Finally Meeting (Paradox)

Soshi sighed, laying back on a tree stump while looking at her horse and cart. She was on the move again. It had become a cycle with her. Never could stay one place too long if she wanted to hide what she was. She hadn't aged since her powers first began to manifest, which made living near other humans difficult. Right now though, she needed a break from travelling.

The goddess pulled her hood back, pouring a little water on her head. "How am I a god who can control elements, yet I can still get overheated?" She looked around, slowly releasing some ice into the air around her, cooling it down some. "Better." It was a little risky, and Soshi was still worried about being found out by the other gods, but sometimes she had to take a little risk.

Deep within the chaos realm, a place that is ever shifting in space and color, where the fundamental rules of sense and reality went out the window with a bottle of beer together, sat the undisputed god of chaos. In fact, if one were to look closely, they would see that he was actually perched on a very tiny recreation of his usual throne, watching the futuristic glass cube he pulled from who-knows-when-and-how. Within the glass cube was a projection of the newest goddess once again on the run from yet another human settlement before resting within the wilds.

"My, my, quite an interesting one indeed. To imagine that, of all creatures to grace our world, a human would catch on to a fragment of his power. I guess it is all fair when I make a little visit, after all she is a goddess, no matter what form she takes. She deserves some socialization, and who better to socialize with first than moi, the great jester of reality, the great god of chaos himself!

With a snap of his claws, the glass cube fell apart, the projection spinning around before turning into a portal. Adonning himself with a cane, a tophat and a tuxedo, he tapped the "ground" twice with his cane before waltzing right through the portal in a dapper step, landing him right on the other side of the clearing.

Soshi, looked around, everything was peaceful until she heard something, and felt a massive amount of power nearby. No.... She quickly stood up, flames licking her arms and hair as she got ready for who might be their. Of course a dragon isn't hard to miss. Even if this was a god, she wouldn't go away easily. The flames disappeared, but she looked determined.

Then, the earth around Discord shot out, wrapping around him in an attempt to hold the dragon god in place. Soshi glared, walking up.

"If you're here to kill me, then you best know I won't be making any of this easy, dragon."

Not even five steps out of the portal, not even a single word spoken and the great god of chaos found himself sealed in a cage of stone. this wouldn't do, he thought, and huffed in annoyance.

"Well, I'll be. That's one way to greet your peers, pup. For your importance, just because an elder dragon god appears to greet you into our ranks, it doesn't mean he wishes to obliterate you... or worse."

With that said, a side of the earthern seal opened like a door, even making a creaking noise, allowing the dean of disaster to casually step out of it, brushing off his tux from any dust before properly closing the makeshift door again.

"Now then, with that out of the way, allow me to introduce myself. I am Paradox, Dragon God of Chaos, Master of Mischief and holder of many other titles. I am pleased to meet you, god among humans."

With a flourish and a bow, he took off his hat, presenting himself before the human.

Soshi glared at the dragon, trying her best to hide her fears as he slid out. He opened a door, A CREAKING DOOR, in her earth trap. The dragon had suggested something worse then being killed was possible. Soshi scoffed a little, shaking her head.

"Like what? Locked away somewhere for eternity? Being permanently bound to a dragon like yourself? Actually.... I guess you have a point." It seemed to just hit Soshi that she was talking to a dragon, and another god at that. She then listened as the dragon said his name. Paradox. The God of Chaos and too many titles to think of. She shook her head, looking.

"I feel like you're not the best god to meet first, Paradox, but.... I'm Soshi. Goddess of the Elements." She then used some wind to blow the hat out of her fellow god's claws. "And that hat is the stupidest thing I've ever seen." She then looked over, clearly still not trust Paradox.

Paradox watched, mouth agape, as his hat got blown away by the wind before a snap turned it into a flock of white doves that scattered into the sky. "Well, if I tried hard enough I could find a way for you that would be worse than just perishing. But really, there is no fun in that. I rather have those close to me to be alive and well, after all there is no greater way for chaos to come than to have creatures live their lives."

