POG 389.1 - Don't Bee Jealous! |
The God of Fire stood in the God of Bee’s realm once more, a huge smile on his face.
“Thank you, Bee, truly. You and your dungeon master both. To see the Blazing Berserker in her prime on the mortal plane once more…I hadn’t expected to do so again.
Bee spun around in a happy dance.
“Belissar best dungeon master!”
Fire chuckled.
“I’m starting to believe it. The Blazing Berserker and a dragonvein Fire room…even Urubran’s starting to fall behind. I’ll have to send him some new missions as well, lest he feel neglected. And speaking of feeling neglected…”
Fire turned around just in time to see the flowers in the Realm of Bees come to life and weave together into the God of Flowers form.
She did not appear happy.
“God of Fire…I mean no disrespect but…really? Did you really have to go and make an altar in Bee’s dungeon, the very first one? Before even Bee herself, much less me?!”
“It’s simple practicality, Flower. Neither you nor Bee can afford an altar in her dungeon at the moment. These aren’t shrines, you are obligated to reward everyone who reaches one in some manner. Belissar just doesn’t have a Flower or Bee room dangerous enough to serve as a reasonable challenge and he is not willing to use his monsters as a threat. I, on the other hand, have the authority to afford it and Belissar also has a Dragonvein Fire room.”
Flower narrowed her eyes.
“Then I’ll make one myself!”
Fire shook his head.
“Do either of you have the authority for that? To recreate the roots of the world itself in dungeon form? To bend the world’s flows of mana to your aspect? Calm yourself, Flower. You are still rebuilding your authority from…”
Fire glanced over at the God of Bees.
“…your previous expenditures. You can’t afford to bankrupt yourself again, not for jealousy’s sake. Besides, your jealousy is unnecessary.”
Flower glared at him.
“Is it?”
Fire nodded, unperturbed by her sharp tone.
“It is. To tell you the truth, I did not create an altar for Bee or for Belissar. It is entirely for Rohsuak, one of my favorite champions. No one else in Bee’s dungeon will even come close to reaching that altar for a long time. In fact, everything I have done in Bee’s dungeon, I have done on behalf of my champion.”
Fire then softened his expression.
“Besides, you have not yet heard what Bee has demanded of me in exchange.”
Fire motioned over to Bee, so Flower turned her attention there. The God of Bees danced happily.
"Got dungeons for Flower!"
Flower blinked.
"...what?"
Fire smiled.
“Choose any five of my dungeon masters, Flower, and I will assign them missions to earn your blessing. We will start to work on your authority issues from here on out. In particular, five of my masters are trying to raise bees and earn Bee’s blessing, they certainly could use some flowers going forward.”
Flower stared at Bee, tears of nectar welling in her eyes…and attracting all the nearby bees.
“Bee…you did that…for me?”
Bee spun around.
“Did! Want Flower grow too!”
The God of Flowers lunged and wrapped up the God of Bees in a tight hug, swinging her around.
“Bee! Thank you!”
She then paused and glanced back at Fire out of the corner of her eye.
“…thank you too, Fire. I’m…sorry for being hostile.”
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Fire chuckled and shook his head.
“You controlled yourself this time, so it’s fine.”
But then, Fire had an idea. A rotten, terrible idea. His face twisted into a sneer.
He knew he shouldn’t do what he was about to do…but he was the God of Fire. At the end of the day, he liked stoking fires. Even fires of the social variety…so long as they weren’t aimed at him.
“Besides, Flower, you’ve been pretty understanding lately. Why, you haven’t even spoken to the God of Mischief about the incarnations!”
The God of Flowers froze.
“…incarnations?”
Fire raised an eyebrow, pretending to be surprised.
“You haven’t noticed? Not all the bees in Belissar’s dungeon belong to him or Bee, you know?”
Fire smirked as the God of Flowers started to tremble, spreading petals all around…
The God of Mischief was currently in the form of a bumblebee worker and sitting on Finnakynne’s shoulder as she helped the bumblebees work.
“It’s all about commitment, Finny. You can’t just act like your disguise, you must become the disguise! To deceive others you must first deceive yourself! That way, I’m not pretending to be a bee, I am actually a bee! The others can’t tell because it’s not a lie to begin with!”
Finnakynne giggled.
“But…we can always tell that it’s you, you know?”
Mischief chuckled back.
“It’s the hive of hives. You and everyone that are connected to it can tell, people that aren’t can’t. Even your mother thought I was one of Beely’s, you know! But back to the point, I can become a bee as a disguise, but I can’t become part of the hive of hives because then the hive of hives would instantly realize I’m there. It’s a bit of a paradox, but I love those, so I’m working on it…”
Mischief suddenly began buzzing his wings. Finnakynne tilted her head.
