TGS - Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Feast of the Gods
Meanwhile, Emute, the God of Life and Death, let out a sleepy yawn. Lifting his eyelids, he noticed the avatar of the Snow Goddess arriving from another direction.
He paused for a moment and nodded. "Lotus."
Lotus returned the simple greeting. "Hello, Emute."
The Death God was completely shrouded in a black robe. A few strands of gray hair peeked out from under his hood, and his eyes were gloomy and dark.
Without a word, he pulled his hood down a little further, obscuring even his eyes.
At first glance, it was not a friendly posture.
However, the Ravens gathered around the Death God displayed a completely different attitude.
Lotus had been subtly observing these Ravens.
They worked together: the larger crows firmly gripped strangely shaped harps of various sizes with their talons, while the other Ravens tirelessly plucked the strings with their beaks and claws. If their wings weren't needed for flying, they might have even used their wingtips.
They had no uniform way of playing, flying around in what looked like a chaotic dance, yet the music they produced was strangely unified and harmonious.
Some crows couldn't get near the harps, so they bobbed their heads on the periphery with the air of conductors lost in the music.
Finally, the Ravens noticed Lotus's presence.
With a caw, the long, peaceful, and slightly melancholic tune suddenly changed, and they began to play a cheerful and lively piece.
Lotus found the tune somewhat familiar. After a moment of thought, she realized it was the most popular welcoming song among the border legions.
The entire piece celebrated the camaraderie of soldiers; it was an all-purpose tune for welcoming new recruits, bidding farewell, and pre-battle motivation. It turned out the Death God's Ravens could play it too.
Lotus withdrew her gaze, her expression slightly complicated.
Well, if blue herons and white rabbits could deliver messages, it wasn't strange at all that Ravens could play music and even change the song to suit the occasion... probably.
The two arrived at the floating island without exchanging a word. At the edge of the vast island, a white rabbit was unhurriedly washing its face with its two front paws. Its narrowed eyes were like emerald-green gems set in a plush toy.
Seeing the River Goddess and the Death God arrive at the same time, the white rabbit hopped over and said, "How nice, I get to welcome two at once. Did you meet on the way?"
"You guessed right," Lotus said. "Long time no see, Adia."
"If I recall correctly, Solancia's little princess just had her coming-of-age ceremony, and you came back today." The white rabbit looked up at the sky, its green eyes darting about, its rabbit face actually managing an expression of keen interest. "Celebrating the princess's birthday—could that be the reason you lingered in the mortal realm?"
"It's one of the reasons," Lotus corrected.
"Close enough—quick, tell me, how did the poor little princess react when you left? Was she very unhappy?"
Alyuin didn't know that she had sent an avatar away. In fact, the princess had always thought the one by her side was a divine avatar.
At this very moment, her main body was still with the princess.
It was already night in the mortal realm. What was Alyuin doing?
Alyuin had just finished bathing and, not wanting to dry her own hair, had specifically come to knock on the door, hoping the River Goddess would help dry it instantly.
Lotus fell into a subtle silence for a moment, then changed the subject.
"What are you doing here?"
Of course, it wasn't specifically to welcome Lotus; she hadn't informed any of the other deities before deciding to return to the Kingdom of the Gods.
The white rabbit's eyes held a mischievous glint, and it didn't press the matter. It twitched its ears toward the Death God. "The feast has already begun. I'm here to lead this fellow next to you over."
The Death God remained silent.
The Ravens beside him, however, reacted quickly. They immediately changed their tune to some unknown Solancian folk song, but it had a somewhat gloating, mocking tone.
A few of the crows in particular landed on the ground and began to play with their wingtips, hopping on their talons to keep the beat as they played. It was a show of triumphant swagger.
The white rabbit snorted. "Normally, no escort would be needed, but this fellow has no sense of direction. If I left him alone, he'd just have to fly above the floating island looking for the feast."
"And he might not even find it!"
"..." The Death God glared at the Ravens from under his hood.
The music stopped at once, and they obediently returned to the lively tune of comrades reuniting.
Lotus couldn't help but cast a sympathetic glance at Emute.
The white rabbit chuckled twice, turned around, and with a kick of its hind legs, it hopped away.
The alluring voice of the Goddess of Love drifted on the wind: "Hurry and keep up."
This white rabbit was likely not a messenger, but one of Adia's avatars. It didn't have the red eyes of an ordinary white rabbit; its emerald-green pupils were the exact same color as the Goddess of Love's own.
It was just like the blue heron "Miss Messenger" that Lotus transformed into, whose eyes were also a pure, frosty blue.
Following the steps of the white rabbit avatar, Lotus and the Death God, who was flying low beside her, arrived at the legendary place where the gods held their feasts.
Before them was a vast garden.
Passing through an archway of carved marble, they saw lush green grass and clusters of vibrant flowers. Winding streams and clear pools formed the garden's waterscape, while square-roofed pavilions supported by snow-white stone pillars sat by the lakes. Low-lying palm trees and various acacia trees could be seen everywhere.
There were also many species of trees and flowers that could not be seen in the mortal realm. Born from the imagination of mortals, they took shape in the Kingdom of the Gods, growing freely and spontaneously, adding a fantastical and sacred beauty to the garden.
The gods sat in small groups of two and three, their clothes flowing and light.