With another snap of his claws, his tuxedo shattered as if it was made of glass and crumbled to the ground where a patch of flowers spawned in the place of the shards. "If anything, I am the very best god to meet first. After all, I can tell your distrust for the other gods and having me around is only beneficial for you. I will put in a good word or two and they won't immediately tear you apart at first moment's possibility."

With a third snap, roots of wood grew out from the ground in front of him and turned into a table as well as two comfortable chairs set on each side of said table. Vaulting over one of the arm rests of the chair in front of him, he got himself comfy. Clapping his hands twice, a full set of tea service hopped onto the table from who-knows-where, both tea cups settling in their places in front of the chairs while the teapot started heating up the tea inside.

"But come now, I won't bite. Have a seat and have a little chat. I would love to find out more about the newest goddess and possibly make a friend on the road."

Soshi shook her head at the dragon.

"I'm pretty sure I just said two worse things, but ok." She then watched as the the clothing the dragon had been wearing shatter and seem to turn to flowers. Interesting to say the least. He then tried to argue that he actually was the best god to meet because of her own fears.

"You seem to know a lot about me, Paradox. You should know I don't trust you either. Why would I believe you that you'd be able to keep the other gods from wanting to kill me?" She then looked at the table, sighing before sitting down.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn about at least one other god. Not like I'd be easy to kill."

With a smile, he looked over the table, just as the teapot started whistling. A few hops later and tea was poured into both cups before the pot decided to settle down again, content with a job well done.

"Now that we got ourselves into a comfortable situation, you can ask me anything you want to know. About me, about the dragons, about being a god, or goddess in your situation. I will answer everything I can as best as I can, after all I wish to help out a friend in need."

Soshi looked at the cup. She may have been willing to talk to this god, but she still didn't quite trust him. She didn't drink any tea, but she did listen. Ask him anything she wanted to know? Ok then.

"Anything? Well then I'll start with why are you the only god that's seemed to find me, and why is it that all of us are so powerful yet no one seems to believe gods are real? And a better one, who are the other gods. I can't tell who they are, but I can feel that there are others." Soshi was also notably still on edge, not wanting to be surprised by anything.

Resting his legs on an invisible, or maybe even nonexistent, stool, the great dean of discord took a sip from the tea, admiring the flavor of it, before turning back to Soshi. It appeared that she slowly started to open up to him, which was just the way he wanted it.

"Well, about the first question, I am not the only god with the means to locate you. However, I am the only god who has the power to freely pass through reality as he pleases and the only one who took the chance to meet you on fair ground. The others are rather lax in their approaches to interact with the world at large and as such, they haven't bothered to seek you out yet, unlike myself. And from what I can tell you, they wouldn't be quite pleased to see one of His shards take on the form of a human.

Another sip from the tea, the cup now empty, he set it down for the teapot to refill. "As for why the mortals do not believe in us gods, it's because the monster plague that occured wiped most places of worship from the map. I personally was unable to do anything to face them as I was stuck in 'eternal' limbo because of a disagreement with another goddess. As for what the others did I couldn't tell you for certain, though it appears that they were too busy to polish themselves and their glamour rather than fight for their believers. Those few who survived the plague have lost all faith in us, which in turn took most of our power from us. I am powerful enough to sustain myself, yet I am unable to do much more than that."

The clinking sound signalling that the cup was refilled, Paradox lifted it once more before addressing Soshi again. "As for that last question in regards to who the other gods are, while I am unsure whether I should reveal their identities to other or not, lest I face once again another fate as the eternal limbo, I can at least part with you the realms they occupy. As you already know, I govern the realm of chaos, of change, part of reality itself. The others control the realms of fate, of time, of the moon and the stars themselves. There used to be many more of us, controlling aspects such as death, the very tides of the oceans, the force of life itself, but they either vanished into the beyond or simply left this plane in search of another place to be, I couldn't tell you for sure."

Soshi listened as her fellow god explained why the others hadn’t looked for her. They could possibly find her, but they couldn’t get here the same way Paradox had. This did start to make Soshi wonder if this dragon was playing her, but it was information.

