FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Again, shorter than usual. I'm finally caught up so I'll be writing in real-time. A reminder that I have a bad habit of switching between past and present-tense. Enjoy~

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The trio ended up in Paradise. The feeling that passed through them before wasn't there... They paused, wondering if it would come.

"We're Gods... We constantly feel whatever this place gives." They looked around. Sasah thought this was the location, but what she sought wasn't in sight. Then she saw a fairly inconspicuous door that seemed to lead into a tree. The Vixen walked up to the tree, and stopped before she grabbed the latch paws over it. A hand came onto hers. "Ras..." She sighed and grabbed the latch, opening the door. It was a mansion, with magical familiars working and cleaning the area. A beautiful Fox, with recognizable features stood at the top of the steps, looking down at them.

"Mom.." The twins said in unison, broken voices, tears beginning.

"Come on, you're gods now." The Vixen snickered. "Gods don't cry when they see a random woman they've never met." She went to meet them in an embrace. She was witty indeed.. "I'm Zereth Bastion. I'm so happy to see you two again..." They stood there in a tearful embrace for a time. "You two don't remember me, I know." She wiped the tears from their faces. "But blood is stronger than any memory. It permeates your soul. You two come sit, and you too Xongile, I hear it from your mouth how a cute girl like you ended up with my babies." They sat a table, tea of a perfect temperature appearing in front of them.

"But you probably saw it yourself..." Rasvim shook his head. Their mother giggled.

"And? I wanna hear it from her mouth." She squatted down and looked face-to-face with the Fennec who was blushing hard. She patted the Fennec on the head. "I'm joking. I've seen both possible outcomes with you three. You'll ride into the Apocalypse, whatever the outcome. Whether you end up here as dead gods, or as Planar Gods, enacting justice on some, and blessing others... Depends who deserves it." They all fall silent.

"I heard a decision I made with Barreth will decide the second challenge... It's that, isn't it? So what's the answer? What leads to the Light winning?" Sasah asked her mom. Every future regarding the decisions she makes now is shrouded by an invisible force, regardless of what she attempted to see. And it's not anything from outside. She knows her lovers feel it too. Balthazar made it this way.

"There isn't going to be an easy way." Their mom said with a smile. "Bal blocked you from seeing the answer to save the future. If you easily breeze through every decision based on what's optimal, you'll fail. People -will- die. People you love." She turns cold. "I was born with Chronic Farsight. It's a disease where you are omniscient as a mortal."

"Disease?" Xongile asked with curiosity. She'd think of it more as a blessing.

"Disease. Someone untrained will do everything in their power to change the future, and it always ends up worse than it was before, because Chrono doesn't let people fuck with destiny and let them get off lightly..." She sighed. She's experienced the pain of this... "All people with Chronic Farsight get training at a young age. You three, getting omniscience as adults could go one of two ways, and they aren't the two ways which either save or end the world." She pauses. "You either watch as fate takes its course, pain wracking you every time it does, or you try to change it and face Chrono's wrath..."

They paused. "Who's Chrono..?" Ashed Xongile.

"The God of Gods. He created everything. You change destiny, he may change yours for the worse."

Sasah searched her head. Some spell to destroy Garreth, in which she found plenty. She didn't even know his power at this point.

"Mom.. We need to go fight." Rasvim said, sad they had to end their meeting.

"I know, hon." She goes to hug both of them and rubs their heads. "Xongile." She looked at her children's new wife and smiled . "Roses bloom most beautiful in the winter." She smiled, and they all end up back in a strange city they've never been in. Confusion was on their faces, as it was snowing... They must be in the south. Very far south.

The city seemed dead. No one was on the streets, and red X's were painted on nearly every door. Plague. Their omniscience kicks in just before a man walks from a building with a broken door. He shuffled out, rags on for clothes, and his flesh seemed melted off. Undead.

As if the creatures could sense they were there, or commanded by an unknown force, they began pouring out of the buildings. Ghouls, Zombies, Skeletons, hundreds of them. The three gods drew their weapons, and began the slaughter. It was easy. They would never get winded, and only use magic if necessary.

