16 Tiamat's Realization

Tiah Mat slithered away in the city. She passed through the steps of unassuming strong humans and weak humans alike, her mouth shut. She knew some strong humans possessed sharper senses, just like those of the big cats she often met and ran away from at the place of her birth.

She slithered and never stopped, shame pushing her to speed up. She went through multiple districts, her sight being greeted by figures she would have never met if not for her Good Master. The buildings were tall enough they seemed to touch the sky, flowers were put into small pots—of every color. She could smell food everywhere, and she associated it with that time of the day where the sky was barely above the horizon, racing for the top. Humans seemed to choose this time of the day to put out all of their foods.

She hadn't eaten yet, because she had run away. She couldn't face her Good Master, not after what had happened. She was confused, lost—both in her mind and in the city. She fled, fled the place where her Good Master had been brought, with Nesting-Female.

She had been powerless.

Tiah Mat had sensed something was wrong and slithered down from the place where her Good Master rested for the night. She could remember her heartbeat shoot up, her pace speed up as the ominous feeling weighed down on her like being stalked by a predator far too strong.

When she finally dodged the grabby hands of the humans who spotted her in the place where Good Master and herself slept, she was met with a most cruel scene, and her heart dropped. She froze as Vicious-Male disappeared from her sight after a most ruthless beating, leaving her Good Master on the ground, dying. He was dying—Tiah Mat shivered just by having the memories of the sight pulse in her mind.

His blood was pouring out of his body like a water cascade, and she quickly slithered towards him, uncaring of what the strong humans around her thought. She stuck her length on his torso, trying to feel his state by judging his heartbeat. It was… disappearing. Tiah Mat didn't know what to do. For the first time in her life, she didn't have her instinct to trust anymore. She had called and called for help, but her hisses only amused or frightened the surrounding humans. She...She…

Tiah Mat shook her head, trying to calm her emotions down—a lesson from her Good Master she had yet to apply properly. Her Good Master controlled his mental state when he was confronted by Nesting-Female or Ember-Female at the fire and metal place. He didn't act like her when talking with Annoying-Female either at the same place.

She knew her Good Master was the wisest of all, and the one who saved her life and granted her the chance to rise above her previous station, but she struggled to follow his teachings, always.

Tiah Mat hated herself. Her, who proclaimed to the world and to the sky she would become the protector of her Good Master, running away from him, her face lost and ashamed. Most pathetic.

Her, who declared she would follow her Good Master's and not spit on his expectations of herself, fleeing from him when he needed her the most. Most dishonorable.

She could not face her Good Master anymore, not like this.

Tiah Mat had grown past the dream her Good Master was the mightiest under the heavens when she broke through, graced by her Good Master's qi. No, her Good Master was not the strongest.

While that realization shocked her, the understanding of how weak she was, despite her claims of future greatness, hurt.

Tiah Mat stopped, hearing something from afar that was most unusual. Her tongue shot out and flickered up and down, tasting the air. Tiah Mat nearly stopped at the putrid smell coming from her right. She lifted her head off the surface of the ground, glancing around. A metallic plate with holes in it was the source of the foul scent, or rather, the exposed below was from where it came from. Beyond that, two humans and one… Her tongue flickered again. One small female and two males.

"N-no! Let Lili go! I don't have anything left, I swear!" Tiah Mat could not understand what was the meaning of humans and other races opening their mouths and moving their throats and tongues like this at first, but she had been taught by her Good Master these races communicate with most strange things called "words". She could hear these words, but Tiah Mat couldn't understand them. Her Good Master had not taught her that much yet.

At the thought of yet another action her Good Master did for her, her mind felt pained by a pang of shame before she focused on the scene before her. The small female… felt weird. A most peculiar feeling she had never encountered before. No, that was not the truth. But she didn't like the ramifications of this truth.

This feeling… was the same as her Good Master's. A talented one.

The males, however… exuded a most weird feeling. They smelled like they had bitten into a lot of those plump and darkened fruits Tiah Mat often found splashed on the ground in the forest.

"Let me go!" Her voice rose as the two males surrounded her, cornering their prey. Her tongue flickered again. Were they trying to mate? Tiah Mat was most confused. She had never seen other races mate before and was curious about the mating process of males and females with forms similar to her Good Master's.

