Alexander
The goddess of the harvest was annoyed. Her daughters had once again informed her that it was time for her to get out of the her realm if she didn't want to be, as Fragarie had so kindly put it, a shut-in. She didn't get the point of this excursion. She wasn't in too great a mood at the moment, but she did care about her daughters' opinions. Still... Every single one of the gods at the ritual of the Void Ocean that had failed to come to their aid against the Traitor had proven themselves to be unreliable at best, or fellow traitors against Gaia at worst. She was being kind right now by giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were just incompetent, rather than traitors.

Still, the Wheatmother was not one to forget easily. **Aderyn. Sanskrit. TSU. Lila. Vaias. Wyrd. Amythyst. Skadedyr. Visarni. Sinrael. Onesifi. Melancholia. Mr. Bones. Savarii. **She would not forget the names of those who had turned their backs on their duty, nor would she aid them again. Even if it meant that the Unending was barrelling down on them, for the sin of failing to help carry out Gaia's will for some selfish ritual, she would not lend them her help. Perhaps, she thought as she strolled along the lower branches, a few could be excused. The young, who didn't know of Edon's wrongdoings. Those that had been birthed *After* The Devouring might one day find their way back into the Creator's branches. 

But they would have to earn forgiveness, she thought, for they had sinned nonetheless. A murder out of ignorance was still a murder, and the same applied to this sloth that her siblings had shown. Sloth... Or treachery. She wasn't sure. She couldn't be sure. She couldn't trust anybody on that list. She continued along the branches, wading in her thoughts. The gods had proven themselves... Unworthy. Something needed to be done. Something to punish this dereliction of duty, if Mother would not do it herself.

**There would need to be a purge.**

Triticea continued walking.
Donna
Amythyst sat on the lower branches. This was the third time she found herself nestled up close with her mother. If she was honest, it was really weird a tree made fruits with divine beings. Sounded like tree propaganda, but okay. She didn't look up from her dictionary when bugs buzzed around her, or when some thesaurus ants crawled on the pages. She did look up however, when a divine being came across.

Triticea, was it? She tried to recall her grammar notes, but she couldn't even quite tell if it was who she thought it was. She remembered her note.

"Triticea, unknown. 

Grammar: unknown."

Wow, that helpful. Amythyst sighed. Unknown grammar wasn't *Bad* Grammar, was it? Amythyst took a step towards the deity. Yes, she recalled someone like this. 

** "Good morning."** Amythyst said, not too loudly, but enough to signal she was talking to the other goddess. She wasn't quite sure if it was morning here, or night, or somewhere in between. She said it anyways. She wasn't sure what else to say, all she knew was the response would build a mold for Triticea to fit into. She should consider her words carefully. Should someone break that mold... Well that hadn't happened yet. She put away her book. *Don't rock the boat.*
Alexander
Her already bad mood was not improved by meeting one of those very deities that had ignored their duties to battle the Traitor to focus on some silly ritual that made no difference in the world. She heard Amythyst before she saw her, but she recognised the annoying voice that she'd heard at the ritual instantly. The goddess did not forget grudges easily, something that became clear when she stopped and gave her sister the evil eye. It seemed that the boat had already been rocked, just from the cold disapproval that danced in her eyes as she stared in the direction that she'd been walking. Amythyst might not realise that she had offended the Wheatmother yet, but the Wheatmother was most certainly aware that she had.

"What." She said flatly. At present, she was a rare even split between her two aspects, both Triticea Pueri and Triticea Genetrix holding an equal sway over her. It was Genetrix that allowed her to hold a civil conversation with this lazy, self-serving churl of a goddess at all and speak with a more proper and formal way of talking, though it was Pueri that filled her tone with disdain and controlled her speech. "Have you already grown so bored of derelicting your own duties that you would seek to waste the time of others as well?" She drawled. Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she refused to even look at Amythyst. This wasn't just a bad mood, she was mad at Amythyst specifically.

Triticea knew she wasn't being fair. Amythyst was a young god who may not have understood what Edon had done, and how he had defied Gaia. She might not have known about the severity of the situation, and the importance of proving that he and all who thought like him were unwelcome. Still... A spiteful part of the goddess of the harvest didn't think this puterelle deserved the benefit of the doubt. Turning her back on her duty was turning her back on her duty, no matter what ignorance she tried to use to excuse it.
Donna
Amythyst almost corrected the deity. She stopped. The goddess that stood before her had wheat golden hair, fair skin and dark eyes. She also had a scowl on her face. 

