Rowan's words only brought what she was experiencing to the front of her mind. The concept of the soul was something she heard whispered by the fires at night. It was something unknown and ethereal, and even though she had been resurrected multiple times and she now had an Immortal Soul she still found it difficult to wrap her mind around the concept.
Becoming a goddess made her aware of her soul, but it just stopped there. There was only a vague understanding of its presence and purpose, and it was quite impossible to consider understanding or manipulating it, and now she was consuming it.
This aversion inside her was so strong, how could this be only a minor fraction of it? Does it mean that without the presence of Rowan, she was that useless?
Circe's mind shook and she closed her eyes for a while before anger overtook her spirit. 'Why was she weeping like a child?
She knew what she signed up for when she accepted the help of a power like Rowan to change her fate. She had told herself that a brief life of usefulness and power was a hundred times better than a life of mediocrity.'
'What did she truly want for herself? A life of uselessness burdened by a heart given to her by an enemy who slaughtered her parents, or a life of meaning that although beset by horror, suffering, and chaos, would be one where she would get to not only avenge her past but control the fate of countless others so that what happened to her, would not happen to someone else.'
'This is the reason I returned to Trion, the whole purpose of my struggles is useless if, at the first sign of trouble, I break down and weep. If this change comes with this sort of pain and anguish, I will bear it. To cleanse the past of my shame and make a better future for everyone else.'
'Was this not the reason that I and she hoped; Rowan was fighting for? Their past was beset with evil and suffering, and to change their story, to rewrite the rules, the board would have to be swept clean and a new one would be made.'
Circe struggled to speak, making dull croaking noises.
"You can talk to me inside your head. I will hear you." Rowan said to the struggling goddess, but she stubbornly stuck to her guns before speaking, although it came out slow and broken, Rowan could understand her, and her words resonated with the budding mortal comprehension inside his consciousness.
"To create… something new and bright, the old, the tarnished, the corrupted would have to be torn down!"Circe nearly screamed the last parts and her voice grew stronger, "I have no regrets and I only despise myself for being too weak. I believe in you, and whatever it takes for everything that is wrong about this world to be changed, I'm willing to pay for it."
She opened her mouth and her Spirit and with a scream of madness, Circe touched her Soul, and she drew in the power of Boreas above her.
The Runic platform shone as bright as a star as lightning bolts in the millions erupted from her body.
®
Rowan watched the merger of Circe and Boreas closely, the platform had already ascended for four hundred feet, more than the halfway point, but it appeared that the process would end far more quickly than he imagined.
Her words made him consider his actions from the past, and the direction for his future. He had never thought beyond winning this war with his father, because he knew how challenging this would be.
No matter how powerful he became, Rowan was aware of his weaknesses and knew that there were many unknown methods or abilities that could pull him down, and if there was anyone who could take advantage of those abilities, it would be his father.
It was for this reason he never planned for what came after. He would either win this war and survive, or he would lose and his best outcome would be death.
He never cared about the collateral damages or the broken worlds or bodies he left behind. He never cared about his legacy or how he would be remembered, he only knew about survival.
Circe a mortal, whose soul was nothing by his standards, her life was so weak he could crush her with a flick of his fingers, had shown more determination and strength of character in a single moment that eclipsed his greatest expectation.
She was fighting not for herself, but for the future of those she did not know. Rowan was not just her savior, as he was using her, she was also using him.
Rowan had seen her true motivation at this moment. She had given him permission to use her body and soul at her discretion because she believed he could be better than the gods of Trion.
Rowan sighed inside, 'I fight for revenge and survival, but there is no reason why I cannot make your wish come true. I'm not the messiah you seek, and my compassion is colder than the void. I understand the strengths of mortality, but I'm not a mortal. Your ambitions, your sorrows, your very light, although it shines bright to me. It is something that I can no longer share with you all.'
'I will rid your world of monsters Circe, the power to choose the direction of your future shall be given to you all. As long as I'm alive, the fate of mortals and all those who chose to live life decently shall be protected."
Rowan did not say these words to Circe, he kept them inside his heart. The battle with Boreas, although appearing easy, was only possible because he had prepared for this day for decades.
He was lucky that he had someone like Circe to use against this god, he had access to Boreas true bloodline via his Spirit Guise when he encountered the god on Jarkarr all those years ago.
The other gods of Trion would not be this easy, but Rowan expected that to change. Killing Boreas was not only to weaken Trion, it was for something far more important.
His memories.
His understanding of Trion was about to take a massive step forward. Boreas' memories would show him the details of the past, and his present, and it would be the key to unravel Triom from the inside.
Rowan had learned patience, he waited until Circe had absorbed everything that she could, and as always she surprised him with her strength, she took everything without losing a single iota of power.
Now it was his turn. He shut off her mind and entered her soul, waiting inside of her, the memories of the God of Storms.
