Chapter 4 - A New Battleground! PT. 1
The music starts slowly. The theme being sung at a low but gradually increasing volume.
A beautiful, bright and sunny day fades into view. Looking off the balcony of a vast Egyptian city. The sun shines down unto it with bedazzling magnificence.
A gorgeously decorated, elegant hand comes into view. Slim and carefully crafted, it belongs to a woman. Her skin is tan, her nails painted with a cosmic blue reminiscent of a starry sky, and her fingers and wrists were adorned with golden jewelry. Rings, bracelets, thin chains.
It's being held by another hand, one that looks stronger, larger, yet still carried a subtle softness and gentle touch to it. Their chin and mouth come into view. A woman, and her lips are smooth and humble.
She kisses the decorated hand, ever so softly, carefully too, so that the tip of her perfect nose doesn't touch the top of the other woman's hand.
And then the music builds.
Panning up, she is revealed.
The Weaver of Fate. Neith. And she looks as beautiful as ever, with her delicate white drapes, her intricate tattoos and body markings, and all that jewelry.
She rests upon a lounge chair, laying on it with a small smile on her face as she looked down at the one who kissed her hand.
In reverence, or love?
But as the music continued to build… the view changed.
The Weaver looked away, her smile vanishing. She looks out to the balcony that appeared moments before. Concern gleaming in her deep blue eyes.
Egypt comes back into view. Center-stage. Panning upward, into the orange skies, spotlighting a gently setting sun.
The sound crescendos.
SMITE: Worldweaver's Spirit.
And then began to rapidly speed up.
Rapid images flashed by. Passing figures and faces. Friends, or foes?
First, a hideous bearded man with a face not even a mother could love, wielding a glowing paint brush. Zhong Kui.
Past him, a pair of purple eyes gleaming under the shadow of a white hood, hiding a woman's face. Nemesis.
Then came another woman, her hair short and purple, grinning devilishly as her hand hovers around a glowing golden apple. Discordia.
The apple's reflection shows chaos, as was its purpose, between two others: A horrific and sickly figure wearing a skull mask holding its staff out against a woman with wings adorning her arms, a golden staff of her own in her glowing hands. Ah Puch and Eset.
The two clashed with their magics, dark shades of purple against bright rays of gold.
The sun shined brightly for but a moment, before being blocked out by a creature beyond mortal comprehension, his tentacles and unfathomable pupils striking fear into his opponent, who stood before him with wide eyes, spear and shield in hand. Cthulhu and Athena.
A bright white laser shot across the way, fired by a man with white hair and moon-shaped arm blades. Tsukuyomi.
The laser missed its mark on an armored woman with short black hair and burning red eyes, who was crashing her shield into a man with blowing blonde hair and far too much confidence. Bellona and Achilles.
The music's fast pace didn't slow, yet.
The Weaver herself appeared again, being charged by a petrifying monstrosity, a Gorgon. None other than Medusa. Neith swiftly turned her head over, and armed her bow, a glowing white arrow forming the second she pulled her three drawstrings back.
And then came the fire.
A massive man stood with a flaming sword, looking down upon the Weaver and what seemed to be her fallen ally, or perhaps more. Bellona, gravely wounded. Blood spilling out from her body.
Neith's blue eyes glistened with a heavy gloss, reflecting the flames of the one who stood before her.
Surtr.
And now, it slowed and plateaued. A more consistent rhythm took over, and the vocals were stable and swift.
Neith's glare is filled with panic and intensity. Her eyes change color as they began to glow white, her gaze slowly turning over to face… you.
Her hand grips another. Until it slips, and she let out a blood-curdling scream, hopeless to save who she had held onto. It echoes through a derelict place of forlorn worship.
5 Goddesses walked forward. A full team prepared for what laid ahead, headed by Neith.
Bellona came first, her fists flying outward at a breakneck pace. And then she spun, her sword and shield forming out of flaming ashes into her hands to complete an attack that cut the air before her.
Neith came second, spinning a glowing white arrow made of pure energy in her careful hands.
Eset flew forth third, bolts of pure magic flinging out as she whipped her wings out in massive arcs.
A glowing figure made of light sped past the way in the form of a bright blur, Athena, and her lightspeed charge, dashing in fourth.
Then a large blade shot forth, being held out by Nemesis as her scales spun around her. She took off as a purple-blur, movements unstoppable.
A piercing white arrow flew through the air, its radiance unmatched. The 5 Goddesses watched it fly forth from Neith's bow.
