A Piece in the Game of Gods part 37

I was alone. I stood in the middle of a vast empty darkness with no sign of anyone else. Since I’d been here once before, I knew exactly what this meant. I was dead. Again.

This was the same place where I’d found myself after Nadine had murdered me, the place where I’d first met Maelyne. However, this time, I hadn’t been murdered by an enemy. I’d been killed by someone I trusted.

“Jeri,” a voice said from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Maelyne standing there, though something was obviously wrong. She still glowed, but it was fainter than normal, and she was…transparent. I could see right through her. In fact, I could barely even feel that aura of power she usually radiated.

“You killed me,” I accused.

“To save you,” Maelyne responded with a sad smile. “To protect you from something far worse…”

“Arakthiel,” I whispered, shuddering a little as I did so. “He’s… Scary…”

Maelyne nodded. “His power is…an abomination. If he’d killed you, he would have destroyed you utterly. Your soul would have been consigned to oblivion. But by killing you myself, before he had the chance, I have the opportunity to resurrect you…to restore you to life.”

“So, you can bring me back again?” I asked in relief.

I knew that patrons could bring back their champions, but that they could only do it a couple times. She’d already brought me back once, in Heather’s body, but I had no idea how many times she may have brought Heather back before then. During this whole game, it had seemed safest to just go with the assumption that I didn’t have any more chances.

“Yes,” Maelyne told me with a pained expression. “One last time. I can even restore you on your own world, since this is one of the few ways through the veil between worlds, albeit, a way that my own kind cannot use.”

I let out a sigh of relief at that, then stared at Maelyne. She looked bad. Really bad.

“What about you?” I asked, feeling worried for her. “Will you be all right?”

“No,” she answered quietly. “You are not the only one who died.”

“WHAT?” I gasped in surprise.

I’d seen Maelyne being injured by that purple cloud, and had seen her dying because of it. But she was standing right in front of me, so I’d assumed that she’d somehow survived.

“I have taken my last breath,” Maelyne continued, “and have spilled my last drop of blood. Arakthiel’s power has destroyed my body entirely, leaving nothing behind. I am here with the last vestiges of my life and power, a brief pause on my journey to the hereafter.”

“But you’re a goddess,” I protested.

Maelyne gave me another sad smile. “Even my kind can die, though it is normally very difficult to kill us, and even harder to destroy our souls. My end was certain, the moment he struck me with his blade. At that instant, his power began to consume me…to eat away at my life. Once that began, nothing in my power could stop it.”

“But can’t you just rez yourself” I pleased with tears in my eyes. “If you can bring me back…”

“I fear that is not possible,” Maelyne answered in a gentle tone. “If my body remained intact, there would have been a chance, but Arakthiel ensured that this was not so.”

“But…,” I tried again, feeling almost desperate to find a way to save her.

“There is no need to fear death,” Maelyne assured me with a gentle smile. “It is merely the next state of existence. However, your time has not yet come. There is too much for you to do, to learn, and to live for. One day your time will truly come, and when it does, I hope we will meet again. But for now, there are people who require your protection…”

I stared up at Maelyne, still stunned and shaken by what she’d told me…and incredibly sad. I hadn’t known Maelyne all that long, but in that time, she’d become very important to me, and not just as a patron.

“But how can I protect them?” I asked with a grief-filled resignation. “I can’t fight them. I’ve tried. They’re too powerful.”

“You cannot fight our enemies directly,” Maelyne agreed with a faint smile. “They are far too powerful for you to face directly. However, you can use their own strategy against them. While they ride mortal bodies, they are vulnerable and can be injured.”

I shook my head in disagreement. “That doesn’t work. They just shake it off and heal…”

“They are gods,” Maelyne said, stating the obvious. “Even when riding mortal flesh. Truly injuring them requires something…special.”

I blinked at that. “Something special?”

Maelyne stared down at me with a strange smile. “I have one final gift for you, my former champion,” she announced, her odd smile deepening for some reason. “One that will allow you to retain your abilities, even when you no longer have a patron. One that will allow you to defeat our enemies and protect your people.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly, not sure how I should respond to this. Maelyne was basically on her deathbed, saying her final words, and we both knew it.

