"You know... The fancy I took to Lucas is a bit intriguing..."
Venus smirked, knowingly. As if she had been waiting for Selene to connect these dots for a while now.
"You don't say..."
Selene went on.
"She called me Neruite. Still does so, for that is my name as well, at least to her. It's an RPG goddess in a setting, but no info is given on her aside from a few lines. No detail on her nature, save for her being a lesser deity of sleep... Lucas herself, well, himself at the time, imagined how 'Neruite' would be... The goddess of sleep and dreams..."
"Don't worry about that, Hypnos and Morpheus aren't jealous..." - Quipped Venus - "And besides, you do have some sway on sleep."
"Well, yes... To be sure, I believe I am closer to this fantasy depiction. It very likely is why I was drawn to her. Even in my own slumber. However, something worries me... I think I may be taking on some influence from her notions..."
Venus smiled playfully.
"Is that so?"
"You know something about this." - Said Selene.
"You were always a gentle goddess, Selene. You know as much. However, with your age, came a wariness towards change... I believe it would do you some good to allow for the pot to be stirred a little..." - Said Venus - "Would you have even suggested for me to create life here a mere twenty years ago? Or move heaven and earth to save one person as you are now trying to do? Even as Celine..."
Celine/Selene/Neruite paused at the implications of this.
"We are not shaped by perception, however..."
"You know we are still steered a bit by it. You are receiving some influence from her nature and some more from her notions. Of course she now knows you." - Said Venus - "However, she will always remember you as the goddess that rescued her from the worst nightmare she could conceive. As the goddess that took actual time to save one small life... You know better than I do why she was more comfortable with lesser deities."
"Yes, she sees lesser deities as closer to humans. But you speak like you had a hand in this." - Said Selene.
"If I could control fate, I would not need to get you to get her help doing so. However, the moment you made the decision to go save her was the moment you truly became became 'Neruite', aside, of course, from your usual identities... A deity that is willing to interfere quite a bit to save one person. And that, my dear Selene, was your own choice." - Said Venus.
"And I do not regret it... I am just..." - Selene paused.
"Wary of change. And surprised at your protégé's power... I will tell you more about it, then, for you have the right to know. As you know, her sword is part of her. There is something else. Her sword is as water..."
Selene's eyes widened, for she knew fully well what that meant.
"Oh. Hey, Rach. Cass told me you wanted to talk?"
"Hey, Lucas... Yes... What exactly is going on?" - Said Rachel.
Lucas paused. "Well... Lots of stuff, really. But if you want to know the most recent one, fate exists and I can fight it." - She said casually.
"Tact, Lucas..." - Said Robert, sighing.
"What???" - Said Rachel, wide-eyed - "Really???"
"Yup. And no, this isn't something Selene gave me. I have no idea who or what gave it to me. It's complicated as hell and I don't think I'm an angel of vengeance anymore."
"Lucas... Haven't thousands of people wondered about fate or chance and so on?" - Said Rachel - "This is HUGE!"
"No kidding... I am working on saving someone, as Cass told you... I'll tell you all I can without risking my plans, but, Rach?"
"Yeah, yeah, keep mum on it. For the third time or so, no one would believe it anyways..."
