***Nomad, Mobile Fortress***

***Angrod***

I settle down in my command chair after having used a pathway directly to the Nomad’s bridge.

Rose, Sandra, Tanja, Iris, and Nix follow in quick succession on the bridge as silent observers, which allows me to proceed with our plan.

“Tanja, if you would?”

My childhood friend nods and approaches the woman who is manning the Nomad’s flight control station. They quickly get into a discussion regarding the exact position of our target.

I turn my attention to the man at the weapon controls. “Please transfer full control of the Nomad’s main spell projector to the command chair. I want direct access without records. Disable the databank while I am working with the system.”

“Sir?” He turns to me, clearly confused. “Don’t you want to use the pre-recorded spells? It’s much safer than to cast directly through the projector. If there is a malfunction-”

“I am aware of that,” I interrupt him. “Thanks for your concern, but the spell I am going to use isn’t recorded in the databanks for several good reasons. I don’t want anyone to be able to do this willy-nilly.”

“But we are the military, Sir,” another member of the command crew complains, clearly miffed about the lack of trust I am giving them.

I frown at the woman who spoke up. “Maybe that’s exactly why I am not sharing this with you. I need armed forces for scenarios in which there is something important to protect or to conquer. A situation which is worth the price we have to pay with our people's lives. If it’s neither of those two scenarios I won’t need the military and therefore you don’t need this spell.”

Having made my point clear, I return my attention to Tanja. “Ready?”

“Everything is ready,” Tanja replies and pats the woman next to her on the shoulder. “We set our exit coordinates close to the inhabited planet on which the Tuor’s base is located. I doubt that they will notice our arrival in time, given that none of us noticed any form of security measures regarding teleportation. The planet’s mortals aren’t far enough advanced to serve as any form of security.”

Nix turns to me, addressing me with a complicated expression that shows both worry and utter perplexity. “I don’t understand this Elsaria. Back at the party, she seemed like a complete fool to me. When talking to the other ambassadors she always looked down on them while trying to influence them. Then she didn’t even consider that anyone could be immune to her ability. To be honest, I was very surprised that you succumbed so easily. And then she managed to run away from Mother despite the odds. Could this be a very complex trap?”

“Ahem.” I sink back in my chair, not wanting to remember the embarrassing scene. “I didn’t succumb. It simply took me a little bit longer to overcome the effect of her aura. I was expecting mind magic and not a full-fledged divinity. Those are a little bit harder to counter.”

Bullshit divinities! The only real defence against them is to have enough mental fortitude to shrug off their influence on someone’s soul anchor.

Rose clears her throat in preparation of a lecturing lesson, showing that she hasn’t lost anything of her previous personality as Willow. “The basic idea of becoming a god is to relish in some ideal or emotion which gains the body a deep connection to the soul. In some cases, a deity’s connection is so deep that they can use their soul’s aura to attack and influence others, to send their own feelings directly into another's soul. This is a direct attack and very hard to defend against since it targets neither your body nor your mind. Unless your own divinity roots in a concept that’s naturally immune, you will have a hard time against such an opponent.”

Nix shakes her head. “That still doesn’t explain Elsaria’s unexplainable behaviour. She seemed genuinely insane for even trying such a gamble.”

Rose nods. “Haven’t you noticed that all of the gods are rather eccentric? If you think about it, it’s only natural that some of us are a little unhinged. The stronger your divinity, the more extreme traits your character takes on. Some can control their behaviour to a degree, others not so much.”

My daughter’s expression turns worried. “Does that mean that I’ll become a mental case sooner or later? My divinity isn’t exactly-”

“Don’t worry,” I interrupt her. “That’s exactly why I taught you those mental techniques for self-control and reflection.”

Rose shrugs. “Haven’t you noticed that all of us are at least a little influenced by our divinities?”

She gestures toward me. “Take a Chaotic deity like Angrod. He relishes the idea of Chaos, being nothing and everything, good and evil. He is a man with a big heart who adopts a child to save her in one breath and destroys an entire planet the next. Just let Tanja tell you the story of how he picked her up while she was still a mortal. Do you know anyone else aside from Angrod who thinks and plans like a mastermind without emotions and flies in your face like a rabid animal the next because you pissed him off?”

Rose tilts her head, thinking of another example. “There is Celes who has her idea of Order, of how the world should be. She pursues that idea of Order with single-minded determination. Even to the point of killing someone who might as well be her own daughter, Seria, because Celes places the good of all above the good of one. Had Angrod been in that situation, I bet he would have been capable of letting the world perish. Your mother is so stubborn, I bet she didn't even flinch when Elsaria's aura hit her.”

She waves her hand in a circling motion. “I am sure that there may be a Berserker God out there, someone who found his divinity in the single-mindedness of Fury, who smashes everything in his path without plan or reason. In that likeness, Elsaria is someone who is convinced of her own superiority. Someone who others have to adore and look up to. The thought that she could not be such a supreme existence doesn't even cross her mind. That's from where she gets her power.”