Then he mentioned one that made more sense. The monsters caused a drop in belief. The final part though, he wasn’t willing to really share much. He did explain what the other gods were over though. Paradox was the God of Chaos. Along with him were fate, time, and the moon and stars; and there were others at one time. Yet they may have just... vanished.

“So I assume every god has some realm the preside over? And what exactly prevents the others from seeking me out like you have?” She then looked around, thinking. “And what would happen if I were to stop hiding what I am?”

He took another sip from his tea before dropping the cup into a swirling portal below. Folding his claws together, he considered what to say next.
"Yes, every god has their own realm other gods don't directly interfere with. Just like you preside over the realm of the elements and I can't directly interfere with it, I preside over chaos that you can't interact with directly."

With a snap, a small sphere appeared floating above him, a model of this world as he saw it, with tiny model dragons on it.
"It's not that they can't reach you. It's simply that I can shape reality, creating doorways between any two places I know of in this world. The other dragons simply have to cover the distance the old fashioned way and, as I mentioned previously, they are lax, lazy in their approach, partially due to them having lost part of their power to the lack of followers."

He emphasized that point by having one dragon warp all over the miniature world while the others fly around it.
"As for you revealing who you are, I can't say for sure. The humans might start to revere you as their resident goddess, begging you for help while presenting tribute and crafting idols in your image. Or they might fear you and flee at your sight, I couldn't say for sure since humans are more whimsical in nature than dragons. I can say for certain though that the other dragons will spite you. They have had a rather negative history with the humans so far. I'm sure that the other gods, knowing the history of our power, will feel insulted by your presence and most likely seek to remove you from this world, either to prove the dominance of dragons over humans or because they think humans aren't worthy of His power."

Soshi watched the display, listening carefully to what Paradox had to say. Though something confused her.

“From what you said, it sounds more like they can’t, do to lack of followers. Which actually brings up the question, why does your power seem unaffected?” After this question as Paradox finished explaining what could happen if she revealed herself, the goddess formed a small human figure from fire.

“So if I do try revealing myself, I might gain followers and get stronger, but at the same time I could end up being attacked by dragons, or even the other gods?” As she said this, watery dragons jumped the small fire figure, quenching it. ”Not sure if that instills confidence.”

"Well, as I mentioned before, we gods possess enough power by ourself to be self-sufficient, otherwise we were to simply fade away, lost to the aether. What you see right now is what I am capable of, manipulating chaos and reality on a small scale. However, with the lack of followers, I would not be able to influence larger areas of this world or multiple individuals at once, like the monster plague. It's not that my power is unaffected, it's simply that I were to operate on a much grander scale, changing the composition of an entire continent, raising and lowering the sun at will beyond the influence of the goddess of the stars. But as it stands, I possess little more than parlor tricks and sleight of hand at the moment."

Watching the fiery human figurine and it being pounced on by the water dragons elicted a small chuckle out of Paradox before returning his attention to Soshi. "Well, it is always a gamble as to how the world reacts to divine entities, their respective realm affecting said reaction. You see, it is difficult to find people who willingly follow the path of change and chaos, as such I am used to operating on low power levels. Even so, I consider you my friend and as such I am willing to stand in on your behalf to protect you from the possible wrath of the other gods, if it comes to that moment."

Soshi looked at Paradox, thinking about his words. "So... while you can affect elements, I could right them much more easily? Interesting." She then thought more, listening at the God of Chaos explained the issues with revealing herself, but she began to figure something. She'd probably have a much easier time than him with such things.

"Well.... I guess it's encouraging to know at least one god is on my side. I guess I would also have an easier time garnering followers than you."

