(Jason, 16)

"Jason," Uncle Zach says. "Did Bear Alpha say you have one roaming the palace?"

Uncle Zach and Mama Alyssa are both staring at me, which is more than a little uncomfortable, especially considering the reason why they're doing that.

"I created Wolf Alpha after the assassination attempt that led to Jacob and Lina spending the night here," I explain. "He has caught or deterred more than forty assassins and spies since then, and his skill only grows as time progresses."

The Ultra Defense Stuffie Golems, as they call themselves, can learn and grow in magic on their own. They absorb ambient mana to recharge themselves, and can have up to as much magical power as I do, as long as I keep them updated whenever the difference between us grows too strong. Tiger Alpha became miffed when he found out he wasn't unique, but the fact that the others are different animals calmed him somewhat.

Because of their ability to grow in ability and make decisions on their own, they're essentially people, in a sense. Sapient items designed with the purpose of protection. I never taught Bear Alpha how to break magical oaths, but when I found out he could, I had to make sure he knew not to break any set by certain people, myself included.

"If you're worried about him turning on you, Jacob, Lina, or Franklin," I say. "Don't. The UDSG are absolutely loyal to me, and nothing can change that. It's much like with the true gargoyles and Niko – even if it was Benjamin who made them, they will obey Niko to their end, even giving themselves up for him. Wolf Alpha is there to protect you guys, for my mental security."

"And Panther Alpha?" Mama Alyssa asks.

"Know how our employees sometimes say they feel as if someone is watching them?" I ask.

"He's at Sageson Magical Technologies," she realizes.

"Yep," I answer. "I set him there after making him to look for shady things."

"And Fox Alpha?" Uncle Zach asks.

"I'm not sure why they think he exists," I say. "But he doesn't."

He will, though. Now that Alex no longer lives here, I want to make Fox Alpha and set him to watching Alex and the Amarxik Mansion.

Mama Alyssa pulls out her comm plate and calls Papa Jared.

"Would you mind coming here?" She asks, and I sigh.

"I think I will leave this to you," Uncle Zach stands and looks at my comm plate. "Bear Alpha, make sure Jacob knows he is to return by dinner."

"Yes, King Zachary," Bear Alpha responds. "Jacob, your papa says again to make sure you're back by dinner. I think he's leaving, Sage Alyssa just called in Sage Jared. Boss might be in trouble."

"Wish him luck for me, would you?" Jacob's voice comes in nice and clear through the comm plate.

"Tell him thanks," I say as a violet gate forms in the gate space.

"Boss says 'thanks'."

"I'm ending the call," I tap the comm plate and end the call to Bear Alpha, then look at Papa Jared. "She's just overreacting, don't worry. I'm feeling rather exhausted, so I'm going to head to bed."

"You're going to take us to your workshop," Mama Alyssa tells me. "And your Papa Jared and I are going to look at everything you have been working on. Do you understand me?"

"What did he do this time?" Papa Jared asks.

"Explain," she tells me as she stands.

"I took measures to ensure the security of my friends and family."

"He has a golem stuffie similar to Tiger Alpha stalking the royal palace," she tells Papa Jared. "And another at our company's headquarters. What was Bear Alpha doing before you sent him after Jacob?"

"Hanging out in my bedroom," I answer. "He mostly just napped."

I would have preferred to not let Mama Alyssa find out about him, and same with Uncle Zach, except that I'm currently unable to use spatial magics, which means that I needed her to send Bear Alpha to the gate building. He'd never been there before, nor anywhere near it, so he couldn't go there on his own and follow them through.

"Take us to your workroom," Papa Jared says, and I sigh, then stand and lead them to my workroom.

Mama Alyssa jumps when she sees my worktable.

"I told you he was strewn out on it," I tell her as I sit down. "I'm going to finish his upgrades while you two… inspect everything. Don't break anything, though, and don't confiscate anything."

"Jason…"

"People attempted to assassinate my friends," I say in response to Mama Alyssa's warning tone. "I wasn't going to just sit around and do nothing. Wolf Alpha has proven useful in protecting them, and he serves me. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fear, and no reason to overreact. Especially as his feats have proven that the assassination attempts and spy counts are going up."

