Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 105: Integration

That was interesting, but it made me wonder how I kept stumbling into these situations. Was luck, fate, or System responsible?

I suppose it didn't matter how I found myself in these circumstances, what mattered was to be as steadfast in my choices as possible. The option to dedicate an altar seemed harmless on the surface, but I was certain that that wouldn't be the case. System involvement guaranteed that my decision would have repercussions.

The Sithern was a Sidhe construct, even if it was located on Earth, I was worried that my choice would have a butterfly effect, the beginning impetus that may leave a lasting mark on Earth and the population. I had hoped to gather Duchess Wynne and her people and leave Earth without any fanfare, seeding Silinium that had been programmed to grow and destroy any future experiments that involved God Particles.

It looked like that was now a pipe dream. It wasn't certain, but my intuition suggested there would be real-world consequences. Perhaps in both worlds.

The Sidhe Gods of Talahm were in Sleep, if I dedicated an altar to one of them would that become the precursor needed to allow just that one to awaken? And if so, would their sphere of influence expand to encompass Earth and this Universe?

I knew I was often impulsive, not always thinking things through or considering the consequences, I often rationalized those decisions because I always believed my actions and decisions were based on doing what my moral compass considered was right and good.

In this case, I wasn't certain how to respond, since there was no need to rush, I paused to give this matter and the ramifications to Earth deliberate consideration.

This world practiced a monolithic religion for the vast majority. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism had their differences, but most believed that there was one true God. Hinduism was an exception, believing in a Pantheon of Gods, and I'd never really understood Buddhism enough to know much about the teachings beyond those precepts of Karma and reincarnation.

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all evolved from the same monotheistic root. It had always bothered me that the three religions had such an acrimonious and contentious relationship considering that each was rooted in the same fundamental beginnings. Each religion was based on the relationship between Abraham and God. They were part and parcel of the Abrahamic religions that espoused there was only one true God. Their paths may have diverged, but at the base, they all honored and worshiped that same God of Abraham.

If I were to dedicate this altar how would that affect Earth religion doctrine, would it make any difference, since the altar would be dedicated to a Dimensional subspace that was only accessible to the Sidhe?

I knew the Sidhe, Olympian, Hindu, and Asgardian Gods were real in my Universe. They walked among their children and still plotted and schemed for control and dominion over others. Their maneuvering was often done on a Cosmic scale and resulted in Universal consequences and ramifications for the peoples that inhabited that Universe.

I was uncertain about the true existence of deities in this Universe, but if the God of Abraham did exist, he was a jealous God, and would not be pleased if I reintroduced the Sidhe pantheon to Earth. My decision finally came down to two considerations.

First, if the God of Abraham did exist in this Universe, he allowed his creations free-will. They could choose to ignore or worship any Sidhe God that might be encouraged to manifest in this plane and dimension or not.

Second, I was a Seelie/Unseelie Prince with the bloodline of two Sidhe Gods. Beleros and Cyronax had both gifted me and my House abilities, skills, and protections, although they were opposing Cosmic forces, somehow my existence permitted a truce between the warring factions to exist. Their combined bloodlines co-existing within my body. I owed them a filial duty as the direct progenitors of my line. It would be ungracious and unmannerly to neglect or dismiss those obligations at the first opportunity.

The only question remaining was which Sidhe God to dedicate the shrine too. I didn't think it smart to choose one bloodline over the other at this point. And I was certain System would not allow me to dedicate my creation to two Gods. But I wondered if I could dedicate it to the pantheon instead. Why not dedicate the altar to the entire Sidhe Pantheon as one collective? More a place to worship all the Gods instead of just one.

System anticipated my decision and acted instantly.

[Dedicate this altar as a Shine to the Sidhe Pantheon of Gods?]

[Yes/No]

That made my decision much easier. I would not be slighting any of those that had made my existence possible. Firmly choosing Yes, I watched as System changes began.

The offering vessel that I had constructed out of Silinium and fused to a base of raw Silinium ore began to change. Relief pictograms, representative of the Sidhe Pantheon grew out of that base of raw ore. The shrine grew to allow the Tuatha de Danaan to spring forth inter-twining, embracing and claiming both the base of the altar and the support beams and columns of the gazebo that had been constructed nearby.

Unlike the ostentatious representation of Greek relief and the unarguably majestic, durable, and impressive formations that the statuary of Greek and Roman Gods were depicted and based on, Sidhe art and representation was more primal, more attuned to nature. There were no giant marble columns, no huge building with immense statues to represent the major Gods. There were instead moments that represented major milestones of Sidhe creation and those natural domains and characteristics that depicted their sphere of influence.

The faces of the Gods. The creation of the Sidhe. The battles with the Fomorians. And the symbols of nature. Oak leaves and doves abundant and intricately interwoven. Wheat and fruit were bountiful and overflowing. And above it all, Danu the Goddess of Earth smiling sharing her joy and embracing the creations the Pantheon had engendered.

