***The World***

***Seria***

The world was not yet ready for Myrms reaction to the disappearance of two of her followers. Of course, there was never any definitive proof as to who should be held responsible, but that didn't matter to a half-mad, mind-influenced goddess like Myrm.

Though her reaction to the disappearance of two of her followers still surprised me. If I thought that she intended to unleash total war on the world before, then I was wrong. Oh, boy, never before have I been that wrong.

From my floating island domicile, I watched the mortals as decades turned into centuries, and centuries into millennia, while the world beneath me burned in the flames of war.

And to think that the reason for that was just the disappearance of two demi-gods.

My feelings of guilt were somewhat mitigated by the fact that aside from Ascathon and Myrm, the mortals under their influence knew even better how to hold a grudge than the two gods themselves. The mortals started indoctrinating their children, and their children, in turn, committed ever more gruesome atrocities on the opposing faction as generations went by. A spiral of hatred and violence that didn’t need to be taken care of to continue as long as there was a breathing mortal to carry on the legacy.

What was fascinating to watch was that the two sides slowly took in the teachings of their deities and their doctrines as they turned into a bad facsimile of what they worshipped.

The Alliance’s most accomplished troops, The Monks of Light who stood at the frontlines of each battle, used their god’s teachings of internal mana to overpower their enemies with superhuman feats. Being faster, stronger, and more resilient than any other mortal man gave them the edge in any close range encounter. Striking hard and fast was also the perfect way to fight a user of external magic, who needed time to cast their spells.

Contrary to that, the Empire followed a more traditional style of using the arts of external magic. Their elite troops, the Knights of Chaos, were capable of fighting in the front rows, but over the decades it became clear that this wasn’t their forte. As most who joined their ranks nowadays were magical casters, they preferred to stay behind the front-lines, launching devastating spells at the enemy. Their disadvantages were more than compensated by the fact that multiple magic casters were able to combine their power to cast ever more powerful spells.

Driven by war and through the influence of their gods, both sides advanced in leaps and bounds, researching magical technologies on the side of the Empire, while the Alliance’s focus lay on genetics and alchemy. Their – in one way or another – enhanced soldiers were more than capable of keeping up with the enemy.

It surprised me that Ascathon and Myrm weren't already at each other's throats, but it was only a question of time.

All I had to do on my end was to wait and watch, patiently giving the kettle time until it would reach a critical temperature, at which point it would be up to me to act quickly and decisively. Most people, even immortals, wouldn’t have had the patience to wait that long for their plans to come to fruition. But I did.

For countless millennia I had done nothing else but waiting. I, the Goddess of Life and Death, hadn’t always been like that. There was a time when I was hot-blooded and impatient – when I would always do as I pleased.

But ever since the war of the gods I had learned patience the hard way. In a time in which we fought other gods as readily as the mortals, I had the misfortune to be cast away into a void zone – an area of space without pathways. And without pathways, there was no way to escape my exile.

There, in isolation and alone, my only choice was to either grow with the experience or to turn insane.

When I emerged, I realized that everything I had known was gone. Time hadn’t stood still while I was gone and friends, family, and home had departed for unknown shores. In their place was the perversion that called itself the Council of the gods. They were inhabiting the holy halls of my predecessors like rats inside the den of a dragon, defiling it with their presence. The centre of all things was no longer a place of enlightenment and freedom, but something to be feared by those too weak to oppose the rule of the strong.

My silent musings are thankfully interrupted when the door to my living room opens. “Here is your tea,” Lilli informs me as she enters the room, carrying a bottle and a cup. The demoness smiles bewitchingly and puts the cup down on the knee-height table in front of the sofa where I am sitting.

The hot fumes which escape the bottle quickly spread the smell of lemon throughout the room and I hum in appreciation and expectation of this little tea-party, even if my two maids are unlikely to join me willingly. Ever since their abduction, Lilli and Anna have been unwilling residents of my floating island with its little, Chinese-style bungalow.

I pull my eyes away from the map of the world on the wall across from me. During my silent musings, it was a pleasant distraction, showing the state of the war and other political affairs by automatically updating itself with information gained through spy-satellites and other means. Not that there is anything much to see nowadays. All the available land is either marked as uninhabitable or as controlled by one of the two major forces.

“Thank you, Lilli.” I take the cup from her and allow the demoness to pour me some lemon tea. Then I swirl the hot liquid around inside its cup, blowing twice before taking a careful sip. I could simply channel my aura to protect myself and ignore the temperature, but there is something soothing about doing it the old-fashioned way.

Anna enters the room, carrying a tray with house-made cookies. She puts the tray down next to the tea-bottle, then retreats two steps to stand next to her sister. The two succubi watch me having lunch, something eager in their expressions.

I smile, watching the two of them in their china-doll dresses, something I chose solely to preserve the style of my little domicile.

