***The Crystal City***

***Celes***

“Ambassador? From where?” I ask, dumbfounded. “There is no other faction we could negotiate with! Unless you want to tell me that he is coming from the Council?”

“He probably belongs to one of the newly forming powers,” Angrod points out. “You mentioned that it could happen.”

“But not so quickly,” I dismiss the idea. “It’s only been a little more than a month. I expected it to take more than a year until anyone would muster the courage to approach us.”

Warden joins in, “The existence of an oppressing dictatorship likely caused various groups to band together in order to lend assistance and protection. Which means that these groups already existed under the Council, keeping their heads down. I assume that with the Council's demise most of them will act quickly to gain public recognition.”

I purse my lips, considering this new angle. “But they lack a public platform.” Even if they control a few planets here and there, that’s nothing mentionable in a multidimensional setting. Controlling places of prestige like the Crystal City is where real political power will come from.

Angrod gets the idea. “They are here to suck up to us, or to take what’s ours if we look weak. We have something they need.”

“They will also seek to form their own communities,” Warden adds. “Ascended beings are social and they yearn for contact with equals. The multiverse likely contains enough gods for seven to eight societies of the average size of your own.”

I groan and lean back in my chair. “I feared that something like this would happen, but not so fast. We aren't ready.”

“Should we suppress them? We have enough trouble with the Council as it is,” Angrod suggests. “What if they are working for the Council or are influenced by them? No matter how I look at it, they approached us a little fast, even if they are a previously established group. If I were them, I would lean back and wait to find out what these new Chimerans would do after taking the Crystal City.”

I sigh. “You are right but how should we suppress them? The Council had the Sphere and we can't watch the whole multiverse at once. To clarify, I don't want the whole multiverse to be our business.”

“A little too late for that, love,” Angrod teases.

I chew on my lower lip, considering the possible pitfalls and advantages of sharing our political stage with others. “Maybe our best chance is to tell them everything we know about the current state of affairs and wish them luck.”

“The ambassador is waiting at the plaza in front of the central tower,” Warden points out.

“It doesn't hurt to listen to him,” Angrod admits and shrugs. “Warden, tell our guards to escort him to the throne room. We will talk to him there.”

We relocate to the new throne room – which is a re-purposed ballroom five floors beneath this office. The room takes up the whole floor, allowing a nice 360° view of the whole city. All the walls are reinforced windows to ensure the best scenery.

Once there, I take a seat in the chair next to Angrod's throne and nod to the guards, signalling them that we are ready.

We don't have long to wait until a pair of guards with a person between them exits the elevator which is located at the far end of the room. I signal them to step aside and to let the ambassador have at least a little dignity.

The ambassador is a man who looks like he is in his thirties, with midnight black skin and very long earlobes, giving me the impression that they were intentionally stretched. His clothing consists just of a single robe and there are more accessories on him than I can count! Rings, amulets, pearls, chains.

Whoa! Is he a god of female adornments?

“Greetings. I am ambassador Mawu.” He bows deeply to us once he is at a comfortable distance to talk. “I am here to greet you in the name of the Perseides Alliance.”

Angrod and I reply in kind by smiling back at him and nodding our heads.

This guy is lucky that we changed the rules of etiquette. Normally, nobody speaks to the king first, so the guards would have dragged him out of the building by now.

“Greetings to you too.” Angrod gestures towards me. “This is my wife, Queen Celes, and I am King Angrod.” He returns his attention to the ambassador. “What's this Perseides Alliance of yours?”

“We are a sizeable group of like-minded people. Our goal is to protect the worlds we call our homes. In order to do this, we chose to form the Perseides Alliance and to introduce ourselves at the very least.”

“Then we welcome you to the Crystal City and I wish you luck,” I reply amiably, not wanting to give him any more than he asks for. “As long as you don't commit any atrocities, we will not bother you.”

I continue to smile at Mawu who arches an eyebrow. Obviously he didn't expect our reaction.

Looking a little insecure, he turns his attention to Angrod. “It's nice to hear that you seem amiable to the idea of friendly coexistence. Good that the ones who kicked the Council from their throne seem to be reasonable people.”

“We could never keep order in the multiverse on our own, nor do we want to,” Angrod admits.

“It's wonderful that others are willing to stand up for themselves, but I assume that you have more to talk about. How about joining my family and me for dinner? Do you want to set up an embassy in the Crystal City?” I throw my thoughts at Mawu without waiting for an answer, hoping to unbalance him enough to lose his guarded demeanour.

Mawu just stares back at me while fiddling with his earlobe – apparently a nervous tick of his – and I can see the curiosity in his eyes.

He notices where my attention is and lowers his hand like a boy who was caught poking his nose. “I would be honoured that you are willing to move this discussion to a less formal setting.”

