“Dalosisaar, are you busy right now?”
The might white and gold Thraki glanced up from their huge desk, one that had been customised to match Dalosisaar’s less upright shape.
“Not in particular. Is something wrong, Aster?”
Aster sighed, then entered Dalosisaar’s office, closing the door behind him.
“Seems like something is every wrong, Aster. Come sit down.”
Aster did as he was told, then quickly started talking.
“You’ve been doing a lot of stuff on your own, recently,” Aster exclaimed. “You’re the god of unity, but Kairos keeps on pulling you away on your duties.”
Dalosisaar frowned. “You are right about that. Kairos keeps on, well, giving me homework.”
“I noticed. But you are doing more for Kairos in particular right now. Is this similar to what the Lady of All is doing with Maresia, Valksia and Syksis?”
“Somewhat. The three Ladies are still trying to work out population balances and things like that. What I have been doing is… a tad more complicated. Hence why I’ve been avoiding Nanik and Litvir, until I can shield my thoughts better.”
Aster frowned. “I thought you were doing something sneaky. We’re supposed to be all connected and you are hiding things. But at least you have brought us to what I wanted to talk about.”
Dalosisaar looked Aster up and down. “Is this about Litvir again?”
“Somewhat. Litvir is currently doing okay, despite what happened with that Rethan General. When I spoke to them, they were a little upset but also rather angry about things. I don’t think Litvir meant what they said in their rant towards me, but they did say something… both interesting and terrifying.”
“Hmph. Is Litvir thinking dark thoughts again?”
“No. Not at all. If anything, Litvir is sorting themselves out, and they are way more efficient in their work now. They were rather upset about the Rethan General, who I didn’t realise was acting as a temporary parent for Litvir, but Litvir did calm themselves down on their own.”
Dalosisaar eyed Aster somewhat. “I feel like you’re trying to work out how to say something bad.”
Aster clicked a little. “Kinda, yes. Because what Litvir said bothered me. I don’t think Litvir actually meant what they said, nor do I think Litvir even remembers what they said. But it’s been bothering me. And I think it’s been subconsciously bothering all of us, but we all know to keep silent.”
“What have we all been worried about?”
“Simple. We all feel, consciously and subconsciously, that we’re not doing enough.”
“You feel like that?” Dalosisaar asked. “Have you not seen what we’ve managed to achieve so far?”
Aster nodded. “I have. But I think there’s so much more we can do.”
Dalosisaar crossed his arms. Well, he tried to. Having wings for arms did make things tricky. “We are already doing everything within our power to make things better.”
“Could still do better.”
“Alright, Aster, you’re being weird right now.”
Aster tutted. “Perhaps. But we’re working our butts off. Well, I am. You’re all working your tails off. And for what? Our universe is pretty damn good, but it’s still flawed. There’s still suffering and pain. Between us twelve? We do what we can and we have made good changes. But why are we even doing these things if the Allriver and the Allmaker are, well… I don’t think they’re omnipotent, definitely not. But they could make things so much easier with the sheer power they have.”
Dalosisaar stared at Aster. “What the heck are you saying, Aster?”
“I’m saying that the actual gods could do more. More than they do at least, anyway. After all, is that not the reason why the Allriver is training you in lots of other things?”
The Thraki suddenly paused. “Hang on, you’re suggesting two different things. That, firstly, the actual gods don’t do enough, and that they’re also training us up to be true deities to take their place?”
“Something like that. When I spoke to Litvir, they felt upset because they believed they weren’t doing enough. In the time it took Litvir to save one Rethan, other beings across the universe were all dying of heart attacks at the same time. And that made me think, why do heart attacks happen in the first place? Of course, some of these cases are because some people have terrible diets, but some folks simply drop dead because a genetic thing makes the heart give out.
“Sure, Syksis is doing her best, she’s done a lot of good work, but there are so many ailments and diseases that exist for no reason. Just because more powerful gods made them. We try to do all we can, but why are we doing all this as Kairos and Epani just… watch on?”
Dalosisaar opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first.
“Friend, if we had more power, we could make things better for everyone. We almost have to. Losing both the Allbirther and the Alltaker, it’s really damaged our universe, and us Twelve can only do so much to make things better. We rebuilt, we purified the waters, we buried the dead. But we are not as we were before the Sudden Darkness.”
“Hmph…” Dalosisaar frowned. “I… I hate that you’re somewhat right. Not completely.”
“Where am I wrong?”
“Kairos and Epani still do things. Larger things beyond our comprehension.”
Aster crossed his arms. “They could be doing what we are all trying to do. They relied too heavily on Sini and Arkay, and they are not as proactive as they should be. They made a universe and watched it unfold.”
Dalosisaar gave in. “You have a lot of good points. But, I think, before we do anything rash, the twelve of us need to sit down with Epani and talk things out. Because what you’re suggesting has a somewhat… aggressive undertone. And Epani and Kairos, neither of them would appreciate hearing what you just said to me. It’d anger them greatly.”
“My thoughts are worth being said.”
“They are, yes, but we need to write things out and present something that won’t piss Epani off.”
Aster sighed. “You’re right, my words are a bit harsh. I’ll work on writing something down.”
“Good. But I also want to have a meeting with… some of the rest of the Twelve. Namely Elkay, Valksia, Murum’Va and Syksis. Because I trust them with this the most. The others may blab before we are ready.”
“Understood. I’ll leave you to it. Do you want me to organise this meeting?”
“No, no, I’m the god of unity, I ought to do it.”
Aster calmed down, glad that Dalosisaar had understood. “Alright. I need to get to back to work now.”
“No worries, me too. Stay safe, Aster.”
“You too, Dalosisaar.”