Surtr's rage boiled. Flames flew outward, the ground erupted, magma soaked the area in which he stood. He couldn't control it. Grasping his head, he roared. And engulfed in flames he became.
The music got louder.
Droplets of blood spilled onto the ground, drop by drop, from a thin and delicate finger with a blue-painted nail.
Surtr roared again, pure heat spewing from his mighty jaw, hot enough to the burn skin of nearly any being. He reeled his sword back and swung, the heavy, fiery blade piercing through the air.
But she was not just any being. She was a Goddess, and fate was her domain. Neith glared at Surtr, her body suddenly exploding in a flash of white energy that made her skin glow. The second it dispersed… her bow was primed.
And out shot dozens of piercing white arrows. The first tore its way forward. Spinning, cutting.
And then it prepared for one last crescendo.
She sat crouched, yanking her bow's strings back with all her strength, teeth gritted. The Worldweaver arrow. And instead of glowing purely white, it flashed with a blinding blue, like that of a star.
And it arrived quickly. The sound felt powerful.
Neith's eyes narrowed. Her hand let the strings go. And the arrow shot forth.
Surtr's terrified face appeared, looking down at his chest at a radiating white and blue light that he could barely look at. Pure shock in his wide eyes.
A massive explosion of raw power erupted outward.
World.
Weaver's.
Spirit.
And the music's last note hit and dragged on.
Before fading into silence…
Zooming out…
A wide flat-screen 100-inch OLED 120hz 4K television with HDR, Free and G-SYNC came into view.
What a mouthful.
The intro had faded to black- and then the video playback got paused. But that didn't kill the excitement that was being felt by one particular young immortal that was in the large living room, having just watched the intro to The Arena's newest spin-off.
"That was amazing!" a high-pitched voice squealed out, tossing her little fists in the air. It was Jing Wei, her twin pigtails waving about wildly with the movements of her head. "You have gotta' be so freakin' excited about this!"
She spoke to the woman who was sitting a short distance away from her on the large couch that spanned the living room in front of the massive television.
Neith was leaning against one of the armrests of the couch, holding her head up with one of her hands, cheek against her palm. She looked mildly amused, at best, but when Jing Wei called out to her, a small smile compelled her lips to curve up.
"Just another way for The Arena to market us," shrugged the wise Goddess. "It's nothing, really."
"What do you mean- 'it's nothing,' of course it's something!" Jing wei snapped back, leaning forward a little to show she meant what she was saying. "It's a whole new spin-off about you, Neith! You're already stupidly popular as it is, this is gonna grow your worshipper count even more!"
Neith's eyes softened as she looked at Jing Wei- and then the moment got ruined by someone far more rambunctious.
"Oooh yeah, because the millions of Neith-lovers need even more reason to glaze her," his voice shot out bluntly. And somehow, it was even higher-pitch than Jing Wei's.
"Shut up, Ne Zha," Jing Wei laughed. "You squeal so LOUD, dude."
Ne Zha chuckled as he slid his way over to the couch and tossed himself onto it, cracking open a can of Coke. It had a picture of Thor on it, holding a can. Bright blue lightning designs contrasting nicely with the brand's signature red color scheme.
Neith turned her head over to the young deity and let out a small laugh. "Glaze? What does that mean?"
Ne Zha looked over to answer her, but Jing Wei jumped in before he could say a word.
"It—"
"It just means your fans are all gonna' love you that much more," the Oathkeeper blurted out.
"Ohh! My worshippers!" Neith smiled brightly. "Yes, they're all so lovely. But they can be a bit… much, sometimes."
"You have too many, Neith," Ne Zha told the Goddess.
"You get requested so much, literally I think it was like… I dunno', twen—"
Neith quickly cut her off. "Roughly twenty percent of all matches within The Arena, I know," she giggled, slowly nodding her head. "I do work a lot."
"How do you not get exhausted, with all the mortals wanting to see you all the time?" Ne Zha asked.
"I do get exhausted! But I have to keep people happy, and I do enjoy the attention quite a bit," she smirked at the two young deities.
"Twenty percent…" Ne Zha repeated, his voice quieter. "Dang, that's a lot."
"Mhmmm," hummed Neith.
"She was just saying her new spin-off isn't a big deal," Jing Wei told Ne Zha, who had sat down closer to her than Neith had. He was between the two women.
"I mean, it kinda' isn't."
"Ahh, you see?" Neith let out, casually eyeballing Jing Wei.
"Wh—how can you say that?!"
"Dude, The Arena makes spin-off shows about different Gods like all the time. 'Battleground of the Gods' is the main one that people watch, sure, but… sometimes people want something that focuses more on the Gods they like more. And tons of people like Neith."