It takes Nix a few moments to consider Rose's words. “A possible explanation. If Elsaria is indeed a person with such a strong divinity and lacks the control to reign herself in.” She looks at me. “There is still the issue that you seem to be weak against her. Shouldn’t we have taken Celes with us instead of leaving her behind to calm down the ambassadors?”

“Don’t worry.” I fumble with the storage ring which I created some time ago to store my most precious items. “I've considered that. We won’t get anywhere close to that woman.”

I address the guy at the weapon controls. “Activate the inhibitor field. We don't want them to run.”

Then I summon my tome into my lap and place a hand on it. I wordlessly contemplate the book and run through everything I am about to do before I address the command crew, “Shut down the communication systems, the scanners, bolt down all airlocks and make damned sure that not even an electronic whisper can enter the fortress. Bring the Nomad into a complete lock-down and activate the electromagnetic scramblers, nothing gets in.”

This time, the people notice the seriousness of my voice and take the necessary steps without asking questions. They work quietly until the fortress is ready a few minutes later.

“Take us there,” I give the order and place one hand on my tome and the other on the control field inside the armrest of the command chair.

I feel the Nomad transitioning quietly through the pathways and to our target. Taking my sweet time, I release my aura and allow it to spread through the fortress's spell projector array, a device with the only purpose of magnifying and assisting in spellcasting.

It takes time to actively spread my influence to the world beneath us, its two moons, and then throughout the solar system. I smile as I feel the feeble attempts of other deities trying to push me back. To banish my being from taking over the pathways which run through this system like a spider web.

Without a weapon like the spell projector, their efforts remain futile.

I allow my divinity free reign and pull on the power which is supplied to me through the connection to the tome, which in turn draws its energy directly from my home dimension. There is no point in giving them a chance at resistance.

Then I yank on the pathways, trying to prove a theory of mine which I harboured for a long time. There is a brief feeling of vertigo before we arrive at our destination. The others in the room start getting uneasy when they feel their own connection to the pathways suddenly cut off in so complete a manner that not even a Void Zone would be capable of it.

Instead of risking our necks longer than necessary, I transition the Nomad right back to our original position, leaving all the rest behind.

Feeling that I succeeded, I slowly open my eyes and retract my aura. Then I unsummon my tome and let out a deep breath. “It's done. You can bring the systems back up again.”

The men and women do as told, and soon the bridge's main screen flickers back to life, showing only dark emptiness.

“The stars are gone!” Iris exclaims.

“We are in a Void Zone!” someone else on the bridge complains. “But we are at the right coordinates and the inhibitor field is off!”

“Don't worry.” I try to calm them down by raising an open palm. “Everything worked just as intended. The stars are still there. I've only transported the entire volume of space which contained the solar system to another dimension, including everything within a few dozen lightminutes, and then I transitioned us back. The stars should be visible within a few minutes, once their light penetrates the volume of space which I scrubbed clean.”

***The Crystal City***

***Celes***

Less than half an hour passes before Angrod and Nix return to the party which continued in a less than cheery mood since their departure.

They leave a pathway close to their point of departure and have to circle a pair of servitor robots who are still busy picking up the mess from the earlier confrontation. The machines are egg-shaped and hover on a levitation field while over a dozen mechanical arms are scrubbing, picking and vacuming whatever is within reach.

I had less than a pleasant experience while trying to restore the destroyed mood. To be honest, I was surprised that the ambassadors decided to stay after the debacle with Elsaria.

Angrod reaches my side and bends down to place a kiss on my cheek while pulling my hips closer to his. “It's all done, dear.” He looks up at the ceiling. “Ah, and Warden?”

“Yes?” the machine replies.

He raises his voice so that everyone can hear. “That one planet with the Tuor's base, please strike the system off the records.”

The ambassadors fall silent upon hearing the proclamation and Angrod looks around, making eye contact with the gathered crowd. “Why are you so moody? Aren't we here to have a party?”

That's when the door to the room opens and Carne enters with his four dishevelled looking harem girls. The man looks worse for wear but nonetheless picks up on the mood. “Did something happen while we were gone?”

He immediately notices the upturned table and the cleaning activities. “Did you have a good fight while I was indisposed!? How could you!?”

Carne extracts himself from his women and claps Angrod on the shoulder in a friendly manner. “Why do I have the feeling that you have a story to tell?”

I roll my eyes and step away from Angrod. “Have fun, you two. Nix, why don't you come with me? Aengus and Seria shouldn't be up at this hour.”

Taking Nix's hand, I pull her away from the men and in the direction of where I can make out my children's voices. Relying on my increased hearing, I zero in on them.

“No! I tell you two, I am an adult!” Miruliru, ambassador for the Path, tries to explain her age to the kids. “And I am the ambassador for the Path. I am several thousand years old!”

