***Noth - Mortal World, The House of Ember***

***Sharid***

“Sharid, I can't believe you are doing this to me! What will become of our family business!” my mother nags, waving her arms as I pack my backpack.

“That's enough, Mom! I am going, and that’s final! You have my two little sisters who can become heirs,” I retort, not feeling any remorse for the woman.

She brought me up and I love her for that, but her inability to see things from my point of view will have one of us killed sooner or later. My curse will see to that. Either some insane customer will do us in, or I will be forced to kill one of them and then the city-guard will take me… and everyone knows what happens to people who are affiliated with our line of business.

My Mom is well connected, but even she can’t save us from an incident if the fanatics from the church get involved.

“I just have to travel and find a way to rid myself of this curse – which is no blessing, whatever you might say! I need to find out why this god cursed me!” I won't become weak now! I have trained my body and my mind until I bled! Nobody can stop me from going on this journey!

“But it isn't a curse! It's a blessing! Your sisters are nowhere as talented as you! The income goes up just because you look out of the window!” Mother spouts the very same line she always does – blinded by the money.

It's good that my power already surpasses hers, or she would try to force me to stay.

Done packing, I shoulder the backpack and face my mother who is trying to sway my heart by pushing my emotional buttons – teary-eyed and a handkerchief in hand.

But my decision is final, my mind made up. “I am going now! Bye, Mom. Thank you for everything. I will stop by once in a while!”

“Shariiid!” Mom hugs me, but I don't let my heart waver while patting her on the back.

I only hope that my family will do fine without me.

She sniffles. “Be careful on the road. And remember... a well-placed kick between the legs sends every pervert to heaven!”

What am I telling myself? They will be much safer without me. The number of sexual assaults during working hours will drop drastically. The house’s bodyguards will bless the day I left because their health insurance won’t be tested on a daily basis.

I step out onto the corridor and go down on one knee to hug my two little sisters who were waiting outside the room.

“Bring me something from far away!” the elder one begs.

“I also want a present too!” the youngest follows, but quickly adds with a frown on her cute forehead, “And come back fast!”

I love both of them, but that doesn't change my feelings. “I will come back as soon as I am able to.”

With that, I nod at them and draw my cloak’s hood over my head, drawing the fabric around me to make sure that I am unrecognizable. It's the only way I can move around in public without drawing unwanted attention.

Otherwise, I am permanently hounded by perverts and followed by stalkers! These abilities of mine are a curse! My entire life I had to be afraid of what men would do to me, and without my mother’s protection, it would have been more than just a close call more times than I can count.

I sneak outside the House of Ember, my home, with tears in my eyes and dash down a side-street.

Having planned my escape beforehand, I quickly reach the city’s gate and practically throw the fee at the guard while hiding my face. I dash past the befuddled men and set off on the road to the north.

A while ago, I heard from a few travellers about the famous magical academy at the capital! That’s where my quest will start.

Maybe they know something about the gods and their curses! I will research my circumstances and follow clue after clue even if it might take my life! At just sixteen I had already more marriage proposals than I can count! If I ever meet that pervert god who made my life a living hell face to face I will kill him! I will rip out the thing between his legs and feed it to him!

Stalking with grim determination along the roadside – I allow my mind to wander – imagining ways to punish that idiot. Like the heroes in the great ballades, I will challenge the heavens and change my fate!

“~~Nyahahaha!~~ Just wait, pervert god! I will climb the ranks to the top and then I’ll force you to take this curse off of me!”

Oh, damn! Did I just cry that out aloud, fool that I am!? Right on a well-used street?

Checking my surroundings, I notice that a few merchants on their carts turned their heads mesmerized in my direction. More ‘male’ travellers follow their gazes, trying to find out from where the angelic voice originated.

Shit!

I am already facing the other direction – away from the road and into the wilderness – as my legs start pumping, fleeing for my life!

Slowly but steadily the hoard of merchants and other travelers starts rolling like an animal herd of rutty males who spotted a female in heat – chasing me into the woods.

“~~Damn! Siren's Voice! I hate this fucking ability!~~”

***The Crystal City***

***Angrod***

“So it is decided. We will start investigating all the locations which Eris gave you and determine if we can find a trace of the Council's activities.” Miruliru nods with a satisfied expression after summing up the contents of our meeting so far.

“And you are sure that Eris told you the truth?” Carne grumbles while he flips through a sizeable stack of papers. “There is so much… I can hardly believe that Eris disclosed this on a whim. It may take us years, maybe decades, to take a look at every provided location – assuming we do it right. That means special individuals who are skilled in gathering information without getting caught. We don’t want the Council’s dogs to bail because we knocked on their door, announcing ourselves.”

“Sure, as much as it is possible to trust someone who was interrogated by a mind mage,” I clarify. “I kept Eris close, just in case we want to know more.” I smile, hoping to reassure the group of ambassadors.

“You kept her close? Don't tell me you did something unreasonable like with El Shaddai!” Chiffre complains, shuddering at the thought.

“Nonono. It's nothing like that. You don't have to worry.” I keep smiling mysteriously, not wanting to share how I can be so sure that Eris stays in my custody.

Hmmm. But the mentioning of El Shaddai reminds me of something. It feels like I forgot something. Hmmm. When was the last time I checked on him?

I waver for a moment but decide that Sharid is of no importance. After all, I have Nazareth looking after her.

“I see, you don't want to tell the tale. Well, it's the same in any case.” Gwalonna shrugs her shoulders.

