From Mortal To Divinity

"That is a lot to take in." says Scathach from the couch where she sits.

We had made our way inside one of the castle's lounges to have this conversation. Surprisingly she took the fact that I knew of a few possible futures well. Then again this is a world where things like gods and super vampires exist, not to mention the counter forces like Gaia and Alaya.

"Since you have knowledge of possible futures, does that not make living in whatever world you find yourself in pointless? You know what is to come, there is no anticipation or surprise." asks Scathach.

"You would be correct, if not for the fact that the being that makes all of it possible has a tendency of messing with either the timeline, or the actual events. Sometimes he adds new obstacles, changes a person's history, or just erases some things from that world. It is better to only use the most basic knowledge of whatever world we find ourselves in than to rely on all of my knowledge to make plans and fail due to something major changing." I explain.

"That makes sense. What I still do not understand is why you go along with it. Does it not pain you to get close to someone only to have to leave and never return?" she asks with a frown.

"Well, I don't really get emotionally attached. It only happened twice. The first time was in my first world ever. As for the second time, well she's a companion now." I say as I nod my head towards Azula who is currently examining the rune suit I made. "Besides" I continue "Even if I do become emotionally attached, I can always return for a visit before going to the next world."

"Ok. I understand the point you are making. However, please explain to me why Azula would choose to be Aife when she knows that you would be my ally and that Aife is my greatest rival." she says as we both turn to look at Azula who is now paying attention.

"I didn't know." says Azula as she begins to explain. "When the war with Gaea ended and I left Camp Jupiter in search of Tartarus, ROB came to me. He explained that Ambrosius was already onto the next world and that he was sending me there. There was no chance for me to speak or ask questions. One moment I am speaking to him and the next moment I awoke as Aife and my memories are returning."

"That sounds about right." I say, prompting the two to look at me for an answer. "In the Ulster Cycle, which is what this time period will become to be known as. Aife and Scathach are rivals and enemies with one another. In Setanta's legend Aife and Scathach battle one another during Setanta's tenure as a student in Dun Scaith. Through a series of events Aife loses and bears Setanta's child in exchange for her freedom."

"Oh." says Azula as her mind works to connect the dots that I have laid out. "There are two possible outcomes to me being Aife depending on when my memories return. The first is before you and I do battle. If that were to happen and I saw how close you and Ambrosius had gotten, the younger me would have flown into a rage at the betrayal and most like would have attempted to kill you both."

"The younger you?" questions Scathach with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. The me before I spent months with my mother, Venus the goddess of love, and perhaps the biggest pervert in existence." replies Azula all the while keeping her face as stoic as possible.

"I would disagree, however since I have never met you mother I am satisfied with relegating you to second place." I say as I close my eyes in preparation for her screaming as she vehemently denies it. Surprisingly the denial never comes.

"What can I say, I like what I like." she answers with a mischievous smile and a shrug while she eyes Scathach up and down. This is perhaps the most interesting thing about Azula. In terms of life experiences she has none. In her world she spent all of her life in the capital training and studying. So watching how new experiences affect her is perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of having her as a companion. Who knew that Azula could be mischievous and lewd under her more serious and sadistic personality.

"Let us get back on topic please." says Scathach as she ignores Azula in favor of turning to me and asking. "She said that there were two possible outcomes. What is the second outcome?"

"Well in reality there are more than two possible outcomes. What she mentioned are the more plausible ones." I explain. "As for the second outcome, it is if she regains her memories after her loss to Setanta. In that one she would most likely torture Setanta before killing him for his actions. That would most likely prompt you to try and kill her for the act with me being caught in the middle. Especially since I would not suspect her of being Aife because of the drawback I picked and ROB's claim of her being alive something before the fourth grail war."

"That is a vague statement 'Sometime before…' It could literally mean months, days, years, or even centuries." says Scathach.

"His exact words were 'You can meet her there before the fourth holy grail war.' A very vague statement that leaves a major loophole. It was my mistake for assuming that he meant sometime in what would be modern day." I reply.

"He did miscalculate however." says Azula. "He never paid attention to our day to day lives, only the most important and entertaining events like the war. If he did then he would know that I am the least traditional when it comes to love and s.e.x out of the two of us. It comes from spending too much time around Venus as an impressionable child. Although, unlike her there's only one man for me."

"He's also wrong about Ambrosius and I. We have never had s.e.x.u.a.l relations." says Scathach.

"But the tension is there. Is it not?" asks Azula with a knowing look.

I don't know why she bothers asking when she can literally tell with her powers. Honestly being a child of Venus can be so broken sometimes.