Amythyst felt a frown tugging at her lips, eager to be as displeased as the other goddess. How could one forget a question mark? She was quick to recognize the calm and the chaos in herself. Maybe she was being too quick to judge, but being hasty was her thing. The frown won, and the corned If her mouth pointed out and down. She was curious, she was ready to lean over the edge and face the void. She was ready to be Amythyst. But it was imperative to tread carefully. She sensed one misstep would send her tumbling down the void. 

She was a murky, but still pond. A quarry. You couldn't see through her waters, or maybe you could if you were in the shallows. Maybe you could swim in a wonderful world where you stepped into the water, but didn't make a ripple. Maybe. Or maybe, today the rivers and the rains changed their will, and the lake was ever shifting, a confusing dichotomy between hot and cold, pain and pleasure, perfection and feelings. Hot was love, hot was rage, cold was ruthlessness. She was somewhere in between. She was a boat in her own oceans. She was...

** "I have excused your mistake, but the gravity cannot go unmentioned. Could you not be so unhappy at seeing me? What have I done to you? Why, I didn't even rate your grammar as bad."** Amythyst spouted, her pale skin seeming to be blue and red in different spots. 

She was Amythyst. She was a mix of blue and red, falling somewhere along the line. No, she was red and blue AND white. She was donned in purple, everything from royal purple to violet to a void purple to her own signature amethyst color. She was complimentary to the goddess she stood before. From the first look, they were at odd.

"The Branches.

Triticea. Unknown.

Grammar: unknown..."
Alexander
"What you've done?" She growled. "Don't act like you don't know. You abandoned your duty to carry out the will of Gaia for the sake of some selfish, greedy, pointless ritual." She waved a spiteful hand at the Void Ocean. On its own, it wasn't offensive, but it was what it represented that infuriated her. So many gods had been present, and yet only five had chosen to take a stand against the Serpent. Each and every one was a disgrace to the name of gods, and the Ocean itself was now a symbol of that divine arrogance, that self-centredness that made fools out of every god that had participated in it.

She had half the mind to try and destroy it through a counter ritual. The other gods needed to be shown that such sloth would not be rewarded.

"Gaia's will was to have the Devourer destroyed." She spoke coldly, matter-of-factly. "And yet when the time came to do so, only five of us sprang to fulfil her will. The rest of you, so consumed by your desire to make some pathetic mark on the world, neglected your duties." She finally turned to face Amythyst. Anger danced in her eyes, but it was more than just that. There was betrayal in there, as well, for every single god who had been there had been a sibling who had stabbed her and the rest of the gods in the back. "All who participated in that wretched ritual are slothful and negligent at best... And fellow traitors to that Serpent at worst." Even in her anger, she did not think that all the gods there were the allies of the Devourer. Many might not have known about the nature or magnitude of his crimes. At least, that's what she might have said at first.
 But Edon's sins had been laid out and explained to all the gods there.
# but five had stepped in to try and stop him. As for the others...
 Their indecision... Their unwillingness to stop him... Even their ignorance... They might as well have been the Betrayer's trusted friends.
Donna
Amythyst's hands flew to her chest. Pointless ritual? 

Well, actually, Triticea did have a point. In which the ritual had none. Amythyst realized she never payed attention to the *Words* Everyone spoke there and instead only on the sentence structure. The subject, the verb and sometimes, the direct object. 

Subject. Devourer. 
Verb. Devouring.
Object. Devour-ie?

That didn't make any sense, even if *Technically* It was correct. It was wordy and hard to read though. 

** "Who is the devourer?"** Amythyst asked. She didn't like playing the pronoun game. ** "What has he devoured?"** Amythyst was growing more and more confused about this whole thing. 

A part of her felt like she should mention she left quickly, but it felt like that would only hurt her case. But when Triticea spoke that the ritual participants were slothful, Amythyst really thought about saying she left. She ran through the list of gods she made notes about. TSU, Skadedyr, Vaias... Edon.

A slow realization was visible on her face, and then disbelief. Up from her neck, green vine looking thjngs made their way upto the side of her face as she felt sick. ** "So, I was there?"** Amythyst breathed, but the question was obvious to Triticea. *Yeah. Thats why she's so mad.* 

** "Edon is a serpent..."** She thought out loud, remembering their meeting not too far from here. She was fresh back then, more malleable. She figured jester's privilege wouldn't get her out of this. But what had he devoured? A rat or something? Can't be that bad, right? His grammar in the letters to Xanthous... Maybe.
Alexander
Her face softened, but only a fraction. Hmph, so it was ignorance in Amythyst's case. That was... Well, that didn't make her sister's actions *Ok*, in Triticea's book, but less terrible. Ignorance was not an excuse, but it was closer to one than pure negligence of duty like Mr. Bones had displayed. Ignorance could be forgiven, albeit if a god worked to earn that kind of redemption. Certainly, this particular sibling warranted less scorn than the ringleaders of that pinnacle of debauchery, that mockery of a ritual.

