So, I Transmigrated Into The Heavenly Realm

29. Advice From the Willow Garden

In Heavenly City, there was only really one place that you could go if you truly wanted to be alone. Sure he had his own living space but that was attached to the War Department's office and he could only ever be so far away from junior gods with messages to pass along to him.

For actual bona fide 'moments of peace™ ' you had to go to the garden of Mother Willow. Beyond its gate of woven willow branches, it was always peaceful. She made sure of that.

Willow trees filled the garden's expanses, their leaves rustling gently in the wind. If you sat beneath them in a pleasant breeze you could imagine yourself cast out in a coracle upon the seas.

Occasionally one of the leaves turning a fitting autumnal yellow would fall spinning rapidly in the air before landing in the tall grass carpeting the garden in yellow and brown. Soon they would all dry and be blown into heaps of crispy leaves that the children would play in and then sodden lumps in the rain that would follow after.

Many rare flowers and herbs grew here so it was a popular place to visit among the deities of medicine and beauty. It wasn't unusual to see Omdum walking around with a handful of mysterious weeds.

Despite its popularity, the sheer size of the Willow Garden meant that it was very unlikely that you would actually bump into anyone here. There were many winding trails through the trees that lead to secret benches and mossy glades for solo contemplation.

The view of the sunset here was unrivalled across the entirety of the Heavenly Realm. Even the Emperor couldn't boast a view as good as the ones in the garden from here beneath the willow trees.

A lot of first dates and weddings happened here.

It was a very romantic place.

Or at least it had been.

Elgaldir stood staring at the gnarled trunk of one of the ancient trees, his mind beginning to wander back to the last time he had walked through the garden gate. Back then, he hadn't been alone.

It had been summer and the whisper of the leaves and the dew still laying in the moss pocketed meadow grass had tickled their toes and soaked the bottom of their robes. There were smiles and flowers in their hair.

Normally, a martial deity shouldn't be easily snuck up on but Elgaldir was distracted and Mother Willow was old, older than the hills. She knew how to disguise herself when she wanted to and her powers were greater yet here in her own domain.

"What are you doing here moping around in my garden young man?" Mother Willow asked. It seemed to Elgaldir that she must have just sprung up out of the ground. He hadn't heard her approach at all.

He smiled at Mother Willow as she came to stand next to him, on the messy path. Held gently in her arms was a sizeable dark furred rabbit, which she was casually stroking with her gnarled fingers.

Elgaldir wondered whether she normally just carried a rabbit everywhere with her or if this was a special occasion. It looked content to be held thusly and around its neck was a thin white ribbon upon which was tied a tiny bell. More like a cowbell than one you would put on a cat's collar to stop it from eating the local birds. Each movement of the rabbit made the bell chime and Elgaldir was left wondering whether the rabbit would rather it not be there. The clanging had to get on its nerves.

It also probably attracted predators.

At his lack of an answer to her questions Mother Willow gave him a withering look and asked him. " You don't think that I don't know what's going on do you?"

Elgaldir was brought back out of his rabbit based ponderings with a sudden jolt. "Who me?" He asked, trying his best to not look like he hadn't really been listening. It was a valid attempt but also a very obvious one.

Mother Willow was not a deity that had been born yesterday. She was born in the time of the old gods and to put it simply, she'd seen a lot of shit.

She stopped petting the rabbit and gently placed it on the leaf strewn grass. As it hopped away the bell chimed, slowly growing quieter and quieter until it was lost in the tall grass. With her free hands, she grabbed the shoulders of Elgaldir, turning him to face her eye to eye.

"You should go to him when the moon rises." She said, there was no ambiguity in either of their minds as to who 'he' was. "That's when you will be needed." Mother Willow emphasised each word to ensure he picked up just how important this message was. Her eyes normally a warm brown colour where almost yellow, her lips slowly forming around the syllable of each word.

Before the God of War could ask any of the questions these two statements had evoked in his mind, she was gone.

Lost once more among the willow trees.

Mini Theatre

Bunny 1: I saw a massive bloke! A real big fella.

Bunny 2: A martial god?

Bunny 1: Must have been. He was huge!

Bunny 2: How big?

Bunny 1: Must have been 14 carrots high 7 carrots wide.

Bunny 2: Definitely a martial god.