***The World***

***Willow***

“You are too busy to join our monthly women's evening?” A little dumbfounded, I speak into the communication device which Seria left for me so that I can reach her. “Can't you come up with some sort of excuse to delay this report for a day or two?”

Seria never missed out on a meeting in… like… centuries.

I actually can’t remember her ever being absent, even in the olden days, when some of the other girls were still with us. Just remembering our lost friends causes my heart to sting. I wonder what happened to them.

For a long time, it was just Seria and me, because we had to kick Nova out of the club. It’s not like we are strict feminists, but it felt weird having her/him around. So we held our meetings in secret until just recently Ashley and Karin joined the club. Now we are four again.

“I am sorry, Willow,” Seria's voice replies from the device. “I am not a hundred percent sure if anyone reads these reports, but if there is even a one percent chance that someone important is reading them, then I don't want to get any heat from that person.”

“Huh, so it's related to the Council?” I conclude.

“Kind of... say... how would you explain a vacation of one or two decades?” she asks, trying to avoid giving me the true reason for this report.

There is a nervous tapping sound from the other side of the line as if a certain someone is punishing the floor with her heels. “Aw... shit! I am just no good at this paperwork!”

A vacation that lasts one or two decades? Oh, that would mean... I get it. There aren’t many reasons for an immortal or god to be incapacitated for that long.

“It's actually not that hard, Seria. Listen, you just have to bury the truth under so much legal speak that anyone who might read it gives up after one or two sentences, preferably without having understood what you tried to say. But you have to leave enough wiggle room to refer to the document later on if anyone asks you why you didn't share the information.

“How does this sound: Mr. X will be largely absent for one or two decades, due to the temporary inability to attend the meetings in person, because of accidental injury. X will sight the video material of important orders as necessary and make good on the work X is missing out on due to temporary disability. Once the issue is solved, the individual in question will return to fulfilling his duties and make good on the lost time.” I continue to give her some hints on how to formulate the truth as complicated as possible until I am sure that she has more than five pages of obtrusive material to review.

“That... actually doesn't sound that bad. And it never mentions that he is currently deceased. Thank you so much, Willow. Aw, dang! I still have to find a proper body for reincarnation!” Seria whispers from the messaging device.

“I know that you can't share much about your work, but I am curious. Is there a reason why you have to reincarnate this person as a human? I assume that's why you expect one or two decades as the time of absence?” I ask.

Of course, there are other options when you reincarnate, like having a set of personal clones from a technologically advanced world. The only issue with that solution is that you need a trustworthy soul mage who takes care of connecting your soul to the new body. But soul mages of that calibre are rare and most are slightly nuts. Meddling with souls and mind magic often comes at a price. I am not sure if it’s because of their knowledge, or if there is some other issue with that kind of magic. So most gods prefer to reincarnate in a natural body if they have to.

“Hm. What do you mean? I am afraid that I don't understand,” Seria replies.

“You know some soul magic, right? You mentioned putting his soul into a fitting body. Take some grown-up vegetable out of some hospital,” I suggest.

“Can’t do that. I am not that good with soul magic. There are issues if you put a soul into a body which ‘doesn’t fit’, for the lack of a better term. It might work for a short time, but the connection between body and soul will loosen inevitably, resulting in death or insanity. I can do it with a newborn; the connection isn’t fully formed in that case, so the body can still adjust,” she explains the limits of her powers.

I can’t help myself, but her explanation just now sounded eerily similar to what Myrm did with her spies. Could it be that Seria helped Myrm out? If not in deed, then maybe with a little knowledge?

Pressing my lips together, I try to decide how I should react if this turns out to be true. But do I really have the right to judge her for that? I know her well enough to tell that she isn’t the vindictive type and she certainly didn’t lie about her intention of staying a neutral party between Ascathon and Myrm.

In the end, I have to admit that I am certainly not qualified to judge. From what I understand, Myrm was like a progeny disciple for Seria. She raised Myrm up to godhood from the point of when she discovered Myrm’s potential. As a teacher, Seria has a bond with her student, so it would be stupid to blame her for sharing knowledge.

I wonder how Myrm ended up taking her own path? Seria is kind of sore on that topic and doesn’t want to share the details.

Then I have a sudden idea.

“Why don't you just take some sentient race that grows up fast? It's not like humans are the only race whose bodies can harbour a soul. How about a bunny-beastkin? They grow up so fast, from baby to teenager in just five years. Or how about a goblin? They are like rats. Ten children with a single birth and they run and talk within the month. Or, I know. How about a slime? They just split through cell division into two parts, new body, practically instantly. That would work, right?”

“That’s… brilliant!” There is a squeal of delight from the other side. “I am not sure if I can pull off the soul-trick with the slime, but a goblin should definitely work! Sometimes I really fail to see the wood for the trees. Listen, Willow, I really have to get this done and finalized now.”

