn’t faze Phoebe one bit — half of them weren’t even properly aimed directly at her, and she deftly knocked aside the ones that had been with her sword and shield.

Camellia still didn’t understand, caring little for the vague explanation. “But what is the power exactly?”

Lynn stopped at one of the switchback corners, watching Phoebe send Damos to the ground with a well-placed kick. “You know,” turning back to Camellia, she mused, “it sure is weird explaining this to someone who lives down here. You should know it all already. Are you sure you need me to tell you all of this?”

Camellia nodded enthusiastically. “I really do. I don’t have any memories, like, at all.”

Lynn squinted back at her. “Well, if you say so.”

Oh, this one is much smarter than Damos. Camellia really ought to be careful if she wants to maintain her cover going forward, hm?

Holding up her hands in innocence, Camellia exclaimed, “Honest!”

Not ‘honest,’ Camellia. You can’t fool us.

Lynn shrugged. “I believe you. Human minds are strange things. Who knows why you don’t know anything?” She paused, hesitating for a moment before she set off down the path once more.

“So, what makes you have a certain aspect?” Camellia joined her again.

“It depends, really. Depends on your own personality, your values, your strengths.”

Camellia heard another rallying cry from Damos. They were a lot closer now. He looked tired and worn, whereas Phoebe had barely broken a sweat. Despite that, he lifted his sword once more and haphazardly charged at her, a blind lunge that Phoebe sidestepped easily.

Lynn continued, “Based on what — if any — minor deity feels resonance with you, you may receive a blessing from one and become a vessel for it. After that, you can begin learning to use its power.”

With a hum, Camellia nodded. “So, that blessing from a god is what lets Damos have that magical weapon and send off the projectiles.”

“Precisely. He has the Deific Zooionaspect of the swordfish.”

“Zoo-yona-spect?” Camellia felt confused all over again.

“That’s the official term for them. People usually just call them ‘aspects’ for simplicity’s sake, though,” Lynn offered.

Mentally, Camellia puzzled through the system she’d been taught. I definitely saw magic of some kind when Damos used his swordfish stuff back in the Crags, and again as we walked down here. I guess if it’s actually based on a god or something, then gods are real. Either that, or people use that as an explanation for this phenomenon. Regardless, it seems there isn’t going to be a simple, rational explanation. Damn. Camellia’s face scrunched as she realized this. Well, it is literally magic, I suppose.

I’m rather surprised. Camellia seems to have accepted the existence of magic quite readily. I suppose, though, when you get reincarnated after death, and when you see magic with your own two eyes, it does help.

But does that mean that I could be blessed by a zooionaspect, too? What are the rules for it? Who can and can’t? How does it happen?

As Camellia pondered this, she and Lynn reached the bottom of the path, now in the training grounds themselves, too.

“I think I get it, Lynn, but there’s one thing I’m really curious about.”

Lynn cocked her head. “Go ahead?”

“Well, you say there’s this magic that comes from gods and stuff, and you might be chosen by a minor deity, but how do you actually get that power? How do you… learn magic?”

Aha, she’s interested in using a little magic herself.

Lynn smiled, realizing the same thing. “Well, you’ll need something from Tethys first. Then, you can be blessed with an aspect.”

Camellia began to get excited at the prospect of using magic herself. “Can you have more than one aspect? How do you get more?”

A light giggle escaped Lynn’s mouth. “Easy, there, Camellia. The goddess only permits one deific aspect.”

Deflating a bit, Camellia replied, “Oh.”

“But,” Lynn continued, “there are ways to… ‘pick up’ techniques from other deities, through their aspects.” She held up an arm, and the spectral exoskeleton shimmered over her forearm once more. “Like this, my hook claw here? I only learned how to manifest it because of Damos. It’s got a little bit of blue swordfish flair as a result of that, along the sharp parts.” She waved it away.

As she said it, a furious cry erupted from a little ways away. They were now close enough to see what was happening in detail: Damos, on the ground, pushed himself up and thrust his sword at Phoebe, who stood a few meters away with a smirk.

“Pheebs! Give me a real challenge, you coward!” Damos shouted.

“Looks like two arms is ‘challenge’ enough for you, Dammy. You sure you want this heat?” Phoebe jeered at him playfully.

“Bring it on!”

Lynn gently nudged Camellia. “Take a look, Phoebe’s about to ramp it up.”

Phoebe hunched over, face towards the ground. “You asked for it, Damos! Hyaaah!” She leaned up, and two massive, writhing, purple spectral tentacles erupted from her shoulder blades as she screamed, sending a rush of bubbles up around her that quickly floated to the surface and blasted the sand around her feet outwards in a circle. One tentacle slithered to her belt, wrapping itself around her small metal buckler; the other raised high above her, grabbing Phoebe’s broadsword as she tossed it up into its clutches.

The group of fellow trainees that had gathered around to watch the sparring match quickly backed away.

“Hah! That’s more like it. Brace yourself, tattletale!” Damos pointed his sword at her.

“Oh, I’m not the one who needs bracing.” As she spoke, Phoebe folded her arms and crouched, feet spread apart in a horse stance, immoveable as a rock. Her tentacles, on the other hand, whipped in front of her, holding the buckler and sword at the ready. “Come and get some.”