My great thanks to TodaBruh, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
Hunter's Dream, the morning after the date.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect this. In hindsight, I really should have, but somehow I didn't."
Lucy stared between me and Azathoth, both of us eating breakfast (Azathoth all but devouring the food I made with unholy glee, so tasty it was), while Oedon merely stared at us with amused red eyes, a cup of tea in her hands.
"It is our dear Aeon we're talking about. He got us in his bed, why not the creator-deity of all things?" pointed out Oedon with amusement towards Lucy, who was struggling to believe that I actually ended up seducing Azathoth herself.
"It kind of happened?" I replied with a small shrug. "Neither of us expected things to go so well, but we're not complaining."
"Definitely not!" agreed Azathoth in between taking two bites of food. "Yesterday was amazing. And I'm looking forward to spending the rest of eternity living equally amazing days with you and the rest of your lovers!" she said cheerfully.
Lucy gave her a curious look. "You really don't mind the fact that he's already married? Several times?"
Azathoth shrugged. "Monogamy is a cute concept, but eternity is a really long time, you know? Beloved may be the only man for me, but-"
"-You aren't against him having more lovers, as long as he loves you." finished Oedon with a knowing look, and the two Eldritch Goddesses grinned at each other.
I smiled at the sight. She and Azathoth had hit it off instantly, though the look on Azathoth's face when she saw Oedon's own soul had been quite something.
There wasn't quite the same… sympathetic connection between those two as with me and Azathoth, but there was certainly enough that both goddesses really took little time to become comfortable in each other's presence.
Either way, Lucy glanced at both goddesses, then at me, then threw her arms in the air and gave up.
"Right. Well, Aeon is now the Ruler of all Reality. Sure. Why not." Lucy sighed, before a look of determination crossed her face.
"So, what does that mean, exactly? What is going to happen now?"
Azathoth and I shared a look, before Azathoth finished her food and drink, and smiled.
"Well, there's a lot to cover. Everything about the Eldritch pantheon alone will take some time to go over, and then there's the Eldritch Kingdom, the various powers of reality like the Versal Council, and much more. For now, we should probably focus on the Eldritch side of things."
"Hmm. And that wouldn't have something to do with the fact that you already changed things in every Necronomicon in existence to mention my name?" I questioned with amusement.
Azathoth's eyes widened, before she blushed slightly, squirming in her seat. "You… already know about that?" she asked.
"Yup. I found it adorable." I shamelessly replied, making Azathoth blush harder and grin.
"To be fair, your True Self also got to work letting seers and more across reality know about you." pointed out Oedon.
I nodded. "Yog-Sothoth started it, I just figured that it was fine if she was already doing it."
Azathoth blinked. "Wait, Yog is already letting everyone know about you?"
I hummed. "She started not long after you asked me to bring you to the Hunter's Dream. To be fair, you conceptually elevated me as your King while kissing me, that made your desires pretty damn obvious to her."
I gave Azathoth a wry grin. "Speaking of, my True Self had been almost bowled over by how much power doing that gave me. If I didn't have as much control over my power as I do, the 'me' that was with you at the time would have released enough power to create countless quintillions of multiverses instantly as a mere by-product of my Ascension."
I shook my head. "Your kiss almost started the single greatest lightshow in the history of the Omniverse!"
Azathoth flushed, and I couldn't help but laugh at the adorable pouting face she made at me in return.
"Yes, I noticed that. We were previously very closely aligned in power, dear Aeon, but now, you are far, very far beyond me." mused Oedon, who didn't look or sound bothered by that fact any. If anything, she looked happy and proud.
I smiled. "The Authorities I gained are… powerful. Terrifyingly so." I pursed my lips, a frown on my face, and I glanced at Azathoth. "I knew that you were powerful, but I don't think you fully understand what powers you truly possess. What powers you gave me, as a result of what you did."
Azathoth blinked in confusion, and so did Lucy.
Oedon, however, gave me a knowing look. As someone who was elevated as a Living God like me, she understood what I meant.
True, she didn't have the Authorities I just gained, but she could understand them.
And what they implied for my current place in existence compared to almost every other being living in it.
Before I could speak up again however, I felt the equivalent of a knock on the outer layer of the Hunter's Dream, and smiled wryly.
Despite the fact that she couldn't see inside of here, her timing was impeccable…
Which meant my True Self was playing games.
Ah well, no matter.
"It appears we are about to have company. C'mon, we shouldn't let her wait." I said, standing up from my chair.
Azathoth blinked in confusion. "Who-"
She turned to look, frowned as she looked through the dimensional layers of the Hunter's Dream, before her eyes widened.
"Yog?" she muttered.
"Who better to introduce me to my job?" I pointed out, and Azathoth nodded and smiled.
"That's fair. She could have waited a bit, though." she grumbled with a pout.
"She can't see inside the Dream. You basically disappeared from her sight the moment you came here." I explained.
Azathoth stared at me in shock, before she once again looked at the essence of the Hunter's Dream, and stared at it all for a moment.
"Oh, right." she muttered. "I had forgotten just how defended this place was. I was…" she blushed. "Distracted."
"I bet." muttered Lucy, sending an amused, knowing look at Azathoth.
"Right. Well, we better get going, I don't want everyone to panic or anything!" Azathoth spoke up, suddenly understanding that yeah, from everyone's point of view she literally got up and disappeared.
Her true body was still there, but her consciousness would be hidden here by the defenses of the Hunter's Dream.
Defenses that not even Yog-Sothoth could break through.
Especially after the power boost that I got.
We quickly made our way out of the mansion and outside, standing in the middle of the courtyard before I raised a hand, and mentally "allowed" Yog-Sothoth to enter.
I caught Azathoth muttering to herself that she definitely needed to ask me to work on the defenses of various realms if my own defenses were this good, but for the moment I ignored those words in favor of welcoming the woman who had just appeared before us.
Lucy let out a small grunt of pain when a vision of countless ethereal orbs flowing and floating around in each other in physics-defying ways flashed in our minds, a sense of an all-encompassing presence crashing upon our brains, an existence so great that it would be easier to find what she isn't than all the things that was part of her.
I had to admit, it certainly was impressive. A being of such presence that it felt like I was looking at the entirety of the Omniverse, and that said Omniverse was staring right back at me.
