TGS - Chapter 59
Chapter 59: The Gift
In Solancian mythology, divine incarnations were not uncommon.
The main gods and some of the more powerful subordinate gods usually possessed the ability to project and transform into incarnations.
These could be human forms and symbolic animals, or they could be non-existent, lower-ranking gods or fantastical species. However, the latter was not determined by the gods themselves, but by the myths passed down in the mortal realm.
For example, the River Goddess had two divine incarnations: one was the Snow Goddess who ruled over winter blizzards, and the other was the Silver Mermaid responsible for guiding the migration of giant fish in the Yilu River.
Stories about these two incarnations are still recorded in mythological epics to this day.
This meant that Lotus could transform into the divine body of the Snow Goddess and the fantastical form of the Silver Mermaid, but it was impossible for her to create a new incarnation with divinity and fantastical elements out of thin air.
How many divine positions a god could hold and what strange things they could transform into were all decided by human mythology.
However, if one only wanted to create a human incarnation or symbolic animal without divine power, there were no restrictions. They could create as many as they wanted, in any appearance they desired—as long as the main body could control them.
Lotus had never deliberately studied the method of creating incarnations, but for a god, it was likely an instinct. When the desire to split off an incarnation was strong enough, she succeeded without any hindrance.
The Goddess of the Yilu River opened her eyes.
Across from her, the newly created incarnation opened its eyes at the same moment.
This incarnation's appearance was identical to the god's main body, with the same silver hair and blue eyes. Only her clothes were different, and her aura was colder.
She wore a fluffy white fur cloak, its soft, silvery-white fur collar trimming the edge of the hood. Her long hair was coiled at the back of her head, secured by a hair ornament carved in the shape of an ice crystal.
One look at her attire would bring to mind the ice and snow covering the mountains and rivers, and the biting winter winds.
This was one of the god's incarnations—the Snow Goddess.
To return to the Kingdom of the Gods to retrieve a gift and bring it back down, an ordinary human incarnation would not suffice. She had to choose between the Snow Goddess and the Silver Mermaid.
Lotus looked at herself, feeling her consciousness exist in both bodies simultaneously. Each side could move independently, as if she were controlling her own left and right hands.
"This feeling... like running a main account and an alt at the same time..."
The main body and the incarnation spoke in unison, their equally clear and pleasant voices creating a subtle resonance in the air. Then, they both stopped, staring at each other, the details of their expressions identical.
It didn't take long to adapt to this strange sense of coexistence. Lotus directed the incarnation to the Kingdom of the Gods to retrieve the item, while her main body changed back to her black-haired form and remained in the room.
As the incarnation soared through the clouds in the dawn light, the main body was diligently washing up.
As the incarnation flew higher and higher, until only the outlines of mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes were visible below, the main body was already lying in bed, asleep with her eyes closed.
Just as the incarnation was about to reach the floating island of the Kingdom of the Gods suspended in the sky, the sun in the mortal realm had already risen above the horizon. And the main body? The main body got out of bed with a calm expression, left the room, and successfully met the Princess at the door.
Lotus: "..."
It was getting stranger and stranger. It wasn't just the oddness of dividing her attention, but the bizarre feeling of facing two different scenes and situations at the same time.
In the mortal realm's morning, Lotus and Alyuin went to the temple to discuss the upcoming ceremony with the head priestess here.
Meanwhile, the Snow Goddess incarnation arrived at a corner of the Kingdom of the Gods, where there was a temple forged from pale red megaliths. Its master was the Goddess of Raging Fire.
The Goddess of Raging Fire was not one of the main gods, but she held the divine offices of both forging and burning, making her the highest-ranking subordinate god under the God of Wisdom.
"Your Eminence Lotus, welcome." The Goddess of Raging Fire sensed the main god's visit and came out of her temple at once. "Are you here to pick something up?"
Lotus nodded. "Yes, thank you."
"No need to thank me. It was a paid commission, after all. Follow me."
The Goddess of Raging Fire smiled magnanimously and led Lotus into her temple.
Lotus had started preparing the coming-of-age gift for the Princess long ago, though that wasn't entirely accurate, as the one who forged the gift was not her, but the goddess of fire before her.
During the time just after she had left the Kingdom of the Gods, it wasn't only Adia, the Goddess of Love, who sent messengers to communicate with Lotus. Several of the main gods who were not slumbering, as well as some of the more powerful subordinate gods, had also sent messengers one after another to greet the newly awakened deity.
The Goddess of Raging Fire was one of them.
At that time, Lotus had already secretly rejected several gift ideas. The reason was simple: she had nothing on hand that would be useful to Alyuin.
A newly awakened god was just that destitute. The treasures in her temple were all water-aspected; even if she could bring them down, she couldn't give them away. As for mortal currency and goods, she had none. She was on the verge of the sad state of having no gift to give.
Although she knew the Princess would be happy with whatever she gave, as a god who received faith, it was simply unbecoming to be unable to produce a decent gift.
It was then that the messenger from the Goddess of Raging Fire proved to be a great help.
The Fire God presided over forging. In Solancian mythology, the weapons of the gods who possessed combat abilities were mostly commissioned from her.
No matter the item, a product of the Fire God was never a mistake.
So, Lotus tentatively placed a commission.
The Goddess of Raging Fire was straightforward and outspoken. Upon hearing the commission was to forge a bow and sword for human use, she agreed without a second thought.