Xongile would primarily use Gate in between thrusting her daggers into enemy skulls, while the twins just carved their way through. It would be so much easier with magic, but drawing more attention than necessary would extend the time of them advancing to the city Cathedral of Gal, God of the Underground, Lord of the subterranean races. They knew what lay there. What Zereth wanted them to do here.

As they fought their way to the cathedral, the undead stopped at the steps, advancing no further... There were thousands.

"This is it. Garreth will die. Today.." They walked up, and opened the doors to a large room. Pillars of obsidian, obviously added after the Death Knight took over were holding up the ceiling.

"And now you come. Finally" A fox, sitting on a throne with a shattered top. He goes into a coughing fit, kneeling over to cough up what could only be described as flesh. As they walked up, they saw an undead with eyes sunken into his skull. He wore no armor, had no weapon, and was nothing but skin and bones. Hardly any fur was left on the thing's body.

"End it. By all the gods out there, end this nightmare!" He pleaded. Sasah, never thinking she'd feel sorrow for the man that killed her mother, looked into herself and felt such things. She felt the misinformation she was given, and the falsity of the guidance she had been told. She also felt... Manipulated. A light welled up inside her that Balthalzar put there. He meant for her to do what she was about to do.

"Sheathe your weapons." Sasah walked over to her uncle, while keeping her sword out. The fallen Death Knight coughed up more flesh. He was dying, suffering, but was cursed to never die.

"Would you like to repent?" She asked, standing squatting down to meet his sunken gaze.

"Repent?" He gives a cold laugh. He pulls a jar, the same one from her dream, from his robe and offers it to her. "Gods would I ever... The Lord of Nightmare... All damn be to him and his lies. All damn be to the power he offered... The power to bring back my beloved. My Children... Nothing but shambled corpses like all of those outside, and now me." The Death Knight coughed again.

Sasah thought for a moment. Ending him now and letting him be absorbed by the Lord of Nightmare wouldn't be justice... She felt that he'd been cursing his mistake for years, and this had been the only city he's taken. She drew her sword and removed her uncle's head, sighing. The God unseals the phylactery and opens it. A soul lies in there.

"Sasah..?" Xongile was wondering what she'd do.

"He's going to Paradise, as any who repent with their very being, undeath be damned." She says, putting her hand over the jar as her hand glows. The jar exploded in a flash of light, shards flying to the corners of the room, as they could all hear a faint word of thanks before the glow subsided.

"I hope I did the right thing, mom..." She shivered in the cold, looking up to the sky. "Let's go back to Canteon," The larger Vixen said, before checking outside, to make sure that all of the undead were indeed collapsed. They were. All were on the ground in shambles now. Her lovers grab her hands, and warped to Canteon.

As they walk to the Maiden's Ass, they get bows on the streets, and hat tips in greetings. They seemed to take Balthazar's last order of not coddling them pretty seriously, but they still tried to show respect. They opened the door to the Maiden's Ass and couldn't even sniff out the place before it erupts in cheers. They bowed their heads, smiling and blushing, before heading to the bar.

"Seems we're popular over-night, loves!" Xongile snickered. Sasah helped Xongile up to a stool, each ordering a drink. "Whiskey! On the rocks."

"Same as her." Rasvim smiled at the automaton.

"And something fruity for me." Sasah went to hold Xongile's hand, who was in between the twins.

"Come on, you fuck, we're getting plastered tonight!" Xongile kisses her wife's hand.

"Alright.. Rum!" Sasah shook her head, never having tried the drink before. But Rasvim hasn't tried whiskey either, so...

The automaton comes back with a tiny chalkboard, with writing stating the price. It continued moving with precision, taking money, making drinks, and giving prices for everyone in order who asked. Rasvim thought now that this was the cheapest tavern in the world. Must be magically brewed. Rasvim went for his coin purse first, but couldn't find it...

"Is someone seriously pickpocketing me?" He asked out loud, and searched his thoughts, finding Xongile smirking at him, already paying with her own money and throwing Rasvim's pouch back at him. The automaton came and grabbed the coin within seconds, and just a few seconds later came back with their drinks. Its many arms were useful for this job.

"I'm paying tonight!" Xongile winked.