Neith was just nodding along to everything Ne Zha was saying.
"Have you even tried to Google how many shows Neith's played a big role in?" he asked.
"N-No…" Jing Wei meekly replied. "But I do know about Civil War!"
"Everyone knows about Civil War," said Ne Zha, bluntly.
"Not my best role," Neith interrupted.
"You were great!" the two other deities then said, snapping their heads over to Neith.
"I—" Neith stammered, putting her hands up in front of herself and leaning back into the couch. "Jeez, calm down!"
"There goes Neith with another bad take," Ne Zha chuckled, trading a look with Jing Wei.
"You were awesome in Civil War! And you even got to have Bell at your side like all the time!"
Neith's cheeks flushed with red. Jing Wei was right, the Civil War spin-off show that was the current topic of the conversation was the first time her relationship with the Goddess of War presented itself onto the big screen.
The public reception was grander than she could've ever expected. But at the same time, it wasn't that far-fetched, which she felt helped smoothen things.
Romans and Egyptians, a tale as old as time. Julius Ceasar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra did it way back when, so why couldn't she? And on top of that, Bellona and she were both such popular poster-children of The Arena.
There were multiple poster-children. Zues was a huge one, of course. Then there was her, the Worldweaver. Guan Yu was big, Thor too. Anhur, Ymir, Anubis. But those were the good old days. She recalled when Bellona finally decided to make her name known, and she became the single most popular poster child, even more so than Zues!
Now she was nearly everywhere.
Neith recalled feeling a little bitter that her long-lasting 'situationship' had come along to take her place as the most popular female poster child, but… maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Her Bell.
"Neith? Earth to Neeeith," a voice called out.
"Huh—?!" Neith blurted out, blinking, and sitting up a little. Her eyes shot over to look at Jing Wei and Ne Zha, who were both just staring at her.
"You okay?" Jing Wei chuckled. "You kinda'… zoned out there."
"Daydreaming about her girlfriend again," Ne Zha teased.
"Oh. Right," said Jing Wei, before hiding her mouth behind her hand and giggling.
Neith rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I? As if Bellona isn't something to absolutely marvel at…"
"Whatever," Ne Zha said. "We're getting off-topic! Why don't you like Civil War?"
"I never said I didn't like it, I just said it wasn't my best role," replied Neith, sitting up a little and fixing her posture against the couch. "Of course, I was so happy to finally let the world know about me and Bell. But outside of that, I… was more of a damsel in that show. And the writing was… kind of bad, in my opinion…"
"Really? I really liked it…" Jing Wei murmured, poking her fingers together. She sunk back into the couch.
"Probably because of how badass it made you look. And… uh."
"Yeah, you and me, dummy!" Jing Wei suddenly grinned brightly, pulling Ne Zha close with a side-hug.
"Chill, chill—" he grunted, swatting at Jing Wei to get her to let go, but she didn't. He side-eyed Neith, embarrassed to have this happen to him right in front of her.
But she just thought it was adorable. Puppy love was always so cute!
Jing Wei let go of her boyfriend and smiled at Neith. "You weren't the only one who got to have their relationship go public with Civil War. That's why I thought you'd like it more, since… I really liked it."
"I know, sweetie," Neith said, giving her a nod. "Again, I liked the show for what it was! But I just didn't enjoy my own role in it, and since then, there's been much better spin-offs."
"She got to play as a rival to Artemis in her spin-off!" Ne Zha brought up. "Over the Moon?"
"I like Over the Moon! Chang'e and Awilix are fantastic in their respective roles. And I heard Tsukuyomi's been very well received with his introduction in the newest season," Neith said with a smile.
"Awilix and Arty are so cute together…" Jing Wei swooned, squishing a nearby couch cushion against her chest.
"Yea, and Artemis is badass. Sworn forever to be a maiden? Wrestling against her love for her fellow Moon Goddess? That stuff is intense," Ne Zha commented.
"And it makes the story that much more beautiful," Neith interjected.
"Yeah."
Jing Wei sighed.
"Well—still, Neith! This new show's going to be awesome, I mean, that intro has me hooked already!" chirped the winged Goddess.
"It's not my first spin-off. I had 'Life in Egypt' back in the 70s."
"That was a sitcom," Ne Zha said, bluntly.
"It counts!" Neith laughed.
"It does not!" Jing Wei blurted out.
"Okay—! Oh, technically was a lead in 'The Core Five,' back during the 90s."
