((Nuclear EXPLOSION of Lore™!))

Error was impulsively hissing, writhing as the teeth bit into him, the goddess gentle even as his sense of danger skyrocketed. It burned, it burned, glitches sizzling as he clawed at the jaws gripping him. Worse than the pain was the absolute mind-melting dread that jolted through him with each shift in position. The anxiety building as he blindly attacked, the sense of panic, get it off get it off get it off-

He dropped onto dried pine needles, gasping as the feeling of relief blurred with pounding fear, clinging weakly to the earth as his breath shuddered in and out, cut through with stabbing glitches.

Error slowly pushed himself up, trying to shake off the dread and anxiety as he glanced at Life, only to flinch in guilt.
She stared at him dully, long gouges lining her muzzle, bleeding a reddish sap as fluid as blood. Deep punctures littered the rest of her face, jaw hanging open to reveal that the inside of her mouth was also maimed, drooling her oddly colored blood. One tree-horn was limp, barely hanging on as most of it's trunk was ripped apart, and her eyelids were tattered, having been sacrificed to protect her eyes.

I'm.. sorry.. He parted his jaw to say it out loud, but it emerged inarticulate and beastial, forgetting he wasn't his usual self. Error turned and spat out the now blackened blades of grass and faced her again, wincing.

She shook her head softly, tattered ears swaying before she turned away, a stubby arm lifting up to her head as she replied mentally.
𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒, 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇. She murmured, a green light emanating from her paws as she started to heal the mess.

𝕥ꫝꪖ𝕥 ꪶꪮꪮ𝕜ꫀᦔ ᥇𝕣ꪊ𝕥ꪖꪶ. He recognized Cicállaé's voice, turning to see what very much was neither a giant tree or a pair of highly unusual skeletons, but some kind of horse with wings. It's mane was a mess of twigs and leaves, that same blossom now behind an ear that was simply a larger leaf with it's sides curved inward. The horse's left wing of leaves was tinted with shades of yellow and gold, the right hued in violet, patches of bark on either side was splotched in black and green.

Cantering over to the goddess, Error glimpsed it's eyes, left blue-green and right yellow-purple. The tail that trailed behind it was a thick branch trailing twigs and leaves. It's hooves were glistening black, looking almost liquid.
He was confused at it's fur, being brown and splotched with yellow and bluish black.

You're a bird-horse. Error decided.
Both Cicállaé and Life turned to stare at him and he realized the winged horse was huge when compared to regular horses, even those of Du Weldenvarden.
At least Life's wounds were mostly healed.

᭙ꫀ'𝕣ꫀ ꪀꪮ𝕥-𝔈𝔯𝔯𝔬𝔯, 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔫𝔞𝔪𝔢? Nightmare questioned, voice flooded with whispers as an echo of Dream's voice followed behind.
What is it with you being so weird lately? Error shot back, perturbed.
᭙ꫀ ꪖ𝕣ꫀ ꪮꪀꫀ. They replied simply, staring.

Scowling, Error pushed himself to his feet. How did you go from a giant tree to a bird-horse? And how did you know they would turn into a tree? He asked both Twins and goddess irritably.
Cicállaé rolled their shoulders by way of shrugging, the action looking rather strange on a horse's body as Life sighed.

Healing the last of the damages with a wooden creak of the mending tree-horn, Life then shook herself and straightened, tail slowly curling through the trees.
"𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝐹𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝓊𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽𝓈." She explained, regarding the equine.

That's not possible. Your AU is younger than theirs. Young enough that the Apple Incident had taken place centuries before it formed. Error pointed out.
She shook her head. "𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝑒𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒽𝓊𝒷 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈."

Cicállaé shook their head in disbelief, staring as Error leaned back.
You're insinuating that you not only are older than your universe, you inserted yourself into it.
"𝒩𝑜, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒." She said, slowly setting herself down as the trees around them began to sprout branches along their trunks, bushes growing taller, denser, and with thicker wood until they were walled in by plants.

𝐼𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝐹𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝑒𝒾𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝓊𝓁𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓈𝑜. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓇 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝑜𝒻. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑜𝓇, 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓊𝓅 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓋𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹. 𝒜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎, 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈?"