“Destroy their host bodies,” Maelyne instructed me. “That will drive them from your world and leave them severely injured and weakened in mine. That will give my allies the opportunity they need to defeat these treacherous creatures for good.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were running down my cheeks. “It’s…It’s been an honor, being your champion.”

“The honor was mine,” Maelyne responded with a smile.

Maelyne was even more transparent than before, and I could barely even feel her presence. She was fading fast.

“I no longer need a champion,” she told me with a gentle smile, “though your friends and loved ones do. Go back and protect them. Protect your world.”

With a nod, I promised, “I will.” Then I tearfully added, “I’ll miss you…”

The dying goddess crouched down in front of me and gently took my face in her hands. In spite of what she’d done the last time she did this, I wasn’t at all worried or afraid that she’d hurt me.

“And I will miss you too,” she responded in a whisper. “Until we meet again…my daughter.”

With that, she bent down and kissed my forehead again, and suddenly, everything changed.

--------------------

I was alive. I was also stunned, confused, and…sad.

I remembered the vast darkness after my death. I remembered my conversation with Maelyne…and her kiss goodbye. I remember being filled with energy and life, with a bright light, and then the feeling like I was being born all over again.

When I opened my eyes, I was bombarded with new popups, but I was still too dazed to make sense of that now. I pushed that aside for the moment and just tried to deal with things one at a time. The first thing I needed to deal with was the question of where I was.

“JERI!” an excited voice suddenly yelled.

“Teri,” I responded at seeing her run into the room.

It was only at this point that I my senses came back to me enough to realize that I was laying on the floor of the living room, in the house I shared with Lauren and Cassandra. I was home. I was also completely naked, except for a silver bracelet on my wrist.

“You’re back,” Teri exclaimed as she rushed over and grabbed me in a hug, which was a bit awkward sine I didn’t have any clothes on.

“Yeah,” I said, sitting up and looking down at myself. “I guess I am…”

I ran my hands over my body, letting out a sigh of relief. It felt good to be alive again…to have a body again. I hadn’t been dead for very long, but it had been long enough to remind me just how much I preferred being alive.

And as I ran my hands over my soft skin, then my breasts, I let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to have my body back. However, a moment later, I suddenly wondered when I’d begun to think of this as ‘my’ body rather than Heather’s.

My thoughts were interrupted by several more people rushing into the room and crying out variations of, “You’re back.”

“And you’re naked,” Matt blurted out in surprise.

“Watch it,” Lauren exclaimed, punching Matt in the arm and giving him a firm glare while I tried covering myself up.

“Are you okay?” Cassandra asked as she took a blanked that was folded over the back of the couch and draped it over me. “We were worried…”

“I’m…fine,” I lied as I got to my feet, pulling the blanket around me and holding it in place.

“What the fuck happened?” Cassandra demanded with a worried look. “Did you just get rezzed?”

I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. I was still a bit shaken up by everything that had happened. “Yeah, I was just rezzed.”

Matt’s eyes went wide. “That’s why you suddenly popped up naked…”

“Who did it?” Teri demanded angrily, as if she was already planning to hunt them down for revenge. “Who killed you?”

“Maelyne,” I answered, earning several looks of surprise and confusion. “She only killed me to keep Arakthiel from doing it first…”

“What’s been going on?” Matt asked me with a worried look. “What in the world happened to you?”

I let out a wary sigh, then looked around. Everyone was staring at me expectantly, with a lot of questions burning in their eyes. This was going to take some explaining and I wanted to get my head together first.

“I need something to eat first,” I announced. “Then I’ll explain…”

Lauren nodded at that. “I’ll get you something then.”

“Thanks,” I told her, sitting down on one of the chairs while being careful to keep the blanked wrapped around me.

While I sat there waiting on my food, I asked a few questions of my own and found out what had happened after the failed raid. Since the attack had been such a failure, and because all the survivors were afraid that Harker had compromised the hideout, the whole ‘rebel army’ had broken apart, and everyone went their separate ways. All my friends came back to the house since Armestia had at least provided a little protection for this place.

Lauren came back with a cup of tea and a plate with a couple sandwiches, which I quickly began to devour. However, I took my time as I sipped the tea, especially when I saw how impatient everyone was to hear about what had happened to me.

“You never came back with us,” Teri blurted out first.