"Doesn't seem I've much of a choice." Rasvim sighed, grabbing the drink and going to cheer for the three. They clink their glasses together. People were watching them, and it was time to be a god, they suppose.

"To the Light!" They announce together, to the tavern, before taking larger drinks than they should from their cups. Rasvim and Sasah shiver and hold back gagging and coughing. Xongile snickers at them. The entire tavern erupts, repeating their words and drinking themselves.

The night goes on with Patrons slowly getting more comfortable with them in their presence. People come up to talk to them, wishing them luck on their journeys to fight evil, buying them drinks, and by the end of the night the three of them were passed out on the floor. A bouncer took them to a free room and left them there.

When they awoke it was light outside. Hangovers split their skulls which they cured easily with their magics. They all got up to go bathe, which luckily the bath house was near-empty. The few patrons there got uncomfortably close, so they washed quickly and took their leave back to their room.

"Sasah?" Xongile asked, tugging at the woman's chain shirt. The larger vixen looks down with a smile. "Hold me?" Xongile smiles with that adorable face, and those beady eyes. Sasah picked her up without hesitation and cradled the fennec like a baby. Xongile dug her face into her wife's chest and Rasvim smiled at them warmly.

"Is something the matter, Xangy?" He coos.

"No, I just wanna be held by my lovely wife." She purrs. They sat there for an hour, Sasah enjoying the sound of her lover's purrs. When she was ready to get down, Rasvim was already done with his self-grooming, she spoke.

"We gonna just blow over the fact you purified our enemy's soul?" Xongile asked Sasah. The larger vixen sighed.

"I wasn't expecting to. I went there, expecting a large battle like everyone's been telling me about, with the city in ashes. He didn't even have a bit of power in him. Those obsidian pillars were all what was left giving him just enough power to keep those undead alive to protect him." She turned to Rasvim. "The Lord of Nightmare drained all of his power after it no longer had use for him... He repented, and like any most who repent, he needed to be forgiven... I sent him to purgatory where his soul will be purified before going to Paradise."

"So you didn't just send him on through..." Rasvim sighed in relief. "He deserved to be punished, but not by the Lord of Nightmare."

They talked for a time before they got up and made their way downstairs. Word got out that the Gods of Light had gotten a room at the tavern, and it was packed. They all gave them a cheers, some with coffee others with their morning alcohol as they took their leave. The Gods went to the stables, and told the stablekeeper to have someone, after they packed their bags with essentials, to send the cart and horses back to Balderwick's Manor. With Warp, they didn't need a horse and cart.

The three walked to the now-renamed Cathedral of the Light, and watched as a familiar priest walked up to them. The priest that told them of the Chosen...

"My Lord and Ladies of the Light. Had I known.." They could tell he fought the urge to get on his knees, but he simply bowed his head.

"We didn't know ourselves, to be honest. You damn-well surprised us with telling us our destiny. All we knew was we had to fight a Death Knight." Xongile sighed. "But we ride toward the Apocalypse, my pious friend, and it seems we need to stop it."

"We all need to stop it," spoke Rasvim, "The darkness isn't kept away by heroes or gods alone, but by all of the little folk. Those everyday decisions to give a loaf of bread to a beggar, or asking a neighbor about their day."

By this time, a crowd had gathered, smiling at their words.

"I ask that all try to do at least one good deed a day. The little things are what makes this world a better place." Some people cried, others cheered, and Rasvim grabbed his wives hands and warped them just outside the city. After blinking about the sudden change in scenery, Sasah spoke.

"Those were godly words if I've ever heard them..."

"Agreed. Damn good job." Xongile hits him on the rear.

"Come on ladies, enough of an ego booster. We're getting enough of that already..." He unpacks their tent and begins to set it up, before Sasah says something

"We always have a home. People to keep us from going too far into our egos." She kisses Rasvim on the muzzle before Xongile grabs onto the two and they Warp back to their home castle.

Seems a party was going on in the castle, larger than she'd ever seen in the area... She looked into her mind and noticed father was still politely, and adamantly refusing to drink. The three snuck in and led Xongile to their room. It was just how they'd left it, and was being dusted regularly. The twins let out a sigh of relief and take off their swords, flopping on to their old designated beds.