"Now that you know everything." I say as I turn my attention to Scathach. "Do you have an answer for us?"

"To join you?" she asks. "It does present a solution to my problem. As I am now there is nothing left for me to learn, no one to challenge me, and no one who could keep me company in my immortality."

"However, If you join us there will be new worlds to explore, new skills to master, and countless warriors to battle." says Azula with a smile. "Besides you can help me keep him in check. Honestly who sinks an entire island on their first quests, and puts themselves in a month long coma to recover."

"Or who would dare to create and take part in a ritual that has a ninety percent chance of failure and killing the user." replies Scathach with a smile of her own.

"Personally I don't believe that I am as bad as you two make me out to be." I answer.

Azula merely raises an eyebrow.

"In Arkham your carelessness allowed you to be captured. In mass effect you were captured again due to your carelessness. In my world you had a spirit following you to steal your face because of your choice of drawbacks. Do I need to continue?" she says.

With a small furrow of my eyebrows, I shake my head no. While Azula is correct, she is only presenting only half of the situation. In Arkham I had a contingency in the form of an antidote should I get captured. In mass effect I had an AI that specializes in taking down beings like the reapers implanted in my mind as a contingency. As for the avatar world, well even if I did not figure out how to kill Koh, I could have simply worn a mask on my face for the duration of my time there. In fact that was my original plan before I remembered about the spiritual firebenders hiding out in a village somewhere. Then I met the Mother of Faces and the rest is history.

"By the way." says Azula, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Your spear is still in the clearing, it has been for the past few months while you were comatose. After placing you in the lake, we attempted to retrieve it. Only for it to severely electrocute anyone who touched it. Were it not for me being a daughter of Jupiter and Scathach's immense magical resistance, we would have been extremely injured."

"What happened to it? The ritual should not have changed or affected the spear in any way." asks Scathach.

"Odin happened. Somehow part of his will survived the thousand years since Ragnarok due to human beliefs. He felt the ritual and chose to investigate. It was his gift to me so that part of Asgard may live on. That along with knowledge of his primeval runes."

"You spoke with Odin?" asks an astonished Scathach.

"I did. Although I am not sure if his will still remains somewhere. It must have taken a considerable amount of power to do what he did to the spear and give me his primeval runes." I explain.

The others nod in agreement and we sit in silence for a few seconds before Azula gets up.

"Well, unfortunately I must go." says Azula as she gets up from her couch. "I have a kingdom to run, and contrary to what many may think, there is absolutely nothing fun about it. I miss the days when I could just tell the senate what to write and have them fill out the paperwork."

"Azula, you didn't give them a choice." I say and can't help but sigh. "You used charmspeak on the senators to get them to do all the work during senate meetings, and then you would use the mist to alter their memories of how the meeting went."

"Are you coming with me?" she asks as she shrugs and changes the subject, knowing for a fact that I am right.

"No. I am going to stay here to fully acclimate myself to my new abilities. Scathach's mastery in runes will help me figure out how far my elemental affinity of Divine Letters goes, and what does having the sorcery trait Rune God entail." I answer without bothering to pursue the previous subject.

"Very well." she says as she walks towards me, leans down and gives me a parting kiss. After separating she blows Scathach a kiss before walking out.

"Watching Aife's body act in such a way is unnerving, yet comforting. Their personalities are very similar. Were it not for the way she acts towards you I would not believe for a second that she isn't Aife." says Scathach as she watches Azula walk away.

"Hmmm" I simply hum in reply.

I can see what she means. My interaction with Aife went exactly how it would have gone if it was Azula having the same interaction with a stranger. It's in the way they walk, carry themselves, and speak. There is a certain pride in there, that if you did not know them you would think of it as arrogance. However, it really is only pride since both women can easily back up whatever claims they make.

"I must go." says Scathach as she gets up and brings me out of my thoughts. "Before you awoke I gave Setanta and Ferdiad an assignment. It is due in a few minutes."

With a nod I watch her walk away. Now that I am by myself I can take the time to get my spear and study its changes. Honestly right now I don't really feel like going there. I wish that I could just summon it to me.

Just as I think about summoning the spear, it appears before me in a small flash of light. Startled, it takes me a second to come to terms with what just happened.

Picking up the spear, I begin to inspect it. From a first glance, It does not look different at all. However, I am able to easily make out runes engraved on it in complex patterns. From the looks of it, it is going to take me a while to decipher all of their purposes. There are runes used in ways that I have never even thought of, and others that I believed should not be possible.