I could see why it would overwhelm even Lucy, who was "merely" a multi, multiversal goddess.
The smug look on her human face really sold the impression of an all-knowing being that knew everything because it was everything, everywhere.
And yet, I couldn't help but feel like her smug face was far less impressive than Amygdala's.
I wasn't going to say that out loud, though. Not when I could also see the reason for why I felt like that.
Some things, even I knew better than to carelessly poke at.
We all had our mistakes and trauma to weigh us down, after all.
"Yog?" questioned Azathoth.
"I'll take it from there, Aza." replied Yog with amusement, glancing at everyone before her gaze focused on me.
As there was only gods present, I was wearing my cosmic robes, my eyes either glowing or showing an endless Void. To her credit, she didn't even blink at what she must have seen when looking into my eyes.
"Allow me to get a few things out of the way. I am Yog-Sothoth. Yes, that one: the Gate, the Key, and the Guardian. Yes, I am basically a Time Lord and yes, believe it or not I am a Whovian. No, I do not know what is going to happen, only what can." she revealed, which was…
I mean, I could do it, and not her. That alone showed how less skilled than me she was. Which was a surprise, considering I originally expected to deal with a True Omniscient and Omnipresent deity.
Hell, Lucy could know what is going to happen in a given timeline, as well.
Again, an Eldritch deity being all power, no control. Yes, she could watch over so many more realities than Lucy could, just… without the fine details of my wife.
I did not show my thoughts, but I certainly felt the urge to turn towards Azathoth and ask why Yog-Sothoth was so… bad at her own duties.
What was the point of watching over quintillions of multiverses simultaneously if trying to find anything specific in one of them was akin to finding a needle in a near-infinite haystack?
Yog-Sothoth waved at herself and her white uniform with a smirk next.
"And finally, I'm dressed like this because I came from another universe, fixing up a minor space-time issue. The Japanese were the good guys in World War 2, I'll leave it at that. Also, I like turning my power into a sword, sue me." she finished off, grinning at the end.
I nodded. At least that I could respect, though there was a part of me that always remembered Gerhman's advice about Hunters and tools… and the dangers of over-reliance.
"Not the strangest thing I've ever seen." I replied, before sending a quick look at Oedon and mouthing singing spiders at her.
The cheeky girl merely smirked at me, too!
Then I turned towards Yog-Sothoth and nodded. "Welcome to the Hunter's Dream, Goddess of Time. I look forward to working with you." I paused, and then looked at Azathoth. "I'll have to teach her too, I can already see that she's got the same problem as you with too much power over control."
The Eldritch Goddess of Time blinked, visibly caught off guard, but Azathoth merely sighed and nodded.
"In her defense, what you consider as an acceptable level of competence is pretty ridiculous, Aeon." deadpanned Lucy.
I crossed my arms, unwilling to give ground on this. "She's the greatest deity of Time in existence, I won't accept anything but the best."
Yog-Sothoth turned her head from me to Lucy, back to me, then to Azathoth with a bewildered look on her face.
Oedon, meanwhile, looked on with amusement.
Lucy sighed, then gave a sympathetic look to Yog-Sothoth.
"Well, hang in there girl, this guy is not one to listen when he thinks someone should be better than what they are."
"Hm, okay?" replied Yog-Sothoth, who quite clearly had no idea of the training from hell coming her way. "Anyway, Aza, I do not think your lover needs a quick lesson on what Eldritch gods' power and abilities are-" I shook my head, especially considering I apparently knew more on the subject than her, apparently. "-so instead I decided to call upon a few people to come introduce themselves to our new king!"
"Ah, networking hell, here we go!" I said with amusement, even as I felt another presence politely "knock" on the outer dimensional layer of the Hunter's Dream.
Letting the next Goddess inside, we were welcomed by a strong vision of an enormous mass covered in black tentacles, slime-dripping mouths, and short, writhing goat legs, which occasionally shifted into a convulsing black clouds squirming and writhing in strange, physic-defying ways.
The humanoid form of the goddess was one that shifted to my eyes, going from having horns and hooves for feet to going fully human.
The kind smile on her face, however, remained fully in both cases.
"Allow me to present to you Shub-Niggurath, your majesty." Yog-Sothoth said grandly towards the newly arrived goddess.
"I can introduce myself, Yog." said the new goddess while Azathoth went to hug her in greetings, a hug eagerly returned before the goddess looked back at me.
"I'm sorry, but I expected to see you arrive in a few more minutes, Shub." Yog-Sothoth replied, sending an apologetic look at the horned goddess.
"I suppose that hasn't changed still." she mused with a sigh before giving me a small, shy smile. "H-hello, I'm Shub-Niggurath. It's nice to meet you, Lord of Azathoth."
"Lord of- Yooooog, how many people have you told already?!" exclaimed Azathoth, looking accusingly at the Goddess of Time.
Yog-Sothoth shrugged and twirled her sword in her fingers idly. "Just enough, as I was going to say. I asked a few friends to show up and help you all move smoothly through this rise to omniversal rulership." she explained, completely unapologetic of her meddling.
Which, to be fair, I could understand. What was the point of a goddess of Time who couldn't cheat like this?
That being said…
"Yog, you should really ask others before doing things like this. Azathoth probably wanted to show her lover all of this herself." Shub scowled in soft disappointment at the Goddess of Time, which seemed to strike a blow with Yog.
I decided to interrupt, before what was clearly some heavy history between the two could make things awkward.
"In her defense, Azathoth really didn't do this discreetly." I spoke up, gathering everyone's attention. "As I told her, she almost accidentally started the greatest lightshow in omniversal history." I said, making Azathoth blush a little at the looks she got from Yog and Shub. "And besides, she did go and rewrite the parts about her in the Necronomicon to mention me. And both Yog and myself went and let every seer in existence know of her raising me up as her King. So we all kinda went all-out on that one."
Aza hesitated, then sighed. "He's not wrong."
"Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but…" I looked at Yog. "You're effectively Aza's right hand, right? Her second in command when she's busy? Because it makes a lot of sense for you, as a Goddess of Time and her direct subordinate, to want to help this rise to kingship be as smooth as possible."
Again, Aza hesitated, but after a moment nodded.
"To be honest, I'm not against some help. I… don't really know how I'm best supposed to help Aeon be introduced to our people. This is rather unprecedented for us all."