“Ah, no problem,” I answer. “I guess I’ll just tell Ashley an Karin that we have to postpone.”

“That would be perfect. Maybe tomorrow, or the day afterwards for sure. Bye!”

The line disconnects and I lower the rectangular communication artefact, studying it. With a shrug, I switch it off by wiping across its surface like Seria taught me to and pocket the device. I’ll tell the others that Seria has other issues to attend to when I run across them.

The faint sizzling of the meat in the pan reminds me that I was cooking when Seria called, so I quickly turn down the heat and check on the noodles and the vegetables. Today’s dinner will be noodles with meat and vegetables out of the wok.

“Hmmm.” Ashley’s voice draws my attention, and sure enough, the succubus matriarch bends past me to snag some meat. “That smells delicious! Did I mention that it’s sinful for someone with a body like yours to be a good cook?”

I slap her hand away. “Don’t try the food before it’s on the table!” I move the large pan and the vegetables into the pre-heated oven to keep everything warm and out of reach of the succubus. “And regarding our meeting-”

“I heard,” Ashley affirms. “Succubi have very good ears. I’ll tell Karin that we have to postpone the meeting once I get her from her mission.”

I nod. “Which sort of mission did you send her to?”

“Assassination.” Ashley smirks. “We managed to track the spies’ connection to a fairly neutral city between the borders of the Alliance and our Empire. So far, neither of us found it necessary to exert political pressure on the small city-state, which is run by a local nobleman who thinks of himself as a king. As it turns out, the Alliance was using our lenient trading policies with this ‘neutral’ party as a way to get messages and people in and out of our territory. In light of this new development, we decided to investigate and found out that the local government isn’t as neutral as they claimed.”

“So you are ending our partnership with them in a permanent manner?” I ask.

“Yes.” She nods. “It’s not certain which way their ruling body will swing after their leader is out of the way, but Luxley organized some troop movements close to the border. We are hoping that this demonstration of force, combined with the untimely demise of their king, will sway the city council. We’ve sent some informal letters, inquiring about their political disposition. The hope is that the city will come over to our side once their ruler is dead. It would be preferable to a violent conquest, especially since the Alliance wouldn’t be able to protest without making fools of themselves.”

“Okay, have you seen Ascathon? We should eat before the noodles get too cold.” I take the pot with the noodles off the hearth and use a prepared colander to get rid of the water.

“I think I saw him disappearing in his laboratory a few hours ago. It’s reasonable to assume that he is still there,” Ashley gestures in the direction of his workshop.

I sigh. “Yeah. Once he starts working, there isn’t much that can distract him. We better go and rescue him from starvation.”

Being in accord with each other on that point, we head out of the kitchen and towards Ascathon’s workshop.

When Ashley and I first met, there was a little bit of tension between the two of us. The succubus matriarch wasn’t sure what Ascathon saw in me, someone who seemed like a lowly mortal to her. For that very reason, she tried to test me with various provocations when we were alone and in private.

Normally, I am no snitch, but Ascathon is putting a lot of effort into keeping me a secret from the Council. As I am now, I can't challenge Ashley, so I had to get help. It took only a little clarification from Ascathon's side that I am off-limits, and a potential god, should I ever lose control over my carefully contained powers.

That was enough to stop any teasings from Ashley’s side and since then we arrived at a guarded form of friendship and acceptance of the other party. I don’t like people with a personality like hers, the kind who want to test out the limits of their comrades. But she is nice to Karin and teaching her a lot when Ascathon or I don’t have the time, so I let her character flaws slide for the most part.

We arrive at the workshop, a large tear-shaped cavern which points with its tip towards the living areas and the rest of the complex. What most people don’t know is that there are several hidden floors which house Ascathon’s more dangerous experiments.

“I can’t see him.” Ashley surveys the area, pulling thoughtfully at her lower lip.

“There is red light coming from further in. I am sure he is messing with the magma chamber,” I point out.

“A magma chamber?” Ashley asks. “I knew that this facility is underground, but I didn’t realize that we are that deep. When I open portals, I mostly rely on mana signatures and planar wave-lengths to pinpoint the exit location.”

“Oh, it’s quite deep. We would be crushed and cooked if it weren’t for the facility’s containment fields. In fact, we are close to the planet’s liquid asthenosphere which is just a few kilometres away. A magma channel is feeding directly into the magma chamber and then proceeds further upwards to some volcano on the surface,” I explain as we walk. “The facility is using the energy to keep this place liveable and Ascathon is using the magma chamber to conduct some high-energy experiments from time to time. He is fascinated with the secret behind mana crystals. If you trigger him, he will hold you a lecture on his theories, but don’t expect to get away before the day is over.”

Ashley rolls her eyes. “Thanks for the warning. I think that I can live without broadening my horizons.”

