How many men truly excel at what they do? What does it even mean to excel? Should one look up to Anassa's rise to power, fail, and never try again? Or should one take pride in the fact that none are better in the entire world at wasting over them. Both situations are undesirable to say the least, Anassa's rise to power is one across thousands of years yet being the best at stagnation is not achievement at all. Rarely do I argue for happy mediums, here, I will certainly disagree with the fact that I somehow respect Anassa more than the rest of my daughters and anyone who has talked to me for even a few minutes will know what my stance on inept laziness is.

For these questions, a wholly all-encompassing answer is something that cannot be provided. Even when disagreeing with Anassa's in terms of logic or character, one has to give her credit as one of the most powerful Divines to have ever been brought into existence. I doubt there is any in this world who would say that Anassa is an example of not excelling.

Instead, I would say that inaction is the natural state of mankind. When a child is born and still rests in a cot, they do not have grand dreams of conquering or changing worlds. They simply are. So to excel is to be filled with action unending.

- Excerpt from the Private Writings of God Arascus, of Pride.

Etala's phone buzzed although she did not bother answering it. What was happening here in the middle of Anver hospital was too important to miss for some phone call. She stood and watched as a team of Clerics travel like the holiest of men through a room. They wore Imperial uniforms true, they carried swords at their belt as well and they had the backing of Arascus behind them of course. Patients fell asleep as Clerics laid their hands on them, their faces in smiles so happy that Etala did not know her people were capable of such feeling after Continent Cracking. The Goddess of Democracy could not help but stand in this hospital and see the lives of her subjects be changed for the better.

On one hand, with how much time she was spending here, she actually thought she would end up like the haggard Kavaa who could take pleasure in nothing. On the other, she had no clue how it would be possible to exhaust oneself of finding hope when they witnessed such earnest and such pure happiness. Just a few days ago, there were talks of limiting access to the building to stop it from overflowing. Now though? It was a matter of time before the corridors were empty of beds.

Etala had watched Kavaa heal, that woman had a seemingly limitless reserve of energy about her. Her human Clerics were obviously very different, or maybe they were just untrained. The two men Etala had kidnapped here were in a league of their own. Both of them stayed close to the emergency doors of the hospital, were the fresh blood Kavaa had created was also being trained.

The teams that were allowed to wander the hospital alone were filled with souls that were still fresh at the job, but they had the necessary skill behind being able to heal. Whether they were fast, whether they exhausted themselves quickly did not matter. At the end of the day, each of these men was a walking hospital within the hospital itself. Etala watched one of the teams through a pane of glass, this room was filled with the elderly. Elderly patients that a week ago had been asking to be sent home and let the younger who had been wounded by the waves take their place. Elderly who had resigned themselves to death.

Now, even though they had weathered, wrinkled skin, even though they moved slowly and even though their joints hurt, they stared at the men in black uniforms walk amongst them like children waiting to receive a cookie for a job well done. If watching her people be saved was half the reason for coming here, then those black uniforms were the other half of the reason. Those black uniforms were everything that Ciria said they would be. The Clerics were not citizens of the UNN with the blessing of an Imperial Goddess, they were Imperial through and through. With blade and suit and long coat, there was no mistaking them. Not a single person in the UNN government dressed like that.

If it was just the dress, then it wouldn't have been such a sore spot for Ciria. But along with the suits, they had brought their own administrators. Even now, planes were coming in from the east with more Imperial Bureaucrats. An entire office complex had been temporarily rented out and converted into a headquarters for now although the Imperial men did not seem to have secrecy on their mind. Everyone knew they were offering cash for land and had already started looking for constructions firms. Etala would not be surprised if they built some bunker or some castle.

It had caused a small scandal that actually managed to make it to Rudyard's table. Where they breaking the law? Yes. Weapons weren't allowed in hospitals for example. Likewise Etala was sure that some issue could be raised at the fact they had turned a whole business block into some sort of barracks. A few opportunists had tried to raise argument already but the simple fact of the matter was that once people on their deathbeds started walking out the front doors of Anver Health to crying families, then there would be no jury that would ever rule against them. A Cleric would have to murder someone on film for opinion to turn against them at this point. Imperial or UNN, hell, they could even be from Guguo, it did not make a difference.