“They got the Cleaner,” I responded, pausing to take a sip of tea. “All his portals vanished, and I couldn’t get through the last one in time…”

“I can’t believe you even survived that shit,” Cassandra said. “But how the hell does Maelyne get involved?”

After taking another sip from my tea, I began to explain what had happened. I told them how I’d rescued the Cleaner, then went into the world of the gods in order to try rescuing Maelyne. I got some skeptical looks at this.

“That reminds me,” I told Cassandra as I removed the silver bracelet and handed it to her. “Armestia asked me to give this to you. It makes it so people…and gods…can’t really sense your presence. I gave it a trial run for you, and it definitely works.”

“Really?” Cassandra asked, staring at the bracelet before putting it on. “You really met Armestia in person?”

“Yeah,” I responded with a chuckle. “She seemed pretty nice. Anyway, I ran into her, then she introduced me to a couple other gods, and they helped me rescue Maelyne. Well, they gave me the key to free her, then let me sneak in since I wasn’t powerful enough to trip any of the sensors around her prison.”

“So, you risked your life to save Maelyne,” Teri exclaimed, “and she goes and kills you?” She snorted at that, looking angry. “That’s just lame… If I ever see her…”

“She’s dead,” I blurted out with tears starting to form. Everyone stared at me in surprise. “Maelyne died saving my life.”

“What?” Cassandra gasped. “But she’s a fucking goddess…”

“Arakthiel got us with some kind of alpha strike,” I explained quietly, shuddering as I remembered it. “Maelyne…she killed me to keep him from doing it… The last thing she did, was rez me and send me back…”

“Holy shit,” Cassandra whispered, obviously stunned by the idea that a goddess could be killed.

“I’m…sorry for your loss,” Lauren said in a gentle voice. “I know she was important to you…”

“She was my patron,” I responded quietly, though that was an understatement. Maelyne had been my patron, but she’d also become something a little more, though I didn’t know how to describe it.

“Fuck,” Cassandra gasped.

“Are you still a champion?” Matt asked, giving me a worried look. “Do you still have your abilities?” He paused for a moment to look at his own screen. “I still have mine…”

I blinked at that, remembering what Maelyne and I had talked about before she’d faded away. “She said she was going to give me some kind of gift that would let me keep my abilities…and let me beat those bastards.”

“That would be useful,” Matt commented wryly.

“What is it?” Teri asked.

“I…don’t know,” I admitted. “I haven’t really looked yet.”

With that, I finally turned my attention to the pupups that had appeared when I first woke up again. I’d pushed them out of my mind and sight, but it only took a thought to bring them back.

YOU HAVE BEEN RESSURECTED.

The first popup was pretty obvious and not even worth the effort of reading. I didn’t need any popup to tell me that I’d been resurrected. However, the second popup caught my full attention.

MAELYNE, GODDESS OF PROTECTION AND LOYALTY CONSIDERS YOU AS A DAUGHTER AND HAS GIFTED YOU WITH MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING.

MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING: YOU POSSESS A DEVINE SPARK, A SLIVER OF MAELYNE’S ESSENCE. DIVINITY AND DIVINE POWER HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED.

“What the…?” I gasped, staring at my screen in stunned amazement.

“What’s wrong?” Teri asked with a worried look.

I read through the popup several times, trying to make sense of what it said. Then I looked at the next popup, which was nearly as surprising.

YOU HAVE ACQUIRED DIVINITY 1: +1 TO ALL ATTRIBUTES. +100 TO ALL RESOURCE ATTRIBUTES.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I read this. That explained why I felt so good and energized. I’d thought it was just a side effect of being resurrected. I gulped and looked over my stat sheet.

NAME: JAERI
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
TITLE: DEMI-GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.

DIVINITY: 1
-
STRENGTH: 10
STAMINA: 11
ENDURANCE: 12
-
AGILITY: 13
REFLEXES: 10
DEXTERITY: 11
-
INTELLIGENCE: 14
CHARISMA: 15
AWARENESS: 12
-
MANA POOL: 700
MANA RECOVERY: 537
HEALTH: 390
REGENERATION: 390
DIVINE POWER: 100

“No way,” I gasped with my mouth just dropping open. This wasn’t possible.

“What’s wrong?” Cassandra asked.