Three hours later we are sitting together at the dining table in our private quarters. We took Mawu to the Eternal Palace to show him our society and to impress him. We also decided to be frank about the importance of the Crystal City and what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands.

Our relocation wasn’t just to humble the ambassador, but also because we wouldn’t be interrupted by a nitpicking Warden.

“I see. Your story is... disturbing to say the very least.” Mawu frowns over our revelations. “I will simply believe you for now, but I will want to see proof sooner or later.”

The ambassador was really surprised by our society, to say the very least.

He turns his head to look out the window, shaking his head. “Walking through an entire world, populated by gods of all ages. I never would have dreamed about something like that.”

“Cool idea, don't you think?” Seria lolls on her chair while she grins at Mawu.

“I must admit that some aspects of your society are very compelling. On the other hand, you seem to be a little hyperactive, child. I hope that not all kids are like you.” Mawu smiles at Seria. “It has been a while since I interacted with mortals.”

“Oh! You should meet Sandra's quintuplets! Then you won't call me hyperactive. I will go and get them.” Seria jumps out of her chair and disappears.

The ambassadors smile vanishes, replaced by dread.

I chuckle, amused that he is seemingly at the end of his wits after only ten minutes with Seria.

“I will have to go. If you would escort me outside the Void Zone, I would be very thankful.” He looks at Angrod and me with a pleading expression.

Angrod chuckles, unable to resist making a quirky comment, “One could get the impression that you don’t like children.”

“It’s not that!” He waves his hands to dismiss the idea. “It’s just that she doesn’t stop talking!”

I grin at him. “I understand. I will take you outside. Do you believe that your Alliance will adopt our way of living?”

Mawu purses his lips while thinking. “I am not sure. But there will surely be people who would long for this world. How do you intend to deal with them?”

“If they aren't troublemakers, there will be no big problems. This world isn't heavily populated. And it would be no problem to duplicate our world. You just have to drag a solar system into a Void Zone and fill it with the souls of gods who want to rejoin the cycle,” Angrod explains.

Mawu nods. “Though, finding such individuals would take some time, but I guess it would be manageable. Gods aren't really under the pressure of time.”

He suddenly turns serious. “There is one last thing we have to talk about… well, it’s more of a warning. Originally, I didn’t intend to tell you, but after I saw what you made of this world I think you should know.”

I turn serious. “Yes?”

Mawu clears his throat. “I have told about the various societies who are likely to approach you. Among them there is one you have to be aware of. I only mentioned the Tuor, but there is more to them. Their leader, a woman by the name Elsaria, is a deity whose divinity roots in Desire.”

Angrod raises an eyebrow. “It’s no crime to be naughty.”

I cuff him with my elbow to shut him up. “Let the man get to the point.”

The ambassador sighs, already used to our antics. “You are right. If it weren’t for the fact that Elsaria’s divinity only amplifies her strongest talent. She is the single most powerful mind mage I have ever met.” He quickly looks at Angrod. “No offence, I have heard of your reputation.”

“None taken.” Angrod waves the issue off. “While I consider myself a master in the field, I also meddle with other fields. There are those who specialize in the topic and mind magic should always be taken seriously, especially when you have to deal with someone who made the area his or her best skill.”

Mawu nods. “Back to the Tuor and their leader. I and my people have noticed that they are actively spreading their influence, and they are very good at it.”

I raise an eyebrow. “How good?”

Mawu shrugs. “Good enough that deities who cross their path have a sudden wish to join them. Strong enough to abandon everything else in order to do so.”

“They recruited people who were former members of your group?” I ask, wanting to clarify the situation.

The ambassador shrugs. “A negotiator like me. He was supposed to contact them and others so that we could reach a consensus in regards to contacting you.” He smiles. “The others were less confident in their ability to withstand mind magic, so they sent me.”

“Oh?” Angrod makes an inquisitive sound. “Is that a challenge?”

“Please don’t tease me.” Mawu waves a hand. “Let’s just say that my own divinity makes it very hard to manipulate me. I am also not accusing the Tuor of foul play.”

“You are only saying that we should have measures against mind magic in place when meeting them,” I clarify.

“Quite.” Mawu nods. “We have no proof, but the rate at which Elsaria is gathering fervent followers to her cause is alarming. I think it’s very likely that she is using foul play.”

***The Eternal Palace***

***Angrod***

I sigh in relief once Celes took Mawu away. Going over everything he shared with us, I return to the table.

The ambassador was a treasure trove of information about the current state of the multiverse, but how future interactions with others turn out remains to be seen.

“Wohooo! That was interesting!” Warden's annoying voice echoes through the room, causing me to flinch.

I turn my attention to a corner at the ceiling where I know that a hidden security system is surveying the room. “Can you explain to me why you are here, Warden? Even better, start with the 'How' !”

