Grogar ignored the lights of the fireworks as he took the image of the two goddesses before him and by the similar appearance, it was obvious that they were twins. Twins had a very powerful spiritual connection with one another and if that connection wasn't broken during their lives then there was a possibility that one may follow the other’s soul after death. The fact that Grogar’s sisters managed to stay together through who knows how many lifetimes was astonishing and Grogar didn't care if it was by coincidence or design, he was just happy to see them again.

The two were in the shape of two black goats wearing a simple yet elegant grey tunic-like collarless dresses with a root-like pattern and with the side seams opened below the waist-line, that was over a loose pajama-like trousers and to finish they had a large sash wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder and baring the midriff, which was very evident by the fact that they were both pregnant.

The differences between the two were the patterns on the sashes and the fact that the sash was over the right shoulder of one while the other one had it over her left shoulder as well as the pattern on the sashes themselves, besides the color that matched their eyes. The one that had the sash over her right shoulder had a dark orange and brown diamond-like pattern while the one with the sash over her left shoulder had a green and brown pattern similar to the leaves and barks of a tree.

Grogar couldn't help but compare them to the sisters he remembered, their fur that was now black was once white much like his own was, they were taller than he remenbered, being around 7ft tall, which was taller than the 5ft 7in they were when they were alive and their horns were also bigger than in their previous lives, they were still simple curved backward horns just like before just bigger. Also despite their height and pregnancies, they had pleasantly full and motherly figures, probably the result of a good and long life and as well as previous pregnancies.

“Master?” asked Faust worried by the fact that Grogar remained silent after he first laid his eyes on the new arrivals. Thankfully the question seemed to be enough to bring him back to reality, he placed his right hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then Faust asked, “Are you alright, master?”

“Yes, Faust. It's just old memories and dreams,” said Grogar before looking at the two goddesses sitting near him and Faust, so he said, “What were you saying?”

“Oh, these are two of my former students. The one with the orange sari is Sheol and the one with the green sari is Shuma, they are twin goddesses that ascended together with two other students of mine,” said Faust introducing the two New Goddesses.

“It's an honor to finally meet you, my lord,” said Shuma as she leaned her head forward a bit.

“Excuse us for not being able to show our respect properly,” said Sheol as she too leaned forward a bit.

“Nonsense, there is no need to bow, especially in your condition,” said Grogar before he reached out and gently placed his right hand on Shuma’s left cheek and his left on Sheol’s right cheek.

“My lord?” asked Faust when she saw this action, however she became a little alarmed when she saw tears come out of his eyes, but she was even more alarmed when she saw Shuma and Sheol cry as well and by the looked of confusion in the two New Goddesses they didn't know why they were crying.

“Have... we…” Shuma trailing off as she looked into Grogar's tear-filled eyes.

“...met ...before?” Sheol completed the question as she too was overwhelmed by emotions.

“Yes, in another place… in another time… in another world… in another life,” said Grogar with tears running down his face, but despite that, his voice and his face didn't waver. The two goddesses just leaned into the hands of their lord, but for some reason, they felt a sense of nostalgia, safety and familiarity that they couldn't place.

Grogar just used his thumbs to carefully and gently wipe away the tears of their faces before pulling back his hands, a quick and faint flash of red light came from his horns and the tears on his face disappeared. He looked around and noticed that Faust placed a discreet illusion to hide this private moment and he was thankful for that.

“How?” asked Shuma after she too cleaned her face with a quick spell, evident by the brief green glow from her horns.

“I don't know how many lives it has been from your perspective, but it was before the Great Cataclysm, before the Fall of the Old Gods and before the Draconequus-Alicorn War in the Old World. I was there when both of you were born, I was there to see both of you grow and I was there to make your graves, both of you were and still are very precious to me,” said Grogar with a distant look on his face as he looked at the moons in the night sky, more specifically the Heavenly Twins.

“If I may ask, what were we to you my lord?” asked Sheol after recovering her composure as well and did a quick spell to clean her face as well, evident by the brief glow on her horns.

“My sisters,” said Grogar simply.

While they were shocked at the moment he said that both of them also saw a flash in their minds and along with it the image of a tall white goat much like Grogar but with light grey almost white fur and green eyes instead of dark blue fur and red eyes, he was wearing simple farmer clothes and he was looking at them with a carefree smile. However just as quickly as it came the image disappeared and they were back in the real world.