"Yeah, but you weren't one-hundred percent the main protagonist. You shared that role with everybody else: Ymir, Guan Yu, Thor, and Ra," Jing Wei retorted.
"Okay—sure… but I also had a movie in the early 2000s. 'Fight for Fate?' That one was great!"
"It was," Ne Zha commented. "Your fight against Fenrir in that one is still so badass."
"Thank you," Neith chuckled at the compliment.
Jing Wei groaned.
"Okay—sure, fine! But this is different! This is an entire series just for you! How many Gods can say they have that?! Sure, we've been part of shows and movies, but ninety-nine percent of the time, we have other gods as co-stars."
Ne Zha and Neith stayed quiet for once, thinking. It was true. The Arena adored using shows, movies, and other popular forms of media to both make money and lend worship to the deities involved. It was a stone that killed multiple birds. It made everyone involved money, earned the Gods fame and worship, making them stronger, and opened the world up to different cultures and deities, bringing people together with entertainment and drama.
The new world's system was a clever one. Monetized, as everything was in the current age, but eons better than waging wars that could end the world, like in the olden days. The civilized world was one that worked for mostly everybody.
But of course, it had drawbacks. Often, some Gods demanded that The Arena create media for them to increase their worshipper count. More respect, prestige, favor, a larger, grander following. And when refused for a multitude of reasons, they'd get… angry, to say the least.
Things like that cost money, first and foremost. It also cost manpower, production, time, and effort. And if the payoff wasn't enough, then there was no reason to move forward with such plans. In fact, in some scenarios, certain projects completely failed.
And as a result, a deity would lose worshippers and followers due to negative public reception.
Only the most popular Gods had spin-offs of their own, where they didn't share the role of protagonist with fellow deities and were the sole-focus of the camera.
The name examples were…
Zues, in 'The Olympians' series.
Bellona, in her 'War Prodigy' series.
Thor, in an entire line-up of his own superhero-like movies that were all named after him.
Artemis, in 'Over the Moon,' another series.
Sun Wukong, in 'Jet to the West,' which was a modern drama series.
Loki, in 'World's Greatest Prankster,' a universally adored comedy and reality TV series.
And finally… Neith was getting her own series. Maybe, she should be more excited about it.
"Okay…" the Weaver finally let out. "Maybe it is pretty nice."
"See! I knew I could change your mind about it!" Jing Wei cheered.
"It's just that it's not the first time it's happened. I've been part of plenty of things like this, movies, shows… music videos, advertisements, I've been around for a long time! Eventually, you kind of just start… getting bored, so I decided, 'screw it! I'm gonna get with the times,' and… now I'm here," she explained, shrugging her shoulders up.
"I wish other Gods were as accepting of like… newer things like that. Thanatos doesn't like it despite his character being super popular in basically anything he appears in…" Jing Wei sighed.
"That's because Thanatos is a bad actor. Everyone's lucky he wears that mask so that any other human actor can just play his part. He still benefits from the following," explained Neith, with a small smirk. "The real Thanatos in front of a camera? Gosh, he'd be so angry…"
"He's bitter as hell," Ne Zha said aloud.
"Hey!" Jing Wei snapped. "He does his best to be nice! He's… nice to me—sometimes."
"Yeah, sometimes," Ne Zha said.
"Whatever. The point is—maybe there's a reason why you're so popular, Neith! You actually embrace change! Tons of other Gods need to stop being such old-heads."
Neith let out a laugh, before shaking her head.
"Everybody's different, Jing, dear. Besides, the Gods who don't like it still get their fair share of worship in The Arena. The battles themselves are still the main thing the world pays attention to. That will never change."
"Yeah. I know," Jing Wei sighed out, before giving Neith a smile.
"Tomorrow's the big day, though, guys," Ne Zha brought up, looking between the two Goddesses that sat at either side of him.
"The new Alpha-phase tests for the new combat arenas are starting soon."
Jing Wei's eyes widened. "Oh- shit! You're right!"
Neith smiled softly. "It's exciting."
The Oathkeeper leapt onto her feet, squeezing her fists. "They're gonna' announce who's gonna get to participate in the first weekend test! Holy shit—wait, when's the ceremony?!"
"Tomorrow, at noon," Ne Zha told her.
Jing Wei's face lit up, doing a few tiny hops up and down, until she couldn't hold it anymore. Her wings began to flutter, making her hover in the living room, right above the coffee table that set at its center.
"Who do you guys think is gonna' make it in?!"
"Poster-children, obviously," Ne Zha said, rolling his eyes. And then he looked over to Neith.
