A Real Goddess Would Let Nobody Die

Salvation and Kenna lay together, staring at the stars. There were so many. Kenna could see so many more here than from the ground. Stars everywhere, in every direction, except she couldn't look in the direction of Salvation, because She was too bright. She just stared and kept staring. She'd always loved the stars.

Then Salvation said, "You know, stars like Our Sun produce mostly light that you can see, like Mine. But, the very brightest stars actually make almost entirely ultraviolet light."

"Like mine?" Kenna mumbled. She was trying hard to pay attention and stay awake, but Love running Her fingers through Kenna's hair was even better than Kenna running hers through Love's hair. She really didn't want to fall asleep because there was no way the dreams would be nicer than this.

"Yes, like your magic. They are very rare, but they are so much brighter than all the others, so spectacularly brilliant, that their ultraviolet light outshines all the other stars combined. Our eyes just can't see all that light. These stars still look very bright even to human eyes, but they are even more extraordinary than they look, much more. Like that one there."

Salvation pointed, and Kenna looked. It was very bright.

"Stars like that one do not last for very long. They burn themselves away soon after they are born," She continued. She sounded sad. "Some that I loved a lot are gone now."

Then She rolled over, and hugged Kenna to Her.

"But not this one," She sang softly from right next to her, giving Kenna tingles up her spine that bounced off Love's tingles headed down, as She started casting the spell that kept Kenna from getting sick.

The spell's surge of excitement helped her stay awake. Kenna couldn't see as many stars now because of all the glowing, but she could still see that very bright one.

Love kept scritching her head. Salvation kept hugging her. The spell kept going while Justice listed all the ways that Kenna was cute.

She is the Goddess of Teasing, Kenna thought, squirming a little. She didn't know it was possible to breathe cutely, but Justice did say so. The Goddesses can't lie or be wrong, right?

Kenna thought about what she could do to tease Justice back. Love gave her a secret idea.

"Thank You, Izzie. You are also cute."

"Ayaahhaggghh," Justice made a funny noise and stopped talking. Salvation and Love giggled. Kenna giggled too.

Even though it had made her sick, Kenna decided that she liked being an ultraviolet mage. Needing to live with the Goddesses and going places with Them was...um...she liked it a lot. What were the best words?

Then she decided that she had let it sit for long enough, and added something that Love didn't suggest. "Thank You for being so nice to me. I am happy that I need to stay, because You are ten-out-of-ten perfect big Sisters."

----

Izzie was holding sleeping Kenna while They descended, and wondering whether the mana-based outfit that Twilight would start wearing in a millennium or so would have enough visible color or be too risqué. Oh, would it be safe for the worshippers? Meh, that would not be a problem. They could just give everyone shields with black mana mixed in whenever Twilight was around if it was harmful. So, as long as there was enough violet to avert transparency, everything would be fine.

Izzie nodded to Herself. Worst case, something with a lot of frills or whatever could add some optical thickness. If anyone looked too closely, Izzie would just burn their eyes out and have Izenakee wipe their memories. If they repented, Izzie would let Menelyn heal their eyes.

Mmm, good.

Izenakee giggled and Menelyn rolled Their eyes.

----

Everyone except the Goddesses called Kennalaria 'Kennalaria' or sometimes 'Twilight' now, never ever 'Kenna.' Even her parents only used Kennalaria. She didn't mind; she liked her name, and her nickname. It was just one of many changes that she had noticed over the last year. Famous people needed fancy names, she guessed.

Kennalaria said temporary goodbyes to her big Sisters after her dawn spell was completed--well, pre-dawn today, but today was special--and walked out of the Goddesses' Sanctuary in the Temple of the Anastasis, on her way to meet with her parents. Like a lot of the world, Kennalaria's parents had traveled to Kanenn for Izzie's 8000th birthday festival. Since it was such a major milestone, the Goddesses were going to go from Kanenn to the Temple of the Beginning and greet worshippers along the way.