“Your sisters? From your original family?” asked Shuma.

“The same one you dedicated the suns and moons to?” asked Sheol directly after her sister.

“Yes, the very same ones. It fills this old heart with happiness to met both of you again, even if you don't remember that life,” said Grogar with the same carefree smile as they saw in their memories.

Faust too was shocked by that fact, she never studied reincarnation in depth but even she had some idea the enormity and vastness that was the difficulty of finding a family member of a past life, a difficulty that only stacked with each life lived.

The four of them spend a great deal of the night just talking, for Grogar to just sit and talk to a family member was something he missed and they talked about the simple things such as the lives they lived before and after their ascension and things of that nature. Incidentally, he learned that his previous assumptions were right, these were far from their first pregnancies because they were fertility deities.

Grogar learned that the reason they were taller than average for goats in this life was that unlike in their previous life they had minotaur ancestry in their family tree, different from Grogar who was just unnaturally tall for a goat –back then at least, nowadays it was more common. He also learned that the other two goddesses that made up their quartet were their sisters –in this incarnation– as well as another set of twins, however, they were minotaurs instead of goats but with the same black fur, the four goddesses were born as slaves a few years after Faust’s awakening.

However they didn't have a reason to complain, their owner was kind and didn't abuse or mistreat them, by their tone of voice Grogar wondered if their owner was their sire as well, but he didn't press the subject further, besides it would be pointless to dwell on something that happened millennia ago. Anyway, he also learned that they received basic education, but the four of them were sold when they reached their teenage years not long after their mother passed away.

The four sisters were originally bought to be part of the staff on the Imperial Palace, eventually, they became the handmaids of Faust. The alicorn saw potential on the four, so she taught them and eventually they ascended. Faust was like a second mother to the four of them and she became quite protective when they gather the attention of gods and mortals alike, but eventually, they settled with another quartet of gods, the sons of two of Old Grogar's old friends that became New Gods while he was still alive.

Grogar retold some of the events of their previous lives and it seemed to jog some memories, they were however just a few flashes and images, nothing more. While he wished for them to remember their lives as his sisters he was satisfied with the fact that he found them in the first place, to ask for more than that was foolish and unrealistic. He narrated some of his adventures before and after the end of the Draconequus-Alicorn War in the Old World, after his first death until his second death by the hands of Luna on Mundus and after that as well.

At the mention of Luna’s name Faust expressed curiosity in knowing what happened to her second oldest daughter –as far as she was concerned her former students were her children as well– since she couldn't find her anywhere and she tried many times ever since her master returned and taught a scrying spell that was capable of reaching Mundus. Then Grogar informed her what happened to the younger alicorn and needless to say that Faust was disappointed with her eldest daughter.

To take Faust's mind of the subject, Grogar invited her to dance and the sisters too urged their former teacher and second mother to enjoy the festivities. While they ordered many snacks, they were both pregnant after all and by their size as well as their life-force both were carrying multiple children, again no surprise there since they were both fertility deities.

Eventually, they went their separate ways with the promise of meeting each other again, it was clear to Grogar that some memories of their past lives as his sisters resurfaced, but it saddened him to know that they will never recover the great majority of those memories.

Even so, it was to be expected, Grogar too had reincarnated in a different way, he might be a different soul but he had within him the same memories of Old Grogar. He was just glad that he had the opportunity to meet them again and he knew it was borderline impossible, but he hoped to be able to meet the rest of his family again even if was just wishful thinking, both the ones from Old Grogar's life and the ones from his human life.

Grogar and Faust enjoyed the rest of the festival before they too retired for the night while the rest of the group decided to stay a bit longer. He also expressed to Faust his curiosity in meeting the older twins that helped the reincarnation of his sisters, besides he was curious to meet another of the “Children of Faust”, which was an actual group of deities that were taught/raised by Faust in one way or another over the millennia that she waited for Grogar's return. Faust just smiled and gave him a knowing look before accompanying Grogar back to Cheng's house.

Three weeks later, morning

The party woke up from their respective rooms in the shared magical tent, they camped near the road they were following since they passed through the crossroad in the center of the continent, they, of course, headed north in their trip to Zerzura. The forest had by now turned into grassland with mountains in the distance and it was possible to occasionally encounter both monsters as well as other travelers, eventually, they reached the base of one of those mountains where they set up camp.

