TS5: Chapter 10 (Patreon)

It wasn't too long before one of the platforms, guided by a puppet, had brought them down to the main island. And while Velin paid the bill, Thorn teleported over to greet them.

"Master," Akira yelled, darting towards him and climbing up to his shoulder, her tails wrapping around his neck as her small arms wrapped around his forehead, hugging him tight.

"Master, I missed you."

"I missed you too, Akira," Thorn said, reaching up to scratch the fur behind her ears.

"Master, you wouldn't believe what has happened. I have gotten so strong. I got all sorts of elements, and..." Akira paused, her eyes widening. "Master, you got so strong. How did you do that? You were so weak before, but now look at you.”

“Tier 9 or above."

Hearing Hati's rich, warm voice, Thorn grinned.

"Hello, Hati, it looks like you were successful in absorbing the divinity."

"Thanks in no small part to the amount of divinity you absorbed as well," Hati said. "You seem to have developed quite well in my absence."

"I've certainly had some adventures," Thorn said with a smile. "Come on, the others are waiting."

With Akira on his shoulder and Hati by his side, Thorn teleported them back to the restaurant where they met up with the others. As everyone greeted one another, Thorn kept his mental sense extended, paying careful attention to see if there was anyone following after Hati and Akira. Sensing what he was doing, Hati nudged him.

"You don't have to be so cautious," he said. "The individual chasing us likely destroyed the dimensional gate, meaning it'll take them a while to find another."

"I heard you picked up a tail," Corvo said. "Do you know who it was?"

Hati shook his head.

"No, though I imagine it's another god beast who doesn't like the fact that I'm stealing their aspect, so it's likely that we'll see them again."

"Aspect? That's right. You said you were going to solidify your aspect," Mina asked.

"Why don't we move this conversation somewhere a little bit more private," Velin suggested.

The group made their way back to the palace, settling down in one of the many lounges that were part of Velin's apartment. Along the way, Akira had been regaling them with stories of the time she spent together with Hati, as it mostly involved sleeping and meditating. She was done before they even sat down, but still managed to keep up a steady flow of constant conversation, until Thorn began to pet her. Then she climbed onto Thorn's lap and wrapped two of her tails around his wrist to make sure he didn't stop. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Hati nodded his head.

"I have succeeded," he said, "in solidifying my aspect."

"So that puts you in the tenth tier, right?" Corvo asked.

"Something like that," Hati responded. "I'm curious. Thorn, are you able to detect my aspect?"

Closing his eyes, Thorn focused his attention on his connection to Hati, trying to sense the aspect the moon wolf had chosen. After a moment, he faintly shook his head.

"You know, I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for," he said, "but if I had to guess, I would say that it has something to do with guarding."

"That's very close," Hati said, nodding. "My aspect is protection."

"Protection? That's an interesting choice for someone whose main element is darkness," Corvo said, his eyes glittering purple as he looked at Hati.

"Wasn't your aspect originally going to be hunting?" Thorn asked.

"It could have been," Hati said, nodding. "But given our relationship, I thought protection seemed better. After all, while you are more than capable of hunting even the greatest of creatures, and will no doubt improve in your ability to hunt as time goes, it is not naturally your nature to be a hunter. Protection, on the other hand, is in line with your personality."

"Wait, why does Thorn's personality matter for your aspect?" Mina asked. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

"Because of the role that an avatar plays," Thorn said, causing Hati to nod once more.

"That's correct," Hati said.

"Would you mind explaining a little bit more about that? The truth is, we don't know very much about how the interaction between an avatar and their god beast works."

"Sure," Hati said, settling himself comfortably on the floor.

He let his gaze sweep the room before beginning to speak.