“Nothing,” I responded with a shaky voice. “Maelyne gave me…” I paused at that, not sure how to describe what she’d given me. Tears ran down my cheeks as I said, “It says she thought of me as her daughter…”

Cassandra didn’t say a word to that. She just reached out and gave me a hug.

Kudos

Comments

Reason for changing her name?

Is Jaeri a typo or is it now her new name, paying homage to Maelyne?

Hugs from British Columbia! :D

I would suspect

That is not a typo.

- Leona

Jaeri

Jaeri does sound like both female and male name. Slight change makes the different.

I realize this is three years

I realize this is three years later, but note that it's _only_ Jaeri. The previous full human name is now gone. It's a single (divine?) name.

I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Good going..

Good going..

Good

Excellent

Good

(Posted twice...my bad)

WOW,

DEMI-GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION.

Matt and Teri, are loyal and they would protect Jeri, I wonder if the other former champions and companions will, even if only as long as it takes for disposing of the gods

"REMEMBER, No matter where you go, There you are."

Sammi xxx

Of course Matt and Teri are

Of course Matt and Teri are still loyal to Jeri, even if she weren't now a demigoddess. My main question about them now, though, is do THEY get an upgrade along with Jeri? A companion is to a champion what a champion is to a goddess. It's the samr thing, just one tier down. And if Jeri jumped up a tier and is now a goddess, have Matt and Teri jumped up a tier as well and are now considered champions?

Logically

Logically, that should be the case. Don't know how Morpheus would put it in though. But by right, Both of them should be something like a champion. Maybe they are still considered as Demi-Goddess' Companion but with Divinity power, Jaeri got the chance to play resurrection maybe? Just opinion though. Cheers.

Now Jaeri is an orphan

I was very sad over Maelyne's death. She gave Jaeri life, tried to protect her and gave her a precious gift as she died. Can't do much better during their short time together.

Yea very sad

Yeah very sad. Just got a new Goddess as a mother and lost it seconds later. :(

Perhaps Jaeri can call Armestia as 'Untie'. :P

“It says she thought of me as her daughter…”

aww, so sad ...

Another great story

Another great story. The ending was so happy and sad at the same time. I always look forward to your work.

Fitting

Going into this chapter, my guess was that Jeri was killed to save her soul. Many others felt the same and we were proven right. I also had a feeling that Maelyne would not survive that final attack, which also came to be.

However, the last surprise was a bit interesting. To be honest, I was not shocked by it. A bit surprised, yes, but thinking back through the story so far - and knowing Morpheus' style with his other tales - this does make sense. It fits, and there was some veiled foreshadowing along the way too.

It will be interesting to see how Jaeri goes forwards from here - and how much her new Divinity might increase. We didn't see it yet, but I bet she has a new popup screen now that has some Divinity specific stats and skills on it.

- Leona

Just a heads up

In this line MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING: YOU POSSESS A DEVINE SPARK, A SLIVER OF MAELYNE’S ESSENCE. DIVINITY AND DIVINE POWER HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED.

There is just a spelling Error with "Devine Spark" Should be "Divine Spark" since you have the same word spelled correctly later on the same line.... yeah.

Never be afraid to push yourself to new limits. While you might not see the path, you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

Being right stinks

I am not happy about being right about Jaeri ascending to divinity when there is the pain of losing someone who was like a mother to her. I wonder if this name change altered reality so she can live her life. Maelyne’s death scene had me in tears, maybe Arakthiels death can bring her back.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna

Somewhat Surprised

I thought that the story could go the way it has, but I thought it was more likely that Maelyne's allies would have saved her. So; here we are. Maelyne has created an avenger. We now wait to see how it plays out. Is Jaeri strong enough to take the enemy on all at once, does she need to re-assemble the champions and/or reconnect with the cleaner (if either or both is even possible), or does she need to take them on one on one to prevail (if so, how would she separate them)?

Morpheus; Very good. Thanks for sharing. You've credibly extended the story and the mayhem well beyond where I thought you could or would keeping your readers entertained, interested, talking (writing lots of comments), reading, and scratching our heads. It's sure easier to read your stories after they are completed.