Anyway, outside of the tent we found Faust preparing breakfast while Grogar was topless and only wearing his pants, he was sparring with Agate, who was wearing just a sports bra and shorts. It was just a friendly spar as a morning exercise while they were on their way to Zerzura.

Cheng was sitting on a log waiting for breakfast and by his heavy eyelids, it was clear he was almost asleep. Rime was helping Faust with breakfast and not far from them was a new member of their party who was also helping Faust with breakfast, Katsuo.

The kitsune and Jun decided to join the group when they expressed their desire to go out and travel for a little bit, luckily for them they were on vacation so it wasn't a problem, but they have to go back to work in about a month.

Speaking of Jun, she was not far from Grogar and Agate while they were sparring, she was wearing workout clothes and by the fact that she was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily it was clear that she was resting after her morning exercise, which was also a spar with Grogar.

The fighting skills of both females improved tremendously by trying to survive against Grogar in a fight, granted he held back a great deal of his strength and he wasn't using magic, just martial arts. A skill set that Old Grogar developed by disciplining his body just as he disciplined his mind, that combined with him witnessing many different universes before finding his heir only expanded his knowledge.

Of course New Grogar wasn't arrogant enough to admit that he would be able to beat a God of War with martial arts alone, but he could hold his own for a while, however Grogar strength was on magic after all, it was actually more surprising that he never claimed the title of God of Magic.

Grogar defended a roundhouse kick from his right by using his forearms if he was anyone else he might have fractured his arm, dragons and their offshoots were after all known for both their strength as well as hardness of their scales.

The Lord of Tambelon was prepared however, he hit Agate’s right knee to make her lose her balance before placing his left hand on her throat. When she was on the ground he moved to punch her but stopped inches from her face.

“You lose,” said Grogar. Then Agate just sighed at the fact that she lost again, then Grogar got up before helping the blue qilin up and say, “You fought well, these morning sparring matches are really helping my body get back into shape.”

After Grogar said that he started to stretch his muscles, which showed his well-defined musculature to the two females and while Agate was blushing at this display –her dragon blood appreciated power and strength after all– Jun was just ogling her lord. Jun saw no problem in just looking, besides polygamous/polyamorous and interspecies relationships of any kind were quite common because of the number of different races as well as their own female-to-male ratio that could vary drastically, besides she had a thing for bigger males.

“We better get going, breakfast should be ready soon,” said Grogar before motioning for Jun and Agate to follow. Agate came back from her daydream and Jun shrugged before they followed Grogar back to the camp.

The trio joined the rest of the party as they sat around the campfire, Faust, Rime and Katsuo served the food. Today they were having meat and bread, the meat was from a wild alligator from a nearby swamp. Despite the fact that Faust, Grogar, Cheng and Jun were herbivores but they still ate meat occasionally, just not as often as the carnivores like Agate, Rime and Katsuo and they would occasionally eat vegetables or fruits but not as often as the herbivores, technically most sentient beings could be considered omnivores.

Faust sat beside Grogar on the same log, Rime sat beside Cheng who was beside Agate and the three of them were at Grogar's left on another log, Katsuo sat on a towel he placed on the floor while Jun sat beside him. They all had a good breakfast under the mountain's shadow and after breakfast, they chatted for awhile until one certain question was asked.

“My lord, we know you created Kamagati, but who created Aurbis?” asked Katsuo referring to the universes that Tambelon and Mundus existed respectively.

“No one actually knows,” said Cheng on reflex.

“Actually I know the legend about creation, but as far as I know only two Old Gods are old enough to remember that era and one of them is actually here on Kamagati while the other still on Aurbis,” said Grogar.

“Really?” asked Katsuo as he tried to remember the name of the oldest god he knew, but there were many gods –both old and new– on Kamagati so it was a bit difficult, especially if it was a reclusive one that doesn't care about the attention of mortals or even other gods.

“You don't mean… Yog-Yith,” said Cheng remembering the name of the Old God of Knowledge.

“Yog-Yith?” asked Jun and Katsuo at the same time not knowing that particular god.