I noticed Yog sending me a thankful look, and I sent her a psychic thumb-up. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if part of the reason why Yog was not as skilled as she should be was the lack of freedom in experimenting with her powers. If some bad experiences in the past led her to deliberately shy away from training herself and her abilities in full… Well that would explain a lot.
And considering what my True Self saw in her timeline… Well.
Ouch.
"I'm not sure how much I can help, but…" Shub hesitated, then looked at me. "When you're interested in creating a spawnling species, I'd be willing to help you. I'm… the first to do it, so that makes me an expert, I suppose." Shub declared, looking deeply ashamed of something, and I caught the cold look Azathoth sent Yog and the way the latter flinched.
"It's okay with me, Shubby. I'm… far from an expert in all of this myself." Azathoth admitted with a sheepish blush, prompting a smile from the Mother of a Thousand Young, which itself made Yog relax and smile gently as well, something tender flashing through her eyes at the sight of that smile.
"I wouldn't mind a second opinion myself on the matter." I admitted. "Though to be fair, what I have in mind might not be considered spawnlings, since I'm thinking more of creating something like… Well, the Angels from the White God of Heaven."
"That's…" Shub blinked, while Yog's eyebrows rose in her hairline at my words.
Aza tilted her head, looking at me curiously. "Huh, you're certainly ambitious, beloved. The Angels of Heaven are one of the greatest created supernatural servant species to ever exist." she smiled brightly. "Still, if you're the one trying, I'm sure that you'll succeed! I look forward to what you will create!"
I smiled at her, both for her faith in me and the way she was almost jumping in place in eagerness.
Then I looked back at Shub-Niggurath and nodded at her. "So as I said, any help would be welcome. I already shared the concepts I had in mind to both Oedon and Lucy, but a second opinion would be nice."
"To be fair, I barely helped." admitted Lucy. She turned to look at me, shaking her head. "What you have in mind… Well, you certainly aren't holding back, that's for sure."
I chuckled. "I'm the new Ruler of the Eldritch. With Aza being as she is, I do need to show off to make it clear I deserve to sit by her side."
Unspoken is the fact that the original reason for what I had planned was for soldiers capable of handling a Divine Eldritch war. I was relieved I could now ensure I would go through with my plans in the name of peace, not war.
"You don't need to go that far, beloved." said Aza, eyes kind. "I would love you, no matter what power you possess. And that is all that really matters, truly."
I gave her a fond look. "Reality truly is lucky to have you as its creator." I replied, making her blush slightly at the praise.
Shub laughed softly at the sight, before turning towards me with a warm smile.
"I'd be really happy to help. Besides being the new King of the Eldritch, I can tell that you're very important to Azathoth. She hasn't looked this transfixed in eons!"
Aza's blush deepened, before she turned to Yog in an obvious attempt to change the topic of discussion.
"So, how many more did you invite?" she questioned, a knowing look in her eyes.
Yog's coy smile returned in full at the question. "Oh, just a few." she replied, just as I felt yet another knock at the metaphorical doors of the Hunter's Dream.
The next woman who appeared made me tilt my head in curiosity, because while she certainly looked human, she wore a hood that masked her features in shadows completely.
But not to my eyes. A single second of focus on her, and I saw right through her… in more ways than one.
And my eyebrows rose, as I was reminded of a certain old ally back in RE!Earth who was fundamentally surprisingly similar to the goddess before me.
"You invited her?" questioned Aza, her voice clearly surprised.
"Yes, it's nice to see you too, my Sultana." an alluring but clipped voice answered from the depths of the hood, before the goddess bowed respectfully to the other known goddesses around me. "All-Mother, Lurker, and… I'm not sure what to call you yet, besides Mr. Azathoth." she finished while looking at me curiously, though she also glanced at Oedon and Lucy with curiosity.
"I'm Oedon." replied my first wife, giving the goddess a gentle smile, her red eyes glancing at me for a bare instant before settling on the goddess with a certain amount of sympathy.
"And I'm Lucy Miller. Pleasure to meet you." said Lucy, looking with interest at the goddess.
"And my name is Aeon." I finished. I looked at the goddess with narrowed eyes for a moment, before smiling. "I must admit, you're an interesting one. Quite fundamentally different from the other Eldritch Deities I've seen, though you do remind me of an old… friend of ours."
The still-unnamed goddess froze at my words, a storm of emotions coursing through her even as the other Eldritch deities present looked at us both in surprise.
"You… know of someone like me?" the goddess spoke up, something like disbelief and hope in her voice.
"Similar, at least. He isn't a god, but your fundamental natures are surprisingly similar." I hummed in thought.
Maybe introducing her to Alex Mercer would be interesting, considering her nature…
They were both beings born and grown through the consumption of others, after all, though the goddess was far more powerful… and older.
Much older.
"I can introduce you one day, if you want? He isn't the most social of individuals, but he's gotten better ever since he became an internationally recognized hero on his version of Earth." I finally said, and the goddess froze again before nodding with a jerk of the head. "I would… very much like that." she said softly.
"Hmm… What just happened?" asked Shub, looking confused at us both.
"Personal matter. Don't worry about it." I spoke up, giving the horned goddess a kind if subtly firm look that made it clear it would be better not to poke her nose into things.
"Well, that aside, you could have come here looking more casual, Yidhra." said Yog, looking in amusement at Yidhra's long black dress and black boots, all of which screamed "wealth and power."
Said goddess blinked and looked down at herself. "That is my casual." she replied, which…
Heh.
The other must have felt the same, because Oedon looked amused, Lucy outright snorted, Aza deadpanned at Yidhra and Shub gave the goddess a polite smile in return. "It's nice to see you again, Yidhra. I hope that the cults are doing okay?" said the horned goddess.
"I've had to move a few around and put down a few of my more crazy priests to stop them from doing something stupid, but nothing abnormal. Now, Yog-Sothoth asked me to come to see if I could help our new Lord and his people on the matter of creating and maintaining cults?" replied Yidhra, looking first at Shub and then at me, Oedon and Lucy.
"We do have some experience already." Oedon spoke up, since she was the most experienced on the matter. "But I admit, discussing how to smoothly integrate ourselves into the pre-existing structures will require some help from you all to make things work."
"Why did Yog ask you, specifically, by the way?" asked Aza, looking thoughtfully at Yidhra, who shrugged back in response, before raising a finger and beginning to count.