Neith put her hands up in surrender. "Hey—! I don't know a thing! For all I know, I won't make it in!"
"You totally will, you're iconic, Neith…" Jing Wei groaned, before folding her arms up and pouting. "Shoot. That probably means I won't make it in…"
"People like you a lot too, Jing," Ne Zha said, giving her a reassuring look. "I'm the one that has the smallest chance of making it in."
"Well—they did make an announcement video that got everyone totally psyched out, and… who was in it again, err…" Jing Wei paused, lightly tapping her cranium as she thought. Then, she snapped her fingers. "Bellona, obviously!"
"Jeez, you guys get into everything," Ne Zha said, looking at Neith.
Who just shrugged with that same smug smile of hers.
"Anhur, Loki… and I think Odin and Kuku'!" Jing Wei recited.
"They said there'd be fourteen slots," reminded Ne Zha.
"That's already five… ugh—Gods! I'm totally not making it in!" Jing Wei complained, dragging her hands down her face, comically stretching it.
"Technically, ten," Neith corrected. "Chaac, Anubis, Cernunnos, Ymir, and Bacchus were included in that announcement video as well."
"So there's only gonna' be four slots…" Ne Zha said in a low voice. He shook his head and scoffed. "Yeah, I'm screwed."
"So am I…" Jing Wei sighed out, her wings slowing down, until her feet finally planted themselves back on the expensive hardwood flooring of the Neith's luxury house.
"But a wait a minute," she let out, looking up to Neith. "Y-You… you weren't in the announcement…!"
Neith stared at the two young deities, before nodding. "And?"
"W-What if you don't make it in?! No way! They can't just leave you out, you're—you're you!"
Neith began to laugh, hiding her mouth with her hand, some of her bracelets jingling about from her body moving. "I'm fine with not being selected for the Alpha tests! If anything, that just means I get to have more time off! Besides, competing in the new arenas right now would be… a little annoying?"
"How… come?" Ne Zha asked, quirking a brow.
"Well. With a new Arena comes new rules. Different power limitations, building items, the environment itself? Tons of things like that. Sure, the new Arenas probably look so much better than the ones we have now, but… that's not all there is to it," Neith explained to the two deities.
"Yeah—but they've already promised that they're like, way better! They're made of better materials, have new features—what else, a totally new layout! Just being able to participate in the new test is gonna be great!" Ne Zha fought back.
"Mm," Neith hummed. Before shrugging. "I guess so. But at its core, it's still a Conquest Arena. It can't be that different."
Jing Wei and Ne Zha traded looks, before shaking their heads. Jing Wei plopped herself back onto the couch, arms folded.
"W-What?" Neith exclaimed, looking… a little bothered.
"You don't get it," Jing Wei said first.
"Yeah… but it's whatever," Ne Zha added.
Neith sighed.
"Kids, I…"
The Weaver took a moment to gather her thoughts. Her hands fidgeting with one of her rings.
"I'm sorry. It's… a little hard to get excited about things sometimes! I'm feeling a little tired, that's all. Filming for Worldweaver's Spirit has really tired me out, and now that it's finally wrapped up for the first season, I just want to relax for a bit!"
The two younger deities traded looks a second time. But this time, they looked a bit more understanding. Jing Wei turned over and gave Neith a small smile.
"Yeah… sorry, Neith. We're just really excited, that's all."
"I know you are, and I love it," Neith beamed. "I don't mean to offend you two by saying I'm not excited for the same things you are. If it came across that way, I'm sorry."
"Nonono—sorry, Neith, we didn't mean it. We know you're always super busy. Being one of the most popular Goddesses in the world can't be easy," Ne Zha said with a confident look in his eyes.
Neith let out a small laugh, before slowly nodding. "Thank you, for understanding."
Jing Wei lifted the remote to the TV.
"So… can we watch the first episode of the new show!" she squealed, a huge grin growing on her face, teeth showing, cheeks dimpled and everything. Her body seemed to vibrate a little from her jitters.
"Been waiting for you to hit play!" Ne Zha exclaimed.
Neith let out a small giggle. Before looking at the TV with a calm look in her deep blue eyes.
Tomorrow… was a big day. And she was sort of dreading it.
I have no clue if the Smite fandom's still active on here, but if anyone's reading- I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SMITE 2 ALPHA TEST WEEKEND if you participated! I know I ADORED it! So why not write some stuff about it!
I know this is called "Book of Battles," but I guess this chapter was just... set-up for the next one! A small Arc, you could call it!
To anyone reading, I hope you enjoy.