"Jason," she says. "What if someone managed to steal the knowledge of how to create these? Do you understand what would happen?"

"One," I say. "You can only create a stuffie golem as powerful as you are, at maximum. Two, each one is able to self-destruct. Three, I am literally the only person on Midlaris capable of creating them."

"Jason," she says. "You are the only person capable of creating them right now."

"No," I turn and look at her. "I am the only person capable of creating them. Period. They use a fragment of my life essence, which is why there are only four."

"Life essence?" She asks.

"Yes," I answer. "Life essence. It isn't something just anyone can manipulate. Only the Magi can."

Not even a god can manipulate or control life essence. I'm not certain as to why we Magi can, but whatever the reason, we're able to. True gargoyles are created with it, and it's the reason why they're absolutely loyal to Niko, why they'll sacrifice themselves for him without hesitation.

"Which is why no one else can make them," I say. "None of the other Magi have the knowledge or skill necessary to perform the enchantments, even if they can imbue their life essence into things. Now, seriously, I want to finish my work on Tiger Alpha."

They start examining everything on my shelves as I work on Tiger Alpha. At least they don't know where my second workshop is, nor that it exists. I hope. That is the one that has stuff they would truly go nuts over. Just managing to get the information I need out of Papa Jared for those projects without raising suspicions is difficult enough. If they knew what I was researching and developing…

"Jason, I am tempted to put you in mana-binding shackles," Mama Alyssa says.

Yeah, that. Only worse.

"Why?" I look, then snort at what she's holding. "Mama Alyssa, that's a massage ball."

"Uh-huh," she says.

"Seriously," I say. "Lie down, put it on you, imbue it with a little mana, and it'll start to roll around, vibrating and pressing on you. It can cover my back with just a little bit of mana. Also, that's an early version. Check in the box under it for the version with hands."

"With hands?" She asks.

"Little tiny ones," I nod. "A massage ball works wonders, but if it can knead your sore muscles, too? Just like an actual masseuse? Much more effective. I'm still sorting out the enchantment on that one, it has a tendency to press too tight."

She opens up the box and pulls out a ball that's nearly identical to the first. When she imbues her magic into it, however, two pairs of arms of red magic form, and it walks onto her arm, beginning to massage it.

"Ah," I say. "Be careful with that. It really does-"

"Ouch!" She exclaims.

"You can cancel the spell by saying 'massage complete'," I tell her. "It's keyed to your mana for the massage, so it requires you saying it."

"Massage complete!" She says with pain in her voice.

The arms disappear, and she catches the ball and glares at me.

"I did warn you," I tell her. "The original version doesn't squeeze you like that, it just rolls around on you while using force magic to press down upon you. Only has one setting, though, so if you need it lighter in some spots and harder in others, you won't get that. The one with the hands is supposed to determine how much pressure is needed and adjust itself accordingly, but I'm having trouble with that part of the enchantment. I was going to ask you if you could help me sort that out in a few weeks, after all the training and stuff was dealt with and the new term had begun. It's not high on my list of priorities. Fixing Tiger Alpha is."

I return to reapplying the enchantment to Tiger Alpha's core. There are several sets of enchantments to it, and several layers to the core. The innermost layer of the core itself is the one that gives him sapience, and any alterations to that would affect both his personality and his memories. Any changes to it would effectively erase Tiger Alpha, and the resulting golem would be different, even if of a similar personality.

Their personalities are mostly determined by the life essence, which is why they're all a little on the hyper, odd side. As a result, that won't change much with a new 'being' as the golem. I don't want to get rid of Tiger Alpha, though. He's enjoyable to have around.

The enchantments on the layer around the innermost one determines their magical power, which is the one I was upgrading. However, that requires removing the layers above it to work on, which means recreating those enchantments. It's a feat which takes a few hours to perform, as there are a lot of enchantments which go into a stuffie golem. Even now, I'm still learning how to improve the enchantments for them, and they're far more potent and useful than the initial version of Tiger Alpha.

This takes longer than it should because my mama and papa keep interrupting me because of various projects I began or have plans for. I am really glad they don't know about my other workshop. Not even Niko knows it exists.