"One, there is literally no one better to handle cults on Earth, and two, given my… nature, I am the most likely eldritch god capable of smoothly dealing with both human understanding of the Cosmos and the Eldritch equivalent. That'll make things easier." she pointed out.
Aza relented, nodding in understanding and acceptance.
Then Yidhra turned back towards me, smiling behind the darkness of her hood.
"As you've heard, I'm Yidhra the Dream-Witch. I… didn't expect you to be able to see through me like that." she admitted softly. "I prefer to keep my true form a secret but…" she gave me a long look, and I nodded. Yes, I knew of the truth behind that particular secret.
Yidhra let out a shuddering breath, but a moment later squared her shoulders and visibly pushed everything else besides the reason for her presence here to the side for the time being.
"Anyway, as one of us, and Azathoth's Mi Amore no less, you're guaranteed to have a cult. Your raw power alone would guarantee it. Same with your other wives." she said, glancing at Oedon and Lucy, before looking back at me. "Cults are very important for some of us. Having followers can create Reality Windows of fluctuating qualities, depending on a cult's size, devotion, and activities, that allow us to perform certain acts from across the Cosmos. Even barring that, our cultists can act as our mortal agents, doing things our spawnlings may or may not be capable of doing." she explained.
She smiled wryly next. "However, due to our nature, each tiers of Eldritch Gods have different levels of influence over their cults. Outer gods have the least, believe it or not. While the most powerful, they are distant and seem apathetic even when they are not. I'm the exception to that, but… that's my life story, to be honest. Anyway, Elder Gods are more physical and present, so they have more, but Great Old Ones are the ones with the most. They're more awe-inspiring than Elder Gods but more reachable than Outer Gods, the best of both worlds."
"We'll have to talk about all of that at length, but that is a conversation for later. Though, it seems that we are going to be breaking the mold quite a bit, if I read between the lines right." mused Oedon.
"How so?" asked Yidhra, visibly curious.
"A question first, if I may. What is the ultimate goal of the cults you speak of?" questioned Oedon.
Yidhra paused, before answering. "Well, it depends from each cults, but quite often it involves manifesting their god upon a world, whether fully or as Avatars." she replied.
Oedon hummed. "And the gods in question can't just set foot upon the worlds of their choice by themselves?"
"Not always, especially the more powerful the god in question." replied Yidhra with a shake of her head. "Outer Gods, especially, tend to reside primarily in the Void, and for them to enter the Material Universe requires complicated means. Not all mind you, but many."
Oedon, Lucy and I share a look.
All of us could go anywhere, or anywhen for that matter, at will.
But more importantly, we could do the same for others.
In short… Me or Oedon, by ourselves, could let every Eldritch Gods in existence enter the Material Universe with utter ease.
Oedon turned back and nodded in thanks at Yidhra. "I see. My thanks for your explanation. That being said-" she turned towards Azathoth "-we'll have to talk later, there are certain matters we'll need to address."
Like, for example, how to reveal the fact that we could allow any Eldritch God to go anywhere they wanted at will.
Because that tidbit of knowledge alone would send shockwaves throughout Reality.
"Alright?" replied Azathoth, visibly confused and curious, as were the other goddesses, but that really needed to be a talk done behind closed doors, so to speak.
"Ahem." interrupted Yog, sending us all a grin as we turned towards her. "Your cults are a matter for the future. For now, there is a more immediate concern."
"And what would that be?" Yidhra asked, raising an eyebrow at the Goddess of Time.
"Azathoth is very overprotective." Yog bluntly stated.
"Ahhh." Every Eldritch Goddess nodded in acknowledgement as one at those words.
"Hey! That's not true!" Aza cried out, blushing brightly at the laughter of her fellow goddesses.
Lucy started laughing loudly, and Oedon began grinning, sending me a teasing look.
"They're made for each other, then!" cackled Lucy.
That made the local Eldritch Goddesses pause and turn towards me.
I raised my right hand. "I blame Yharnam." I deadpanned.
Oedon, Lucy and Aza twitched, equal slight grimaces flashing on their faces.
The local Eldritch Goddess frowned in confusion at us for our reactions, but I just shook my head.
"Long story. Let's just say that where I come from is not a nice place, though I do intend to go change that one day." I said.
I caught Aza muttering about letting eldritch gods have children for starters, the sound of her voice just loud enough for Shub to send her a confused, and slightly horrified, look in reply.
"Either way," Yog spoke up, getting our attention back on her, "Azathoth plans to give her lover servants to help him get used to our reality and keep him safe."
"Really?" Shub asked, tilting her head. "How many?"
"Since he's definitely a very powerful Outer God, he'll get a lot of volunteers, since everyone will want to get close to the new big dog on the playground." answered Yog, though I held back a twitch at being compared to a big dog of all things.
At least it wasn't one on fire…
Yog looked back at Aza, a knowing grin on her lips. "Am I wrong?"
The Eldritch Queen froze, then slumped with a sigh of defeat after a few seconds. "Fine, yes, you all got me." she grumbled with a small, adorable pout before she turned towards me with an earnest look in her eyes. "Beloved, I promise you, the ones you pick will be among those I trust with my life, well, your life. I never really had to worry about mine." she explained sheepishly. "They'll be like your vassals or your sworn-swords, or whatever it is humans call loyal faithful combat-followers. They'll do anything you want. Fight whoever you want in your name, and do anything else that you need to."
Then she turned towards Yog and frowned. "That being said, who exactly-"
"Here." Yog snapped her fingers, a piece of paper appearing before Aza who quickly caught it and read through it.
When she reached the last names, however, she tensed and gave the goddess of Time a sharp look. "Yog-"
"Come now, Azathoth. Your lover is more than powerful to handle everything on that list, even the last names on it. Am I wrong? Do I need to remind you of how we first learnt of him?" Yog interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the Eldritch Queen, though her words caused some frowns of confusion from the Eldritch Goddesses not in the known about my fight with Saitama.
Azathoth paused, and I could see her think back to my memories of fighting the bald hero.
She looked back on the list.
"Those are all names involved with the Eldritch side of things." she pointed out.
Yog nodded. "We'll have a second meeting like this one for everything concerning the Eldritch Kingdom. There's a lot to cover already, so I thought it best to separate things between the Eldritch Pantheon and the Eldritch Kingdom."