"Custom-made for the Princess of Solancia, can't be imbued with divine power, and can't be too far beyond current mortal smithing techniques? No problem. It's challenging, but I like a challenge. Please, leave it to me."
When Lotus asked about payment, the Fire God was taken aback. "Forging such items doesn't consume divine power. Your Eminence need not pay me."
But under the circumstances, she couldn't just take it for free.
So, after some discussion, the payment for the commission was set as any single gemstone from the River Goddess's temple.
These gemstones, imbued with water-aspected power, were of little use, but they were quite nice for the Goddess of Raging Fire. Holding one gave her a greater sense of security.
Being a fire god, she was naturally wary of water. When encountering a watery environment, just remembering to hold the gemstone would make her feel a bit better psychologically.
Returning to the present, Lotus followed the Goddess of Raging Fire to her workshop and saw at a glance the bow and longsword placed on a table.
Unlike the other ornate, gleaming weapons in the workshop, these two looked rather unremarkable. They only had the metallic luster of forged ore, and the materials used were mostly from the mortal realm.
"I mixed in a little material from the Kingdom of the Gods—just a little, not enough to cross the threshold, so a mortal can use them." The Goddess of Raging Fire was very pleased with herself. "I guarantee, there are no weapons in the mortal realm more suited for your little princess."
Lotus replied casually, "Alyuin is not little anymore."
The Fire God paid it no mind, asking with a smile, "Eighteen years old, is that not little?"
To the gods, never mind eighteen years old; even a decrepit human elder was but a fraction of their age.
Lotus shook her head and placed the water-aspected gemstone on the table.
The Goddess of Raging Fire was in high spirits. "Excellent, the commission is complete. If Your Eminence has similar needs in the future, you can send a messenger at any time."
As Lotus was about to leave, a thought occurred to her. "If they break, can I bring them back to you for repairs?"
The Fire God burst out laughing. "Don't worry about that. If my work is damaged in the mortal realm, I'll return this gemstone to you!"
Only then was Lotus reassured. She chatted with the Goddess of Raging Fire for a few more moments before departing.
The Fire God saw her visitor off and returned to her workshop to continue forging items for other gods.
The raging flames burned, and the clanging of metal was incessant.
It wasn't until she took a break that the Fire God suddenly remembered that it was possible for her creations to be destroyed in the mortal realm. After all, it wasn't as if there were no situations where a god could use their power in the mortal world.
"A human's lifespan is less than a hundred years. It's unlikely to happen so coincidentally..."
The Goddess of Raging Fire frowned in thought. Concluding there was no risk of having to return the gemstone she had just received, she put the thought out of her mind.
Carrying the bow and sword, the Snow Goddess incarnation returned to the mortal realm.
It was afternoon. Alyuin was at the training grounds for her daily practice. The main body watched for a while, and estimating that the incarnation was about to arrive, returned to her room first.
The two divine bodies with identical appearances admired the bow and sword for a moment before Lotus realized how strange the scene must be and immediately recalled the incarnation.
...She felt she would still need to get used to this in the future.
Having returned to being a single person, the River Goddess actually found the singular perspective a bit unfamiliar.
Lotus took a moment to compose herself, then put away the weapons—the Princess's birthday surprise—placing them in a cabinet to await the day they would see the light again.
—Which was only a few days later.
The coming-of-age ceremony was the most important ritual in a Solancian's life, second only to their wedding. On this day, they officially became adults who enjoyed rights and also had to bear responsibilities.
Perhaps in the modern era, far in the future, a teenager who had just turned eighteen might still be seen as a child by their parents. But in Solancia, eighteen meant one was fully grown. Even the most doting families would push their children out to work.
Anyone who continued to cower under their family's protection at this age would be scorned.
However, as Lotus stood before her own statue, presiding over this low-key yet complete ceremony, she still felt an indescribable sense of wistful loss.
Time seemed to pass so quickly. Before she knew it, the little girl with the childish face who had stood before the statue all those years ago had grown into a true princess, capable of standing on her own.
Oh, Lotus's time had indeed passed faster than others', since she had slept for three years in the middle of it.
Three years.
The subtle emotions she had felt upon waking, returning to the mortal realm, and reuniting with Alyuin surged up again. Those three years she had missed could never be recovered.
But no matter what, the future was far longer than three years.
Lotus was unwilling to think about the more distant future at this moment. In her guise as the black-haired lady-in-waiting, she turned to face the temple's statue and calmly bowed to her own likeness.
Then, Lotus lowered her gaze to look at Alyuin.
The procedure for the coming-of-age ceremony was roughly similar to the thirteenth birthday ritual, only more intricate and requiring more preparations.
Alyuin raised her head, her back to the observers outside the door, and smiled at Lotus.
She had long awaited this moment—for Lotus to personally declare her an adult.
Perhaps the Princess had once felt a multitude of emotions over this—joy, anticipation, vexation, and insecurity—but at this moment, as she gazed up into the god's serene, frost-blue eyes that held a hint of expectation, only pure joy remained in her heart.
The person presiding over the Princess's coming-of-age ceremony was an unknown lady-in-waiting. This fact alone was enough to stir up a wave of discussion, but Alyuin forbade them from talking about it casually.
These people did not know who was truly presiding over her ceremony.
And Alyuin had no desire for them to find out.
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