So Etala stood and watched. Her phone buzzed again. She rolled her eyes at the interruption and pulled it out of her pocket: President. Well. If it was him, she supposed she should answer. Rudyard did not even begin with a hello or an introduction. "Have you seen the news?" He asked quickly. Etala rolled her eyes. She was watching the saving of lives. Why would the news be more important than this?

"No, I'm off work." Etala said and realised she was being rude for no reason along with the fact that a Goddess should never take a break. "I'm in Anver Health. I'm just running an inspection but it's not anything I can't pause." It was a flat out lie but at least it made Rudyard reply with some non-confrontational sigh.

"No don't worry about that Etala." He said. "But you should see the news."

"Is it important?" Etala watched an elderly woman calmly lean back on her bed. Like the rest of the patients, she wore those blue pyjamas although on her, they seemed more colourful by the grey hair. Rudyard responded although Etala was already taking her phone away from her ear. She caught that it was, but she didn't care. The damn news could wait.

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The cleric put his hand on her forehead, tested her for a bit and then took a step back. "Cancer!" He shouted. Etala's eyes grew wide. She had seen this operation happen several time. The doctors Kavaa had left unblessed still worked the hospital although they just dealt with common illnesses at this point that could be healed with warm beds and heated pillows and towels over one's head, illnesses that could be dealt with without pharmaceuticals. Those were perpetually running low since the Eastern Seaboard got wiped away.

"I can wait Sir." Etala's ears just about managed to pick up the sound through the door.

"Do not worry Miss."

"Is it bad?"

"It won't be soon." The Cleric replied with full confidence. An elderly man, his skin stretched like leather, began to clap from the other side of the room and the woman laughed. Etala felt herself smile at the sight. Laughter by those who had spent more than eighty years on this world was almost as sweet as laughter by those who had not even hit eight.

"How long will it take?" The elderly lady asked.

"Do you have children Miss?"

"Oh my." The woman chuckled. "I'm on great-grandchildren now." Several of the other patients whistled and clapped and gave their congratulations. The lady laughed it off and waved her hand, before flinching and grabbing at her side.

"Then I'll send you to sleep so you can wake up early and see them tomorrow." The Cleric said. That sent the room into cheers.

"So…" The lady trailed off as the Cleric sent to her to sleep with his power. Another man had come close. They leaned close to one another and whispered a few things. They shared some nods. Etala watched with wide eyes as other patients in the corridor crowded around to see what was happening. Speculations of what they were healing were going around, a few were correct, most were wrong. A Cleric stood on either side of the woman's bed as Rudyard asked for Etala's attention over the phone again. She did not bother answering yet. Watching Clerics heal an internal disease was watching two men exhaust themselves. Their faces were red with exertion, they began to sweat, the whole operation lasted maybe a quarter hour. People began to disperse from the window, but Etala kept on watching. When the Clerics finally let go, one of them stumbled and was caught by another patient who had just been healed.

The man was probably in his nineties and he reacted as if he was a quarter of his age. He actually held the Cleric long enough for the man to regain consciousness. The other Cleric gave a thumbs-up and the entire room burst out in claps and cheers. And Rudyard finally got Etala's attention. "Baalka is back. They've healed her apparently."

Etala blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Turn the news on, it's on every channel. Hold on. I'm getting Ciria in the call too." Etala quickly looked around and saw the closest waiting area. From here, she could even see the TV. True enough, there was a live feed from the other side of the world. Something buzzed through the phone as Etala got closer to the TV. The waiting room, which was normally filled with chatter, had fallen silent as they watched a broadcast from the heart of the Empire. "Ciria, are you there?"

"I am here." Ciria said. "I assume you're calling because of the Baalka situation."