Poor Jericho & meline

Jeri is now a demi god but it cost a lot but meline her patron sacrificed her self to protect her daughter Jeri. But to do that she had to kill jeri unfortunately. Now it's time to TRULY kill the host bodies & severely damage & weaken the rebal gods.

Love Samantha Renée Heart.

Sniff

I was wondering when the battle back on Earth will matter again.

This is one of the most moving chapters I’ve ever read from Morpheus.

The divinity bit is of course key.

She can potentally continue to ramp up her stats.

She can potentially evolve to be a full fledged goddess as one will recall that Maelyne was on 1300 years old.

Who was her predecessor?

Jeri’s empowerment

Reminds me a bit of the Exalted universe (like as in Dr Bender’s Fate and the Iron Tiger story.)

I think Morpheus would be great at writing something in that universe.

Powerful Emotional Chapter

It was obvious Jaeri was dead and Maelyne would resurrect her, I didn't think Maelyne was also going to die. That surprised me. If Jaeri is a Demi-goddess then she's still not in the same league as a full god/goddess, but it does imply that if Jaeri kills a god/goddess they'll now stay dead.

DIVINITY: 1 is an interesting new twist. It implies that if Jaeri starts grinding levels maybe she can out class the god's who've stolen bodies and are running around in the human realm. Maybe even reach a point where she ascends into the other realm and replaces Maelyne in the pantheon. It'll also be fun to watch Jaeri use her new language skills.

I can't wait to see where Morpheus takes this.

Cheers
Zapper

Crying now.

This chapter is awesome.

Maelyne Legacy

Maelyne took Jeri as her daughter thus renew her as Jaeri a Demi Goddess.

Wow!

Though it is not a total lost for the God and Goddess realm, it is still a big lost.

With Maelyne death, the divine realm's good side lost one of their stronghold. I think the faith of the God and Goddess had been given to their Demi Goddess, Jaeri. Will all the God and Goddess not be looking unto her?

But Jaeri need to take on the Meat Puppets first. There are three of them including Arakthiel if he is still alive. We have seen their demonstration of power even through their 'puppet', they are very very powerful.

I can't gauge how powerful is Jaeri now as a Demi Goddess, but one against three still feel like a suicide mission to me. Even with all the other champions help, I am afraid she will still going to die fighting in the end. :(.....

I hope they bring guns this time, if they can.

Guns, yes

The other question is: What kind of power is needed to keep the god infesting the body of their champion from being able to restore it if guns were to tear up the body?

Some kind of divinity related power is probably needed but who knows what it is.

I mean, Maelyne was able to kill Bri’eze with an offensive power of some sort but that was not explained.

I guess its up to Jaeri now

I guess its up to Jaeri now to figure it out as always. She managed to improvised her shield and staff-spear skills. She will need to find how Maelyne had it done or figure a better way to beat the meat puppet for good. I do agreed with you it must have something to do with her new divinity power.

A reminder

We saw Maelyne's stats back in part 11:

NAME: MAELYNE
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 1329
DOMAIN: LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 87%
MANA: 68%
STATUS: NEGATIVE STATUS-CONTEST FORFEITURE 1, CONTEST FORFEITURE 2, CONTEST FORFEITURE 3. POSITIVE STATUS-CONTEST BONUS.

DIVINITY: 32
-
STRENGTH: 59
STAMINA: 112
ENDURANCE: 96
-
AGILITY: 42
REFLEXES: 48
DEXTERITY: 60
-
INTELLIGENCE: 58
CHARISMA: 62
AWARENESS: 74
-
MANA POOL: 17068
MANA RECOVERY: 11050
HEALTH: 14855
REGENERATION: 10676
DIVINE POWER: 9080

Divinity and Divine Power still aren't well explained, but otherwise Jaeri doesn't seem to have that much of an edge yet.

Gods Are Limited

The gods are limited on earth in the bodies of their former champions. We don't know how their power in that state compares to Jaeri's improvements. Maelyne believed that Jaeri will now be able to destroy the host bodies of the gods on earth.

Like everything

those stats are subjctive

you give 2 people the skill of being a martial arts master, 1 though is an expert in tactics and stratery so is still the superior

Don't forget Jeri was a 'Jock' and on football team before she first met Maelyne

and of course Jeri is a DEMI-Godess, (like Hercules of Greek mythology, of Zeus and the mortal female Alcmene)

"REMEMBER, No matter where you go, There you are."