Aza pursed her lips, visibly hesitating, before she sent me a worried look… but nodded.
"Alright. But if something goes wrong with some of those names, I won't be held responsible for what happens next. You'll be the one doing the clean up, Yog." grimly declared Azathoth.
"Good enough." replied Yog, trying to appear nonchalant, though I could feel her worry hidden behind a mask of confidence.
Honestly though, I wasn't sure what they were worried about. The only thing that would happen if I met a threat to myself, is that I would call Saitama, and we'd show whatever poor fucker earned our wrath to fear the Power of Friendship.
Nothing quite like getting double-punched hard enough to annihilate multiverses to dust to make you regret all your life choices.
"Right, then. So how should we-"
"I already took care of that." smugly said Yog as she held up a hand and began counting down to zero, even as yet another presence sought to enter the Hunter's Dream.
Seriously, it felt weird to have so many people in there! Gods, no less!
Well, at least this time no one will die.
Hopefully.
Unwelcome corpses tended to put a damper on people's mood, after all.
The next deity, another Goddess, caused another vision, a flash of a sky filled with purple tentacles covered with mouths and boils. The goddess' human form was only noticeably unnatural by the way she had natural purple hair and faintly glowing golden eyes.
"Kass?" muttered Aza, looking faintly bewildered at the new arrival.
"It has been a while, Lady of Xoth." greeted Yidhra with a smile and a nod.
"Sorry, am I late?" Kass asked in concern, obviously nervous and anxious about something. Whatever it was, it earned a deeply sympathetic look from Shub-Niggurath.
A single look at her let me know her problem, and I could see Oedon seeing the same as an expression deeply resembling Shub's own crossed her face.
Ah, problematic children. Something I was not looking forward to, but inevitably would have to deal with in the future.
"Of course not." replied Yog in a self-satisfied way. "Beloved of Azathoth and companions, meet Kassogtha, sister of Cthulhu and mother of his twins."
"We kind of drifted apart after his spat with our brother." Kassogtha commented off-handedly, glancing away, before her eyes glanced at Oedon, Lucy and finally settled on me. She seemed to stand a bit more straight when we made eye-contact, and I could feel it had nothing to do with being intimidated by the raw power she saw contained within my eyes.
"Lord, Yog-Sothoth asked me to interview all the potential servants Lady Azathoth would have called in for you to pick through." Kass explained respectfully, pulling a booklet off her hip.
"Along with a few more he might've gotten on his own." Yog added in as she handed off the booklet to me.
"But why Kass…?" wondered Aza, glancing at Yog.
"She's a people person." the goddess of Time replied with a shrug.
That answer made the creator of Reality nod in understanding before she turned towards me, an adorably serious look on her face.
"Now remember, these are beings who are meant to serve you, so make sure that you take those that you are sure you can get along with and make use of." she said firmly.
Naturally, I merely grinned at her. "Your worry is adorable, and if I wasn't holding the booklet I'd kiss you right now."
Aza blushed, and that blush only deepened when I went "Fuck it, that's too adorable!", leaned down, and kissed her deeply.
Stepping back with a wide grin a moment later while Aza stared at me with wide, dazed eyes, I decided that a blushing Azathoth was definitely one needing to be kissed.
Also, turning the creator deity of Reality into a blushing mess was never going to get old, I could already tell.
Still, this was supposed to be a pretty serious meeting, so I turned my attention back on the booklet, choosing not to make any remarks about the amused looks the local eldritch Goddesses were giving the red-faced Aza.
Lucy spoke up though, looking curiously at the booklet and Kass. "Wait, how did you do this so fast? It's barely been a day since those two met!"
"Time travel shenanigans, I suspect." I replied, to which Yog smiled smugly in return.
Opening it, I blinked and felt a second of surprise when the first open page created a portal before me showing off some kind of red-eyed Naga.
Ta'lanurgatlau, the Serpent of Despair, announced the booklet.
"The Sultana's heart, mastered? Oh this, I must see." spoke the Naga, looking at me curiously while resting in a cave… somewhere.
I raised an eyebrow at her, especially when my [Insight] gave me her backstory. Someone who tried, and failed, to trick Azathoth to try and steal some of her power a hundred thousand years ago, imprisoned ever since in this cave that technically didn't exist, only to feel genuine remorse and become a model prisoner.
Glancing at Aza let me know that the goddess by my side already had forgiven her, but that this was just a good excuse to let her free while not appearing soft.
Also, Ta'la was an incredibly deadly warrior-monster, if not to the level of an Elder God, who also developed a love for…
Gossip.
Of all things.
… Sure, why not.
"Well, I could always use more Hunters of the Dream." I mused, Oedon tilting her head then nodding in agreement at my words.
I could see the curiosity on the faces of the local Eldritch Goddesses at my words, well except Aza, but for now I merely moved on and let the next person appear through the next portal.
I would have to actually go and get all the people I chose later, for now this was just a very quick overview of my potential servants.
The next individual being shown was a female centaur, with long black hair and purple eyes, armed with a bow and an arrow glowing purple like her eyes.
Thaghhu'una, She Who Rides, announced the booklet.
You don't say, I snarked while reading her title and looking up at the female centaur with a deadpan look.
"If the Queen Nucleus has a King, allow me to be his loyal mount. In Peace or War, I shall guard him with my life." she declared, bowing respectfully towards me.
I hummed, taking a look at her backstory. An Elder Goddess, one who traveled the Cosmos out of a fascination for life, while at the same time being the origin of flesh-eating mares, and the reason why horses-like beings existed across the Cosmos. A strong warrior, capable and willing to fight stronger beings than she was, and who discovered and mapped out a number of wormholes allowing travel between various worlds.
"Hunter?" asked Lucy knowingly while looking at the female centaur-like goddess.
"Hunter." I nodded. "Her knowledge of the Cosmos, along with her skill and willingness to fight deadly foes, including other gods, is something I'm more than willing to accept and make use of."
"Hmm. That'll make her the first Hunter Deity of the Dream." noted Oedon, before a proud smile was sent my way. "Congratulations, Good Hunter."
I chuckled. "Thanks, but let's wait on those congratulations until after we make things official."
I nodded at the Elder Goddess, bidding her farewell for now, and then summoned the next portal.
