The Clown's Harem

Solomon spent the next three days as so:

He ate no food and drank only enough water for his physical body to survive.

In the daytime, he would head out to the Milf’s Tavern to fetch food and water and bring it back for Aurora, who remained and slept in his tent.

This was known as a fast, a common prerequisite before praying to the God of Decay. Ba’al appreciated those who put themselves in a state of hastened decay, which would make him more likely to receive his prayer and join him in his tent.

During his time in the fast, Solomon did not sleep in his tent. Otherwise, it would require him to be with Aurora for a prolonged period of time.

That would give her a better chance of discovering that he was not truly some all-powerful god.

Instead, he slept in the Milf’s Tavern and gave Aurora orders not to ever leave the tent. If she did, it would disappear from her sight, and she would not be able to re-enter without his help.

Unfortunately, this meant that Solomon was unable to answer prayers from Princess Lucy, who had prayed to him frequently. However, with the great uproar that had been taking place in the city after the death of Prince Godrick, it would make sense for him to be absent.

After all, a god could not always answer one’s prayers, nor should one expect them to.

Finally, the rest of Solomon’s time was spent offering his own prayers to the Goddess of Restoration, Juniper.

He had informed her of his plans to take down Ba’al, and she had agreed immediately, speaking to him through whispers.

Their plan was for Solomon to enter his tent alone and pray to Juniper. Afterwards, she would be able to enter his tent as she had done before.

Solomon would then pray to the God of Decay and hope that the god took the same steps that Juniper did, stepping up to the seat where he could be revealed.

Once revealed, Juniper would fight the god. However, she had made one thing clear.

She would only be able to damage Ba’al’s physical form, not his spiritual form.

This is what he had learned from the god: a god had a spiritual and physical form. The spiritual form existed in a place called The Nexus, whilst their physical form resided in a place called Limbo. The gods had no control over what their physical body did in Limbo. It was like a waiting zone. When a god entered a physical plane, which was a very difficult feat, they could connect themselves to their body in Limbo and be manifested as it.

It was what Solomon’s strange tent did - drawing gods out into their physical form, which was why Juniper had respected him.

Because of this, Ba’al would continue to live on in the Nexus but would never be able to manifest into the physical planes, which was the land that all gods truly cared about most.

Gods could not truly die, for all he knew, but their physical bodies could, which was equally as damning.

As for Solomon, he realised then that he truly was a false god, as he felt certain he did not possess a spiritual body that existed within this strange world called The Nexus, and even if he did, he was completely unaware of it.

...

Three days passed, and it was finally time.

Solomon returned to his tent and finally told Aurora that it was safe for her to exit.

It was a lie, as he wasn’t certain of this, so he told her to wait in the library until sunset. By then, the job would be done.

Afterwards, he sat in his chair alone. Once again, he felt like the Clown.

Oh, how I missed this...

He looked at the stands, wondering just how many prayers he had missed.

Then, he sighed, promising in his mind that he would make it up to all of them.

...

Solomon prayed.

"Oh gentle God of Restoration.

Fix what is broken in me.

Renew what has grown weak.

Return me to the wholeness I was made for."

By the time he opened his eyes, the familiar figure was already approaching from the stands. Unlike humans, the goddess did not wait to be called to the seat.

Once she was seated, the pink clouds around her body dissipated, revealing her beauty.

Her glorious red hair flowed in curls down to her feet, and her naked, scarred body was on display as always. However, Solomon was more focused on the look of sadness on her face and the thin fencing sword which she held in her palm. Numerous flowers floated around its blade like they did before.

Juniper did not smile as she arrived. It seemed the gravity of the situation was weighing heavily on her heart.

"Are you ready, Mister Clown?" she asked, addressing him in a respectful manner.

Solomon played his role perfectly, not showing an ounce of fear or nerves on his face.

"Of course. I have been waiting to deal with this troublesome god," he said smugly.

His words finally drew a slight smirk at the corner of Juniper’s lips.

"Good."

The goddess rose to her feet and positioned herself a few steps away from the chair. Her sword arm rested limp by her side, but from the look on her face, he could see that she was ready, or at least hoped.

Solomon drew in a deep breath and sighed again.

Then, he prayed.

"Oh quiet God of Decay,

Unmake what clings too tightly within me.

Soften what has hardened beyond its time.

Let all that no longer serves me fall gently away.

Teach me the grace of endings,

The wisdom in withering,

The peace in returning to dust.

Strip me of what I cannot carry forward,

Until only what is true remains."

...

Solomon almost did not want to open his eyes. For a moment, they seemed to be glued shut.

However, his mind begged him to open them, because if he did not, he might not see the impending danger approaching him.

Solomon opened his eyes.

There it was.

In the stands, a figure stood, shrouded in pink clouds. Yet with every second that passed, the figure tried his best to decompose the clouds covering its body.