"We need to push these together..." Sasah giggled, but was too relaxed to move. Xongile was having a hard time deciding who to go lay with, before she forced the beds together with magic with a bang.

"Oof!" Sasah and Rasvim let out, with Xongile squeezing between them to be sandwiched as she liked.

"When the party's over, we'll go tell your father we're staying here." They could all sense that word had just gotten to the area. Lords, ladies, and their children from miles around arrived without invitation and demanded explanation. Sasah also foresaw that before they figured out their next step, Queen Zereth would be arriving with her husband. It was hazy again, as if she wasn't supposed to make decisions on foresight again.

Outside their room everything calmed down and the three fell asleep in their joined bed. Winter was closing in, and their winter blankets were stored in the shed. They used only body heat to keep themselves warm tonight. Purrs of happiness could be heard throughout the night.

Sasah had a vision in her sleep, though it was the most hazy she'd ever had. She was walking around in a garden, every flower was dead. She came upon a gate with living roses. She awoke before the sun was up, but she knew it was her habit. She laid there and enjoyed cuddling with the two.

The sun came up and Xongile stirred, waking up Rasvim with a snort in the process. The twins look through their wardrobe for some common clothes. They decided on blue embroidered tunics and a fluffed, white shirt and black pants with a black belt and boots. As they dug, Sasah found a set of clothes that hadn't been there before.

"Hey Xongile." The larger Vixen had been giggling, throwing her a matching set that they were wearing. "Seems they were expecting us back. Our tailor made some clothes for you! In only a day too..."

Xangy blushed, and began changing. She was expecting to wear her armor for a few days. The little Vixen got dressed, and realized it didn't fit in certain places. She tugged, wondering why it was so large, and Sasah said,

"No worries, they never fit at first. We'll sneak over to the tailor real quick." And sneak they did. Some patrons were still passed out on the floor, and they left the castle to go to the servant's quarters. When they entered, they went to the Tailor's room.

Sasah put a hand over the German Shepherd's muzzle, in which he'd wake up and struggle for a moment, before realising the kids he'd been dressing for years were there, telling him to be quiet.

"Shh..! We need to fit Xongile's clothes before everyone wakes up." He nods and they wait outside while he gets dressed. They all walk over to his workshop, and he begins measuring the little fox.

"Smaller than I'd expected, darling. You're small, even for a Fennec." The little thing blushed as he put the clothes on her and began re-stitching, cutting off extra material, writing notes, and adjusting the size. Eventually it fit perfectly. "There you go.. I got your measurements now, and wrote down some notes. so I'll have a servant get the rest of the things I made you and resize them." He left them there and Xongile looked at herself in a mirror. She'd never looked so elegant. She smiled.

"I never thought... In all my life." The fennec teared up in happiness, and Sasah picked her up, cradling the little thing like a baby. She rocked her purring wife.

Soon, they all walked to the dining room, less for breakfast and more to say hello to their favorite cook, Balen. They saw breakfast was already served, but none were at the table. Good. They walked into the kitchen, and saw the husky, who was cleaning his cookware. He took a sniff.

"Back so soon?" He smiled back at them. "And with your cute little addition." He dropped the dishes and dried his paws. The Husky opens his arms for a hug. The cook and the twins embraced. After they break the hug, he squats down to talk to Xongile face-to-face. "What's your favorite meal? I'm making everyone's favorite before you leave again."

He pats the Fennec on the head, who blushes, not wanting to mention her favorite food but knew there was no getting out of it. "Grubs... Fried in alpaca butter..." The cook widens his eyes, and scratches his head. "I can get Alpaca Butter in the foreign market, next town over. As for grubs..."

"Fishing store." Rasvim reminds the cook. "Remember the huge ones they harvest for big fish? They get them from rotting trees."

"Right, right! Is that alright, my Lady?" Balen asked Xongile.

"That'll be awesome!" She smiled wide.

"You're one of us now." Sasah patted her on the head. The three headed to the dining room for eggs, they shared a fresh loaf of bread, and each got a slab of ham, Xongile only needing a fourth of one. A couple of servants who never paid attention before filtered their way through and offered their welcome backs. The three mentioned they'd be staying awhile, and when asked why they gave the same answer. The next trail hadn't presented itself. Eventually their father made his way in and gave them hugs of the same passion.