"Edon." She nodded, confirming Amythyst's therory. "Edon, who devoured one of our own siblings, while they had yet to be born." She gestured upwards, at the upper branches and at the divine fruit that hung from them. "Edon, who defied Gaia's will." And *That* Was his true sin. She did not have any actual objections to the act of him eating a fruit in a void, but eating a fruit when Gaia had forbade it... That was what made his crimes truly unforgivable in the Wheatmother's hundreds of eyes. 

"Edon..." She breathed heavier this time, her rage that had cooled for only a moment beginning to bubble up as she remembered the events of that day. "Who Mr. Bones invited to a ritual, knowing full well what he had done." Her face was marred with disgust now, disgust at all the gods who had been there. "All should have fought against the traitor. All should have presented a united front to show that that kind of behaviour was not welcome."

Her scowl seemed to, somehow, miraculously, deepen. "But that did not happen. All that was proved was that that kind of behaviour can be forgiven. That it can be forgotten, and that those who would defy our Mother's will and devour our siblings whole will be welcome among our meetings and our rituals. That is why I cannot forgive many of those who were there." She paused, deciding to offer a small concession. 

"But while ignorance does not absolve you of your crime, it leaves room for redemption." She sighed in a calmer tone.
Donna
Amythyst felt a shiver snaking its way up her back. Edon? Ate a baby?

Without a word, she was turning more pale by the second, numb emotions stinging her and taking away any other color on her face. She was as white as a sheet, maybe whiter. Wordlessly, papers materialized. They felt like a life time ago. This god... Who ate a child... Had this poor grammar as well? Appearances were deceiving? 

That should have been obvious to Amythyst. That first impressions weren't the only impressions. She had discovered something worse than grammar. How was this possible? Amythyst struggled to understand. A sin so bad, she couldn't understand. Something beyond her domain, beyond her control. Amythystlooked down at the ground and then back at Triticea. ** "When?"** She Said weakly, barely heard. Her lips trembled, her hands shook and she handed Triticea one of the letters from  ** "This god. He took the life of another."** She processed. ** "Why didn't I go to him?"** She asked herself. She couldn't have been bothered to go and give edon some trouble? Maybe Triticea was right. Maybe she did abandon her duties, just not at the ritual. Everywhere *But* The ritual. 

** "How do i..?"** She started asking, but she couldn't finish it. What was the punishment for this? A verbal beating? Being killed? ** "This can't be forgotten!"** Amythyst whined, referring to both grammar and the situation. ** "We have to let all the newborn gods know! Stranger danger!"** Amythyst paced around, growing more anxious each second, but no color played with her skin. If she had known, would she have gone to the gardens? Would she had been so kind? Or could she overlook that for grammar? And was that wrong? 

"Defying Gaia's will" Didn't mean much to her, but she If had understood a little more, she would have seen the clear connections between edon breaking rules rather than just the tragedy that occurred. She liked rules.

No, she *Needed* Rules.
No, *They* Needed rules.

With each second, a flare of red was getting ready to burst out into her checks and stain her shirt as she would "Bleed" Out her anger. The feelings of wrath were becoming ever familiar, dissatisfied with the constant disorder around her. 

She wanted to ask something, say something, but it seemed all was said and done.
Alexander
While Amythyst was peeking, she got a small ping in the back of her head. It was from her demigod, Fragarie. One of her siblings, one of those she was mad at, had entered her realm. Her eyes narrowed, but she was busy swaying one of her other sisters at the moment against the Betrayer. Her Pueri side rose to the service as she quickly snapped, *"Not now, I'm busy!"* Through the mental connection that she had with her daughter. She would deal with whatever interloper had seen fit to enter her Valley later. If anything went wrong, her mortal children would call out in prayer, and she would go to them. For now, this was more important.

Speaking of this... It seemed that the horror of what had happened was dawning on Amythyst. She felt a small measure of pity welling up in her chest, dampening the anger that she felt towards this god. This was a sister who had sinned, yes, but not out of malice or even intention. She had sinned by accident, and it was only now that she was realising her folly. While Triticea did not approve of what had happened, she could not help but find it easier to forgive this sibling for her transgressions. It certainly didn't hurt that Amythyst wanted to make up for what she had done and fix the holes in her resolve and her mind that had allowed her to fail.