When the two of them don’t become bored of watching me, I feel a little bit of suspicion in the back of my mind. Normally, they would steal themselves away to sulk in another part of the house. The demons themselves might not admit it, but their culture is highly sociable aside from their treatment of each other. They are like broken sadists, unable to properly show their affection. When they truly want to punish another being, they do it by isolating the other party as much as possible, whether they are aware of it or not.

So their open interest in me eating their cookies makes me at least somewhat suspicious. The two aren't happy to play servants for me, so why would they suddenly want to stay in the same room if they don’t have explicit orders to do so? Furrowing my forehead, I take a cookie and stuff it into my mouth while I watch them warily.

Abducting two demi-gods was the easy part, but keeping them restrained and locked up for millennia proved quite a bit taxing. I could have just killed them and taken their souls for my project, but I thought that they may be helpful in the early stages of my plan. After all, I would need someone to help me guide my bright new world, and I already decided to use quite a bit of demon for the genetic base of its new inhabitants.

My stomach rebels suddenly and I retch a little, forcing back the heartburn. To counteract the unpleasant sensation, I circulate some of my healing energy through my body and take another sip from the tea while I munch on the cookies. The succubi's eager expressions turn first confused as the mountain of cookies shrinks down to a handful, then to silent resignation as I continue watching the world map contemplatively.

Lilli turns to Anna, and Anna looks back at Lilli.

“Are you sure you put it in?”

“Of course I am sure. Are you sure that you concentrated the essence properly?”

“O’course! I am sure! Maybe it wasn't enough?”

“It was enough to-”

The two succubi slap at each other in their attempts to disclaim the fault for their failure.

I decide to interrupt before their attempts to accuse the other party of a mistake end up in an unfortunate catfight. They are just demi-gods, but that was enough to ruin my little domicile several times in the past until they finally admitted that I can subdue them as easily as toddlers.

“Did you two change the recipe for the cookies?” I ask, smiling. “Both the tea and the cookies tasted a little different from what I am used to.” Narrowing my eyes, I make eye-contact with Lilli, then with Anna. “Whatever you used, I am fine with it being inside the cookies. It gives them a certain sting, really fitting in combination with the lemon tea.” Looking down, I study my empty cup. “But the stuff really doesn't fit into the tea. It overshadows the lemon.”

The two succubi nod quickly. “Of course, we will refrain from experimenting with the tea then.”

Anna laughs. “See, Sis? I told you that it can be tasted quite easily among the lemon.”

“Yes,” I affirm. “I just would like to know what you two used and how you got it. I thought that I made sure you can't leave the island or send any messages.”

The two demons stiffen when they realize that I am aware that they tried to poison me.

There is a prolonged silence during which they refuse to meet my eyes.

I sigh. “Look. I told you about my plan, and it's okay if you don't like it. I am not even mad that you are trying to escape from the island, or that you are trying to kill your jailer. But I can't allow you two to leave. If you don't tell me what you did, I will have to get the information by force.”

“It was deathflower seed,” Lilli admits dejectedly. “A full handful in the tea and in the cookies. You should be on the floor, puking your liquefying guts out!”

I probably would be, if it weren't for my life magic. “And how did you get so many seeds?” More importantly, why didn’t they tell everyone that they are alive if they truly found a way off the island?

“I caught a seed in the wind before the gardening robot could get to it. Then we grew the flowers behind the bungalow, on the other side of the island. The shield around the island isn't perfect. It lets air and small particles through, just like the airborn deathflower seeds.”

I nod sagely, silently thanking myself that they didn't breach the containment. If they somehow got away and told the others about what I did, that I am the reason for how fierce the war became, then that could have all sorts of repercussions.

I don't think that Tjenemit would actually punish me. All I did was to abduct two of Ascathon's servants. But at the very least I would lose Ascathon's trust, and that would make it so much harder to control how things turn out. Sometimes I just wish that Lilli and Anna would join my cause, but they don't see the bigger picture, my reason for doing all of this.

“That's okay.” I smile. “You can catch seeds and grow all the flowers you want. Somehow, I wish I could share that bit of information with the rest of your siblings and your mother. Growing plants sounds much more like something that angels would do. It’s hilarious to imagine a gardening demon.”

Anna's expression turns horrified and she turns on Lilli. “I told you! We should just kill ourselves! Being locked on this island for that long messes with our heads! We are getting soft! Not to mention that there is nobody to fuck aside from her.” She points at me. “And you!” Anna adds disgustedly, pointing at her sister. “If we didn’t have Ascathon’s amulets, we would have shrivelled away like dried up corpses.”

Lilli just sighs, looking defeated. “You know, passing the time with gardening wouldn't be so bad if there were at least some flowers from home. Like my snatcher-plant.” She giggles and covers her mouth. “Or the man-sized venus fly trap.”

Anna shakes her head. “It took you a thousand years to breed that thing and I still don't get how you managed to add the tentacles.”