They might actually just destroy that workshop, if they saw some of the things in it. Most of them are just plans for future projects, but that alone would be enough. Plans, notes, research, and thoughts, with a few experiments that I wasn't willing to perform here.

I finally finish fixing Tiger Alpha, and when I wake him up, he looks at my mama and papa in confusion.

"How much trouble are you in?" He whispers to me.

"A lot," I whisper back.

He gives me a solemn look, then we watch as my mama and papa finish looking at everything in the workshop. Both then stare at me.

"Where is your other workshop?" They ask in unison.

"What makes you think I have another workshop?" I ask. "I'm already busy with everything going on, I don't have time for-"

"Jason," Papa Jared says. "This place is lacking a bit too much in projects on the same scale as your stuffie golems. You have another workshop, because we doubt you put everything into and take everything out of your spatial storage."

"They know," Tiger Alpha whispers back to me.

"If you see my plans and stuff in there," I say. "You will destroy it. I'd rather not lose that research, so-"

"Jason," Mama Alyssa crosses her arms over her chest. "Do we need to put mana-binding cuffs on you?"

"You do know all that did was calm me down, right?" I ask. "Those were made of silver. Not exactly powerful. Alex got out of mithril ones, and I have more magical power than him."

"Jason," Papa Jared says. "I have ones made out of star iron. And we have other ways of grounding you, don't forget."

Yeah, they do.

"Want me to, ah, preserve the very sensitive things?" Tiger Alpha asks.

He's asking about a very particular project of mine, which there is already some obvious work on, considering that there are several boards with its designs and enchantments spread out on them. The project is something which can completely change the world. It's not something like a gun – I'm not going to bring those to Midlaris, even if someone else might end up on that path soon. But it's just as world-changing.

And something which wars may be started over.

"No," I answer after the look Papa Jared gives us. "I still have all the knowledge, so I can just work on it again once I'm able to use my magic at full power again and have a way to do so without their observation. Come on."

I stand and pat Tiger Alpha on the head as I look at my mama and papa.

"If you can't use your spatial magic," Mama Alyssa says. "Yet are taking us there, how far away is it?"

"That's a secret," I walk over to the grey crystal floating in a corner of the room. "But this isn't just a control crystal. I can access any warp crystal with it. Including the grey one at my other workshop."

I tap the grey warp crystal and imbue my magic into it, drawing on its secondary access panel hidden inside of its enchantments. I hack my way through the magic to pull up the interface for teleporting through it, as I'm supposed to use my tablet, except that's in my spatial storage at the moment. When I finish that, I look at Mama Alyssa and Papa Jared.

"Tiger Alpha is staying here," I tell them. "To watch over the house. If you want to look at the workshop, then touch me in the next thirty seconds."

They move to me and place their hands on my shoulder, and a few moments later, we warp into my other workshop. As soon as we arrive, the light crystals set into sconces around the walls light up, the light fixture set into the center of the ceiling turning on as well.

My mama and papa both look around, examining the wooden walls with no door, and I know their magic is going to display interference at the walls. Everything was designed to prevent anyone from figuring out its location, from receiving even the smallest hint of it.

"The only way in or out," I say. "Is either through that crystal or my gate."

"If you warded this place against gates," Papa Jared said. "Anyone with violet magical power can open one here once they've been in it once."

"I know," I say. "But if the gate isn't my own, it will be deactivated by the workshop's guardian before they can pass through. If they're already passing through before he can deactivate it, he'll shove them back through. In addition, the lights only turn on for my arrival, and there's a light-suppression spell which would prevent an intruder from seeing anything."

"The workshop's guardian?" Papa Jared asks.

"He's hiding right now," I say. "But he's watching, even if you can't notice him."

He's my fifth stuffie golem, but even the others aren't aware of him. I made him in here, away from the rest of them and their notice. Tiger Alpha thought he was just another stuffie the one time he was here, since I have them everywhere and the Ultra Defense Stuffie Golems are able to read as regular stuffies to scanning spells.

"Feel free to look at stuff," I say. "But please let me at least beg you not to destroy anything before you start doing that. Just so I can feel as if I tried."

I walk to one of my workbenches and pull out a stool, then watch as they begin looking at everything. Most of this is stuff that would take me years to develop without help from them. A decade or more, even. With Papa Jared and Mama Alyssa helping me, the projects would probably be finished within a few weeks to a few months. A year at most.