"Some of this you may already know, but forgive me, just in case you don't, it's necessary to paint the whole picture. The relationship between a god beast and their avatar is a simple one. god beasts, as they grow in power, begin to embody their aspect more and more. So, a great example of this is my mother. Her aspect is the moon. Now, in addition to being a concept, her aspect also happens to be a physical object. Many physical objects, as different worlds, each have their own moon or moons. But additionally, the moon represents something. Many somethings, in fact. The more powerful she becomes, the more closely entwined with this concept she gets. The problem is that the moon doesn't think of itself as the moon, because the moon doesn't think at all and so, a god beast, as they grow more and more powerful, will eventually come to embody their aspect in its entirety.”

“And in the process lose themselves," Corvo said, his eyes widening.

"Exactly. This is where the avatar comes in. Avatars, as non-god beasts, cannot grow separately from themselves. That is to say, even if they gain divinity, their nature is tied to their very identity, and their identity requires a sense of self. For a god beast, this can serve as an anchor, helping them maintain their identity, even as they grow stronger. This process is fraught, as you can imagine, with difficulty, because not only does a god beast need to grow in its understanding of its aspect, but it also needs to rely on its avatar in order to keep a clear sense of being. If a god beast picks an aspect that does not resonate with itself, it will find it hard to grow. Likewise, if it picks an aspect that does not work well with the personality of its avatar, the god beast will find themselves changed.”

“Is that because they're influenced by the personality of their avatar?" Velin asked.

Hati nodded. "Yes, which is exactly why the hunter aspect was not a good one for me to pursue. Thankfully, my role in Angoril was not just that of the hunter under the moon. Rather, I protected against the devils of the abyss. It was into that role of protector that I leaned in my meditation, seeking to embody that aspect.”

“I think that fits both you and Thorn very well," Velin said.

"If you have an aspect of protection," Thorn asked, "does that mean that that's how my divinity needs to be organized as well? I mean, if I choose a different aspect for my divinity, will that negatively impact you?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Hati shook his head.

"No, I don't think so," he said, though from the tone of his voice, it was clear that he wasn't quite sure. "Normally, I would say yes, our divinity would need to be matched. However, you, as normal, are something of a special case, and I suspect that whatever divinity you choose will accommodate mine as well.”

“What do you mean by that?"

Taking a moment to organize his thoughts, Hati didn't respond right away. A few moments later, he spoke, his voice slow and deep.

"If I maintained hunting as my aspect, my fear was that it would conflict with your natural temperament. After all, while you are certainly capable of hunting, that's not your natural bent. I chose protection because that does come naturally to you. Where you might let prey go, you never pass up an opportunity to protect those who need it. My hope is that as I grow in this aspect, I'll be able to keep my identity as it will be anchored by yours, and your identity especially in this regard is nigh unshakable. At the same time, you have divinity of your own. Typically, as someone with divinity grows, their personality will be shaped by the aspect they choose. You alone might be the exception to that."

"I think Hati is saying you're too stubborn to change, Thorn," Mina teased, poking him in the side.

"He is fairly set in his ways," Corvo said with a laugh.

"Which, surprise surprise, will work out to his benefit," Velin added.

"I think I understand what you're saying. Because of Thorn's status as a Titan, his identity, his will, is already formed, and will only move as he chooses it to."

"That's correct," Hati said. "And so, rather than the aspect he embraces changing him, he's more likely to change it."

"That's a terrifying thought," Mina said.

As Thorn was about to reply, there was a knock on the door, and Velin rose to her feet. "Not expecting any guests," she said. As she walked towards the door, Thorn let his mental sense stretch out, and found GennonOne had returned, and was standing outside. Velin opened the door, and GennonOne bowed.

"Lady Velin, an invitation has come for you," the puppet said, presenting a card with both hands.

Taking it, Velin thanked GennonOne and shut the door, bringing it back to the party. "Anybody expecting an invitation?" she asked. But the others shook their heads.

"No, not that I'm aware of," Thorn said. "Who's it from?"

Opening it up, Velin read it, and then handed it to Thorn. "A challenger's banquet. It doesn't say who the host is."

As soon as Thorn held the invitation, he recognized the mana signature on it. It gave off a subtle heat that seemed to dance in and out of his perception.

