(MC POV)
I was in the midst of drying Cai Hong's hair with a towel after our bath when the space above my courtyard cracked open and Eris fell out of the hole.
A split second later, Bait, Denna and Laverna also followed suit, all of them landing in a heap in the middle of my courtyard.
The crack then widened and the alternate versions of Eris also fell out, landing right on top of my swordswomen who didn't get a chance to escape before they got buried under them.
"Ge'off!!" Bait screamed from somewhere under the pile.
All the rest of my disciples were staring at the scene with wide eyes, though I don't understand why they were so surprised about it. They're just Eris from alternate universes, no big deal.
Or is it due to the fact that all of them were naked?
The pile of Eris eventually managed to separate themselves, only to gasp aloud when they saw me.
"MAAAAASSSTEEEERR!!!" They screamed, all of them immediately running up to me and trying to hug me.
Our version of Eris and her three personalities immediately appeared in between us to block their way.
"Bac'off, Master is ours! Didn't y'all say that ya' wouldn't be attached to our Master?!!"
"Yeah! Don't give us the excuse that you became attached to our Master and want to stay here later!"
"Distance…"
"This one also humbly requests you all not to approach our Master so casually."
The other Erises skidded to a stop and started arguing with them while the rest of my disciples got even more confused over the situation.
Cai Hong looked up at me while cutely sucking on her finger, "Papa… More big sister Eris?"
"Mmm… There does seem to be many of them aren't there? Now hold still while I do your hair."
"Okies~"
Lian Li came up to me with the other girls in tow, "Master… What's going on? Why are there suddenly so many Eris?"
"Hmm? Those are just Eris from alternate universes. I believe they're here to ask me for help or something. Oh, Eris also ascended by the way. She's the Goddess of Paths now."
"E… Eh? Alternate… Universes? Goddess of Paths?"
"Yes. When one has decisions to make, it creates diverging paths. She can influence those paths and the outcomes of those paths to a certain extent."
I guess you could say that she's sort of like a goddess of fate in a sense. The four personalities of hers can control the results of a choice in any way they deem fit.
If a person was presented with a choice whether to go right or left, Eris could determine the results of their choice no matter what it may be, even the choice itself if she really wanted to.
In other words, she's like chaos manifested, really fitting for her even if I do say so myself.
Then again, I suppose this would be the expected outcome considering what she was cultivating in the first place.
I was brought out of my musings when Brendan raised his hand, "Umm… Master? What is this about alternate Universes?"
I tilted my head at him, "Hmm? I don't understand your question? It's exactly what it means? There are alternate universes."
"Ara? Didn't Master mention that there was only one Universe before?" Manami asked.
"Well, that was true until recently. Apparently I had accidentally created branching paths that allowed parallel universes to be created some time ago, so alternate universes exist now."
Kiyomi turned to look at the group of Erises that were still arguing with our version of Eris, "Should we be concerned about this, Master? Would alternate versions of ourselves also show up one day?"
I shrugged, "Hard to say but I wouldn't discount that possibility. Although it's also possible for all the alternate universe to cease to exist one day as well."
Diao Chan gasped, "Does that also mean that there is more than one Master out there as well?"
"Mmm… Yes and no. There are definitely other versions of me that exist in those universes… But they are still Origin and they originated from me. Even with multiple universes, there is still only one Origin which is… Ummm… Me? Hmm… That's not a good explanation…"
Omniscience, can you give a better explanation? You know, something that everyone can understand?
…
I clapped my hands together, "Ah! It's like those other me are puppets and I'm the puppetmaster, something like that."
My disciples actually let out a breath of relief for some reason. Why do they look so relieved about that?
Should I ask… Wait, not good… Why am I going back to relying on omniscience again? No, no, no… Remember I shouldn't even be relying on it that much.
Putting that aside… I've been peeking at the other universes and they're really interesting. There's this one universe where I basically never chose to become a Practitioner and stayed with the family to become a businessman.
Then there's this universe whereI simply made everyone achieve godhood with a thought and took them to travel the universe with me.
And then…
"Master!"
I looked up to see my four personalities of Eris struggling to hold back the crowd of alternate universe Eris with one of them reaching her hand out to me desperately.
If I'm correct, this Eris belongs to a Universe where I took her in as my only disciple and she achieved a different kind of godhood early on.
"Master!" She pleaded again. "Please! It's been decades! Please just let me feel your warmth one time! Just once!!"
Bait pushed her back, "We said no, ya' bitch! That's our Master, not yours!! Go back ta' your Universe already!!"
Denna also joined in, "That's right… This one humbly demands that all of you return. We will help convey your plea for help to Master in your stead. That's why… Do cease your attempts in trying to seduce our Master."
Another one of the alternate universe Eris spoke up, "Hey?! Even after all we've done for you, you won't even let us have a snuggle with Master? I was stuck between your legs and eating you out for a good half an hour you know?! At least let me have a cuddle!"
"Incomprehensible… Absolutely different scenarios…" Laverna argued back.
Eris agreed, "That's right! You were also getting yourselves off at the same time! We owe you nothing!"
Hmm… I'm actually not sure what the normal me would have done in this case? Do I indulge in them or stick with my disciples?
Before I could make a decision, however, Kiyomi had snapped her fingers and all of them stopped moving, leaving our universe's Eris free to detach herself from them.
"I think that's better, what should we do with them, Master?" My white fox asked.
I cleared my throat, "How about… We let Eris tell us the entire story first?"
Everyone turned to my swordswomen with expectant gazes, obviously demanding to know what exactly happened in the few hours that she had been missing.
Well, better get settled down everyone, you might be in for a very interesting story!
Oh, that alternate universe version of me is doing something interesting…