Error shared a puzzled look with Cicállaé, then sighed, curling his legs beneath him as he settled down.
First, I'm getting tired of this oversized mess. How about we all turn back to normal for now? 

ⅈ ᦔꪮꪀ'𝕥 ᭙ꪖꪀ𝕥 𝕥ꪮ. Cicállaé stated curtly in a strange tone. Error blinked at them as Life sighed.
"𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓆𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓂𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝓌?"
They nodded, folding their knobby legs beneath themselves.

With that, she smiled at Error and leaned back, a light beginning to encapsulate her features.
Wait. Error interrupted, yellow glowing on his elongated cheekbones.
I actually haven't quite figured out how to turn back.

Life bit her lower lip for a moment, then started to giggle quietly.
"𝒪𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓀, 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊?"
He looked away.
I was trying to work it out on my own, damnit.
"𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓁, 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓁𝓁."

She smiled, gentle yet amused as she leaned closer.
"𝐿𝑒𝓉 𝓊𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝒹𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝑒?"
Yeah yeah yeah. He rumbled under his breath irritably.

. • °

Error sat on his own beanbag on the forest floor, arms crossed with an indignant look on his face, Life hiding an amused smile as she sat on a thick, white toadstool she'd grown from the earth, an elephant-sized half tree pegasus seated across from both of them, completing the triangle.

"Get on with it already, it's not that funny." Error huffed, leaning back even further.
"I'm sorry. I understand your impatience." She apologized with a delighted twinkle in her eyes, smoothing out the folds of her summer green dress as she got to business, waving open a portal to her side.

The other two blinked at it in confusion, then a reluctant Reaper hovered through, limbs drooping. Error scoffed. "Is he really necessary?"
At this, the god of death straightened. "I'd say I am." He defended. "Even if I can't bring Geno with me."

"Why not?" Error shot back, genuinely curious, leaving the other to consider the possibility.
"Well by now maybe I should tell him more.."
"It's rude not to." Error added.
"Later. I believe it would be better to tell him later. I believe some of what we will be discussing here today might be too personal to share outside of our circle just yet. You understand my meaning, yes?" Life explained, regarding the others seriously.

Reaper conceded to her point, setting his feet on the ground. A few ferns around his feet curled up and withered, dead. Life glanced at it, but gave no indication of how she felt about it as she began.

"You are familiar with Fate, yes?"
Wincing, Error nodded, Cicállaé mirroring while glancing at him.
"Have you ever considered that Fate might not be the only entity of their order and magnitude?" She suggested.
Immediately, Error sat bolt upright, eyelights absent. "There are others?"

She nodded. "Many of them, in fact. There is a spectrum of their kind, their weakest being near the same strength as natural born gods and the strongest being Fate and their counterpart, Destiny. I can see a question on your face, Error, what is it?"

"How is Destiny different from Fate? And if it's a counterpart, why didn't I ever see anything of it?" He demanded. Life crossed her arms in her lap.
"Because Fate took you from Destiny, as I understand it."
Error paused, bewildered.

Life continued. "Much of what I know about your truth is information I learned from the deities I spoke to. It was not many, but it was enough. I want you to understand the importance of what I am telling you, Error." She stressed before Reaper stepped forward.

"Basically, Fate is centered around control and Destiny around choice and consequence. Fate makes choices while Destiny gives others choices. What happened is Destiny liked you when you were the first Gen before my Gen-Gen, and made a choice of their own to essentially bless you in secret. You've been marked even before you were taken by Fate, and it shows no matter how much the control freak tried to stop it. Your strings." He gestured to his face by indication.

"They are charged with the magic. Everyone who's felt Destiny recognizes them, and there's no way that doesn't tick Fate off. I mean, they're strings, Fate must've been trying to influence 'em so hard." He chuckled sadly.

Error blinked a few times, hesitantly touching his face and pulling up a sticky thread to stare at thoughtfully. It was such an integral part of him, his life, his fighting, everything really.
"..How powerful are these blessings?" He asked slowly.

"Oh buddy it's not about how powerful blessings are, it's because it's Destiny that did it. Do you know how blessings work, Error?" Reaper asked, floating upwards again so he could drift closer.
"I don't, no. I never had the time to figure out how being a god worked, I just did my job." He explained dryly.