“Indeed, Yog-Yith is a god more well known among mages because of his library, some say it's infinite but regardless of that he is a god that does not care about worship and he lets mortals come and go from his realm as they please, provided that they can reach it in the first place and survive the trip back,” explained Faust having met that god only once when he visited the Imperial Palace not long after she awakened, not personally however since he communicated with her through an avatar.

“Yeah, many mages’ life's goal is to reach that library,” commented Rime being a mage herself, even if she didn't particularly care about that library.

“Imagine all the knowledge there,” said Cheng dreamily.

“Indeed, my old teacher never cared for the attention of either mortals or gods, he only cared about the pursuit of knowledge. Anyway, still want to hear the legend?” asked Grogar and Katsuo nodded, it also returned Cheng from his daydream and caught the attention of Faust when Grogar mentioned "my old teacher". Being raised by gods she didn't know many legends, especially considering the fact the alicorns were very egocentric and thus dismissive of what did not concern them, that included anything that came before them.

Seeing that Grogar had everyone's attention he started, “In the beginning there was nothing, thus time and space had no meaning. One could say that it was a Void of Voids, then time began and like a flower blooming came the first gods, simply called the Original Ones. At some point, they began to fill this space with their creations and for an unmeasurable amount of time there was untold prosperity, but eventually, a war was waged between the Original Ones themselves and their creations.”

Grogar paused to let the group process what was heard.

“What happened next?” asked Jun with honest curiosity shining in her eyes, she felt like a kit again hearing a story.

Grogar smile at that attitude, it was kinda refreshing to see the usually honest and open disposition from the young yuètù, so Grogar continued, “Eventually that world was torn apart, but some Original Ones survived along with the beings created by them. They remade the world and gave it a new name, however soon after its creation, New Gods started to appear and the Original Ones became the Old Gods.”

“That sounds familiar,” said Agate.

“It should, but you will understand soon enough,” said Grogar and everyone nodded, so he continued, “Unlike before time and space were fractured, thus multiple interconnected yet isolated worlds were born and they will continue to exist so long the “original world” from which they spawned from continues to exist as well, much like a flower that bloomed the whole will die at once. However just like before the original world crumbled with war and was once again remade, the New Gods joined the ranks of the Old Gods and new New Gods came into existence. Each cycle of (re)creation and destruction is called a Kalpa. ”

"So, Old Gods are any deity that survived the destruction of its world beyond its Kalpa," said Jun to herself.

“So, existence is cyclical,” concluded Katsuo.

“Yes and no. I don't know how many Kalpas have happened but I know that this only applies to our 'corner’ of the multiverse,” said Grogar catching the attention of Cheng.

“You said ‘multiverse’, does that means that those other worlds are alternative versions of Mundus? And what do you mean by 'corner’?” asked Cheng.

“Yes, I did. As for the second question imagine a bubble, that's a universe. Now imagine that bubble surrounded by identically sized bubbles and all of those inside a bigger bubble, that's our universal cluster. Just outside of that bubble is another smaller bubble near the surface, that's Kamagati. All of that inside an even bigger bubble, that's our local multiverse. Outside of it is the Void of Voids or Overvoid, also known simply as The Void were we find other multiverses which make up a greater multiverse making up the two Displaced Multiverses” said Grogar, although the last part was something he just thought and didn't voice.

“I don't get it,” said Katsuo.

“I can explain what I understood to you later and I can ask Cheng later to explain the parts I didn’t get either,” said Jun, much to Cheng’s chagrin.

“Don’t make decisions without consulting me,” said Cheng to himself in his mind crying anime tears.

Agate noticed Cheng’s distress and wondered if this was what was like to have siblings, Rime too noticed that and just giggle at the younger yuètù as she remembered her own time with her siblings.

While that was happening Grogar and Faust had a thoughtful look, however, both of them were thinking about different subjects.

Faust was remembering the end of the previous kalpa or the Great Cataclysm, it was a disaster of such epic proportions that she couldn't describe accurately, it was like the sky and earth crack and lost their meaning, she and the gods that didn’t flee to the “outside” pulled together what pieces they could and save as many creatures as they could, which resulted in the version of Mundus Prime that currently exist, where she and Grogar waged war and where they died before being resurrected on Kamagati, or more specifically the Royal Palace in the Capital of the Tambelonian Empire.