Lucy stiffened at the sight before us, while I snorted and mentally contacted Oedon to tell her "If she started singing, I'm blaming you for this somehow."
Naturally, my first wife merely grinned in amusement as we all stared at the female Drider before us.
Ftagxurshagaalga'k, Lady of the Deep Dark, announced the booklet.
The Drider woman with the upper half of her body being mostly human-looking and the rest of her body looking like a Black Window stared at me with intense focus for a moment, before bowing respectfully.
"She the Beyond the Beyond has taken an aboveling to mate? Strange times for us, children, but times we praise if we might have your aid, He the Beyonder." she said.
I tilted my head, letting my power give me her backstory, only for Kass to actually speak up for this one. "Ftagxu is the broodmother of a spider-like race that has never seen the surface, forbidden by Cthulhu when he still ruled the Earth. Strings were pulled (by me, Kass) to get the seal to release them. She knows of the modern world through words passed by normal spiders that crawl down her realm. She will serve you faithfully, hoping to gain your favor. However, she and her children will outright worship you if you allow her and her children to live above ground. This will likely cause a war with humanity, so plan for that." she explained.
Then Kass looked back at the Drider woman, nodding towards the other spiders surrounding her. "Her spider-children can be surprisingly counted as mortal worshippers. They are sapien, intelligent, and capable of speech. The Queens take on the drider-like form of their All-Mother."
"Can they sing?" immediately asked Oedon.
I facepalmed.
There was a wide round of blinking at the question, but the fact that Oedon was quite clearly serious made Kass hesitate before answering. "I think? At least the Queens. I'm not sure about their children."
I grumbled in my open palm. "Oedon, I swear-"
"I'll teach them how, then!" my first wife cheerfully said, making my second hand rejoin the first while I groaned deeply.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to just… ignore that last minute of time and instead looked at a bewildered Kass.
"Before anything else, can I ask why Cthuhlu forbid them to go to the surface and outright sealed them away?"
"Their ancestors fought against Cthulhu in order to try and claim the Earth for themselves. Cthulhu won, and made it so that Ftagxu's people would be sealed away in the depths of the Earth, to prevent them from ever again threatening the world."
Kass paused, then grimaced. "There were a few more wars in the depths when her people tried to soothe their wounded pride by going after other subterraneans species. It didn't exactly go well for them, and they've been firmly isolationists ever since… but they never fully forgot their dream to be on the surface."
"I see." I replied, thoughtful.
I glanced at my first wife, and a single look at her made it clear that she was determined to get her "Singing spiders 2.0" plan going.
I turned towards Ftagxu. "A question, if I may. Would your people be willing to accept a compromise on the matter of going to the surface?"
The Spider-Queen stared at me with bright red eyes for a moment. "Depends on the compromise in question."
"Does the surface need to be that of Earth?" I asked, making a few of the local goddesses blink.
Ftagxu tilted her head, intrigue in her eyes. "Do you have a plan?"
"If I open portals leading your people to an entire world like Earth, where there are no other intelligent species on it, would it be an acceptable compromise? The Earth is full of enough people already. Why not simply have an Earth-like planet for yourself and your children?" I asked.
The Spider-Queen fell silent for a long moment, before nodding slowly. "I believe that such an arrangement may be acceptable. I will need more details before accepting, and I must talk with my daughters, but I am… interested."
I smiled. "Then I will contact you later to agree on the details. Until then, Queen Ftagxurshagaalga'k."
I closed that portal, while the goddesses around me just… stared at me.
Except Oedon, who was quite clearly already thinking of ways to go about making the spiders learn to sing.
"Well, that's… certainly a solution." finally spoke up Yidhra, blinking at me.
I shrugged. "Letting the spiders get to the surface of Earth would bring nothing but chaos and death. This way, the spiders are happy and worship me for giving them a whole planet to populate, I'm happy that Humanity won't have to go to war, and I'm going to make use of the fact that the spiders will owe me big to impose certain binding agreements on them to ensure they don't become a problem later on. Everybody wins."
"You'll still have to find an Earth-like planet without sapient life and create portals to lead the spiders there, though." pointed out Yidhra.
I smirked, snapping my fingers and opening portals leading to a planet my True Self let me know of that was perfect for what I had in mind.
"You were saying?" I said smugly. Omniscience for the win!
The goddesses stared at the Earth-like planet beyond the newly opened portals, before Yog gave me a thumb-up.
"Well, that's… That'll work." muttered Kass, nodding at me.
I closed the portals, turning back to the booklet, and letting the next portal open.
And then I stared.
Lucy stared.
Oedon blinked, tilted her head, then smiled.
Liallasur'Yog, Yog's puppet, the booklet named the bound, nearly naked woman smiling back at us.
I stared some more, then looked down at the booklet, then at Yog, who was grinning widely at me, then back at the booklet, at the bound woman, then back at Yog.
""Eldritch Goddesses are kinky and shameless."" Lucy and I spoke as one, with a complete deadpanned.
For some reason, that made Shub blush, Kass cough, and Yog grin wider.
"Yog-" Azathoth started saying, but I interrupted her. "The mother of the Dunwich Horror. You're giving me-" I pointed at the still grinning bound woman. "The mother of the Dunwich horror." I deadpanned.
"She's an excellent oracle… one that will be more than happy to serve under you, my lord." Yog said with deep amusement.
I stared at the shameless goddess. "Your choice of words was deliberate, wasn't it." I said flatly.
"Absolutely." she said shamelessly.
I looked back at the woman, who grinned at me before speaking up.
"Let this tool be your guide, great Sovereign. Demand any information and I shall provide. Demand anything and this tool shall obey. Demand nothing and this tool shall await you forever." the very, very kinky woman said, visibly quite happy to be either lustfully ravaged or ignored utterly.
I had a feeling she'd enjoy both. No, scratch that. I knew she'd enjoy both.
Of fucking course Lavinia Whateley is a Darkness expy, I thought with a long sigh.
Oedon glanced at me, red eyes twinkling. "Well, she would birth strong oracles for you…"
"No, Oedon. Bad Oedon." I deadpanned.
"She'd very much enjoy it." pointed out the devil in disguise, trying to play on my desire to respect Free Will.
I gave her a look, and she sighed but accepted that no, I wasn't going to ravage the admittedly very pretty… and very well endowed… woman just because she'd want me to.