“That's easy! I made a network request with your flying fortresses. It was relatively easy to gain access to their systems and now I am using them as my extended eyes and ears. Their instant communication abilities are marvellous. Sadly, I am locked out of the details of the technology being used. Are you using quantum entanglement? Anyway, when you took the ambassador back to Chimera by a fortress, I realised that you have another big palace there. Of course, I asked Palli to give me access too! He was reluctant at first, but I managed to convince him!”

“Palli!?” I almost choke on the drink I took while Warden was talking.

“Yes, your palace. You didn't give him a name yet. But names are essential, so I explained to him that he would need one. Palli is a very literal-minded AI and not very talkative, but after a while, he got the idea.”

Fucking Warden hacked into the palace’s automated security system!

“I intended him like that. No need for overly clever research labs in a palace.” This thing is worse than a computer virus! “I would appreciate it if you stopped hacking into my systems.”

“Consider the rights of us crystal intelligences!” Warden complains. “You can't just put so much unused server-space in front of me and not expect me to use it. Besides, your systems are new and untested. Better to have me find all the backdoors than your enemies.”

Who says that I didn’t intentionally leave those backdoors open?

“If you tamper with my fortresses and my palace any further I will consider my rights and clean my tools from your influence!” I snap back.

“Mmhmmm… Freeedom!” Warden seems unrepentant.

“And that's it! Palace! Remov...”

The AI interrupts me. “NONONO. I see where this is going and I apologize. I won't tamper with the fortresses and the palace! Please let me watch and talk through their systems.”

I raise a threatening finger. “If I ever get the slightest idea that you are doing something other than observing us...”

“Understood!”

I sigh. “Give me the latest reports if you are already available. I don't want to go to the Crystal City for that.”

“Ah, yes! Seria and Aengus tried to towerjump again. They are really fast learners. This time Seria removed her princess dress to reduce the air resistance and-”

“SHE DID WHAT!?” I scream.

“No Problem! I learned my lesson after a long discussion with Celes and informed her in time. She stopped the two kids from committing a major social blunder.”

“Oh, so, Celes got them...” I don't know if that's any better. Are my children still alive? “Wait a moment! I meant for you to tell me anything about the current political affairs! Did you manage to correlate what Mawu told us to anything you overheard from the citizens of the Crystal City?”

I am not so blind as to believe that Warden isn’t spying on everyone within its city.

“Ah? Ok. Regarding the Perseides Alliance, everything is in order. We have set up a place for them. They promised to keep a few of their people there at all times. They are trying to gather information about you and the Council, but that’s to be expected.

“Then we still have the issue with two more ambassadors from the other powers. They arrived while you were busy with Mawu, so you haven't talked to them yet.”

I sigh. “Tell them to get in line. I wasn't sure if I should talk to a group of people who don't have more than a few hundred members. Wouldn't I upset the power between them and others if I talked to such small groups?” I am not sure what to do in this case.

“Why don't we invite all of them to an informal party?” Ireth's voice comes from directly behind, causing me to almost jump out of my seat.

“Mother! You gave me a fright! How did you manage to sneak behind me?” I really didn't realize that she was there.

“Hahaha. I teleported directly behind you. I didn't sneak at all,” Ireth replies good-naturedly.

“That's almost as good as sneaking. But a party for everyone would be a good idea. I wouldn't favour anyone and they would have a chance to talk to us,” I muse over the possibility.

“I will inform Rose to prepare something. Next week would be fine, right?” Ireth suggests.

“That's a great idea. They are pestering me almost every hour for a possibility to speak to us. I will inform them!” Warden seals the deal.

At that moment Celes returns, dragging two bodies behind her.

Aengus? Seria? Are you alive?

“Oh, Ireth, I wanted to ask you if you could take care of the kids. I have matters to discuss with my husband,” Celes raises the battered and bruised kids, holding them out like an offering.

“Oh, sure! I always have time for my grandchildren.” Ireth's smile widens upon seeing the kids.

“Don't be too nice to them! They were naughty!” Celes explains without going into the details.

Ireth gives Celes a thumb up. “Did you forget who educated you two?”

A shudder runs down my spine and Celes looks a little uncomfortable.

I turn on my wife. “Celes! How can you abandon the kids like that?”

“Seria intended to jump from the tower! Naked! When she died I vowed to myself that I would drive that nudist behaviour out of her! At ALL COSTS!” Celes hisses at me.

“Ohhh? Naked you say? That's not the proper behaviour of a princess who carries my bloodline.” Ireth's eyes become small slits while she looks at the two unconscious bodies.

Then she grabs both of them at their collars and smiles at us. “I will help you. After a little training with me, there should be no more problems!” With a flash of light, she vanishes through a pathway.

“NOO! Celes, what did you do? Don't you remember what we had to go through!!!” My cute little Seria hasn't done anything to deserve this!

“Hmpf! Some sacrifices have to be made! Now come with me! I have to show you something.” Celes grabs my hand and transports us through a pathway.