"Alyssa," Papa Jared waves Mama Alyssa over, and I realize he's looking at a plan I've already begun development on.

"What is it?" She asks.

"I think I found why Jason is obsessed with golems," he tells her.

She looks over the research notes he was examining. Those, and the plans. Part of my golem research is to develop defensive golems. Not stuffies, but stone and metal statues designed with the purpose of defending a location. Inert, appearing to just be statues, they would come to life only when given the appropriate commands.

They would be more akin to a standard golem than the Ultra Defense Stuffie Golems, only able to execute certain commands, but their design will be nearly as sophisticated as the squad's. If a village or town or something is attacked, they can be commanded to kill anyone wearing a certain insignia, and they will obey. They can be commanded to protect civilians, and they will obey that command.

Well, the latter could be problematic if the attackers then change to looking like civilians, but that is part of why there is so much research and work going into my golems.

Neither my papa nor my mama make a vocal comment about the defensive golems, but I can tell by their looks at each other that they're communicating. I still can't perform telepathy without physical contact, which means I'm stuck unaware of what they're saying.

They finish examining those plans, then continue looking at my research, plans, and notes. They're avoiding the section of the workshop with several boards set up to hold notes, probably saving it for last as it's clearly a big project.

When they finish looking at everything else and having their telepathic conversations about how dangerous everything is, they approach the final section. I can sense the unease of the workshop's guardian as they approach. He knows just how dangerous those plans are.

My mama and papa only take a few moments to realize what I was designing there, and they both look at me.

"Jason," Mama Alyssa says. "Care to explain this?"

"That's exactly what it looks like."

"Jason," Papa Jared says. "This looks like a ship which flies through the sky."

"I emphasize the 'exactly' in my previous statement."

"You are designing a skyship," Mama Alyssa says. "Jason, enchanters and builders have dreamed of such a vessel for generations. I even spent a full decade attempting to help build one. Every attempt so far has failed. And everyone who has lived long enough has realized the bad that will come with such a creation."

When you know your enemies might use blind teleports, you create a defense against those. When your enemies can fly right over your walls unhindered, however… you must beware, especially in war. A vessel which can take troops anywhere, regardless of terrain. Barriers can be shattered much more easily than a ward can be broken.

The ability to attack from above, raining spells down upon your enemy, rather than casting from a distance.

So much potential for war with skyships, which is why everyone wants to build one. And why those who have lived long enough do not wish for them to exist.

"Did you know," I stand and approach. "That Midlaris once had four continents?"

They frown as I reach the sheet with my rough sketch of a skyship.

"There's only one now," I flip the page up to reveal a map of the world showing the four continents, and tap a landmass to our west. "At least, as far as anyone knows. The Shattered Isle is the remains of one continent. It's also not located where you saw it. What Niko did was access a dimensional rift that led to it. As Nolan, I gathered up what remained of the continent, fused them together, and created the Shattered Isle. That's why it has so many crevices and rivers in it. That continent was destroyed in an explosion of magical power that ripped it apart. The exact source of the explosion is unknown to me, but I suspect it has to do with magical experiments.

"Another continent," I tap a continent to our southeast. "Was sunk into the ocean long before the war with the heavens and the underworld came here. Some people angered the wrong things, or something like that. Anyway, that continent is gone because of that.

"Finally," I tap a continent to the east, a continent around the size of Varil. "We have Amalia. The fourth continent. It was neither destroyed nor sunk, but unlike our own home of Ikarix, it's not still here. The thing is, it was, during the war. Sometime in the last three thousand years, an entire continent disappeared. Midlaris obviously filled the ocean in to accommodate the missing landmass while sustaining the water levels of the world, to keep the balance or something."

"What does that have to do with the skyship?" Mama Alyssa asks.

"Because," I flip up the map of the world, revealing another drawing, a sketch of a continent floating in the sky. "Amalia is flying. It was raised up into the sky, and is now flying around the world. It is essentially Laputa, only much, much larger."

"Laputa?" They both ask.