“What’s the matter?”
Mischief gulped.
“Ah, uh, just some god stuff. I’ll, uh, be back…hopefully.”
Finnakynne’s expression dropped ever so slightly. Mischief was about to intervene, but the bumblebees intervened, with nearby workers flying over to tackle Finnakynne and make her laugh. Mischief spun about happily before he vanished.
Mischief appeared in the God of Bees’ realm.
“So…to what do I owe the pleasure…”
Mischief cut off as thorny vines wrapped around him and squeezed. The God of Flowers did not appear happy.
“You…how dare you take that form…”
Mischief, realizing he was still in bumblebee form, decided that maybe he shouldn’t provoke Flower right this second and shifted back to his young man form.
“Well, you know, dress for the job you want…ouch!”
That appeared to be the wrong response, given that Flower squeezed with her vines hard enough to stab the thorns into him.
“The job you want? You intend to stay in Bee’s dungeon, permanently?”
Mischief tried to wave his hands around, but they were currently bound and being stabbed, so he created a second pair and waved those around.
“Joke! It was a joke, Flower! Honestly, do you think I’m hardworking enough to live as a bee full-time? Just who you think I am, Flower?”
Flower narrowed her eyes.
“The one trying to sneak into Bee’s dungeon.”
Mischief shrugged.
“I try to sneak into everyone’s business. That’s who I am!”
Mischief coughed as poison flooded in through the thorns. Flower was increasingly less amused.
“Enough deflection, Mischief! I know about the incarnations! You don’t make those anywhere else, you can’t! I’m handing you over to the God of Light as soon as I’m through with you!”
Mischief chuckled, even as he hacked up blood.
“Oh, Light? She’s in on it, you know?”
That earned him a puff of airborne poison straight to the face and a deep scowl.
“You’ll have to come up with a better lie than that, Mischief. Do you honestly expect me to believe that the God of Light is letting you break the rules?!”
Mischief grinned after he stopped choking.
“Well, I did help her out with that whole Dragon business. I earned a favor or two, you know?”
Mischief enjoyed watching Flower’s expressions. At first she scoffed, but then she paused and blinked, then her face furrowed, before finally her eyes widened and she started trembling. A high-pitched whine came from her as she held in a scream and started to create more vines around him, ones with serrated vines dripping with all sorts of nasty substances.
But Mischief decided it was time to stop teasing Flower before she grew a bit too murderous...
"A favor for you, actually.”
That was audacious enough to get Flower to pause and blink once more. Mischief carried on right before she could get angry again.
“You see, Light’s a bit of stickler for rules and such, you know what I mean. As you said, she wouldn’t consent to letting me break the rules. So, instead, Light being the serious god that she is, she decided to change the rules entirely. Meaning…”
Flower glared at him for a moment more…but then understanding hit her like a slap.
“…it’s changed for all gods?”
Mischief grinned and shifted forms into a poison-resistant serpent with tough scales and slithered out of Flower’s vines.
“Exactly. Would you like to know what, exactly, the rules have become?”
Mischief swapped back to his young man form, placed his hand on Flower’s shoulder, and leaned in closer. She glared at him, but did not attack with her vines just yet. Mischief spoke in a stage whisper.
“Incarnations are now permitted, but only within non-corrupted dungeons belonging to other gods. You do, of course, have to get the permission of the dungeon’s primary patron.”
Flower’s vines wrapped Mischief up once again.
“And you went and got Bee’s permission?”
Mischief grinned.
“Why don’t you?”
Flower glared at him once more before looking down. She took a deep breath and turned around to face the God of Bees.
“Bee…can I visit your dungeon?”
Bee danced immediately.
“Can! Can visit Flowers’ dungeons?”
Flower brightened.
“Yes! Of course!”
Mischief made a put-upon expression.
“Well, look at you, getting permission for free. I had to give up my only child for permission, you know! It’s almost like Bee likes you, or something!”
Flower’s smile and body bloomed, while her vines released Mischief. She ran over to hug Bee once more. Mischief chuckled, then turned to the other god in the room. The God of Fire shook his head.
“You handled Flower more easily than I expected. Should have known you had a plan.”
Mischief laughed.
“You know me, Fire.”
Mischief then walked over to Fire and slapped his hand on Fire’s shoulder…burning it in the process. Mischief, however, did not react to his hand bursting in flames as he made a big grin from behind the fiery god.
“By the way, I have you to thank for outing me, right? That was a good prank, Fire, I didn’t know you were so mischievous. I’m happy you’ve stepped into the world of mischief! I take it our last conversation no longer holds, then?”
The God of Fire groaned. Mischief’s grin only grew.