Chapter 430 - Bee-vine Relations

Belissar was in a bit of trouble. On the one hand, the God of Flowers was indeed an important patron for his Tower, potentially even the most important after the God of Bees. His bees couldn’t do what they did without flowers, after all. But on the other hand…Belissar was aware there had already been a bit of a divine scuffle when the God of Flowers rewarded him for doing her mead mission before the God of Fire’s and he was more than a little wary of setting another one off.

Not to mention his own faith in the God of Light. The recent mission, the new gateway feature, and the God of Light’s own words confirmed that she was in fact the god behind the Towers…which meant that the Tower Lords had not lied when they called her the savior of humanity and the world. Belissar had been taught all his life, particularly by his adoptive beekeeper Mrs. Imkomos, to revere the God of Light above all, so he couldn’t help but hesitate to declare another god as more important than her. He even hesitated to call his own God of Bees the best god for that reason!

Fortunately, the God of Light herself came to his rescue.

“God of Flowers, I should not need to remind you not to provoke your fellow gods. You are only causing trouble for both yourself and those whose affections you seek. I am certain Belissar appreciates you, without you forcing him to declare a hierarchy.”

The God of Flowers huffed and puffed her cheeks, but she didn’t say anything in response to the God of Light. The God of Light’s words also gave Belissar an idea of how to responds, so he bowed his head to the God of Flowers.

“You really have been an incredible patron, God of Flowers. I couldn’t do it without you and my bees couldn’t live without your flowers. Truly, thank you for everything.”

The God of Flowers relaxed a bit and smiled again.

“Well, I suppose I’ll accept that. Good job running Bee’s first dungeon, Belissar, I’m glad she has a devoted master like you. And I’m glad for your flowers, they are all very happy with all the bees around them. Now then…where’s my daughter at?! I need to meet her! Belissar, Tarwantrad, I’ll be back to talk to you after!”

With that, the God of Flowers took off running with many of the nearby bees following after her, leaving Belissar blinking. He glanced over at Tarwantrad, who was also staring and blinking.

“The God of Flowers is…more excited than I expected…”

The God of Light shook her head as she spoke.

“We gods are defined by two things, our followers and our aspects. The God of Flowers is just that, the god of flowers specifically, not of plants in general. Flowers come and go quickly, so does she.”

She made eye contact with Belissar, causing him to straighten his spine.

“And like flowers, most of her existence centers around appealing to pollinators, particularly bees. That has applied to her relationship with the God of Bees, and thus now with you. Do keep that in mind, Belissar, and make sure to take special care of her. It is not an exaggeration to say that bees are everything to her, so there are no lengths she would not go to in securing the devotion of the Bee Tower. Gods like myself and the elemental gods are fond of you, but the God of Flowers needs you, second only to the God of Bees.”

Belissar considered that.

“Hm, maybe I should try to make a room for her, something more than the flower meadows? Or maybe set up a challenge for her?”

The God of Light smiled.

“She would appreciate either of those immensely. Now then, I think I will take my leave. Thank you again, Belissar and Tarwantrad, for taking on my mission and braving the dangers that resulted. All dungeons and all who oppose the Hunger shall benefit from your deeds. Please, celebrate and enjoy your rewards.”

With that, the God of Light rose up into the sky before dispersing into bright sparkles, like a shower of stars. Belissar stared up at her last position for a bit before turning to look at Tarwantrad, who was still staring wide-eyed.

“Are you ok?”

Tarwantrad blinked out of her daze and took a deep breath.

“Ah, yes, thanks Belissar. I’m just…still processing that the God of Flowers is here, with us, in the flesh. She’s…saying hi to the demigod bumblebee, right?”

Belissar glanced over with his Tower sight. The God of Flowers had indeed found the divine bumbledryad and was holding her in her hands, bouncing around and squealing in happiness, all while the bumblebees of the bumblebee meadow swarmed around her.

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

Belissar then glanced at the one bumblebee worker that hadn’t followed after the God of Flowers. The bumblebee was buzzing and charging in a particular direction repeatedly. Belissar looked in the direction the bumblebee was charging. There was nothing there but a single flower shoot that had just started to bud.

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“God of Mischief? Do you need something?”

The flower shoot stiffened…then turned into a young man.

“Curses, foiled again! How did you find me, Beely? I thought I had it when I duped the God of Light.”

Belissar glanced over at the bumblebee.

“You were wrapping your power around the bumblebee to make us think she was you, right? The bumblebee noticed, though. I…think it’s because they’re used to Finnakynne, it seems like she followed your power back to you.”

The God of Mischief smacked his own forehead.

“Ah! The family resemblance! I should be upset, but for some reason I’m also kind of happy? Weird.”

He shook his head, then sauntered up to Belissar and mimed wrapping an arm around Belissar’s shoulder…from a distance, though, as Niobee buzzed at him.

“Anyways, speaking of divine missions and doing favors for the gods, mind doing one for a friend of mine, Beely? After you take care of Flower, of course!”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Sure? Who’s the friend and what’s the favor?”

The God of Mischief grinned.

“Don’t be worried, this one should be fun! The God of Revels needs you to throw a big party in his name!”

