It may be... it may be that nopony set up this system. That it is simply the way it is, for gods and shinki, much in the same way we have rules of life we accept such as eating and breathing.

[She hates to say it, and saying it to Ginia hurts double. Celestia agrees. The system is poor from top to bottom, unfair to the shinki and ineffective at keeping the gods any more than neutral in the affairs of people and even the Far Shore. But to rip it up injudiciously would be dangerous indeed, and likely would require the consent and aid of almost every god there is.]

[Quite unlikely, when the gods gain the benefit of servants from it.]

I am sorry.

[Sorry that she can't just agree, sorry that she has to think about these things in such depth. Sorry, in a way, for being her, because this is not the quiet support and agreement Ginia is seeking.]

A god who becomes a monster might die, in time, but I worry how much harm they might cause in the meantime. I have --

[Here Celestia stops abruptly, almost biting down the words. She'd almost let slip what she always vowed not to.]