Kennalaria had been looking forward to this festival for a long time, and never dreamed that she would be accompanying the Goddesses during it. She hadn't needed to think for even a second when Izzie asked her.

She held herself at maximum power, since it was part of her exercises. She was supposed to sit as close as she could to the limit, without it hurting. It was hard to resist jumping when in this state, but she did.

Trusted Guards gathered around her as she exited. Kennalaria was used to this, but it did feel a little weird to walk to a visit with her parents while surrounded by four bodyguards armed with the best enchanted weapons, wearing fancy uniforms, and acting like the world would end if they let her open a door herself. Just more famous people things, she guessed.

It was kind of stupid. She was an ultraviolet mage. She didn't need to open doors anyway, she just walked through because they opened them and it felt like she might as...Oh! She understood now! The only reason that they needed to open the doors was for themselves, and they didn't want to trouble her to open them for their sakes. That made sense. She'd finally figured it out, today of all days.

When she got closer to the room where her parents would be waiting, she decided to help them out. She made a sound with her mage-voice like calling across a field. They had learned over the last year that while 'screaming' activated a jump, making a more controlled calling sound gave her a kind of map of the nearby area. The map range and her jump range seemed to be pretty much the same.

Then, she spoke to the Guards.

"I would like to jump to my parents, since I can see that it's safe. If it's alright with all of you, I will take you with me?"

She already knew they would say yes. Every time she offered, they treated it like they treated Mennie's blessings.

They turned toward her and kneeled without saying anything, then each extended a hand towards her, palm up. Kennalaria smiled, laid her hands on theirs so that all were touching, and screamed.

Her parents were startled when the party appeared across the room from them, but then crouched with arms open, smiling widely. Kennalaria ran and jumped into them. A normal jump. Her Guards moved to watch at the door, two outside and two inside, and she waved her thanks.

"It's so, so good to see you doing so well," her father said.

Kennalaria agreed. She really did enjoy this feeling of being so perfectly alive all the time.

"Our daughter, with the Goddesses at a festival," her mother said, crying as always. She literally always cried when she saw Kennalaria nowadays, even when they met all the time in Esto. And then that always made her father cry, too. Every time.

"Glowing, just like Them!" she added.

"Mmmmhmmm! I just got my morning spell," Kennalaria explained. "I glow brightest right afterward!"

"You still remember to say thank You, every time?" her father asked.

"Yes!" Kennalaria nodded rapidly.

"And look at your hair, oh..." her mother continued. "It's just like the Red Goddess'."

"Yeah..." Kennalaria looked down shyly and grinned. "Normally Keekee does it while Izzie does Hers and Mennie sings, but Izzie said She got to do it today, since it's Her birthday. Keekee's good but Izzie's really good, like Mennie's really amazing at singing. Like really amazing."

Something about what Kennalaria had said made her parents really lose it.

"Uh, well, I've got to go since it will be time to start soon."

Her father took some deep breaths and finally answered. Her mother was too far gone. "...Yes, um...We'll be watching! They put us right in the center, in the front! Just look for the violet!"

They were wearing mostly black like everyone would be--except Keekee and Kennalaria, of course--but with violet gloves and hats and scarfs. It was cold, this far south, near dawn.

Izzie had picked out a glossy, frilly twilight-colored dress for Kennalaria to wear, with matching tights, scarf, hat, and long gloves reaching above her elbows. When she'd put the whole set on for the first time, she'd barely been able to look at herself in the mirror. It was so ridiculously girly and pretty, and made her feel like her name was really Twilight.

"Born perfect," Izzie had whispered, after Mennie finished squealing.

...And she was wearing it right now! The whole world was about to see her wearing it! With the Goddesses right next to her! She started skipping as she moved towards the exit.

The Guards inside smiled and bowed to her parents as she approached, and then surrounded her again as they walked to the main door of the Temple, where the Goddesses were waiting.