However, Tiah Mat froze, and hissed in even greater confusion. Why did the mating ritual seem so… brutal? One male tried to hit with his fists Small-Female, missing just barely. She focused on Small-Female's expression. Tears, furrowed eyes filled with rage and disgust. Bared teeth, with a stream of blood coming out of the corner of her lips—just like her Good Masters when he was hit by Vicious-Male.

Tiah Mat hissed, stronger this time. The memories of her Good Master's tragic beat-down overlapping with Small-Female's actions.

"Shut up, woman! You owe Canoe some money, you understand?!"

"Pin her arms on the wall! I'm pretty sure she has some coins hidden on her."

Tiah Mat realized something. Small-Female did not want this. She was unwilling. She spat in the male's face trying to pin her down—just like Good Master. The other took the opportunity to swing at her. This time it connected, right in the torso—just like Good Master.

The blow echoed in the quiet alleyway, devoid of anyone else. Tiah Mat was the sole witness.

Tiah Mat… didn't care. She didn't care for beings other than her Good Master. She even struggled to extend that care to the people her Good Master cared about, like Nesting-Female. So she turned around. Weak Small-Female would get mated by the two males because she was weak. Such was the law of the jungle. While she would have observed the ritual if it was consensual, Tiah Mat found a bitter taste on her tongue, as if she had just swallowed a rotten pray. Tiah Mat found the scene… distasteful.

So she slithered the other way, each wiggle slower than the previous. That distaste… turned into a pulsing disgust. Not at weak Small-Female, nor at the two males. At herself. The feeling overwhelmed her, and soon all she could hear was the ruffle of fists, steps on the ground, and the muffled screams of weak Small-Female, pinned underneath the two males. All she could see was the reflection of her lithe body in the puddle of water in front of her.

"There! Told you she had a purse somewhere!"

That disgust turned into anger. Raw anger. Her Good Master had been weak in front of Vicious-Male. Nobody helped him. He was the prey. Small-Female's actions replayed in her mind, but an echo of her memories of what had transpired last night. What would happen if she walked away from this scene, so eerily similar. What would happen if she… ran away, again?

How could she claim to want to change, to improve, if she couldn't take the first step when it was offered to her? Her body flickered, dragging her gaze to the scene. She could hear Small-Female's tears drop on the ground, like Good Master's blood dripping out of his body.

"Not so tough now?" The male smiled, just like Vicious-Male did. He was enjoying the power, the domination. Just like Vicious-Male did.

Tiah Mat didn't care for weak Small-Female… However, at this moment, she felt a revelation. Not every prey deserved to be prayed upon. Strength wasn't the only parameter of a person's value, her Good Master being the primary example. She had been hypocritical, wishing for someone to help her Good Master when he was in danger while leaving Small-Female to her own fate…

Her tongue flickered up and down, her slitted eyes zeroing on the two males. Following the technique her Good Master taught her, she reached for their soul, and she saw.

Weak. They were weak.

Her body tensed, ready for the prowl. Ready for the hunt.

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The jewel of Orario, Folkvangr.

A symbol of power and divinity both. The home of the strongest Familia, and the temple of the goddess Freya. All knew of its name, all knew of its appearance, and all knew of what it represented.

Located at the opposite of the equally famous building, the Twilight Manor, this building ruled supreme among the business area of the city. A white temple, pristine, pure, and embellished to the point the money necessary to build it was enough to compel the entire city to build a business district all around the temple.

Such was the power of the Freya Familia. A garden large enough, it created a significant green spot on every map of the city, perfectly taken care of. White pillars stretched to the sky along the bridge, passing over the small river surrounding the garden. Protecting by four impenetrable walls of even brighter white, adorned by the emblem of the Freya Familia—the profile of a Valkyrie.

Members of the Familia, of all colors, all races, and all genders, could be seen training in the garden, spilling blood and sweat onto the smooth and glowing green grass at their feet. The sounds of crushing blows and currents of air created by their rapid steps echoed in the vicinity.

One goddess walked through the violence, Freya. She watched her children, her precious children, fight to near death with a pleased glint suffusing her eyes. The goddess who descended from Heaven to cure the curse of boredom, only to be betrayed by her expectations, had found a new purpose.

