as your spirit fades from the world, you think of what came before, when Kronii and Mumei were mere enigmas and not determiners of your fate
you recall when Mumei came to you
in a river valley, surrounded by lush forest, you are gathering water for your tribe
you live as one of a group of hunter gatherers
you’ve never known anything else
it’s a hard life sometimes, but gather enough and it’s pretty comfy
nothing like taxes, war, or employment ever cross your mind, you don’t even have words for those…

as you fill your waterskins, a burst of light appears and you stumble off your feet, blinded by its reflection in the water
you regain your composure and grab your trusty spear, tipped with flint
to your surprise, you see a brown-haired girl holding a flat block of earth, an aura of power surrounding her
she walks towards you, holding the block closely
perhaps a visitor from another tribe? she wears well-made clothing, far better than your ragged though reliable animal skins
through the birdsong and your silence, she calls out to you “Hello, you have no reason to be scared…I’m Nanashi Mumei, here to bring you all the gifts of civilisation”
”The gifts of…what? Mumei, these lands are bountious and your tribe do not need to offer us gifts, we are happy to share and welcome you here”
your tribe doesn’t have many roles beyond hunting and gathering, but during settled periods you sometimes find members of other tribes to share information with
normally, this sort of communication is difficult, but Mumei seems to know your language, literally in fact
”You’re mistaken, my friend…” she steps closer, though slightly shorter, she exerts a powerful divine presence

”A-are you here to rebuke our use of this land? Forgive me spirit, we mean no harm to you”
she sighs
”Well, I’m sorta-divine, I guess, I’m here on behalf of the Council…I thought you could use a head start…”
”The Council? And a head start on what, exactly?”
all of this is gibberish to you
”Just gimme your hands and then you’ll see”
cautiously, you lay a hand upon hers, which are far less rough than yours
you wonder why she shows few signs of berry picking and thorn damage
you lay down the spear, and Mumei puts down her block
it appears to be made of clay, and has carvings on it, much like those you make on cave walls or spears
as your hands lock with hers, she stares at you hypnotically, and demands you look into her eyes
you obey, and you see it…a vision of the future

other hunters, crossing the seas in boats, reaching every corner of the land
great fields of tall grass bearing seeds
seeds made into food for the people
houses built in one place, no longer fleeing with the seasons
animals kept in pens, used for food, transport and…milk? apparently aurochs fed their young just as women did, and this could be exploited
storehouses for the winter keeping your people sustained
bridges, roads and transport across the land
shiny trinkets and friendly people from other lands travelling through
priests building bigger, stronger temples for the gods - or the Council, as they were - reaching the heavens
mighty men and women calling themselves kings and queens, ruling above their people
people digging in the dirt, not for roots and tubers but dull rocks, apparently worth something
the rocks are put in great boxed fires, melted to a liquid and poured into tool-shaped holes
from this comes “metal” and sharp, shining tools, better than stone by a lot
and not used for hunting, either
you notice less trees in this new land, evidently replaced by the fields or used to fuel the fires
and the beasts of the wilds, mammoths and other ancient creatures, vanish, the livestock of mankind beginning to replace them

then, you saw the spears put to use
you saw hunter-men like yours were being now killed by these horrible weapons
put down like prey on the hunt and left dead
your tribe’s weapons get better and better, you see them moving in big groups with banners and bristling with spears raised high, covered in thick armour
”Mumei, stop!” a feminine voice calls through the trance
you see other tribes being wiped out - not just hunters, but these new settled ones too
fire demolishes their great buildings
your own tribe replaces them, and moves along…supported by men on wheeled boxes pulled by groups of tarpan, or what you heard the men call horses
beasts of the steppe, good only for food, so you thought
other warriors have similar companions, weaker than those of your people
the men carry bows, and thunder along the steppe, peppering each other with arrows
you hear another woman’s voice call out “Mumei! Please, listen to me!”
you are still unable to remove yourself from this horrible vision
you witness your people’s victory in driving away the other soldiers
after the violence, you see clay buildings and