She sighed. When she next spoke, her tone was gentler than before. "To rid the world of one of our brothers and sisters is... Difficult, to say the least." Even as a god, as devout as she was to the Creator, she knew that the task of removing the Betrayer would not be easy. "But it is a necessary task. Back during the meeting, I did not expect you all to end him, not truly. I only hoped that we would present a united front, and show that such behaviour is unacceptable among us." Her frown deepened, though this time her anger seemed directed more at the others than Amythyst.

"But in the end, all the gods have shown was that such behaviour *Isn't* Unacceptable, in our eyes. It's tolerated."
Donna
** "You don't seem to accept it.."** Amythyst was having trouble keeping her thoughts inside her head. Her playful letters teasing Edon or whoever sent those letters flashed in front of her eyes. 

*I think you have sent this to me to check, right? So it's mistake free for Xanthous? Good idea. Please come visit my realm. I don't like snakes very much, but I like grammar, so I can tell you all about how to make a great letter.*

Good thing that *Thing* Didn't come to her realm. Had she broken any rules? Amythyst grew concerned she was going to be exposed for something. **" What even are the rules? What is Gaia's will?"** She asked, her voice quick and sharp as she became oh so scared. What if the will of Gaia didn't have rules? Or grammar? Would there be disorder in the world forever?

Amythyst stood on the edge, just like she wanted. Why was there no clever joke or grammar fact that would pull her back? It seemed the ground quivered, ready to break off and tumble into the void. She was the problem. 

Maybe Amethyst was right that day. Maybe curiosity created chaos. 

She should have *Never* Stepped foot anywhere but the gold realm. She should have *Never* Responded to anyone. She should have *Never* Been. She should have been the god fruit who was eaten. Because now, she was part of a mess. Good things didn't happen when there is a mess. 

** "What about the gods in the fight? What happened to them?"** She was returning a little to normal, but her skin was still like delicate white clouds. She was numb again. Where had she learned so many new emotions?
Alexander
"I don't." She agreed. "That kind of thing shouldn't be acceptable." Her anger returned as she turned her gaze to the Skeletal Sands in the distance. "Our dearest brother *Mr. Bones* Doesn't seem to think so, though." She was particularly furious at him, as the orchestrator of the ritual and the one who had invited Edon to participate in something, *Anything*, with the other gods after what he had done. He was the greatest traitor at the ritual, and though she could not make a change on her own, she was sure that she would never have respect for someone like him. In her eyes, the void ritual had been a display of his choice of vanity over duty.

But Amythyst was trying to take steps towards her redemption, and Triticea did not want her fury to stand in the way of that improvement. "As for the Will of Gaia... I do not know." She shook her head. "Our Mother does not often speak to us." Her hand clenched into a fist again. "But that is what makes that cursed *Void Ritual* Even more egregious. The order to remove Edon for devouring one of our siblings' fruits was the first time that our Creator ever gave us an order. It was the *Only* Thing our Mother *Ever* Asked of us... And yet, so many of our siblings would stab her, stab *Us* In the back... For what?" She gestured wildly at the Void Ocean, her tone rising in fury.
 Serve a purpose that Gaia's lower roots had *Already fulfilled*?"
The Wheatmother's cry was filled with anger, but more importantly, it held the pain she felt from her siblings' perceived betrayal. She had *Trusted* Them! And this was how they had repaid her faith? **Aderyn. Sanskrit. TSU. Lila. Vaias. Wyrd. Skadedyr. Visarni. Sinrael. Onesifi. Melancholia. Mr. Bones. Savarii.** Those names flashed in her mind, filling her with rage and pain once more.

She took a moment to calm herself. "Most of us escaped unscathed." She decided to answer. "Save for Edon, who was felled, and one ally. While Mr. Bones stroke his ego, one sister... Majesty... Fell."
Donna
** "The one thing? Oh my, this is simply egregious."** Amythyst squeaked, her hands flying up and then back down, and then back up again. 

Amythyst almost started hiccuping. Rings of muddy colors pulsed up her arms, mimicking the rhythm of a hiccup without her doing anything. 

Amythyst never did have a particular liking to that bone guy. The story Triticea told seemed so wrong. Was not killing someone really that hard? Now, for the first time in her life Amythyst understood something. Amythyst understood why Triticea was upset at her. She stood back and watched. It was so strange to suddenly understand and fuss with the idea. There was no way to un-understand something. This would haunt her forever. 

** "Majesty.. Fell into the void?"** She didn't quite get the euphemism, but the grave feeling that hung in the air signaled what it meant. Edon was a vile, chaotic snake who had to be stopped before he squeezed the world of its rules. 