"I am." Ciria did not say anything for a good while, although it was obvious she too was watching the events happening on the news. Etala could hear the sound of the same cheers that she was listening come through the TV. No one said anything as they watched what was going on. A similar show had happened throughout Epan cities after the Epan War. It happened after the Retaking of Rancais although Etala had been too busy to watch either. But she could remember herself sitting down, utterly transfixed by the images on the screen, when she had watched the presentation given after the end of the Invasion of Kirinyaa. That was before Arika had been cracked though.

If there was one thing that the Empire excelled at, it was public image. Etala had to give Arascus that. The silent help through the countless ships sent to the Eastern Seaboard had shut up the largest criticism of making a mess and not answering for it, whereas the utter avoidance of the subject of Continent Cracking had made trying to pin blame on the God akin to trying shove a nail into a stone. Certainly Arascus and the Empire as a whole were responsible, but they simply positioned themselves as problem solvers rather than as criminal culprits.

And now, well… The timing was just disgusting. To point a finger would be terrible of course, but the timing was so downright disgusting it had to be repeated. Etala had kidnapped a Cleric and Baalka just so happened to awaken? If that was not a message or a reveal of power, then Etala did not know what was. Her mind struggled to catch up, she could almost see Baalka being a secret ace that the Empire had pulled out to stop anymore interference.

Fireworks exploded on the screen as Etala watched what was happening. Several of the patients leaned forward. The cameras panned across the huge tree in Kirinyaa that had become a famous Imperial landmark. Cheers and claps came with each explosion as a band's music could be heard throughout the background. Etala actually lost track of time as the entire watched the fireworks. The Cleric who had healed the elderly woman stumbled out the room, almost collapsed onto a nurse and slammed into a wall and then slid down. "He's just exhausted!" Another Cleric from inside the room called.

The nurse in a prim uniform of dark blue leaned in. "Should I get him anything Sir?" The Sirs had started almost immediately once everyone realised that the Clerics had powers supernatural that truly worked.

"We'll pick him up soon." A voice from inside called. "Recovery position him."

The nurse immediately got to work and Etala turned back to the TV. The cameras came in close to the God of Pride. He was stood at the head of a table in a black uniform that only brought to attention how similar the Holy Orders of Clerics dressed. But they did not have the edges of silver and gold and they did not have royal red cloaks. The next was Kavaa, although Etala only spotted the Goddess of Health because she had met her before. That woman stood, hands behind her back, chest puffed out, smiling proud at the cameras. Nothing like the Goddess whose nerves were burning out when she had come here. Kassandora was by her side, taller, and professional. Her red hair fell flat down her back and she looked straight into the camera. On her cap was an insignia of a sword piercing a skull. Almost all the rest, Etala recognised. Tall Neneria who stood by her father's side in a black dress. Then Elassa and Anassa who both wore matching dresses save for the fact one was in red and the other in blue. Almost all.

There was one, directly by Arascus' side who was shorter than Elassa. She stood in a similar style as Kassandora's though. A professional black uniform without a cap. With a hair that was dark yet slightly tinged with some colour as if it was swamp-water. Pretty, as all Divines were, but nothing special. Short too. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" He called out. The cameras caught him loud and clear. "Today, whereas we have been successful in our campaigns so far, today is the first time I truly feel like we have scored a victory."

"Is that her?" Etala realised she was still holding the phone to her ear.

"That's Baalka." Rudyard replied. "From Anver University, we have a complete match with records from…" Etala stopped listening. It was one thing to hear she was awake, it was another to see stood there. Ciria interrupted the President.

"Can you feel it?"

"The change?" Etala asked.

"In the world."

"I can."

Goddess of Disease. There had been some talks, nothing serious, but there had been some, of joining in alliance with Guguo and taking revenge upon the Empire. Guguo and Ihon and the remains of the Divine Mountain's force, hopefully with assistant from Maisara and Fortia and their Orders. But now?

Etala smiled to herself. It was over.

There would be no war with the Empire. Not from the UNN at least.

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