It had been like this for a long time for the silver-haired deity, pursuing new heights of excitement each time boredom caught her. Most of her eternal life had been a cycle, repeating itself an untold amount of times.

She had found a new goal. A new purpose and a new fight to fight. Tian. She had been so foolish to believe him to be only mildly interesting because of the dichotomy his soul presented. But she had fixed her misconceptions in due time, a series of perfect circumstances allowing her to gaze upon the truth.

A soul which could grow into the realm of the divine. The missing half of apotheosis, the missing link to Falna. Freya lamented how idiotic she had been in her assumptions. And she rejoiced with glee at the newfound knowledge her friends from Far-East had imparted to her.

She inscribed into her soul the words she had been told on that night—If Excellia is the achievements, the story the body has to tell, of the challenges it broke through, then Xiūliàn is the song of the soul, the emotions of the bard singing praises of the body.

The corner of her lips raised at the memory, as her pace sped up. Creating relations and links to reigning powers outside of Orario had been a dangerous bet which had finally paid off. The concept called back ancient memories of a world overrun with monsters, and of the deities trying to save mortals from their fate while being locked in Heaven.

Hamr, was it called? Freya couldn't remember too well. That era was long past gone and had been boring, anyway. Still, she smiled. For she had found a treasure shining so brightly it blinded her.

Tian? What a fitting name, Freya thought. Another play of Fate deities such as herself lived long enough to start ignoring. Alas, another memory doused her enthusiasm. Her… friends of the Far East also desired him, and she was not one to share, at least not in this way. If these pawns thought they could—

"Is everything alright, my goddess?" Freya stopped in her tracks. Her expression tightened for a split second before she regained control of her emotions. She turned around, annoyed at the smirk on the woman's face. She tried to mask her instinctual reaction, but the woman's sensory gifts easily pierced through her facade.

It didn't stop Freya from smiling, nor did it make her smile any less bright. "Of course. I believe I told you, as the new Vice-Captain, you shall only call me if important matters are at hands, right?"

"Indeed." The woman bowed just enough to be polite, but enough to show she was not subservient to the goddess in front of her. Her long black hair stood against gravity as her head tilted towards the ground. Her figure, resembling Freya's, was hidden beneath a loose and long black robe, contrasting so deeply with the bright white of the building.

Freya looked at her freckles before stared into her red eyes, the tension growing between the two women. "The goddess Loki of the Loki Familia just send you an… invitation, to a private meeting between the two of you."

"So early? Allen did a great job then, and a completed mission deserves to be rewarded, doesn't it?" Her tone turned sultry at the end, as her eyes left the woman who was her Vice-Captain to look into the sky.

"I believe so, however, I have a question," answered the woman, even though she was clearly not asked anything, her voice like a masterful piano performance of a song the goddess just hated. No matter how beautiful, Freya couldn't bring herself to find it anything more than irritating.

"What is it?"

"Was it really needed to send my old disciple to… check if the Exalted was as we said?"

"Of course it was," Freya said. "I am not one to act upon vague prophecies."

Silence stretched between the two women after the goddess' words. The mortal woman opened her mouth, wanting to rebuke the false statement, say it was not a prophecy, but decided to stay silent in the end.

"Still, it must be strange for you to be burdened by so many responsibilities and being suddenly thrown into the heart of the Familia affairs… After all, I was told you did little except training," said Freya, throwing a subtle but pointed look at the woman standing next to her.

"I have nothing but praise for the Patriarch's decision to demand you allow me to hold such a position. I shall take my newfound responsibilities seriously."

Freya held back her seething gaze. It was the price for the valuable information she got, and she now had to deal with her decision. The smirk on the woman's face forced her to clamp down on her emotions once more.

'Diyu? What a fitting name…' thought Freya, for a whole different reason.

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A/N: Onto the first repercussions of the beatdown.

Some terms in this fanfiction:

Xiūliàn = Cultivation, though in context it's different from what Tian has. (Both in what it does and cultural differences.)

Hamr = Equivalent of Cultivation, just for Freya. (Different cultures) Now, know that I chose this one out of the 5 because I felt it was the closest to what 'soul' entails in Chinese cultivation. So for those that know about this subject, I'm willing to change it if I'm proven another is more fitting.