Grogar, on the other hand, was contemplating about the displaced, interacting with them was a distinct possibility. he was also contemplating if he should create a token and spread it throughout the multiverse.

Anyway, after resting for a while they collected everything and departed after Grogar, Jun and Agate took a bath on a nearby river. Over the course of the day they climbed the mountain, that routine repeat itself for the next two days as they made their way to the top and when they arrived they saw their first goal, it was just a giant accumulation of clouds in the distance. However they could use a simple spell to allow them to see further, that or use a spyglass to see above the clouds floating above the center of this desert, but no matter the means used Zerzura was still breathtaking.

Looking below they saw a desert with the chain of mountains they were on was the border between the arid climate and the green grassland behind them. Also on the top of the mountain was a temple carved from the very rock of the mountain below, the party was standing on a path made of stone while looking at the temple. It wasn't unreasonable for them to find a temple on the top of a mountain especially considered that it not that far from the city known for being inhabited mostly by flyers.

Grogar was curious to meet the deity or deities that this temple is dedicated to and by the architecture it was either an Old God(s) or a New God(s) with Old God heritage, now for a deity to enter the temple of another was like entering on a house you didn't own without permission, so it was a sign of respect to announce one’s presence and wait for a response.

Grogar and Faust let their energy loose for a moment, causing the air around them to shake and it almost overwhelmed the other members of the group, but that passed quickly. It didn't take long for a portal to open in front of them and from the portal, a figure stepped out.

“Oh, it's certainly been awhile since we saw each other in person,” commented the figure with a feminine but strong voice.

“It certainly has, Tia,” said Grogar.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I had a mild case of writer's block, besides I was also busy in real life and I did a lot of research on my free time.

Regarding the name of the universe I chose:
Kamagati - kama means desire/temptation from sanskrit and gati means domain. It's based on Kamadhatu(Desire Realm) which is one of the lowest “layer” of Buddhist Cosmology and is made up of six Gati(Domains) inhabited by different creatures doomed to constantly reincarnation because of karma, its more well known as Samsara. I chose the name because desire is what motivated Grogar from the beginning. A desire that Old Grogar managed to cast aside in order to "move on" to the next existence, essentially he passed his shackles to his heir.

I also decided to go with Aurbis for the universe that Mundus exist in, keeping with the naming scheme based on Elder Scrolls.

The names and appearance of the twins goddesses were references to Shub-Niggurath from Cthulhu Mythos also known as Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Youngs who is also a deity of fertility. Also the two have a Type 4 anthro body just like Grogar. The clothes they wear is based on Indian clothes, more specifically a type of cloth called Punjabi Salwar Kameez.
Sheol - Sheol-Nugganoth is an alternative name for Shub-Niggurath and possible inspiration for Sheogorath from Elder Scrolls.
Shuma - Shumath-Ghun is an alternative name for Shub-Niggurath and possible inspiration for Shuma-Gorath from Marvel Comics.

The God Of Knowledge Yog-Yith is actually two references to Cthulhu Mythos. To Yog-Sothoth, which is a god associated with knowledge, and the Great Race Yith, which is said to be the most knowledgeable alien race in the cosmo and they also have a huge library beyond comprehension.

The Cosmology was based on a combination of the Cosmology from DC Comics, Buddhism and Elder Scrolls. Mundus Prime is in the center of that multiverse with a set number of alternative version around it, with Kamagati located on a superior sphere like the Sphere of Gods or the Monitor Sphere in the DC Multiverse while the Source Wall is the barrier between this Local/Mini Multiverse and the Displaced Multiverse(s) with the Void being the equivalent to DC's Overvoid. Also, unlike DC and more like Marvel each universe has its own afterlife(s) instead of sharing those domains.

The cyclical existence with destruction and recreation is based on both Buddhism(kalpa) and Elder Scrolls(kalpa), kalpa means eon in sanskrit and it's actually used on those two Cosmology to measure such cycles. Kamagati like the Forth World from DC exist outside of that cycle and has its own cycle. And as for the Creation Myth I took inspiration of the Elder Scrolls myth and the Forth World myth.

Also for those that are curious about magic click here to check my blog.

Can anyone goes who the goddess on the end is? No, it is not Celestia or a alternative version of her.