Reaper winced as Life spoke up in his place.
"It is a gift of power, Error. It is a fragment bequeathed to the one that is blessed, and it can be given in a variety of ways. There is a variety of blessings that can be given, some being a mark like yours that can become integrated into the blessed and take form as a part of them as is in your case, or it can be a gift formed of the giver's magic that connects both the one who created it and the receiver on some level. You have done this yourself."

He pulled out a string in realization. "If that's so, then I've technically blessed an entire portion of Alagaësia. I've been utilizing these to the Varden's advantage by weaving them into clothes for the Empire to buy and then provide intelligence or locations to transport troops around." He explained, winding the thread between his phalanges.

Life leaned back in surprise as Reaper shrugged.
"Technically due to it originating from Destiny, you've blessed Alagaësia with their power, too. But yeah, I think you've basically solidified it's destruction. I think you need to better understand what you're doing if you don't even realize that."
"Apparently." Error begrudgingly agreed.

"Well, first, most importantly, we must discern the effects this shall have." Life asserted, reaching down and sprouting a glowing, green-gold vine from the earth into her paw.
"Just like a monster's attacks are influenced by their intentions, so are blessings. Though that can often be where the similarities end. What intent did you imbue your strings with when weaving for the Varden?"

He looked to the side, thinking.
"Mostly the purpose they would serve, honestly. Maybe once I was angry? I can't be sure where that batch went off to, though. It all blurs together. A bunch of pansies talking about one another behind each other's backs, bitching about how their lives have gone downhill since the war kicked off, bitching about Galbatorix, spreading rumors about us and monsters in general, I've started tuning out more than tuning in. Should be weaving for nobles who are at least a little more serious than their trophy wives' dresses." He sighed in frustration.

"Your aggravation would influence the effect your woven items will have on their surroundings, Error. Given your propensity being destruction, it is likely that they would be quite dangerous indeed. Although on a lighter note, the rest of your gifts will likely have a minimal effect."
"So I should be putting as much violence as possible into that work?" Error suggested, to which both Life and Reaper recoiled.

"No!" "Stars no. You're Destruction, Error. We're not here to burn the Empire to the ground. There are too many innocents, and I'd be working even more overtime after all of this is over. Not to mention the long-term effects that could have on the environment. You do know how much power you can put into your strings, right? Right?"

Error sighed, leaning into his hand. "I don't think you two know that they even changed since I fell in Alagaësia. Side effects on the environment weren't a thing back in the Multiverse. Now, however, here they've changed. I couldn't see or hear or feel through them before. Most I could do was control someone through their Soul. I never had any of this to worry about. So. Either of you got an explanation for that?"

The pair of gods stared at him for a moment, then shared a look with each other.
"Error, that's just plain obvious." Reaper stated before Life swatted at him.
"It is not to him!" She chastised before facing the glitch.

"You understand more than any of us that Fate is an entity of control. They demonstrated as much control as possible upon you, in spite of your blessing from their opposite. Clearly the magic was long since accepted as your own- and quite possibly in part responsible for your rejection of other's magic- and was struggling to manifest under the intensive influence of Fate. It is likely that Fate restricted the natural abilities you had developed using their own power, which sounds like a negative blessing, or as the proper term would be, a curse. You were cursed to be unable to access the full potential of your gift. But now, beyond Fate's reach, that intention is lost and that same magic is now directionless. You have what is likely a great deal of Fate's magic within you, and without the intention to direct it, it will likely follow your will. You have the strength of Fate and Destiny at your disposal, Error."

He was silent, staring at the glowing blue strand tangled between his phalanges quietly.
Error started to reply, then stopped, unsure of himself.
"I don't know nearly enough." He finally murmured, letting his hand fall against the red beanbag and drag out a silken thread from his face. "I don't even know what that means. If I have bits from two opposing forces like that, could it have a negative effect on me? What does that do? I never considered Fate's magic being something I could manipulate or even have access to, let alone Fate having a counterpart in the first place. In hindsight, I probably should have."