The three watched the Fox eat at least a fourth of what he used to. They were glad he wouldn't clear the table anymore.

"So what was the party last night?" Asked Sasah.

"Everyone in the land has heard about you... The new Gods of Light. At least two-thirds third of them knew your names already, the others only knew you were Bastions, so they showed up anyway." Bartho shook his head. "I know they'll just keep showing up."

"You need to set guidelines." Rasvim said angrily. "You'll get assassins coming after you now. More than you used to. To get to us." He shakes his head. "Entry only on invitation. Pick two days of the week for villager concerns."

Their father opened his eyes wide at his son. "Alright, alright. I'll tell Abelard to let the rest of the Guard know." He continued his breakfast. "How long will you be staying this time? And you'll tell me before you vanish again, right?"

"We'll be staying until we get some damn direction." Xongile sighed. "Don't know what this next trial will be, where it's at, or when it will be."

"I know where, at least... I had an image of a garden I hadn't seen before. Everything was dead, and the only living thing were roses on a steel-grated gate." She looked at Xongile. "I can't warp there with this little information though." Sasah shakes her head.

"Then we know when..." Xongile looks back at her wife.

"Right! Roses bloom most beautiful in the winter. You said everything was dead. We need to wait until winter, and it's approaching fast." Rasvim speaks up.

"A month. And then a maximum three months until anything happens... Was there any snow?" Bartho spoke, in a tone they hadn't heard before. A tone a general uses.

"No.. Snow, so it's in a warmer climate. Probably here, or to the.. South.." Sasah looked at Xongile, who was staring distantly.

"Hopefully not... I know there's a famous garden in Minen. Capital of Zerania. A bunch of foreign plants being kept magically alive." Xongile choked.

"We need to wait until winter at least. We'll go to your village and meet -your- family then." She smiles and grabs Xongile and cradles her like a baby... She felt better immediately.

"Well, make yourselves at home, but first I have something to show you." The Lord put down his knife and fork, heading away. The three lovers got up, having finished their meal long ago, and followed. They went to the west wing. It was the direct opposite to where the Lord's room had been.

"I had this room built for Sasah, for her and whoever she'd marry when you were born. When Rasvim married, he was to take my room and I was to take yours." He nodded. "You were to be the Lord of this land." He said to his son. He opened the iron-clad, thick wooden door to a beautifully decorated room. There were silver candlesticks, a red carpet in the center with beautiful designs, a desk for paperwork, an oaken bookshelf, and a proper sized bed which had a red blanket on it, with similar designs as the carpet to match.

They all smiled, as they took in their new room. They advanced into it and saw the fireplace in the corner and a stack of wood near it with a few tools. Sasah flopped on the bed and sighed. It was stuffed with down... Best they ever had before was a wool-stuffed bed. The rest followed, Rasvim flopping down beside her, their legs hanging off the side of the bed. Xongile jumped up and nestled between them, sighing.

"No fucking way... This is the comfiest bed I've ever had." Xongile smiled and purred. Their father smiled and let them be. They all cuddled on their bed for a time, before getting up and going to their old room to move the contents of the wardrobe over. As promised, Xongile's clothes were gone to be restitched. They put their clothes away neatly and grabbed their swords, daggers, and cloaks from their room, buckling them onto their belts and they went outside.

The castle yard had some guards training, some servants doing laundry, and some children learning archery. They walk through the gate, heading to town. Business was bustling more than ever. The fresh Gods were stopped every few seconds to wish them luck, were passed with hat tips and head bows, and they reached a place where a large area had been cleared of brush. They walked up to some workers, who were working hard with digging and bringing in marble stone.

"What're you building?" Xongile asked the two workers, Warthogs, stopped angrily and talked to them.

"We're'a buildin' a Cathedral a' th' Light." One spoke. They had thick deep-tree accents. Obviously brothers, they likely lived in the woods most of their lives.

"Who ordered it so quickly?" Sasah quirked a brow.