Belissar blinked. He furrowed his brow, narrowed his eyes, and rubbed his chin. He strained and even groaned slightly…but he couldn’t for the life of him remember the God of Revels. Mrs. Imkomos might have been a bit upset, had she been here. She’d lectured him more than once about forgetting the gods.

The God of Mischief, however, chuckled and waved his hand around.

“Ah, don’t hurt yourself, Beely, you wouldn’t have heard of him. In fact, that’s precisely the problem, the God of Revels hasn’t been active in your world for over a thousand years and no one remembers him anymore. Well, I guess some stuck-up theologians working for Light’s oracle do, but they’re far too grim and serious to do any proper Revels worship! So, the God of Revels just doesn’t have the presence to send you a mission on his own, but he really did enjoy your mead! He’d be overjoyed if you helped him return!”

Belissar blinked yet again. Bringing a forgotten god back to the world…

“…now that’s something super big and difficult is what you’re thinking, right?”

Belissar stared at the God of Mischief…but eventually nodded. The God of Mischief’s grin grew.

“What you don’t realize, Beely, is that you’ve already done it! Something harder, even! You are, after all, the first true worshipper of the God of Bees in the world! You’ve singlehandedly created the faith for a god who was completely unknown! Compared to that, helping out a god who was already around once before should be easy!”

Belissar’s jaw dropped.

“Wait, God of Bees had no worshippers before? Even before the Hunger?”

The God of Mischief just casually nodded with a grin after dropping that bomb.

“Yep! She’s a relatively young god in the grand scheme of things. There was a bit of commotion around her birth, actually…but that’s not my story to tell, cough, Flowers, cough, so anyways! Onto helping the God of Revels! Bet you’re wondering how, right?”

Belissar had to stare for a bit longer, but it appeared the God of Mischief really wouldn’t say anything more about the God of Bees, so Belissar refocused.

“Right?”

The God of Mischief laughed.

“Well, that’s easy, you’re already doing it every night! You just have to throw a banquet!”

Belissar blinked.

“Really? Like the victory celebrations!”

The God of Mischief gave him a thumbs up.

“Exactly! Except, a really big one! Like make it last the whole night, maybe even several! Make the mead and honey flow! Oh, and overtly dedicate it to the God of Revels or something, maybe offer a jar of mead or a few dozen to him as the party goes on.”

Belissar tilted his head.

“That’s it? I’ll need to stock up on mead, but I can do that.”

The God of Mischief stepped forward and patted Belissar’s back, giving him a wink.

“And that’s why you’re the best, Beely. I’d give you a mission and all, but you have to do it solely for the God of Revels or it won’t work. Besides, a good party should be its own reward! Anyways, that’s all I needed to ask, so if you need me…ask the bumbles where I am, apparently.”

And with that, the God of Mischief vanished. Belissar spent some time wondering, once again, just how a simple beekeeper ended up speaking with so many gods…

***

Wardmaster Varilold, having finished her conversation with the gods, had started the work of rebuilding her defenses in Belissar’s Tower. The God of Light said the dungeon gates were now safe…but it was the duty of the wardmaster not to leave any chances regarding the Land of the Fair’s fate. She would be rebuilding a full new set of defense wards once the Fairy Grove recovered…an improved one, even. Before, she had to be careful when utilizing the nexuses in the room, lest she accidentally interfere with the one holding the door. Now that the gate was a separate feature, she had no such restrictions.

As she observed the room and planned out the new defenses, a bumblebee came and landed on her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow, normally the Tower Keeper used smaller communer bees, but there was no reason he couldn’t use another.

“Yes? Do you need something, Tower Keeper Belissar?”

The bumblebee…then chuckled…with the voice of a young elvish man.

“Oh, so I can deceive the defender of all that is fair, but not a little bumblebee, huh? That makes real sense, doesn’t it?”

Wardmaster Varilold quietly began passing mana into her personal defense wards.

“…who are you?”

The entity chuckled.

“The important thing is…I am here to help. You wanted to know exactly how the wards and dungeons are interacting, didn’t you? And perhaps…how best to defend the land of the fair?”

Wardmaster Varilold narrowed her eyes.

“A god, then. The God of Mischief, I presume?”

The bumblebee buzzed and dipped its head.

“In the chitin.”

The wardmaster shifted her wards to the anti-divine setup…not that she was actually prepared to deal with a god right now. She doubted the wards meant for chastising Finnakynne would stop her father, so she’d just have to hope the God of Mischief only wanted to talk.

“That may be the case, but why should I trust you to answer? Especially since you waited for the God of Light to leave before making your move…”

The God of Mischief chuckled again, his voice growing deeper as he laughed.

“You may thank the pixie queen. She and I have made a deal and I intend for the Land of the Fair to persist until I can collect. In that regard, you could say our strategic interests are aligned…for the moment. Feel free to cross-check my advice with the other gods later, I think you’ll find you can trust me…in this instance.”

Wardmaster Varilold swore.

“Vanieskon…just what are you planning?”

The God of Mischief just chuckled again. Wardmaster Varilold glared…but her duty required her to explore every avenue.

“Fine, offer your advice. If it can be verified, I may take it into consideration. But know that the pixie queen does not speak for the Compact, receiving your advice does not mean I acknowledge any deals you two may have made.”

An elvish mouth appeared on the front of the bumblebee and grinned.