What was my life, I don't even…
Shaking my head, I waved at the still grinning oracle who was "subtly" pushing her breasts up.
"I'll take you, but no I won't fuck you silly." I said flatly, finally making the woman slump with a disappointed pout. "But if you really want to… have that kind of fun… well I know of quite a few Eldritch Gods who would be very happy to impregnate you."
Because the Old Ones of Bloodborne would quite happily accept her desires.
Repeatedly, if she was into that kind of thing.
That made the woman perk up… tits and all… and smile brightly at me.
"Let's just… get to the next one." I said with a sigh, closing that specific portal.
And I tried not to think of the thoughtful look on Oedon's face towards Lavinia. We might just end up with a second Vileblood Queen situation, with Lavinia quite happily letting Oedon get all over her…
Or rather, inside her.
Well, she was a goddess of life. If she wanted to go impregnate a beautiful woman who was quite willing, I was hardly going to do anything but enjoy the sexy show.
Her oath to me was that I was the only man she would lay with, but neither of us said anything about beautiful women quite happily welcoming us. It would be quite hypocritical of me to say anything on the matter.
Besides, she was an Eldritch Goddess. I knew her well enough to know she was just interested in experimenting with eugenics programs, not relationships.
I opened the next portal, blinking once at the wave of heat coming from it before tilting my head slightly to look at the female humanoid made up of molten lava and rocks staring at me from the other side of the portal.
Aftftshasnaftst, She Who Melts, announced the booklet.
Kass spoke up again, looking with some curiosity at the woman.
"Naftst is an uncertainty among the Eldritch Community. We know that she emerged from the cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, but we're not sure if she is the cause or the result of it."
Kass glanced at Aza, nodding her way. "Azathoth believes that she is an Outer God related to Cthugha that, willing or unwilling, fell to sub-Elder God level when her mass collided with the Earth. Yidhra, Naftst's self-appointed guardian, believes that she was a baby Eldritch on the rock that hit Earth. Yog likes a good mystery, so she's not talking."
I glanced at Aza, Yidhra, then Yog, before looking back at the lava goddess.
Looking at her history-
Huh.
"So you're both kind of right, actually." I spoke up, glancing at Yidhra and Azathoth. "She's a child of Cthugha that ended up crossing paths with an evil Eldritch God, fought him, and ended up being sent straight to Earth at the end of the fight, while all but dead. She used her powers as a fire goddess to basically pull off a Phoenix move by rebirthing herself as a baby Eldritch… right before hitting the Earth. You know the rest."
There were blinks all around, except for Yog who smiled at me, politely applauding my feat of discerning the truth.
"Which evil Eldritch God did she fight?" asked Azathoth, frowning deeply.
"Uitzilcapac, the Lord of Pain." I replied, drawing winces from everyone present.
"Ah, him." coldly said Azathoth.
Considering that, as far as I could tell, he was basically Slaanesh, the eldritch version, yeah that was a fitting reaction.
"Well, I guess that makes sense… But why did Cthugha never say anything?" wondered Yidhra.
I sighed. "She was meant to be traveling on her own for a while, as a way to see the universe and learn to live in it by herself. I'm not sure that he even knows that anything happened, Eldritch's conception of Time being what it is, it might seem like barely a month or two had passed for him."
There were quite a few nods. A few millions of years really wasn't much time by Eldritch standards.
I looked back towards Naftst, to find her bowing at me. "I thank you for revealing to me my past, Lord of the Eldritch." she replied, before looking back at me. "If it pleases you, I would like to offer my services to you as thanks. I… will have to go find my father now that I know of him, but otherwise, it would be my honor to serve you."
I hummed, noticing the way her voice was surprisingly flat and lifeless… even as her emotions were anything but.
A quirk of her nature causing her to appear more emotionless than she really is? Interesting, though it meant little to an Empath like me.
I smiled. "Well, I'll gladly welcome you Naftst, but I think you should go see your dad first. He'd probably appreciate knowing of your current status. Though I'm sure we can get you back to Outer Goddess level in time. You were there once already after all, I'm certain I can help you get back to snuff."
Again, she bowed deeply. "You are most generous, great lord. I shall do my best not to disappoint."
I held back a snort at the delivery of the words, her flat voice making it seem like she was being cheeky with me. But no, she was genuinely grateful.
Either way, with a few last farewells, I closed that portal, and opened the next one.
And I blinked.
… Huh.
Was that-
I glanced down at the booklet.
Alexstrasza, the Dragon Queen.
I looked up.
… So, no, it wasn't the World of Warcraft version.
But apparently, my True Self was having fun, while at the same time ensuring that Dragon-kind would have an actual leader in the Prime Reality.
Sure, why not, I thought with a mental sigh while I mentally flipped the bird at my True Self, currently busy laughing in the back of my mind, the cheeky little shit.
"So this requires some history." said Kass while looking at the Dragon Queen and her people through the portal, "There was once a war between Great Old Ones and Elder Gods. Not all of them, not even most of them, but enough to make outsiders think so. This war took place at Glyu-Uno and saw the fall of many gods before Azathoth stepped in. The lifeblood of so many Eldritch created many a strange beast. This included literal dragons, which did not exist until then."
"I see. Any reason why you would seek to bind yourself to a god you know little about, besides the fact I'm good enough to have Azathoth herself vouch for me?" I questioned the Dragon Queen, looking at me with curious golden eyes.
"We dragons do not have gods." she explained. "The closest to such we have is Azathoth, that we respect for intervening to stop the war that saw our kind come to life, and… Well, myself, the oldest of my people." she revealed, though I could see her people's respect for her made her slightly uneasy. Probably one of those leaders that didn't think they were as great as people make them out to be.
Well, better that than the opposite.
"And we have done well for ourselves, but the lack of Divine representation does occasionally make things… more complicated than they have to be."
Despite the rather diplomatic way she said that, I had the suspicion that some gods looked down on her people for one reason or another… And that they weren't shy about making trouble if they could.
I could see a number of reasons for that. Gods being as they are, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those reasons was a simple "Dragons are fun to hunt."
Fame and Glory and all that good stuff.
"As such, you're looking for a Patron God that would let your voice be heard, and also one that you can trust to not stab you in the back… so to speak." I finished, nodding in understanding.