Seria's reply is less than convinced. “You don't sound or look like an adult,” she states matter of factly.

“Is this a game? We can also pretend to be adults!” Aengus replies. “For that matter, what exactly is an adult? Seria and I have enough of our memories and life experience from our past reincarnations to rival any mortal who died of old age.”

“I don't pretend to be an adult!” Miruliru turns red and waves with her hands. “Are you two trying to rattle me!? Because it sure as hell feels that way.”

“I don't get it.” Aengus looks down at the floor and pretends to kick a non-existant stone.

“I think she means that she is only pretending to be a child while her mind is completely adult. We are below her notice,” Seria explains.

“Why would anybody pretend to be a child?” Aengus is clearly confused.

Just listening in on their conversation forces me to sigh in frustration. When we told Seria to make her brother aware of the misunderstanding, she instead used her knowledge as an advantage to create further confusion.

“Because adult women are often dissatisfied with their looks. They wish to get back the beauty of their youth. Men don't understand that. They never dig up an old school uniform and wish that they could still wear it,” Seria explains with a sad expression and a voice that conveys understanding for Miruliru's peril.

“Aaahh.” Finally, Aengus gets it. He turns and looks at the ambassador with a pitying expression. “It must have been so hard.”

“Urgh. That's... You will understand once you are old enough!” Miruliru forces herself to smile but is unable to hide the twitching corners of her half-closed eyes.

Aengus sighs, looking downtrodden. “And there go my dreams of making a cute childhood friend who can share my first experiences with the other gender.”

Miruliru pats my son's shoulder, trying to console him. “Ah, maybe in a few centuries...”

“It's okay.” Seria tries to cheer him up. “Your little sister will find someone for you. Maybe the quintuplets are willing to help out? Anyway, I will make sure that you stop hitting on grannies.”

“Gra- Gr- By the Path!” Miruliru stares at the ceiling with dead eyes while whispering to herself, “If I had known this, I would have refused the job.”

It's only thanks to my enhanced senses that I can listen in on her from across the room.

“What's the Path?” Seria asks with big eyes.

Miruliru clears her throat and tries to stand a little straighter. “We are trying to bring the rightful order between gods and mortals back to the multiverse. We firmly believe that the gods should be measured by the numbers of their believers. With great power comes great responsibility and we gods should stop shying away from it.”

Aengus whispers to his sister. “Do you think Mom would approve of such an ideology?”

“How should I know?” Seria replies, twirling her tail into a question mark. “But we probably shouldn't repeat anything we heard on this party in her presence. You know what could happen if she thinks that we are under a bad influence.”

Aengus nods gravely. “She is surely frightening. I don't understand why she is called gentle by her subjects. Those civilians have a few screws loose.”

“Yes. Her whipping isn't gentle at all,” Seria affirms and looks down to the floor while massaging her butt.

“Whip-” Miruliru almost chokes on her drink.

“But that's nothing compared to grandmother!” Aengus continues.

“Yes, Grandma is the strongest. Even Mom and Dad bow down to her. She nailed me heels over head naked on a wall and threw itching powder at me when I was naughty. It went on and on and on... and then...” Seria starts trembling. “Bro, I will never again run around naked. Not even to defeat you in tower jumping.”

Aengus presses a tear out of his left eye. “No, it was all my fault. Next time, I will give you a one-second head start. If Dad doesn't smack me into the floor first for abandoning an advantage. My cheek still hurts from that time when I played with the mortals.” He rubs his cheek.

“Wh- what kind of monsters are your parents?” Miruliru arches an eyebrow at the two annoying children.

“Daddy is the king of all gods! He is right there with Mr. Carne! He told me to entertain you because you seemed lonely.” Seria points at where Angrod is talking with Carne and Mawu.

“And mom is the horned S&M Que- mufu-”

Seria jumped at her brother and silenced him as soon as he started the potentially deadly line. “Shhh! What will you do if she hears you? You know very well that she sees and hears everything!”

Okay, I think I have heard enough. Time for bed. Those two will cause Miruliru to call for war if this goes on.

I quickly approach the trio and Miruliru's eyes widen when she notices me coming up behind my children. Instead of announcing myself, I only nod at the ambassador in a manner as friendly as the situation allows.

“Aengus, Seria?” I place my hands on their shoulders.

Both of them turn around like clockworks and reply in unison, “Yes?”

“I think you two should go to bed. And we will have a long discussion tomorrow about what you did today,” I inform them, tightening down my grip. It wouldn't be the first time for them to run. “Nix, why don't you entertain the ambassador from now on? I'll return to the party once I am done with the two of them.”

“Hiiiii. It was brother! He tried to pick her up!” Seria points at her brother.

“Sis! Is that all your brother is worth to you?” Aengus retorts, looking deeply hurt.

“Bed. Now,” I order and use a pathway to take us away from the scene of the crime.