"Huh," he said. "Do you remember that Mistress of Flame I told you about, who I fought in the ruins, Tessra? My guess is it comes from her.”

“Why is she inviting you to a banquet?" Velin asked, her eyes narrowing.

Shrugging, Thorn tossed the invitation back to her.

"According to what GennonOne said, it didn't come for me, it came for you," Thorn replied with a smile. "But we don't have to go if you don't want to."

With a cold expression on her face, Velin shook her head.

"No, no. We've been invited. It's only right that we should go."

"I agree," Akira said. "We should absolutely go. Will they have food there? They'll probably have a lot of food, right? It has been forever since I've had good food. No offense, Hati, but you can't cook."

Amused, Thorn scratched Akira under the chin, pulling a pastry out of his dimensional ring. In a flash, she had jumped on his hand and wrestled it away from him, retreating back to his shoulder to munch on it contentedly. Seeing his motion, Hati sat up.

"Did you get your inventory back?" he asked.

"No, but do you remember the Emperor of Northern Angoril?"

"Gustav?"

“Yeah, he figured out a spell that works just about the same way, so now we have dimensional storage devices," Thorn said. "I can make you one if you want."

"I would be most interested in something like that," Hati said. "So long as I don't need hands to manipulate it."

"No, you should be able to do it with your mind," Thorn replied. "That's how these ones work." Holding up his hands, he wiggled his fingers, showing off the rings that he wore. "Though that brings up something I did want to ask about. Most of the god beasts that I've seen have human forms, but I've never seen you as anything other than a moon wolf. Is there a particular reason for that?"

With a faintly disdainful sniff, Hati shook his head and laid down on his front paws. "I simply prefer the superior form of a moon wolf," he said. "Typically god beasts transform because they find humanoid bodies more convenient. I do not.

"Master, do you have any more pastries?" Akira said, her small pink tongue licking at her fingers. With a thought, Thorn transferred all of the pastries he had brought along into one of his dimensional rings and took it off, giving it to Akira. Taking the ring in hand, she turned it over a few times, sniffing at it, and then, with a flourish, produced a cinnamon roll, a look of pure bliss overcoming her.

The invitation indicated that the feast would be held that night. And so, after doing a little bit of shopping to fill the rest of the afternoon, the team headed for the island where the feast would take place. As instructed, they had shown their invitation to one of the many puppets stationed throughout the city who had arranged for them to be picked up by another puppet with a flying platform. They could see dozens of other such flying platforms heading for the same island, and so figured they were going the right direction.

Hati, not wanting to draw attention to himself, had retreated to Thorn's shadow, while Akira, absolutely delighted with the swiftly flying platform, stood on Thorn's head, her tails blowing in the wind.

"I saw you have another tail," Velin said, pointing at Akira's fourth tail.

"I do," Akira said, reaching behind her to stroke it lovingly. "It's very pretty. It's probably the prettiest out of all of my tails."

"Do you think you'll add more?" Mina asked. "Or is four enough?"

"I think that depends on if Master gets any more elemental pets," Akira said, shrugging.

The platform soon arrived at the island where the feast was to be held, and as Thorn stepped down his gaze swept over it, taking in the large buildings. The island was close to a dozen miles across, at the very least, and equally long, and covered in a large palatial structure. Written in script on the large gate at the entrance to the palace were the words Flame of Eternity. But before Thorn could remark on it, a servant dressed in bright red clothing stepped forward and bowed.

"Welcome to Vantor Island. May I see your invitation, please?" Thorn held it out, and the servant accepted it, looking it over carefully. There were no names on it, but that didn't seem to bother him, as he respectfully handed it back. "Once again, I would like to welcome you to Vantor Island. The feast is this way."

Turning, he led the way into the palace, Thorn and the others following him closely behind. There were other servants leading other groups into the palace as well, and Thorn saw all sorts of people and god beasts along the way, each kept to their own group, which Thorn found a little bit odd, as many of them clearly knew each other.