“~That's a trade secret,” Lilli swoons over her plants while pressing her hands to her chest.

For a moment, I play with the thought of getting them some plants from their home dimension so that they would feel a little better, but I abandon the thought quickly. I have no sufficient knowledge of the capabilities of their biosphere, and importing stuff that could help them in an escape attempt would be bad. Worse, if something like that venus trap gets off my island it could have an impact on the world below. Even if it’s Ascathon who would most likely get blamed for such an event, I don’t want to be the one who is responsible for having the world covered in man-eating plants.

And wouldn’t I have to bring in living food for those things? No. Better to leave things as they are. If the two succubi really wanted to groom those plants in the garden I am sure that they would ask.

***The Crystal City***

***Ascathon***

“You called for me?” I ask as I peek into Tjenemit’s office which is a large room with an even larger desk. Standing behind it and looking outside the window is Tjenemit, his arms crossed behind his back.

Not wanting to feel like a school kid who was called to see the principal, I stroll into the room when I see that the Council member is currently unoccupied.

“Indeed.” He turns around and studies me without saying a word.

Deciding that I can use silence as well as he does, I say nothing and just wait for him to collect his thoughts. There must be a reason for calling me into his sanctum. I would like to think that it has something to do with the world, but I know of no reason that would require my presence.

Tjenemit gestures at an empty chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”

Knowing well enough that it wasn’t an offer, I sit down and wait for further instructions, all the while fuming inside that I have to take orders from that cretin. If this was solely between the two of us, I would have ripped him a new one aeons ago.

“I want an update regarding Eris. You are still seeing her as a part of the treatment process as far as I understand?”

I nod, wondering why he is approaching this topic in such a strange manner. Eris, Goddess of Strife and Discord was mindwiped by something I’ve never encountered before. It was Tjenemit who ordered me to repair her mind, whatever it took. Turned out, it wasn't quite as easy as I first thought. Especially with a bunch of incompetent fools looking over my shoulder and questioning every action I took.

“I do. Your doctors are ready to release her, but there is still some damage,” I explain, trying to stick to the facts. If Eris’s treatment were completely up to me, I wouldn’t let her go anywhere. “She is restored as far as her mind is concerned, but I fear that she still lacks control over her impulses. It comes with her domain, so I wasn’t able to fix that through conventional means. If your people would allow me to use some advanced techniques-”

“I fear that’s not possible,” Tjenemit cuts me off. He reaches up to massage his chin. “Anything our own healers aren’t able to verify harbours the possibility that you put some control trigger inside her. I know you well enough to know that – given the chance – you would likely do so without batting an eyelid.”

“Okay. Then what do you want? The other mind mages who are involved in putting her back together can tell you that much. Why am I here?” I ask.

“Just for verification.” He shrugs. “So, you are saying that she is better, if only a little more of a loose cannon than she was before?”

I purse my lips. “If you want to define someone with the domains of Strife and Discord who lacks the ability to restrain herself as a loose cannon, then yes.”

Sorry, but letting a goddess of her calibre run loose in the multiverse is a bad idea.

“And there is nothing left that you can do for her, with it being controllable by our physicians?”

I press my lips together. If those incompetent fools weren’t interfering with Eris’s treatment sessions and looking over my shoulder at everything I do, she would have been up and running around long ago, not confined to her personal quarters.

Then I suddenly realize why Tjenemit is doing this. He is trying to verify that he has done everything he can do within reason for a fellow Council member. But his distrust of me doesn’t outweigh the fact that he wants for Eris to get better. He is probably as displeased about me rummaging through her mind as I am.

And let’s be real, they will never give me a chance to turn a Council member into one of my puppets. So why am I fighting this development in the first place? I just have to tell him that the rest of her affliction will take care of itself with time. It would be a blatant lie, but people change all the time. Who would know for sure that Eris isn’t the Eris she was always meant to be?

“I think that if you are unwilling to accept an unconventional treatment, one that your trusted physicians are unlikely to understand, then we have done everything we could do to restore her mind. She will be different after her experience, but she is a functional individual and even if her soul was damaged, she will most likely recover with time. The main reason why she still seems like a recluse is that she doesn’t get to talk to many people inside that facility of yours. You have to remember that she lost a large part of her memories.”

“Hm.” He turns back to look out of the window. “So she needs interaction with the world to recover the rest of the way?”

“It would help,” I reply. Well, it would help, but probably not as much as he hopes.

He sighs without looking back at me. “You are dismissed. Please take care of your own business from now on. You have no longer a responsibility to take care of Eris’s treatment.”

I nod and get up, then I leave his office and close the door behind me.

When the door is shut I can’t hold it in anymore. Pumping my fist I scream, “Finally!” startling Tjenemits secretary who just came back into the reception room with a stack of papers in her hand. Twitching, she drops it, scattering everything on the ground.

Being a real gentleman, I leave without caring for her clumsiness, ignoring the woman’s glare.