Your parents gave birth to you. You were supposed to respect them. That's how it worked in Amythyst's mind. How *Dare* Edon disrespect their mother? He should have gotten eaten instead of that poor fruit. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of rage at Triticea. Was someone going to tell her Edon are a baby or was she just supposed to know? With a heavy sigh, half angered, half depressed, Amythyst said two words.

# sorry."

*I will be yours.*
Alexander
"There is no use for apologies, sister." There were few things that could slake Triticea's thirst for satisfaction through anger, but genuine remose did make it difficult for her to be angry. "They will change nothing. All you can do is remember the mistake that you have made in the past and move forward." She lowered her head. "Ignorance is closer to a true excuse than willing negligence, at the very least. Your willingness to improve is promising, and shows you to have room to better yourself." Her words were harsh, but she saw no efficiency in sugarcoating things. This speech, she figured, would help Amythyst to understand the truth better.

Unlike many of the gods who had won the unhealthy affections of their siblings, though, Triticea had no interest in exploiting this sister who she had guilted into feeling terrible. So long as Amythyst showed herself to be a worthy servant of Gaia in the future, it would not be too difficult for her crimes to be forgiven. She was not someone who forged close connections with anyone, remaining distant even from her own children even as she watched over them and ensured that their every need was seen to. Still... It didn't mean that she didn't feel a little proud for teaching her sister to see the error of her ways and commit to improvement.

"Mother does not ask much of us." She shook her head. "All that Mother wishes for us to do is fulfil her domains, and turn not our weapons against her. Finally, when she commands us to do something, we do it." She closed her eyes. "You are too young to remember the order." She shuddered. "I remember it. I remember the scream of pain, of anguish, of betrayal, as the Devourer earned his namesake." She looked down at her hands. "I did not appear to oppose him, too caught up in my own affairs. I sinned as well." She clenched her hands into fist. "I promised I would not make the same mistake again. I have atoned by facing Edon during the ritual... I am sure you will get your chance in time."
Donna
Amythyst looked at the letters again. A vague thought swirled in her head. Melon. Edon. Herself. Triticea. They were each colors that stained the water, desperate to make their mark on the world. The words of Triticea were pleasure and pain, perfectly twisting her soul into pieces. She messed up. There was no way to fix it in retrospect. There was only the future. But the future had hope. It had warm lights that she could stand under and bow if she could do everything right. 

*Save me.* The words of the letter were clear, black color, in Average font. 

*Does that make you happy? Does that make me happy?* Her own response was curly, black as well.

She gasped as thoughts fused into one, creating some unholy thought. ** "I know what I have to do. I see my chance. I will not make the same errors twice."** *I can restore order. I can make everyone proud. I can give that Edon a little response.* Try or not, the world revolved around her. Her brain couldn't grow out of it. Like a child, she could only see her own horizons, never concerned about anyone else's distant shores. ** "Thank you for all your guidance, Triticea. I think I have to go do what I must."** Amythyst sighed quickly, but there was determination glistening in her voice. ** "I hope we can meet again, once the Edon thing is settled."** Amythyst smiled and made the letters she sent and received disappear. She needed to concentrate. She curtsied, ready to be excused.
Alexander
"You *Have* Failed." She did not bother sugarcoating her words with honey that would only impede Amythyst's path to improvement. "But that does not mean that you need fail again." Redemption... Was impossible without remorse. Redemption was something that you needed to truly want for what it was, and not for the social benefits that it would bring. Fortunately, remorse was something that she saw in this sister of hers. This was a sister who could in time be forgiven for what she had done... Or, more accurately, what she had not done. Triticea would need to be firm, so that Amythyst did not go so far as to think that her mistakes were not exactly that, but not too harsh that Amythyst though that redemption was out of reach.

"You may have lacked the action in the past, but I see in you the conviction you need to take action now." She bowed her head. "I hope to see you again, once your actions have washed you clean of your past sloth." She nodded, though she paused. "Do not be afraid to seek further guidance on your path to redemption, sister." She warned. "With nobody to see where you have failed, you may never realise you have failed at all." It took this conversation with Triticea for Amythyst to see where she had gone wrong. She had little doubt that this would be the last time this goddess made mistakes without reasoning it, and she figured it would be important for her to have someone to point said mistakes out to her.

She turned away to continue her stroll, now in a much better mood. This was as good a sign of dismissal as Amythyst was going to get from her lawful sister. Triticea, for her part, was glad that at least some of the siblings that had failed their Mother at the ritual might find themselves on a path to becoming the gods that they were meant to be. Amythyst had made a mistake, but it was not one that she could not make up for with sufficient work. She only hoped that her other siblings were as open to the truth as this sister.