"You literally started as a mortal, Error. No offense, but you're probably just about as clueless as can be in your situation. Like Eragon being a farm boy thrown into the role of Rider, ironically." Reaper snorted.
Error groaned. "Don't compare me to the kid."
Reaper only laughed.

"He is not that similar to Eragon." Life defended, pausing before a teasing smile crossed her face.
"Seraphim is."
"Oh! Painfully true!" Reaper agreed before he too hesitated. "Should we involve him?"
"Absolutely not." Error replied instantly. "Not only has he tried to kill me hundreds of times, he barely even qualifies as a god. He's just a skeleton who nabbed some human Souls."
"That makes him a god, Error." Reaper pointed out. "Albeit a weaker one that has yet to evolve fully or even have direction- but still a god."

"I don't even know how gods evolve!" Error complained. "Eh, we'll get to that eventually." Reaper waved it off.
"When??" Error gestured wildly.
"It's not like we're under the same time crunch as Eragon and Blue. Relax. You've made it this far just fine."
"Except according to you, I've been restricted heavily by Fate before. I could wipe out the continent without ever realizing why for all I know." Error pointed out. Reaper paused, seeing what he meant.

"Now that is why gods are meant to stick together." Life explained gently. "We help each other. And that is what we will do now. So have patience."
"Life, I'm sorry, but you have yet to explain what I originally sat down here for. You knew preemptively that they would turn into a tree the size of a small planet and somehow existed before your own universe did." He waved at the giant half-tree pegasus silently watching their conversation to the side, Cicállaé lifting their head at him.

Life hesitated, paw falling a few inches. "You are right." She agreed softly before glancing at Reaper, the god of death giving her a strange look. She sighed, smoothing out her dress impulsively for the second time and facing both Error and Cicállaé.

"You know that other deities exist, we have made this clear. Do you know what they are capable of?" She asked.
"Obviously not, I only knew Fate." Error reiterated as the merged being shifted their head to the side thoughtfully.
𝕥ꫝꫀꪗ ᥴꪖꪀ ⅈꪀꫝꪖ᥇ⅈ𝕥 𝕥ꫝⅈꪀᧁડ ꪮᠻ 𝕥ꫝꫀ ꪑꪮ𝕣𝕥ꪖꪶ ρꪶꪖꪀꫀ ꪖꪀᦔ ᥴ𝕣ꫀꪖ𝕥ꫀ ᥴꫝⅈꪶᦔ𝕣ꫀꪀ 𝕥ꫝꪖ𝕥 ꫀꪀᦔ ꪊρ ᥇ꫀⅈꪀᧁ ᧁꪮᦔડ.

Life gave them an oddly sympathetic look before dipping her head. "Do you know how they do so?"
Multichromatic eyes glazing, they nodded as they answered.
𝕥ꫝꫀꪗ ડρꪶⅈ𝕥 𝕥ꫝꫀⅈ𝕣 ᥇ꫀⅈꪀᧁ ꪮᠻᠻ ⅈꪀ ડꪮꪑꫀ ᭙ꪖꪗ ꪖꪀᦔ ρꪶꪖᥴꫀ ⅈ𝕥 ⅈꪀ𝕥ꪮ ꪖ ꪜꫀડડꫀꪶ.

Clasping her paws together, she then prompted. "That process is not quite as you think it is. Children of deities do often end up closer to gods than their lineage, but they are still children. You know how children are typically made, they are a result of two. A deity-born is formed by a deity and another, sometimes more than one source is used to form a child. One I knew most of was Soul. I was quite close to their mother, who went by Eve. She had taken some of the dormant energy of the Abyss and another deity to create who she had initially named Soul Gaia. But of course, any one of us accumulates names and titles." She gestured to the others broadly and they agreed.

Life went on. "But what you described, Cicállaé, is something a little different. Yes, it does have many things in common and to an untrained eye would seem indistinguishable, but the result is not entirely so separate from the creator. They are still very much a part of the one who created them, but placed in a physical vessel and capable of developing an independent consciousness. However, such a process has been observed very rarely, and the end results are often quite unique."

