Dinner was full of laughter though it felt as if it was over far too soon and Ashterra was once again left briefly alone. Everyone was still reluctant to think of facing Sidus after hearing even a mention of how angry he had been. The idea of the god of the stars, the god of light and purification, going on a rampage was not one that any of them had likely ever had to contemplate before that day.
She understood it a bit, knowing how frightening the idea of a divine creature with as much power as Sidus held turning against those he normally protected was. Still, she did not think him likely to do so unless his power was corrupted and she believed him when he said corruption could not hold him for long.
Stepping into the courtyard that held the temple's pond, she looked to the small island and paused, startled. A new addition had been added to the pond, its magic giving off a familiar call. The tree that had helped stabilize the dungeon that had morphed had found a new home. Approaching, she touched the tree and felt its magic curl around her as it eagerly showed her its life.
It was not bitter at being the core for a dungeon, had been able to watch all of its surroundings and even change them a bit to be even more beautiful. The morph had been frightening, had left many of its leaves colored by deep and dark emotions. It had been grateful to be taken from that dark place, was not suited as some of the others were to such a dark place. The courtyard was perfect, large, beautiful, plenty of room to spread its roots and plenty of plants and people to greet it. It confided that it would probably never grow as grand as the tree that protected the city, had no such lofty ambitions.
Sidus' deep rumble of a voice broke her reverie, drawing her attention away from the tree, "You never cease to amaze me, Ashterra."
She turned to find that he did not stand alone, Umbra was at his side and she provided the goddess a slight bow in acknowledgement. Umbra smiled softly and beckoned her closer, echoing Sidus' words, "Truly, you make me look forward to meeting my own child when one day they are born upon one of the myriad worlds we watch over. So very new to this body of yours, to taking this type of form at all, and yet you can already reach out and speak with the things woven of the same magic as yourself."
Ash approached but paused suddenly as a thought occurred to her, a thing that had been mentioned around when she had just joined Fantastoria that she'd not even thought twice about that didn't make any sense. Starlight unicorns were not generally considered a race on their own, being the product of a Starborn having a child with another race. She'd heard them mentioned from Arfved, though, and hadn't thought anything of it at the time.
"How does this world have Starlight Unicorns?" Her tone was curious as she glanced to Sidus, a small frown on her face as she tried to puzzle over how they existed.
He gave a light chuckle, "You'll have the opportunity to meet some shortly as they should be heading here for the festival. They may even pause to rest in your grove when they pass by. They are born of starlight, as their name implies, but not concentrated to such a degree as your own race. They come into being near the Star Ash trees."
Umbra spoke after he finished, her soothing voice gentle, "Part of the balance of the world is that each god must have a created race and a bound race upon it. The closer to ourselves the bound race is, the more of our job they take on. Starlight unicorns are quite different from Starborn, and from their maker, and so they mainly serve only to make certain that no new Star Ash need to be planted and that no dungeons in out of the way places are at risk of a break or a morph. They travel most of the year, returning to the tree they were born beside for the festival though they generally only begin to arrive the day before it."
His voice a little pensive, Sidus spoke again, "The Ash of your own grove had none of its own Starlight unicorns to return to it before this year. You are the first whose body it helped form upon this world and the only, I have gathered from the way it communicates."
His gentle eyes moved from the Star Ash he'd planted to Ashterra even as he gently thought that she and the Star Ash were not so dissimilar to each other. The eldest of his creations and the strongest of them seemed always to be drawn to trouble. That the first of his Star Ash had conserved its power, seeming as if it felt it would one day be called upon to use quite a lot of that stored magic, wasn't particularly surprising to him anymore.
Gently, he beckoned his child closer and moved to slip a metal band around her wrist. It had been a troublesome thing to craft, had taken the work of several gods and a good chunk of the day spent in Fantastoria by most of them. They had all been in and out of each other's main temples several times and the ripples of that action were already spreading. Gold Arches was not the only place that spoke of gods invading each others temples.
The band was a deep color, like the night sky without its stars. Umbra had provided the base metal of it and with it had come her darkness' ability to hide things. His stars had been layered throughout, bringing light to the things that they felt needed to be seen and creating a tapestry on the dark metal.
Small bands of color ran throughout it, each connected to a god that had provided a material for the completed project and each bringing something important to its construction.
A bright blue band turned into what looked like a swirl of cosmic dust ran through part of it, the mark of Aquas' power, brought forth the bracelet's ability to change and flow, to be what was needed for whatever form Ashterra took. Alongside it Petra's deep earthy brown power ran, giving it rigidity and allowing it to provide physical protection alongside the magical protection it had been forged for.
Silva's gentle green and Mineralis' fiery red brought the wind's ability to deflect and fire's to burn away threats that faced her. Those bands would keep her safe from magical threats, would keep her from being able to be forced into her true form for all the world to see.
The other gods had provided power to it as well, creating the stars that shone in the bracelet. It was a thing of beauty, a special gift to keep her safe and to grow alongside her as she spent her time in Fantastoria learning and, hopefully, healing. It was also not the only of its kind as they forged one for each of the children of gods though it was one of the only ones that wasn't given to the true body that hosted the treasured child.
"This will protect you from magic that would force you into your true form, will break the magic apart in a way that will not make its caster hostile towards you. Instead, they will think their spell has succeeded," Sidus frowned ever so slightly, "Be wise in how you use it always and remember that most that launch such attacks do so not out of malice but fear."
She nodded, her fingers running along the band in awe. Umbra leaned in to show her that it could be concealed as well, turned into a plain black band with all its other features hidden, "I understand. I won't use it to harm those that seek to seal my magic for their own protection."