It had taken way too long, but Kohra had finally managed to settle down in a beautiful villa that he had built not long after he was deified. As Kohra had disowned his father, the same way his father disowned Kohra’s older brother Levik, building a home in Spast territories seemed a tad risky and potentially annoying, so Kohra had lived in a fancy hotel in neutral territories for a month, until he had the time to build and finish off his new home
And what a home it was. A massive three bedroom villa on the edge of Allshimmer, a glistening paradise on the far side of Alsana. Alsana was a neutral world but normally quite a busy one, since Torr, Spasts, and Athrens regularly argued about who owned what, and the Rethavok had to regularly step in and act as middlemen between their many arguments.
Allshimmer though was firmly in a large, empty, truly neutral territory, with beings from all races popping by to admire the local attractions. The name came from a colossal lake and valley, one that was utterly covered in massive coloured quartz stalagmites spikes and towers, and the trees there had odd, silver leaves. Patches of tall glass filled the gaps, and the shore of Allshimmer Lake wasn’t made of sand, but of fine, beautiful gems and translucent pebbles, essentially a beach made of smoothed down quarts and glass. Because of its beauty, it was a tourist hotspot, and was deemed too beautiful to split between other races.
Kohra’s new home wasn’t near the main lake though, it was tucked away in a corner, next to a small pond that also had glass sand. In fact, it was literally a beach-side villa, and Kohra had made a nice garden all around his new home. Buying the land had cost a small fortune, but Kohra had recouped a lot of that money by asking his members of the Twelve Anew to help him build the villa. Akusasiiri was thrilled that Kohra had let her decorate the interior and paint the walls however she liked, and Aesop, Aster and Litvir all helped with the actual construction. In fact, Aesop liked the location so much, that he sought to build a similar home in a similar location somewhere in Torr territories.
Now that Kohra’s home was built, he finally wanted to host a house-warming party. Except he’d just realized that the majority of the Twelve Anew wouldn’t fit inside his house. After all, Kohra was only 1.3m tall, the second shortest of the twelve gods, while Murum’Va was a colossal monster and Litvir was more than twice Kohra’s height. So, instead, he invited everyone to a house-warming party in the garden.
Unfortunately, not everyone turned up. Dalosisaar was working with Kairos on a private project, Murum’Va was busy with some lawyer stuff, Aesop was on border duty, Maresia was helping the Allmaker with a different project and Syksis and Valksia were in the middle of something important, some sort of water purification system, so they couldn’t make it either. Still, Kohra was thrilled that some people came at least.
The little house-warming party though was plenty big enough. Everyone was sitting by a table covered in sweet treats, watching the water ripple across the large pond and disappear down stream.
“Are all Spast homes small?” Litvir asked, half confused, half distracted by the weirdly sweet sandwich they had been given. Litvir was sitting on the floor because they were to tall, but Litvir didn’t seem to mind.
“Of course they are!” Kohra beamed. “Sure, because I’m a kid, I’m a bit short, but few Spasts grow over 1.3m tall.”
“Same as Vohra!” Nanik piped up. “Spast home would be good for me!”
“Do you have a home, Nanik?” Aster wondered out loud.
“Yes, yes! Nice home. My old home-and-work-nest gave me nice place! In a big city! Is big home for me! And it is all mine!”
“Did you let Akusasiiri decorate, Nanik?”
“Yes yes! All pink and purple and red!”
Kohra glanced back at his house. Akusasiiri had painted his house white and covered the walls in sky blue flowers.
“This place is way nicer than my place…” Aster muttered.
“Where do you even live?” Elkay asked.
“I live in a mobile home, a space caravan. I mean, my place is fine, but it’s not somewhere where I can bring guests. Doubly so because I have a cat and am pretty bad at keeping the place fur free…”
Elkay then turned to Litvir. “And where are you living now?”
“I live at the housing from my 900th Legion base…” Litvir frowned. “I just need the stupid certificate and then I get a proper home.”
“And I assume you’ll also be assigned a new Legion?” Aster exclaimed.
Litvir nodded. “Yes. Kyr Relkir says I will be put in 11th Legion when I graduate. It is the Legion of Deitic Affairs. But…” Litvir trailed off, then sighed. “11th Legion is what the strange person called Kuta led. Feels… awkward that I am somewhat based off a hero who died before I was even born.”
Kohra shrugged. “I don’t think you should worry, Litvir. After all, I’m following in the footsteps of my big brother Tanos. He died fighting the Corruption face to face. I did a lot of good and saved lives, but I’ll never be as brave as Tanos was. But that’s also kinda why I got this place built. Because my dad is a bastard and did not really recognise our heroic feats.”
“I guess…” Litvir trailed off. “Can I ask another question, please?”
Elkay tutted. “You don’t need to ask permission.”
“I do. Vok get annoyed with me when I ask too much. You did a lot at first.”
“Go ahead and ask!” Kohra smiled. “It’s good to learn!”
“Alright… why is all the food sugary, and what is the sweet stuff in this sandwich? I thought sandwiches were always savoury?”
“No, they can be sweet sometimes! Those ones are peanut butter and strawberry jam.” Kohra smiled. “I’m a Spast, we only really eat very sweet things. I made the sandwiches so you all can enjoy the food too. Because everyone likes sandwiches, right?”
Litvir shrugged, then pointed at a sponge cake with icing and jam in the middle. “Is that a sandwich too? A big one?”
Aster suddenly grunted. “Please, please do not get me started on what is and what is not a damn sandwich!”
Everyone turned to Aster, not really sure how to respond.
“Aster, dear, you’re clearly talking from experience…” Elkay eventually smiled again. “A cake isn’t a sandwich, there’s no bread involved.”
“Ugh… You have no idea how long lower rank Perpetual Abyssians like myself used to argue about stupid definitions of food, to the point that we have to classify opinions the way you would describe morality in Wards and Wyverns! Sandwiches in particular were a pain.”
“Surely we can all agree that the sponge cake isn’t a sandwich though?” Kohra blinked, knowing exactly what Aster had described. He used to play Wards and Wyverns a few years back.
Elkay and Nanik both nodded. Litvir just shrugged, and Aster clicked in vague annoyance.
“Well… I can agree to that at least…” Aster sighed. “Admittedly, it was stupid arguments like that which kept some of us distracted. Before the Perpetual Abyss rejoined the Explorers overall, life just… sucked.”
“Don’t worry, Aster. You’ve done a lot of good and now life will be better for everyone!” Elkay added some optimism to the discussion. “And, at some point, we’ll work out better housing for you too. You deserve a nice place to live in.”
“I guess…” Aster sighed as he helped himself to a sandwich. “Either way, Kohra, congratulations on your new home. It’s a beautiful place.”
Kohra went back to grinning. He disappeared briefly, teleporting off to fetch drinks for everyone. “All thanks to my fellow deities! Here’s to us, cheers!”