Paladin (or cleric) whose relationship with their deity has gotten kind of weird.
"Kaaalliiiiiee~"
Lunaeris' voice floats softly through the air.
"Wake uup, Kalliieee~"
Was she asleep? She hadn't meant to sleep. She needs to keep trying to make it through to the gods. She lifts her heavy eyelids, sees Lunaeris sitting before her.
"Lunaeris?" She asks, squinting. The meditation chamber is bright, though the candles have all burned down to nothing. "How did you get here?"
"We are not Lunaeris." Says the figure, and Kallixenia is wide awake and acting faster than she can think. She tosses them aside and gets to her feet in one smooth motion, drawing her sword.
It giggles. It giggles exactly like Lunaeris does.
"Kallie, relax." It says, righting itself. "We mean you no harm. We are without form, without voice; we borrowed these ones to put you at ease, but that was... clearly unwise. You wished to speak with us."
Oh gods. She threw the gods.
Kallixenia drops to her knees, bows her head to the ground in supplicance, and they only giggle more.
"That is not relaxing, Kallie." They chide playfully. "Sit up, speak freely, we'll not smite you."
Kallixenia sits up, slowly. The gods are...
Well-
They're either not at all what she expected, or very committed to acting like Lunaeris in an effort to communicate with her.
She isn't sure which possibility is stranger.
"Are you always so... informal?" She deigns to ask them.
"No! We aren't anything that can be categorized in such a way! It's quite interesting, whenever we get a chance to exist as a person." They say, pacing. "Lunaeris in particular has such fun mannerisms! Her joy, her fire, how fascinating to experience."
They stride over to Kallixenia and settle into her lap, much as her wife would.
"Uh-"
"Relax, she won't mind. Hells, she'll be thrilled, hearing the gods are so enamoured with her. Put your arms around us?"
Kallixenia, not one to disobey either her gods or her wife, puts her arms around the bizarre combination of the two.
"Hmm!" The gods hum, adjusting their position, tilting their head every which way. "Yes, there's definitely something to this. Though, we suspect she only enjoys it so much because she finds it cute to see you get flustered when she moves her bottom a certain way."
Kallixenia turns red and silently thanks the gods for not demonstrating, because that would lead to all sorts of confusing feelings.
"But enough of that!" They say, twisting around to face her. "You have questions."
She does have questions. She has a request, it's what she came here for. She needs to ask.
It's terrifying. She's only just started practicing asking for things, and now she has to make demands of the gods?
"Why is it so hard to reach you?" She asks. She can start small.
They shrug, in her arms. "It's hard from both ends, if that makes you feel better about it."
It doesn't, really.
"Influencing your world directly is very, very difficult. You thinned the veil between us enough to allow us into your dream, and even this is a struggle." They say. "While we take this form, we must say we think it's quite a pain in the ass."
Kallixenia laughs softly along with them. Perhaps she can do this.
"Your graces, I..."
She hesitates. How to tell the gods you think they've erred?
"Kallie, just ask." They say. "It's alright."
Kallixenia sighs, shakily.
"I don't think I can uphold my oath to you. I... I don't think I want to. Not as it is. Not if I..."
"It's alright."
"My gods, I don't want to die. Not as just... an expected part of my duty. If this is the end of my service in your name, I understand, but... I must refuse the gift you've given me. I'll do anything to protect Lunaeris, but I won't use a power that demands she see me die. I can't. I'm sorry."
"Hmm." The gods hum. "Convincing! And we must say this form makes us sympathetic, she has quite strong feelings about this." They say. "But you're not asking for the right reason. C'mon, Kallie."
Kallixenia takes a deep breath. She has to say it.
"I... I want to refuse the power... for myself. I used to think that I could give my life to protect someone, and... maybe I still could, for Lunaeris. But I can't plan for it to happen. Not when I have so much to live for. I want to keep adventuring with her. I want to settle down and grow old with her. And I can't... I can't do that, with the oath I've taken." She says softly. "I can't share my life with her, if I've sworn to give it up."
"Oh, Kallie, how her heart flutters to hear that, what a feeling!" Say the gods. "And it might be her, but we're quite set on changing things for you! How interesting, to wish to rebel against ourselves!"
"Really?" Kallixenia asks. "I can still be a paladin?"
"Kallie, do you think the average oaf who's only in the order for power comes begging to the gods to work out a new oath when they don't want to be bound anymore?" They say. "No! You are a wonderful paladin, and we would rather like to keep you as one as long as we can!"
They push off of her and begin pacing, excited.
"Oh, let us think, a power to protect without throwing yourself in harms way- You know what, we'll get back to you, you don't have to sit here and wait. Why don't we wake you up?"
"Um-" Kallixenia says. "I do have one more question, if I may."
"You may!"
"The prophecy. Which one of us was the princess, when you made it? Did she twist it, fall in love with me of her own free will, or was it always meant to be this way?"
"Aha! You ask as if those are mutually exclusive. Let me answer your question with a question: Why was the prophecy vague about the name of the princess in the first place?"
Kallixenia thinks.
"I... don't know?"
"How about another: If we had simply prophecised 'Princess Lunaeris will marry Kallixenia, Paladin of the Seventh Monastery', would it have come to pass?"
"...Yyyyess? Because you would have fated it to be so, right?"
The gods titter at her, pleased with themselves, and wave.
"Pass our questions along to Lunaeris, she'll have a field day! Right now it's time for you to wake up; We hope you'll like what we come up with for your oath!"
"I... hope so too?"
And then Kallixenia opens her eyes to the darkened meditation chamber, where she sits alone.
How incredibly strange.
...If anyone asks, perhaps she'll just say that the gods are impossible to describe.