Sammi xxx

Don't forget that those stats

Don't forget that those stats are with 3 debuffs, the contest forteitures (plus one contest bonus). We don't know how much those affect her stats, so her baseline stats might have been quite different.

Thank you

This has been a wonderful story. I cant help wonder if Jaeri is a baby goddess. Since the Gods fight they have to reproduce some howto make up their losses

looks like whichever side

looks like whichever side wins, gods will walk the Earth, again, and it will be a new age of heroes. Looking forward to more. With the way that the evil gods took over their champions, and now Jaeri has gained her new powers, I am reminded of a quote in another story by another author.

"Those who refuse to serve the Powers, become the tools of the Powers. Those who agree to serve the Powers, Themselves become the Powers. Beware the Choice! Beware refusing it!"

—Diane Duane, Book of Night with Moon

--Brandon Young

What is a demigod?

Is a demigod, immortal, possibly immortal, or mortal? Most Greek demigods were mortal, but some were immortal. Also, is the difference between a god and a demigod simply a question of how large one's divinity is (32 versus 1), or are they two completely different categories? That is, if Jaeri were somehow to get her divinity to, say, 10, would she then become the goddess of loyalty and protection, or is she forever "just" a demigoddess?

Also, given what we have seen of how the leveling system works, level two of skills has generally been fairly easy to achieve; if Jaeri does get that, she will get another global stat boost.

Leveling up

To raise her divinity level, maybe she will need to gather more loyal followers/friends.

And as you say, all her other attributes and resource points will ramp up with that.

Her companions can then become her champions I guess.

My question is whether the loyalty of other gods/goddesses count towards upping her stats, once they find out she is the daughter of Maelyne now.

Finally, problem is, she has a mortal body but will that can be transformed into a immortal one.

One More Question

Now that we know there's a category for individuals like Jaeri, does that mean there are other demigods out there? Or that other patrons, now that the game's no longer restricting them, can upgrade their champions also? They may have to adopt them to do so -- and they probably don't have Maelyne's sense of two-way loyalty. But there's no indication that it has to be done with their dying breath, or that their becoming demigods would pre-empt their existing heirs, if any, from inheriting whatever secular wealth and power the patrons amassed on their plane. We don't know how much mana and health (or "divine power") it would cost them -- in the midst of their war, any reduction might be fatal -- but since Maelyne could do it while (presumably) rapidly losing hers, it may not be that expensive, and it's not impossible that some have done so already, if the change isn't physically obvious -- which it wasn't in Jaeri's case.

As others have pointed out, Jeri may have the power to promote Teri or Matt -- one of them, anyway; it doesn't appear that any of the patrons was looking for additional champions, so it may not be possible or be too costly for a patron to have more than one -- but it didn't happen automatically, at least not to Matt, since he didn't see any upgrade on his status page, or get a pop-up screen saying so. The front page of his status report would have said "CHAMPION OF" instead of "COMPANION OF". Then again, the name should have changed from HEATHER to JAERI, and he didn't notice that. If it just said JERI, I could see him overlooking it, but a new spelling ought to have attracted his attention, even if he was just looking to see whether the status page still existed. (I'm assuming the author's spelling errors on the screens aren't actually happening in the game.) Jeri hasn't tried to upgrade their abilities (e.g., let them cast their own screens), so it's not impossible that she can do so now; she'd presumably have to use some of her 100 in DIVINE POWER and give them their own mana as well. The distance she can be from Teri and Matt and still summon them very likely has increased with her new power, maybe infinitely. And Maelyne could enter Jeri's mind in dreams. I wonder if Jaeri can do so with Teri and Matt -- or even Cassandra, if that's a god power and not a patron-to-champion one.

It would have been helpful if Jaeri had grown about a foot when she changed status, but it didn't happen, so unless she's now able to share her screen -- Maelyne had been able to, at least to Jeri -- she may have trouble demonstrating her upgrade. She may be able to use "DIVINE POWER" to support her story -- it's unclear how -- but so far, coming down from the patrons' plane with increased powers has been the enemy's trick, not the good guys'. (Except with Mary, and by the time she died and her avatar took Br'ieze with her, all the champions except Cleaner and, as it turned out, Jeri, were gone.)