We arrive at the furthest part of the workshop which is also the most spacious one and in almost direct contact with the magma chamber.

Ascathon is standing in front of a large window which uses not glass but an energy field to hold the heat outside the facility at bay. He himself is also contained by a separate energy bubble which holds his completely released aura at bay. Something the facility itself wouldn’t be able to handle, so I assume that he put that one up on his own, not wanting to damage his equipment. His figure seems to consist of nothing but sparks of blue and red energy. Then he notices us and shoots us a glance, his eyes pools of dark nothingness within the light of energy around him.

I am glad that he is somehow limiting the effects of his aura, or the both of us would be trembling on the floor.

“Is it something important?” he asks, his voice coming out of a speaker on the wall.

“We wanted to ask if you want to eat?” I ask.

“Hey, why did you never do me in that form?” Ashley puffs out her cheeks. “Just looking at you turns me on.”

Typical succubus. I snort.

“You wouldn’t last an instant,” he replies and retracts one arm from the energy field of the window. Behind it is a chamber of super-heated plasma inside the magma chamber. Retrieving a red mana crystal from a table next to him, he inserts it into the chamber. “Just give me five minutes. I am rounding this experiment up and I was preparing the spell for hours. It would be a waste to stop now, not to mention that I would have to release the stored energy into the surroundings. That would probably cause an earthquake and a volcano eruption on the surface.”

“Oh, joy. What are you doing?” I ask. Searching our surroundings, I find a set of protective gear and retrieve two darkened googles for Ashley and myself to protect us from the bright light. With that, it’s a little easier to see what Ascathon is doing.

“I am trying to enchant a mana crystal which contains a soul's anchor, changing its nature. My current theory is that mana crystals are nothing but extremely condensed energy. A state of matter which would only exist in neutron stars, but somehow locked in place and disconnected from the normal laws of gravity and space, or everything would blow in an instant. I am trying to reshape this piece of mana crystal and give it a new purpose,” he explains while casually wielding energies that would probably fry Ashley and me within an instant.

“Why do you need the soul? For power? And who is it?” Ashley inquires.

“Hahaha. No. The soul is certainly not for power. I am just using it and its memories as a blueprint for the organic enchantment which I am trying to imprint on the mana crystal. I want the thing to gather energy and grow over time. Unfortunately, I am afraid that the soul in question will pay with all its powers and memories. But don’t worry, it’s just some asshole god who offended me while he was standing right inside one of my traps. He will certainly be a mortal after this.”

He raises his hands and blue sparks of energy dance from his fingertips and over the crystal’s surface. Slowly, it changes its form from a rough arrowhead-shape towards an elongated polyhedron with a nine-cornered base.

Laughing in delight, Ascathon retrieves the object of his research through the energy field. He waves his hand and two large blast-doors close slowly, shutting away the brightness of plasma and molten lava. Then he begins a tedious process of slowly lowering his own protections without impeding the facility, using a set of energy conversion spells to lower the temperature on his side of the protection field.

Finally, he is able to lower his aura and to dispel the protective bubble, looking normal once more.

“May I present to you, Inglorium!” As if it were a newborn, he raises the polyhedron which is made out of blue mana crystal and floating freely between his palms. I can feel the energy pulsing within it.

Ashley coos appreciatively. “It’s pretty, but what does it do?”

That puts a stopper to Ascathon’s mood. “No- nothing. At the moment. I still have to verify that the enchantment was applied correctly.”

“A glorified paperweight?” I ask teasingly. After a few hundred years, I stopped counting how many of Ascathon’s promising experiments shared that exact same fate.

“Certainly not!” He walks over to a table and places the crystal on top of it, where it stays upright, balancing perfectly on its tip as it slowly turns around and around.

Just watching it makes my spine crawl with unease. I can tell at a glance that this artefact is powerful. Maybe Ascathon wasn’t so wrong about giving it such a haughty name. “So what does it do?”

“For the moment, it just does what it does. Like the floating and glowing thing.” He flicks it with a finger and the crystal tilts over but rights itself fairly quickly to its previous position. “But that’s just testing phase one. Once I have verified that the enchantment on it isn’t degrading, I’ll lower it down into the planet’s core where it has direct access to the nexus point. It will absorb energy and grow.”

“Grow into what?” Ashley asks the question which is also on my heart.

“A palace worthy of me, of course. A base of operations like no other. An eternal monument to the rise of my power.” He hesitates for a moment. “A monument to the end of the Council’s rule.”

“Quite the plan, is it not?” I tease, hoping that he didn’t get a serious case of megalomania.

He nods. “It is. But it’s also far in the future.” He runs a finger across the crystal’s surface. “It will take centuries for this to be ready. Don’t think me a fool for wishing to throw off the Council’s rule. I am playing the long game here. One way or another, even if it takes millennia, there will be a day when my palace will rise, and it will be the day theirs will fall.”