It appeared as if the caster of calamities went into deep thought for a moment, contemplating something. With a snap of his talons, the tea set left the table as it showed a small-scale replica of a cluster of human settlements a way away from here, Paradox knowing as he has spent his recent time to get acquainted with the humans as a whole. "I have a plan. I know of a few human settlements nearby, I have visited them in a human guise of myself, in hopes of maybe finding a folk more willing to accept me and my ways of change. We could travel there and settle for a while, becoming part of their society. Once they are comfortable around us, you could start to show your divine blessings to them to help out in problematic situations. That way I believe they will fear you much less and see you as you are, a wonderful and benevolent patron of the humans. If they fear you or we draw attention to us otherwise, I can always arrange for an escape and we can try again somewhere else. Are you willing to try this out with me?"

Soshi raised an eyebrow at her fellow god as he explained his little plan. Paradox wanted her to go with him to some of the nearby towns. To live there for long enough to be accepted, then to show her powers in a time of need for whichever town they were in. She looked at the miniature towns before looking back at Paradox, not sure how to react.

"And what exactly do you mean by 'with me?'" She looked again, thinking. "It does at least seem like a good idea."

"By that I mean that I wish to do this with you. I will not pretend to know how you feel about your divine powers. However, I know for certain that I wish to live a life in which I want to be recognized for who I am, for what I do in this world. If you feel the same and wish to no longer hide for who you are, then let us depart. Live among the humans and aspire to be their goddess, be recognized for who you truly are and help them out in their times of need. I wish to do this and I would love to have a friend by my side."

The Entropy himself rose to his feet and reached out across the table, offering his claw to the goddess of the elements.

Soshi looked at Paradox, wondering if this really was a good idea or not. She didn't want the other gods to find her, and possibly kill her. At the same time, this Paradox seemed willing to help her. Whether it was fully for his own gain or actually to help her was definitely still on her mind, but he at least still seemed genuine. She shook the dragons claw, thinking it was quite weird.

"This will be interesting."

With joy filling his heart, as much as people would like to believe at least, he leapt back into a flying stance after the hand-claw-shake was done. With a snap of his talons and a gust of leaves blocking the view from him, he seemingly disappeared, only to be replaced by a human in his stead.

Paradox's Human Form:

"Well then, friend, let us be on our way. From what I remember, a nearby settlement is roughly half an hour away from here by foot, not the one from which you fled, just in case you were wondering. I'm honestly very glad you decided to join me on this, Soshi, you see this is the first time I've had a true friend ever since I became a god and ever since I thought I was damned to a life of loneliness."

Soshi looked at the human form Paradox now took, obviously seeming a bit more comfortable. She walked up and flicked the hat, looking at it.

"You couldn't have gone fancier?" She then looked at where they were going, smirking a bit. "Should put us near those overzealous Leostonnians."

Paradox pouted at the flick, taking off her hat to run a hand through her hair before readjusting the hat back where it belonged.

Well, at least I don't look like someone who wants to dive for the nearest corner and hide away from the world. You should keep your hood down, makes you look a lot more amicable and that is what we want to be. Also, while we make our way there, you can tell me a bit about those "overzealous" people you call Leostonnians.

Soshi chuckled a little as she watched Paradox adjust his hat. He then commented on her hood. He felt it for a second, sighing.

"I'm from Anthropinos. We aren't the best at 'amicable.' Plus, I have been hiding. For years." She then tried to think of the best way to explain the Leostonnians. "They're highly religious, and obsessed with bloodlines. They were also the ones that helped lead the charge against dragons years ago."

Well, if they're so religious, then let us give them something to put their faith in. Well first we need to look for a place to stay and settle down optimally, then we can proceed.

The dragon in human guise stretched for a bit before letting loose a sound whistle with her fingers. A few seconds later, a horse came trotting through the woods, nudging Paradox before she caved in and started petting its mane.

Soshi looked at the horse, and listened to his... her... whatever's idea. She was pretty sure he was a male before. Either way, she chuckled a little, looking over the horse as she walked around.

"Well, I've made multiple homes over my time, mostly in hillsides. I do have a couple of questions though. Why a woman, and what about making coin at first? I mean, I don't doubt you could turn us into some sort of sideshow or make gold appear out of nowhere or something, but that would defeat the point of settling and earning trust."