Alexstrasza smiled wryly. "Essentially, yes. As you are to become the husband of Lady Azathoth, you are in the unique position of having the power to be heard, being respected by dragon-kind for who you will claim as your wife, and being trusted for the same reason."
I looked at her thoughtfully, then glanced towards Oedon.
My first wife gave me a look that made it clear that she had picked up on the same thing I had felt from the Dragon Queen.
"If I may." spoke my wife, making the Dragon Queen blinked and look curiously at her. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are conceptually linked to both the concepts of Blood and Life. Is that correct?"
Alexstrasza frowned curiously while looking at my wife, and I could feel a certain amount of… conceptual sympathy at work here.
"That is correct. As we dragons were born of Blood, the lifeblood of many Eldritch beings specifically, combined with my own work to protect and ensure the prosperity of Life, I am conceptually linked to Blood and Life."
The Dragon Queen kept looking at my wife, understanding beginning to dawn in her eyes.
"My apologies, my lady, but are you Lady Oedon, the first wife of Lord Aeon? I learned from you both and Lady Lucy from the seers, but I do not know the concepts you claim dominion over…"
She trailed off, but there was a knowing gleam in her eyes.
Oedon smiled just as knowingly back at her. "I am indeed Oedon, Goddess of Blood and Life. And while I am more than happy to celebrate anyone seeking the patronage of my husband, I do believe that you specifically would align more closely with me, instead."
"So it seems." Alexstrasza replied with amusement, and I could see the way her plans changed with my wife's words. Still, she turned back towards, expression hopeful. "My lord, if you'd allow me-"
"Granted." I replied before she could even finish asking. "Just one last thing, if I may?"
"Of course, Lord." The Dragon Queen said.
I pointed at my wife with an amused look on my face. "Be careful, she's totally going to try and seduce you at some point."
Alexstrasza blinked, even as Oedon took on an innocent expression that I did not trust for a second.
I knew my wife, a dragon-queen conceptually linked to Blood and Life? If she didn't end up a High Priestess of my wife, I'll eat my hat.
And if Oedon didn't already gleefully plan to make her our lover, I'd be very surprised.
Especially when we both could tell that Alexstrasza was very much a Queen-Mother of Dragon kind.
If beautiful female warriors and kind goddesses were something I was quite attracted to, then Alexstrasza was catnip for my wife.
Honestly, poor girl was going to find herself singing praises to her goddess in bed not long after starting to do so in temples if I wasn't wrong.
The Dragon-Queen stared at me, then glanced at my wife… at which point her expression turned contemplative.
… Oh boy.
Oedon smiled at her, warm and kind and beautiful.
The look grew in intensity.
Oh yeah, she's soooo screwed. Literally.
I glanced at my wife, mentally asking 'So, what do you say of sending a clone of yourself over there to… better negotiate things?'
My beautiful wife blinked, then gave me a sunny smile so bright it was a wonder it didn't start shining like the sun.
"Thank you." she replied, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before looking back at the Dragon-Queen… and a moment later a second Oedon now stood right by her side.
"I do believe that any further discussion needs to be done in private between my wife and yourself, Queen Alexstrasza." I replied, eyes twinkling.
Said woman glanced at the smiling Oedon by her side, then at the one by my side, then back at me.
She opened her mouth… then paused, gave me a long look, then smiled.
"Actually, I believe it would be for the best if both you and your wife were present for the… no doubt lengthy negotiations to come, my Lord."
Oedon and I stared.
Then I promptly decided that yeah, Alexstrasza was awesome, and that my True Self was one sneaky bugger to set up the perfect situation for getting a wife for me, an entire powerful species of worshippers for both me and Oedon, and a perfect High Priestess for Oedon.
I glanced at Aza, who looked at me with amusement before nodding towards the Dragon-Queen.
I smiled, a second Aeon appearing at the other side of Alexstrasza.
"I look forward to seeing if your negotiation skills are up to the tasks of facing both myself and my wife, Queen Alexstrasza." I said with deep amusement.
"I do believe, my Lord, that I have a good feeling about those negotiations." she replied just as amused. "I believe that they will prove… mutually satisfactory."
I laughed, even as I closed the portal to let the negotiations get going.
"So… what the hell just happened?" asked Kass, staring with rather wide eyes where the portal just was.
Oedon and I shared a look, while Lucy let out a long sigh.
Then Oedon and I turned to look at Kass with matching grins on our faces.
""Passionate negotiations, my dear!"" We cheerfully spoke as one.
Naturally, that's when Lucy facepalmed and began grumbling about unfair, stupid sexy Eldritch deities.
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Love Azathoth!
This chapter and the next several will be pretty exposition heavy, as I have to introduce the setting and its characters.
I would like to request aid in finding the pictures of the characters of Love Azathoth, for sadly not even the guy who made the CYOA remember where he found everything (I asked). Kass, for example, currently has no pictures because I have no idea who she is.
Still, after 90 chapters, we're finally interacting with the Eldritch Mythos! And right now we're building up Aeon's cast of servants to help him across the Eldritch Mythos. Since Aeon is an omniscient god, what he needs isn't so much knowledge or power, it's a meet-and-greet where he can build connections that he can then leverage to get things done across Reality.
As such, the "First Act" for the Love Azathoth jump will be Aeon meeting and helping people to build up the political goodwill he'll need to get his ideas made real.
Whether gods or entire species, right now Aeon is a big unknown, and he needs to build a reputation if he wants to be taken seriously. Saving the species of Azathoth's Avatar sent a strong first impression, but he still has a lot to do before he can consider his rule secure.
Also, yes I know that Alexstrasza is definitely not a part of Love Azathoth, but honestly I saw enough potential for her as a character in the setting that I made the decision to go for it. The token dragon character in the CYOA isn't someone I felt I could do much with, but Alexstrasza? Oh yes, I can definitely use her as both a lover of Aeon and Oedon, a high priestess of Oedon, a character that gives me an "in" to delve into Dragons in the setting of Love Azathoth, and more.
QUESTION for you all, however: Should Kass end up with Aeon, or Alex Mercer? Because I'm fine with writing one or the other.
If Kass goes with Aeon, I'll have Alex end up with a Shoggoth. Because Shoggoth maids are surprisingly cute/hot.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we get to continue Aeon building up his retinue of servants, while meeting more Eldritch ladies along the way!