"An old story from Earth," I say. "It was a city that floated in the sky. Or if you went another story, it was a castle with a giant tree. Sometime after the war, someone lifted Amalia out of the ocean and into the sky. I don't think they pulled the full continent up, but they did pull a sizable chunk of it up, and the rest sank into the ocean naturally due to erosion and such. At least, that's my theory. A skyship would be how to reach it."

"Can't you fly?" Mama Alyssa asks.

"With magic," I say. "But what if others want to visit it? What if they want to visit us? Not everyone can fly. Plus, I would have to look for a long while to find it. Days, possibly. The only thing I know for sure is that they must be avoiding Ikarix, because if they weren't, they'd have been noticed by now. The Moon Folk have also said they haven't noticed a floating continent, and that's the sort of thing they would remember."

"Can you flip back?" Papa Jared asks, so I do. "Jason, the eastern islands don't exist on your map."

"Hm?" I look at the map. "Oh, that's because I made the sketch off my memory of the old map of the world, from before the other continents were gone."

"And the eastern islands didn't exist?" He asks.

I can tell he's mentally comparing Ikarix to the old map of it, but it's probably not easy, since a lot of mountains have since appeared, such as the ones on our western and northern borders.

"They existed," I trace along a section of the eastern part of Ikarix, a trail of light forming. "I may have destroyed a huge section of land as Nolan. An entire strip of land from the very northern part of Ikarix all the way down to the southern. A couple hundred miles across. The eastern islands are the remains of the eastern section that was separated from Ikarix."

"What in the world were you doing that did that?" Mama Alyssa asks.

"Swinging Harbinger," I answer. "That is the full power of Harbinger, when unleashed by someone with greater grey magical power who is not restraining its might. A wave of pure magic that cleaves through everything, leaving nothing behind. That's why there's a crevice in the ocean for miles above and below the continent."

They both stare at me.

"I was fighting a god, and I forgot to restrain myself."

The other Magi laughed about it afterwards, once they regenerated and tracked me down. With our immortal souls, the Magus Swords can't affect us too badly. They hurt, but don't kill. Reaper, on the other hand, could probably kill us. Permanently. I'm not sure if our unique circumstances would allow us to withstand its ability to revert souls back into cosmic energy. I'm not even sure if our souls are made of it, though, so it might not affect us like that.

"Anyway," I say. "It's only a matter of time before someone manages to create a skyship. And they would be making it for war from the start. This way, we can get a headstart on that, advertise it as a luxury traveling method, and I can find Amalia and possibly learn what on Midlaris happened to move them up into the sky."

"Why do you believe they're in the sky?" Papa Jared asks. "You seem quite confident in this."

"Because I am," I answer. "Anyway, I'm really tired, so can we get to the begging point? Please? Because I really want to get back to bed, now."

"We aren't going to destroy this stuff just yet," Papa Jared tells me. "But we are going to discuss these plans of yours with your other papas and mamas."

"And if we decide to destroy them," Mama Alyssa tells me. "And something is missing from this visit, you will be grounded, and not just with star iron magic-draining cuffs."

"Understood," I say. "Can one of you open a gate back? Hacking into the crystals to do the transport is exhausting, and I'm not sure I can do it again with my current level of exhaustion."

Mama Alyssa opens the gate back home, and once we step through, I go up to my room and take a shower, then pull on my night clothes and climb into bed, passing out immediately.

(???, since the beginning of the universe)

How dare they do that on my son? Midlaris is not a battle ground! How dare they use him and his children as their toys? How dare they put him in so much pain!

Letting out a roar that shakes the universe, I slip out of the universe and into my mother's domain. My father seems to be absent, but he is likely off on one of his adventures, having fun for the sake of having fun or punishing evil for the sake of punishing evil.

Mother sits upon her throne in all her resplendent glory. Humanoid in form, with glimmering golden hair and blue eyes that glow with an inner light. Her fair skin is pure and flawless, clothed in only a black and pink dress that gently ripples in a nonexistent breeze. A golden crown rests atop her head, glinting in the mystical light of her throne room.

"You look angry," she frowns, the usual smile she has disappearing the moment she sees me. "What is wrong, my child?"

"Midlaris is in pain," I approach her, my form fitting within this space despite its infinite size and the hall's limited. "The heavens and underworld of my universe have decided to use him as a battling ground, and the humans that are his children as their soldiers. Reincarnate me into one of his children."

