“It moves, but shouldn’t? Use duct tape. It doesn’t move, but should? Use WD-40.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Kingdom Newerth, Capital City***

***Seria***

“Look, do I really have to explain this now? Closing that portal took a lot out of me. It's not everyday that I summon something that could just as happily suck the mana out of me as out of my opponents.” I hunker down next to Adea and try to look pitiful, but mainly I want to avoid questions.

Maybe that would have worked with Marcus, but not with king Charles. The scrutinizing man arrived shortly after I solved their problem for them. And now I am the one who is being interrogated? That’s so unfair!

“You just displayed a lot of power and my people almost got caught in the crossfire. Those vines, or roots, weren’t exactly picky in who or what they catch.” Charles glares at me, not taking his eyes off me.

“I already said that I am sorry. I explained that calling forth a mana eating plant isn’t easy. But it was either that or having a huge monster going on a rampage through the city. Pick one.” I cross my arms in front of my chest, showing him that I won’t yield in this matter. I did him a favour. He should carry me on his shoulders and sing songs to my glory. I am the benevolent, lovable, unerring, goddess of life and death. Just because I am trying to keep a low profile, people are starting to get the wrong impressions of me. I am not to be messed with.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you are turning out to be quite dangerous, despite your attempts at keeping your abilities a secret. You appear out of nowhere, an untaught and undisciplined divine rank. So far I tried to overlook you because of my son. But this newly revealed power of yours seems to be quite dangerous. Especially after seeing what you are capable of. Your display in that interrogation cell proved that you have a mean side. How can we be sure that your loyalty lies with us?” Charles looks down on me.

I bite my lower lip and try to feel for the pathways. But they are diminished. My little experiment sped up their growth, but they returned to a dormant state after they devoured the portal and the spirit. Maybe I really have to spend my last weeks on this world in a cell. “I just want it to be understood that I won’t hand you a spellbook with all my knowledge and abilities on a silver plate. Every immortal has secrets, and their magic is the most important one. If someone knows all your favourite spells, you might as well tell them your true name and be done with it.”

Charles raises one eyebrow, a hard expression on his face. “You are misunderstanding. What I am concerned about is your constant meek behaviour, when that clearly isn’t your character. You are hiding something.”

Marcus steps in. “I think Seria is just trying to help as her abilities allow. She is right about not putting her abilities on display. Why don’t you let us handle the matter. Seria is a good person and so far she harmed nobody who didn’t deserve it.”

Yes, that’s my man. I am the cute little goddess from next door. No need to call for an interrogation. Though when Marcus said that Charles should let us handle the matter, I am sure that Marcus meant he would handle it.

Then Marcus adds another argument. “And don’t forget that Seria didn’t summon the vines on her own. She wouldn’t have been able to do it without Adea’s mana pool to kickstart the spell.”

Charles’s attention turns to Adea who is lying next to me. “The girl? Why her? Is she really that powerful, or had it something to do with the spell?”

I squirm. This conversation is going in a direction which I don’t like at all. But at least it’s directed away from me. “Adea has extraordinary access to her mana pool compared to other gods. She can channel much more power in a certain time frame than any other divine I have ever seen. But it doesn’t make her almighty. Her gift comes at the price of control. I knew her in one of her previous incarnations. Even at her peak, she only knew how to do things with brute force, rather than any complicated spells.”

“You knew her in a previous life? How strange. I’ve never heard of people meeting each other again. The multiverse is a much too big place for that. Do you share a soulbond?” Charles’s inquisitive gaze returns to me.

I try to to shake off the anxiety. “No way, hahaha. I guess it was pure luck that I recognized her. We would have never found out if her ability hadn’t been so unique. She’s the only one I know who is capable of wielding so much mana.”

Luckily, Adea groans and opens her eyes, drawing everyone’s attention. “I’ve a headache. Seria, you little bitch! You could have warned me of what you were about to do.”

Caden, who stayed silent so far, hurries to Adea’s side. “Adea! You are alright. I was so worried when she included you in that dark ritual.”

Adea waves a hand in the air, signalling that it’s nothing. “Don’t worry, Seria would never physically harm somebody as long as she can manipulate or blackmail them. Of course that only counts for her friends and family.”

Of course, that returns all the attention to me. Maybe it’s time to feign being the maiden in distress and to use Marcus as a shield. Raising a hand to my temple, I flutter my eyelids. “Now that you mention it, Adea. You aren’t the only one who is low on mana. Marcus, why don’t you bring me home? I suppose that the school activities are on ice for now?”

“Of course.” He is immediately at my side and picks me up in a princess carry. Smiling, I bury my face in his chest so that nobody can see my expression of victory. I would take a bet that he is already getting dirty thoughts just from carrying me around. Which means that he will double his efforts in getting me away from his father.

“One moment!” The king’s sharp voice destroys all my hopes of getting away without a loooong explanation.

Though I really don’t know what’s there to explain? I seriously have no idea what makes Dedessia different from this realm. And that will be the only important question once I tell them about my home. They will want to know how to control their spirit forms. But I don’t know. And if I can’t tell them, I could end up as some kind of guinea pig. Not gonna happen. I really have to talk to my parents about this problem before this realm learns anything about Dedessia.

“Nobody is getting away until I at least have this Trebor! Wasn’t he the one who is supposed to be behind all of this?” Charles’s voice makes it clear that this isn’t up for discussion.

I stiffen up. It was so clear that it would end with this. When I have my expression back under control, I look up from Marcus’s chest. “I caught him in his office. If nobody freed him, then he should still be there… and if the spirits didn’t decide to snack on him.”

Marcus sighs. “You didn’t wait for me. You caught him single handedly to interrogate him, didn’t you?” He starts walking towards the school’s office wing. Strangely enough, it seems to be largely intact. Charles and the rest of the group follow us.

“There was no reason to wait. He has his hands in the affair, though I didn’t manage to get the whole story. According to him, he and his family were working for a party which is trying to take over the country. From his description, they have help from someone with a lot of power, though he didn’t know who exactly he was working for. What he could tell though, was that the entire matter went on for years. Trebor was regularly instructed to set up incidents with spirits. According to him, his unknown master used those incidents to gain power and influence. I also noticed that his mind was under a strong compulsion. Someone must know Trebor’s true name...”

I continue my explanation of some minor details until I reach the point at which the portal opened above the academy grounds and I was forced to interrupt my little chat with Trebor. I continued until the last possible moment in hopes of learning how to close the portal. When the portal became too large, I left to search for Adea.

My story isn’t completely told, when we enter Trebor’s office. He is indeed still there, though the blood loss caused him to lose his consciousness. But that’s no problem since I included a strong regeneration spell in his binding. The silence is slowly turning disturbing as everyone stares at the mess on the floor, so I decide to wake them up. “What!?”

Caden hurries to the window and starts puking, Charles slaps his own forehead and Adea points at Trebor. “That looks painful. I understand the need to bind him since he is a demigod, but was the thing with his innards really necessary?”

I study the work of art which I left on the ground. Dad would have been proud of me. Even as I watch, the innards which are placed out in a flower pattern, are slowly being pulled back into Trebor’s body. His latent self-regeneration is hard at work to restore him.

A human body has about thirty metres of innards, so he looked much worse when I left him. Had to. Otherwise he could have broken the binding and escaped.

“You are overreacting. Keep in mind that I had just a few pencils, blood, and duct tape to secure him. Tell me who else would have managed to bind a demigod with such meagre resources.”

.