Cicállaé was unusually still, eyes fixated on the god as they next spoke.
᭙ꫝꪖ𝕥 ᦔꪮ 𝕥ꫝꫀꪗ ꪊડꪊꪖꪶꪶꪗ ꫀꪀᦔ ꪖડ, ꪶⅈᠻꫀ.
She blinked up at them, then winced slightly as if aware of something the others were not.
"There are a variety of results, my dear. However, those that are returned to their origins leave the creator with dual memories and often at least a mild case of multiple personalities, as once created, these others selves are never truly gone. In others, the deity split themself into multiple forms and never returned. Never wanted to. But there is a single case where a deity split off and their main consciousness abruptly died, and that situation is still, eons later, resolving itself."

Error stared hard at her before it clicked.
"You're saying that's them. Their mother was a deity that just split into them. Right?"
She looked away as the pegasus stiffened and shook their head, eyes wild as they surged to their hooves.
ꪀꪮ 𝓷𝓸 𝔫𝔬 𝔴𝔢'𝔯𝔢- 𝓘'𝓶- ℑ-..ꪀꪮ! They stamped a tremendous hoof and tossed their mane frantically.

Their breath was suddenly ragged, staring forward in terror and disbelief as their entire body trembled, leaves rustling tensely.
𝔚𝔢'𝔯𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔱- 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮??  𝔑𝔬, 𝔴𝔢'𝔯𝔢- ᭙ꫀ. 𝓘'𝓶. 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢.. ᭙ꫀ ꪖ𝕣ꫀ ꪮꪀꫀ..? Their voices interrupted each other, overlapping, joining, overwhelmed, utterly lost and afraid and confused. Error couldn't help but wince in sympathy.
They cocked their head at Life, a slight crazed look in their eyes.
She stared back in worry that blended with slight hope.
"You even remember bits and pieces of what Emotion did." She whispered sadly. "That doesn't make you any less of who you are."

After a tense staredown, the pegasus brayed loudly, rearing up and slamming their hooves into the ground with an earthshaking thud before pivoting and thundering off in a panic. Life leapt to her feet but Reaper grabbed her shoulder, quietly shaking his skull while staring after the fleeing pegasus.
"Just let them go." He murmured.

Error hesitantly stood as well, moving to stand a little off to the side of the pair.
".. They're a deity?" He asked hesitantly.
"I didn't even know that a deity could have a physical form." He added ponderously. "Fate didn't."

Slowly, Life regarded him, still stricken from the adverse reaction they had all just witnessed.
"Well.. you could say that is what makes Emotion lucky, in a sense. You are right that deities do not have a solid form, only manifestations of magic at times. They often long to have one in any way possible. Being incorporeal is lonely. Ghost monsters at least can take a body for themselves, but it is a struggle for one that is too vast to fit and can only ever partially inhabit another's body for the most part. It is why that split situation occurs. It is a workaround, so to speak."

Error scoffed, returning to his seat. "Fate didn't care about that."
"Fate did not." Life agreed, turning to look at him as Reaper drifted away.
Getting rid of the string tangled around his phalanges, Error leaned his skull on his hand and peered at her.
"So how did you exist before your universe, Life?"

She clasped her paws in front of her at the question, hesitating.
"It is almost strange to talk about, I will admit." She murmured softly, glancing at Reaper as his usually empty sockets lit up with those haunting blue orbs. "It is." He agreed.

"Oh, you too, huh?" Error shifted to regard him, irritated by the delay as Reaper faced him.
"Have you ever heard the name Samsara?" The god of death asked him.
Error frowned. "No. Sounds weird, honestly. Is it related?"
"Yes." Both gods replied.

Drifting closer, Reaper inquired further. "You remember that we have a fairly critical balance between each other, right?"
"No shit." Error deadpanned. "Mine is practically identical."
"Fair." He glanced to the side with a halfhearted chuckle before leaning back with a nostalgic look.

Finally, Reaper set his feet back on the ground. "Samsara was a deity under Balance." He explained softly as the plants under him died, hesitant.
Life took up the narrative.
"We were Samsara." She explained gently, tucking her chin in.

Error blinked, looking between the two.
"..What?"