"Reincarnate you?" She asks. "Why not simply go there yourself?"

"I will give them a chance to leave on their own," I stretch out my wings and puff out my chest. "I will show them that only suffering awaits if they remain. I will destroy their forces while they are unaware of my identity. I will chase them away. And only if things continue to the extremes will I reveal my real identity, Mother. If they are aware that I, the Divine Dragon, is against this, they will only move to another world, again and again, ravaging each one. I do not want to chase them down every time and put an end to these squabbles."

"And reincarnating into one of the children of the world will fix that?"

"No," I narrow my gaze. "I will toy with them. Only once I am powerful enough will my 'mortal' form be capable of remembering my past, my true identity. Believing myself to be just another Delvarkari, I will toy with the gods. I will bring unto them a wrath they could never challenge. And I will do it with the power of a mortal. I will humiliate them. I will slay them. And I will bring peace to my son once more. They will know I did that with the power of a mortal, and it will teach them that even mortals can challenge the gods. To be careful of who they choose to use as a toy, because they may end up the toys instead."

Mother mulls it over. This is my rage speaking, and she knows it. I know it. Ordinarily, I would simply wipe them out. But they have pushed my rage beyond that. No, now I want to toy with them. And I cannot take on a mortal form on my own, because of what I am. I need her assistance for it.

"Very well, then," she says. "I will reincarnate you there. Under one condition."

"What?" I ask.

"I will reincarnate you twice more," she says. "First onto a world without magic. Then again onto Midlaris, so that you may help it advance. I know you will wish to do that."

I narrow my gaze at her.

"You have some other agenda."

"When you will you and Leviathan finally admit your feelings for each other?"

"Has your garden been fertilized recently?"

As she laughs, I sense my 'siblings' arrive. The other Divine Beasts, each of us was born through the unified magics of the King and Queen of the Gods. We do not share the same genetics, and are vastly different beings. Each of us holds several similar properties, and it has always amused me to see all of us in one place as a result.

Twelve beings of infinite size, contained in a room only a few hundred yards on each side.

Leviathan, Griffin, and Thunderbird approach. As the other Kings, they hold the right to speak first, even if we are all technically equal in power.

"What is going on?" Leviathan asks. "It isn't often you come here, Dragon."

"Mother is reincarnating me onto Midlaris," I state. "Into a mortal body. I am going to toy with the demons, angels, and gods who dared to put him in pain and slaughter his children like livestock."

"We're going with you," the others all say immediately and look at Mother.

"Mother," Leviathan says. "How exactly can you contain us in mortal forms? Just reincarnating us should be difficult enough."

"I am the Queen of the Gods," she says. "Mother of the Divine Beasts. Such a thing is trivial to me. But to explain it properly, your bodies will not be mortal. They will be immortal. It is the only way for them to house your souls. Only three events can release you from those. The first is your father or I releasing you as you die. The second is you choosing to ascend out of your forms once you regain your memories of your true selves in their entirety. The third is the Gathering of Power, which will force an ascension out of you on the days respective to you. They occur every three thousand years in Dragon's universe."

My siblings all look at me.

"What?" I ask. "Keep in mind that three thousand years is the longest between Gatherings out of all of us. That gives us plenty of time. There are seven hundred years between now and when the next Gathering is to occur."

"Dragon," she says. "As the most powerful of you, can only be reincarnated into a powerful body. I can place each of the rest of you into fairly weaker bodies, if you wish to enter into different areas, to be collected by Dragon once he begins his crusade."

The other Beasts agree to that. Each of us will have a varying level of magical power as mortals, because we will not be able to tap into our true powers. But much of our personalities will remain, even without a single memory or experience. We are the Divine Beasts, our souls are unique. They are not formed of cosmic energy, but something greater. Something far more durable and immortal.

"Very well then," she says. "Prepare yourselves. Dragon, you will be reincarnated first, as you arrived first and this is your quest. That, and there is the perfect vessel for you to become forming at this moment."

Mother stands, and her Absolute Power radiates out of her as she begins the process of reincarnating me into a mortal – or immortal mortal – vessel.