Tiny sprites, no longer than a person's forearm, danced with translucent, phosphorescent wings like those of bees and butterflies, while fairies bustled about, carrying fruits and wine bottles.
It was different from the perfumed, grand, and exquisite banquets of mortal nobles.
—This was a feast of the gods of Solancia.
Upon arriving here, the Death God's Ravens changed their tune on their own and began to play a light and pleasant melody.
Although to Lotus it sounded a bit like background music for a primary school field trip, she had to admit it suited the scene perfectly.
The sound of the harps attracted the attention of the nearby gods, and one after another, beautiful and captivating faces turned toward them.
"Lord Emute is here too, how rare..."
"Who is that next to him?"
"That must be Lord Lotus. Among the major gods, she's the only one who hasn't shown her face yet."
"Quick, someone go call the subordinate water gods. Their main god has arrived!"
Most of the gods simply offered a greeting before turning back to their drinking and chatting. Some cast a casual glance before looking away with little interest.
Lotus also overheard a few whispered exchanges.
"Your main god is here. Aren't you going to go chat for a bit?"
"Why would I? Lord Emute is so boring. I don't want to go over there and listen to his Ravens caw."
The Death God had clearly heard as well. His face was expressionless as he quickened his pace.
Lotus kept her eyes fixed forward, taking in the surrounding scene with her peripheral vision. The slight, unconscious tension in her shoulders and back slowly eased, and her posture remained relaxed and graceful.
Lotus remembered that later mythological researchers generally believed that myths were a mirror of the mortal world, and that the hierarchy among the gods was actually a reflection of the class system in human society.
For this reason, the study of mythology was, at its core, the study of humanity.
And it was for this reason that ancient Solancian myths had a king of the gods, major gods and subordinate gods, and sprites and fairies who served them.
But when the myths became reality, it seemed they didn't completely replicate the cruel disparities people perceived.
Subordinate gods respected the major gods, but they didn't have to be terrified and blindly obedient. The small, beautiful sprites who danced for the gods could also sit in a god's palm and drink, and if they became unhappy, they would fly away in a huff, leaving the god to only smile wryly.
Whether this meant the hierarchy among the deities was truly not so strict, or if it was merely a superficial warmth, Lotus breathed a sigh of relief.
The white rabbit leading the way hopped up a small hill and finally darted into a thicket of lush, fluffy grass that was taller than a person.
Lotus followed close behind. Parting the grass, she saw a small lake nestled in the low ground below the hill. The water was a deep blue, and an open-air pavilion floated silently in the center of the lake.
The white rabbit scurried down the slope, leaped into the air, and actually crossed half the lake in a single bound, landing softly in the pavilion.
It dissolved into a wisp of pale crimson smoke and merged with the goddess in a gorgeous long dress standing beside it.
Adia, the Goddess of Love and Desire, stretched out her arms with a beaming smile and waved twice in their direction.
"We're three short of the eight. Lotus, Emute, come quickly and wait with us for the last one who's always late."
The Ravens, overjoyed, played their music as they lifted Emute a little higher and carried him across the lake.
Lotus, on the other hand, walked on the surface of the water, stepping toward the pavilion.
However, this Snow Goddess avatar seemed to be somewhat special. Every time the tip of her foot touched the water, a perfect hexagonal snowflake bloomed beneath it, spreading across the clear surface. The leisurely swimming fish in the pond all flicked their tails, trying to escape the encroaching ice.
If she hadn't glanced down because the sensation felt off, Lotus probably wouldn't have even noticed.
The Snow Goddess avatar immediately reined in her leaking divine power, allowing the lake's surface to return to normal, before nonchalantly stepping onto the stone pavilion.
Inside the pavilion was a single round table surrounded by a circle of high-backed chairs. Enough space was left between each chair to ensure personal space for each god.
Lotus took a seat in the empty spot between the Goddess of Love and the Moon Goddess, Anmila.
On her left, Anmila nodded at her, then pushed a crystal glass toward her. The transparent, honey-colored liquid inside sloshed gently.
On her right, the Goddess of Love smilingly offered a small plate of sweet cakes that gave off a strange floral fragrance.
The Sun God, Suriel, spread his hands in a leisurely gesture.
"Welcome to our regular program," the Sun God said. "Eating while we wait for the King of the Gods."
"..."
Waiting for the God of Sky and Wind?
She glanced around the table. Besides the familiar faces, there were two gods she had never seen before.
One was a red-haired young man sitting on the other side of the Goddess of Love. He was impeccably dressed, every fold in his clothes perfectly placed. The overly vibrant color of his hair somehow seemed subdued and steady on him.
Lotus guessed this must be Nierde, the God of Wisdom and Knowledge.
And the other one... was not human.
Of course, gods weren't human to begin with, but this one wasn't even in human form.
Across from the Snow Goddess avatar, a large python was coiled on a chair, holding a cup of wine with the tip of its tail and leisurely licking at it with its forked tongue.
The python was beautiful. Its body was marked with a regular pattern of pale gold diamonds, its scales gleaming. Its dark brown, reptilian eyes were covered by a thin scale, giving it a somewhat placid appearance.
The gold-patterned python opened its mouth, the curve of which looked like a smile, and spoke in a gentle female voice.
"Lotus, would you like some sweet wine?"
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