tablets, like the one Mumei held, inscribed with the spoken word

the markings become more and more detailed, and dozens of forms of them are there
another, new voice calls “Yo Mumei, you gotta stop man!”
some are used for recording the past, the legends of the gods, or the deeds of rulers
others for tales of everyday life, or trading
seems as though people themselves are traded along with animals, food, weapons and so on
what happened to sharing the bounty of the earth?
perhaps there’s so many people you’d expect this
your vision jumps again, and you see different men on the backs of horses directly, firing arrows at and destroying the displaced people in the clumsy boxes - chariots, so they wre called
back in the settlement, stone is being used for building, alongside mudbrick and clay
another voice “Moomoo! Come on, snap out of it!”

the buildings are taller and bigger than ever
yet fighting comes to them anyway
a great pile of stones - a wall - keeps people out, but you watch as wooden towers, metal rams, and thrown rocks smash it down
you see the defenders slaughtered and the town taken
again, and again, and again
you see houses upon the water, with armed men upon them
mighty cities crumble before their hordes
many collapse into ash and dust but some survive
the “bronze” a mixture of copper and tin from the earth, metal is replaced with a new one, iron, which is even tougher
the tablets change to flat rolls, with the inscriptions on them changing too
you witness the gods themselves turn their back, and the people turning to new ones
a great and mighty kingdom, arisen from the deeds of many rulers, collapses horribly and the people suffer for it
tribes appear everywhere, though settled unlike yours
you see chaos unfold, as the new tribes forge new kingdoms in the ashes of the old
”Alright that’s IT!” shouts yet another voice
you hear a grating noise as a sword is drawn, and a yelp from Mumei as it’s plunged into her
still connected, you feel this pain too
the vision breaks up
you witness fractured parts of it drifting away
age old enemies being overwhelmed by a new one carrying a new faith
the eastern people developing powder that causes explosions
kingdoms split in two by dying kings
the old gods forgotten and their supporters killed
the followers of the new gods fighting each other
splits and breaks in the faiths as the old world falls away
a new land across the sea

and then you see the trees again
a tall, tanned, and big-breasted woman holds you up, you having apparently fallen into her arms
Mumei is dazed, bleeding from her side, but held by two other girls, one donning green hair and clothing, the other a chaotic mix of red and white
the final, blue-haired girl stands behind Mumei, holding a bloodied sword, just like the ones the vision
you finally feel the strength to speak
”M-Mumei…what happened? What was that vision?”
”I-it wasn’t complete…I-I was going to show y-you the f-future…”
”That was why we had to stop you, Moomoo, there’s not enough space in his head for that…” replies the brown girl gently holding you
”Sana’s right” adds the green woman, “As Ceres Fauna, guardian of nature, I can’t allow you to upset the balance so early”
”Yeah, and, like, I know I’m all about chaos n’ stuff, but, we reeeally don’t wanna mess with the timelines, ain’t that right Kronii?”
Kronii finishes the back and forth - “Agreed, I’m sorry Mumei, but you know the rules of the Council. We can’t let you screw this up, you have to wait”
still hurting a fair bit, and blurry from your vision, you pull yourself up, causing Sana to step back
”I never asked for this..she came to me as I gathered water, I am sorry to be rude to goddesses as yourselves…I do not know what to do, my mind feels so heavy with what I have seen”
”Goddess? Hehe, I like the sound of that…” giggles Fauna, quickly getting up
”Do you want a mother goddess, hmm? Someone to dedicate fertility rituals to? Someone to….” she asks, stroking your bearded chin before Sana interrupts her
”Faufau, stop it, give him some space…” says Sana, pulling you back towards her
for a moment she felt more like the mother goddess of the group
”Rich comin’ from you” replies the chaos spirit “Since when did you care about personal space, miss-I-fuck-before-the-first-date?”
Sana clutches you tight like a blanket of animal skin
”I-I was just…he looks like he’s been through a lot, y’know? Can’t we just leave him be?”
”You look like you wanna take him home with you, holding him like that” says Kronii in a cold voice, pointing at you with her sword
Sana just blushes and grips you yet tighter
”Oi ‘unter man, what didja see, anyway? Seems like a lotta chaos to me - oh, name’s Hakos Baelz, or Bae for short” asks Bae in her odd accent
you vividly describe your visions in the hope this “Council” will take them from you