The blood I'd gifted was accepted and transformed. New water began cascading as the bowl became the well-spring of a fountain. The waters that bubbled over, flowed and divided into two tributaries, one crystal clear, cool, and refreshing, the other producing a hot spring of Silinium, sulfates, and chlorides, the minerals that would allow those who chose to bathe and soak in the waters to be refreshed and renewed.

All the Gods were present, each directly participating, lending their blessing and the smallest spark of their divinity to transform this altar into a place of true benefice for those that would seek enlightenment, healing, or succor. And Danu, mother Goddess, who had stirred from her slumber along with the rest of the Tuatha de Danaan Pantheon cast her blessing upon what was done. Creating a place of serenity and holiness that would endure, perhaps until the very Earth was nothing but dying embers in the rebirth of this Universe.

Just as the Wild Magic had answered my call on Talahm, so too did the God Particles that had been created and released by the Collider respond on Earth. Infused with and directed even by the dreaming minds of the Divine, changes to this place were finalized by transforming the Volar-fey that had first greeted me.

<What quality of the Divine would best nourish your souls?>

<A choice must be made, remain Volar-fey or become something new?>

<Choose.>

The breezes whispering the words of Danu to those that were engulfed by the God particles and embraced by her magics. I watched, an island of calm and otherness as those fey, the sparks of magic that at their essence had always come closest to the existential truth to what magic really was, those creatures of magic that Danu had most intended to represent the health of Sidhe and Sithern, were offered a choice.

For some, the choice was to refuse the gifts the Sidhe Gods were offering. To remain Volar-fey, to stay one of the Demi-fey, and keep their wings, to forsake those gifts that were offered and to retain the essence that made them unique. For others, they made their choice.

Petal was the first to change. Growing and losing her wings as Danu once again graced her children with her wisdom. The Tuatha de Danaan formed the Sidhe in almost the same manner, the Goddess reaching forth her hand and creating beauty that graced all aspects of nature, even the monstrous and horrible bursting from cocoons that had restrained and defined them. Powers of nature given physical form and function.

Here, in this progression of evolution and time, Danu stretched out her prodigious will and began to scan, seeking knowledge of Earth's status, inspecting what the children of Eve had done to her body. A search that expanded past the walls of the Sithern. That spiraled and grew until it encompassed the entire Earth.

And as she searched, she brought my awareness along. Allowing me to see what she was searching for and what she found. How these mortals with their short lives and no magic had progressed. Her sorrow as she identified the **** that had been done to the planet was staggering, but Her will became even more resolute the more damage that she categorized. She was determined to find a way to heal the betrayal that mankind had bestowed on a planet that had been entrusted to them.

And as she searched, as she learned of the plunder and ravages that had been done maliciously and capriciously across the bounty that the Gods had offered to man, she acted.

The Silinium seeds that I had harvested and transported with me, were collected and withdrawn from my Ring of Hidden Depths. Each seed cast out and sent to the convergences of the ley-lines and places of power. I'd only managed to harvest a dozen, but the Sidhe Gods were not constrained by those limits, and the seeds multiplied. Giving birth to a multitude. Seeds that expended and given the command to grow.

And as those seeds grew, they harnessed the magics of a planet, magics that had long been ignored and abandoned. And the will of the Divine, even in while dreaming, caused the very fabric of the Universe to conform to that will.

The Tuatha de Danaan Pantheon had judged, and mankind had been found wanting. They had exploited, poisoned, and destroyed the lands that they had been entrusted with. Their drive for science and curiosity, their need to fight back the dark and the unknown, to shine a light of knowledge and understanding on everything they touched, was an affront to the Sidhe.

Yet, even in their anger, even as the nightmares of a pillaged planet disturbed their sleep, and showed them what had been done, they knew compassion. They understood that man had had no recourse. Cut off from magic, stripped of the ability to grow and nurture the lands that they needed to flourish they had acted in wanton disregard, in a frenzy of gluttony and consumption.

Ignorant of what their actions meant; they had set themselves among the path for extinction. The planet could not sustain the wanton destruction to feed mankind's voracious appetite.

But that would end here today. They judged them redeemable. Still, limits would be needed to stay their voracious appetite and give the planet time to heal.

For those Volar-fey that had accepted the choice a metamorphosis occurred, a new species was born that finally completed the transformation. The lethal antlers of a stag adorned their head, the race was modeled after Cernunnos. They were made Lord and Ladies of the Wild Things. A new race to give voice and protection for the voiceless and exploited.

Human in form. Two legs. Two arms. But different. Animalistic. And like Cernunnos, they were adept at hunting. Although they were not as proficient as the Wild Hunt, they also were not constrained by the rules of reckoning the Hunt were bound by.

And as they changed, growing, becoming something new, a cascade of change and power ascended and overwhelmed the local magic, a chain reaction of events and magic with the Sithern at the epicenter that triggered a cataclysmic change.

[World Announcement - System Integration in process.]