"Bigwigs over in Ca'eon" Spoke the other brother.

"Catheon, eh? Can't say I blame them, after what happened." Rasvim sighed.

"Ah' 'eard. I'd start buildin' 'em in e'ry town if that'n happened. But this'n s'post to be the grandes' out there."

The three of them sighed as more workers passed. A crowd of people who recognized the twins gathered to watch them.

"Tha fuck ou' a' here! We're workin'!" A foreman yells at the trio, as well as the people.

The three laughed. It was nice to have people not recognize them. The crowd cleared, and so did the three. Sasah could sense that thousands of people so far, in just two days had converted to worshipping the Light as their main religion. The three found an alley to sit in to avoid everyone's gaze for a break. Sasah put up a field of invisibility for a time. It was nice.

"This'll be our lives for at -least- a month, you know." the Larger Vixen giggled.

"Mhm... Master Abelard will have to beat down our egos for sure." Rasvim snickered.

"He do that often?" asked Xongile. Sasah answered.

"Oh yeah... We'd get so proud of ourselves, being noble, and he'd be the one telling us we haven't accomplished shit. Now, he'd probably tell us something like 'You haven't saved the world yet.'" She mimicked his voice terribly.

"And we really haven't. This is just the beginning..." Rasvim spoke honestly. They stayed silent for a moment.

"Let's head back to the castle. I wanna try whatever your Cheesemonger makes." Xongile smiled weakly, and she got up. The little Fennec dispelled Sasah's invisibility field with ease. Sasah was surprised, thinking that she was better at these magics herself. After moving out of the alley, Sasah turned. A male Leopard was running toward them, a wolf having just left his hand.

"Sasah! You're back!" Jacob yelled at her, a smile wide on his face. He went in for a big hug, and patted her on the back. Rasvim smiled, and Xongile quirked a brow.

"Who's this?" The Fennec asked Rasvim. The two were in a tight embrace, having missed each other deeply.

"Jacob. He was Sasah's best friend before we left on our Knight's Journey." The male Fox spoke with a smile, patting his second wife on the head.

"I never thought I'd see you again." Sasah smiled widely at her friend, and looked back at the Wolf who starred awkwardly. "Who's your boyfriend~" She winked. Jacob blushed.

"Uhh.. Aldarion!" The Leopard called his boyfriend. "Come meet my best friend!" The male slowly walked over.

"Hey, aren't you uhh.." He seemed apprehensive of talking to Gods as friends.

"Oh, don't be that way. They'll always be Sassy and Rassy in my eyes, Godhood be damned." Jacob smiled and ruffled each of their manes. He was slightly taller than both of them.

"You never told me you were gay!" Sasah looked at him with feigned irritation.

"You never told me you were into polygamy." Jacob winked, then looked at Xongile. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Jacob Silverleaf. Sasah, Rasvim, and I have known each other all our lives." He smiled.

Xongile smiled back and went to shake his hand, which he bent down a bit for. "Pleasure to meet you too! It's nice meeting people from my spouses' lives before they ever met me."

"Well, you should get plenty of that, now. I hope you three stay awhile. We can go fishing at our secret pond!" Jacob said, then turned to Aldarion. "You're coming with, hon." Before pecking him on the muzzle.

"But... They're gods." Aldarion said low, with a quirked brow.

"And we've known each other our entire lives!" Jacob looked angrily at the wolf. "Just because they've changed doesn't mean they're not the same Foxes I knew from when we were cubs." The Leopard poked Aldarion on the nose and smirked. "Say 'hi,' and say it as a friend." The wolf walked up to the three Divines and looked into their eyes. He sighed and said,

"Hello! I am Aldarion, son of Aldar." Sasah and Rasvim smiled at the wolf, and Xongile rolled her eyes.

"A Paladin, by any stretch of the imagination." The tiny Fennec spoke. Sasah bonked her on the top of the head.

"He may choose his own path. But either way, when do you want to go fishing?" The larger Vixen looked and smiled at her old friend. Aldarion looked pleasantly surprised at the way they acted.

"Tomorrow morning. I'll bring the good bait!" Jacob smiled, and the three hugged. They said some final goodbyes and they parted.