”There we go, all better”
Fauna’s treatment made Mumei’s wound vanish totally, and with regained composure she stood up as if she’d never been hurt
”I’ll rember that, Kronii…”
”Uh, you mean remember, right?” replies Kronii in a confused tone
”Whatever.” this wise goddess seemed a bit less wise after the injury despite the physical wound being gone
”Anyway, I think you can leave this to me…I can make sure my new friend forgets all of this” says Mumei, grinning in a quite worrying way
”Ooh, sadistic, I like it. Just uh, clean up when you’re done, alright? I don’t want any anomalies to deal with, I hate those.” says Kronii
”W-wait, I don’t understand” you blurt out
”Ogey ogey, quick rundown…you, dum, smol brain hunter…Mumei beeg brain wisdom goddess” says Baelz
insults aren’t really a concept in your culture, but you feel offended nonethelesss
”Mumei tried to make you smart, we caught her ‘cos that’s a bad idea for the timeline, Kronii stopped it, here we are”
she pauses to think
”Oh, and you gotta, uh, die or forget everything, sorry bro, that’s the rules”
Mumei grabs your spear, eyeing it intently
”I will provide worship for you, i-if that’s what you seek…please, I did not ask for this burden”
”Isn’t that a bit early?” says Sana “My history isn’t great but, like, aren’t mythology and pantheons a later thing?”
”Yeah, they are” says Mumei, pointing the spear towards you, looking like you, the hunter, would look at your prey

”Well, if this guy’s time is up, we should go - Mumei, I wanna see you at the next Council meeting. You better get rid of this dude by then, alright?” orders Kronii
”Else, we’re gonna have to discipline you for it, Omega isn’t gonna like it if we’ve got an anomaly, and neither am I”
with that, the rest of the Council vanishes in a flash of light, leaving Mumei alone again
no longer supported by Sana, you slump to your knees, accepting death
”I am ready, Mumei…forgive me for wasting the time of a goddess”
she stands in front of you, spear aimed at your back
but after a moment’s silence, you hear her hurl it into the trunk of a tree behind you
”Get up” she orders
as you do so, you are met with her gaze again
”Please, no more visions….”
you notice she’s teary eyes
suddenly she puts her arms around you and weeps softly
”I’m sorry…I was..trying to enlighten you…”
”T-the other girls are all linked to concepts…Kronii gets to mess about with time, Sana helps make things in space, Bae makes chaos, Fauna looks after nature…”
”But I’m the Guardian of Civilisation, and I can’t do anything until people become something other than hunter-gatherers…”
”S-so I wanted to show someone civilisation, that was all, I wasn’t gonna do anything else, I swear…”
she continues sobbing on your shoulder

you gently pat her back and reassure her and the sobbing stops
suddenly, it’s replaced with heavy rain from the dense clouds above - maybe a gift from

Fauna, since it had been dry recently

you lead Mumei to a sheltered, open cave, which is shallow but has enough of a roof to keep out the rain
she calms down and you begin to properly talk
”If I dedicate a shrine to you and the rest of the Council, mixed with one of our old gods, would it sate your wrath? We could sacrifice some of our gatherings for you if you wish”
”I would be happy with that, and I think most of the Council would be too…but Kronii, she won’t be. She thinks she’s better than anyone else, but she hates actual worship…it’s kinda cute.” replies Mumei, blushing a bit
”Anyway, do you want me to teach you civilisation stuff? I can get away with a couple things if your tribe is careful…”
”And if you really worship me, I can see if Fauna will help prolong your life enough to see the first, other civilisations appear, if you keep your head down” she’s really blushing now
”I’ve always wanted to be a goddess of wisdom” she kisses you gently on the cheek
she grasps your hands tightly, and kisses you again, this time on the lips
”-and maybe a goddess of fertility too, since reproducing is a key part of civilisation…”
you felt her climbing on top of you, and were neither able, nor willing, to resist her charms…