“We will check all the locations within our respective territories and report back as soon as we find something.” Zanders nods at the rest of the group and vanishes, apparently eager to make sure that the Council’s hideout isn’t anywhere close to his territory.

One after the other, the other men and women leave until I am alone in the room.

I hum a tune and I step onto a pathway to take a look at my people’s newest project.

I reappear on a panorama platform above Chimera. To be more exact, it is located on one of the moons. To deal with the rapid appearance of new Spheres which are spawning the Calamity’s fiends, we decided to massively invest in our fleet of flying fortresses.

Celes even raised our national investitures in the military to keep up with this development.

I step closer to the big window and take my time to take in the scene.

A long row of crystalline needles is parked on the moon’s surface – each about a kilometre in length. Most are still unfinished, but it is only a question of time until the moon – which is slowly being turned into a giant shipyard – starts chewing out a ship per month. Once the yard is running at full capacity we are calculating with a ship per day, but that is still a few years in the future.

Well, I will call those things ships. They are smaller than the fortresses, with long and sleek forms, but they are enough to deal with a small invasion of the Calamity’s fiends on their own. We decided to do it that way because they are easier and faster to build. Or to grow in this case. And using a whole fortress is serious overkill for dealing with small incidents.

As far as I know, the other powers don't have something comparable at this point in time. But they are playing with the thought. The Arcane Community already launched a few of their prototypes.

The fortresses and ships which are made out of Mana Crystal offer protection if nothing else. It's not that easy to crack open a crystal armoured shell. And in case of fights, they are perfect rally points of strategic value.

“I see you came to take a look at my work.” Margerie's voice reaches me from behind.

I turn around and smile, spreading my arms to hug her. “I got curious how far your special project has evolved.”

“The first few ships will fly within the next month. We concentrated most of our efforts in developing the moon as a shipyard. If we face no unforeseen problems, we will start finishing a ship every three weeks.” Margerie smiles proudly while she crosses both her fingers in front of her – meaning that she doesn’t truly believe that we can keep this deadline.

I arch my eyebrows.

It is still more than I bargained for. “Do we even have enough people to crew them?”

“They have smaller crews than the fortresses. I anticipated the problem and automated most of the technology on board. Essentially, a pilot per ship would be enough, but we still need warriors to repel attacks. What I am most afraid of are boarding actions. The thing we will run out of isn’t people to run the ships, but capable fighters who can defend them. I have played with the thought of lending the ships to the other powers if we run out of personnel. Of course, only in exchange for a little fee.” Margerie raises her hand, rubbing her fingers together in the universal gesture for hard coins.

I smile wryly at her. “I wouldn't be too confident about that. The guys from the Arcane Community are capable. I wouldn't assume that they can’t break the ship’s security features – given some time.”

Margerie snorts at that comment. “I doubt that they would have the guts to dabble with my security features. I linked any security breach directly to a complete energy conversion.”

“Energy Conversion?” I ask.

She nods. “The mana which makes up the ship’s Mana Crystal will completely convert into energy if a foreign power takes control of the vessel.”

I purse my lips and turn my attention back to the line of half-finished ships. “You are aware that Mana Crystal is essentially a stable form of what the mortals call Neutronium?” I point a shaking finger at the ships, not trusting in anything that I didn’t do myself. “One of those is enough to blow the whole solar system to pieces!”

“MUAHAHA! It will be fine! It's all within my calculations. Half of the mana will be spent to create barriers. The destruction will be restricted to a small space around the vessel.” Margerie pats my shoulder with a confident smile.

“I still don't have a good feeling about having something like this above Chimera,” I mumble. “We should make preparations to move this moon to another part of the Void Zone.”

We keep discussing Margerie’s security measures for an hour until I feel at least somewhat assured about the safety of this project.

Afterwards, I set out to get back to my family for dinner. Long ago, it became a custom for the whole family to eat together at least once a week.

I reappear inside the dining room where Celes is already waiting with the kids. Arthur, Katrine, and Ireth are there too. Just Nicosar is missing.

Greeting them, I sit down at the table. “Where is the geezer?”

“Nicosar took one of the fortresses to investigate possible hideouts of the Council,” Ireth gives me the short version.

“He really could have let others do such a boring job,” I comment.

Checking out all the places someone could hide within the multiverse is a hideously boring task – even if Eris gave us a few likely locations.

“Well, he could have taken the time and came here for dinner at least,” my mother confirms.

“You know him. If he is on a task, he doesn't stop until it's accomplished,” Arthur defends the old man.

“Dear, I wondered lately, but have you released Tjenemit as we decided?” Celes asks me while Rose serves her a plate of food.

I hit my fist into my open palm! “That's it! I knew I forgot something!” I raise my hand and summon the globe from my pocket dimension.

“LIIIGHT! THE LIGHT IS BACK! AT LAST THE DARKNESS IS GONE! THE GREAT DIVINE MASTER FINALLY DECIDED TO...”

The little man keeps on ranting inside his snow globe, but I tune him out, grinning at the Tjenemit globe. Somehow, I don't want to give it away. This little gabble is very amusing, and relaxing too. It's a real treasure trove of entertainment.

Suddenly the globe gets snatched out of my hand! “Hey!”

“That expression on your face was creepy! I will deal with this. You are obviously too reluctant to throw used and old stuff away!” Ireth glares at me.

While trying to object, my words get stuck in my throat. I can't go against mother. What's wrong with me!? I am the King and I can't go against my mother!

“Yes, mother.”

Damn! I wanted to say no! I will never get rid of my parent’s conditioning!