I'm standing...well floating... in line behind someone who claims to be an honest-to-Gods Angel. I hope they're lying. Mostly because they are SERIOUSLY disgusting. They also smell horrible and I can't tell if they're male or female.

It's really disconcerting to have an eight-armed, three-breasted, slimy slug-centaur thing insist that it's a Beautiful Angel in service to some god whose name I can't pronounce. Apparently it's meant to be spoken nasally and gutturally using an elephant-like trunk and something about tusks and an air bladder.

I missed the rest of the explanation after I noticed the "Angel" start to pitch a tent under their loincloth while talking about their god. I didn't see the stem but they had nine berries. They also started to smell just...horrible.

I'm just a pure...well...mildly sullied soul with no actual nasal sensory organs and I can smell them from over a mile away. I know it's at least a mile because that's the ammount of space I'm keeping between us now in this godaweful line. I'd be farther back but the gajillion people in line behind me are pissed enough as it is. I'm just happy I'm almost to the front, there's just a tiny, glowing, neon-blue dragon and the creepy Slug-Angel left in front of me.

Apparently, in order to immigrate from Technology's universe to Magic's universe, I still have to make my way through the transit terminal. Even though all of my documents were expedited by the Overgods in question. Wait, did I say "godaweful" or "godsaweful" earlier? Damnit. Gotta keep working on changing that habit...

According to Magic, or "Belisama Andraste" as she's known where I'm headed, souls from mono-theistic universes and cultures are often regarded with suspicion or concern by others in the multiverse. It has to do with a combination of fanaticism and the cultures involved. It's not a guarantee, but inquisitions, forcible conversions, genocide, and similar crimes against life are a lot more common ammong followers of gods that don't have a pantheon. Panteons tend to keep the member god's egos in check. Looks like even gods have issues with absolute power.

Aside from just standing out, my new home has had a lot of bad shit go down with new gods trying to set up their own monotheistic religions. Instead of having nice faiths based around concepts like redemption, hope, or self improvement, these assholes have been all about dark shit like rape, carnage, and cannibalism. There's even a new one, who's about all that stuff AND death magic using human sacrifice. I most definitely do not want to be mistaken for a follower of that bastard.

Magic...er...actually speaking of habits, I should probably start referring to my patron by name even in my own mind... Andraste spent about a month educating me on pantheons, gods, ascention, and magic. She said that they might as well make use of the time since even the expidited paperwork takes at least that long. It's apparently the Beauracracy Pantheon's fault.

After the ah...incident with Michelle, Technology and Magic explained the situation and what they'd like me to do.

Magic, or "Andy" as she keeps insisting I call her, has been having issues with an upstart god of death and magic who's trying to usurp her position in several pantheons. He's even been harassing her in the "Astral Plane" which is supposed to be neutral ground for all gods. Normally he wouldn't be a problem, but he's managed to coodinate with several other young gods and dark pantheons to distract her allies and keep her from consolidating her forces.

As a result, she's short on souls with strong magical talents to use as champions and wants to offer me the opportunity. They aren't sure exactly what my abilities are, other than the ones I've already unlocked, but they're likely just as useful. In exchange for helping her, "Andy" will not only help me Ascend and eventually reach Godhood, but also become my mentor once I do become a divinity.

That's still pretty far into my future though. In the meantime they need me to fight on her behalf as a "Champion" on one of the worlds controlled by her pantheon. Originally, they were going to send me to a less-than-critical area to free up a more experienced person. The plan changed after I met Technology and instead they'll send me to one of her key worlds instead. Andy said not to worry though, she'll have me working with and training under an "Avatar" until I'm able to hold my own.

It was a very nice explination they gave me. It was fairly concise and took them about ten minutes to give me a complete picture of the situation. There was just one problem.

"Uh...guys...I have no background information for any of this. Don't get me wrong, I can figure out what most of it means as far as the politics and warfare and such, though I'll need more information. I even know what a pantheon is...kind of. But how am I 'partially ascendant'? How the hell does a person become a god? Also, what's with the 'Sundering' thing? You look ill every time you mention it."

Technology, who I refuse to call "Mr. Stark," smirks at Andy when I respond. She just rolls her eyes and flips a silver coin at him. Michelle doesn't react at all though. To be honest, she creeps me out a bit now.

First, she tried to kill me. Now, she stares at me constantly. Not even blinking. Seriously, I won't tell anyone, just leave me alone!

After paying her wager, Andy tells the other two to go ahead and get started on the paperwork while she, "Gets an early start as a mentor." She's pretty happy about it actually, which suprised me until I asked about it.

It makes sense now though. When half of a new god's internship with a mentor is usually spent correcting misconceptions and re-learning EVERYTHING they thought they knew, the mentor doesn't have nearly as much time to help them grow by delegating some of their own responsibilities. Basically, she's going to make sure I start off on the right foot now so she can get more work out of me later.

Such kindness and altruism is awe-inspiring...

Andraste, as the recipient, only had to fill out a single form while Technology and Michelle essentially had to fill out enough paperwork to replicate the United States Tax code a dozen times over. It's the result of several dieties and pantheons trying to export their problem souls to their unsuspecting fellows.

The Pantheon of Beauracracy's response to the resulting complaints was both predictable and dubiously effective. Now the gods only suffer through the paperwork to send off the most horrible souls or when exchanging very powerful or useful ones. There are fewer complaints about unauthorized exports though, so the Gods of Beauracracy are satisfied.

After filling out her form, Andraste teleported both of us to her "Citadel" inside her "demense" or personal god-space in the Astral plane. Unlike Technology's scrap heap, Magic's office actually looks like an office, and that of a mage.

Her desk is a massive oaken thing with neat stacks of paperwork next to ink-wells and quills with shining crystals and bits of carved stone scattered about. It's positioned such that when Andraste sits at her desk her back is to a massive arch of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a vast garden below. The massive room is circular and there are four other windows, each equidistant from each other with bookshelves filling the space between. The single door is inside the wall opposite her desk.

Like the windows, the room itself is massive. It's less a single room than a hollow conical tower with a diameter a little longer than a football field. The walls gently slope upwards, becoming steeper above the windows, and eventually meeting at a single point. A metal rod descends from that central spot and seems to have some sort of crystal at both it's base and tip. Both crystals seem to absorb the sunlight from outside and use it to light any areas the windows leave dim.

Aside from a clear walkway to the door and seating area near the desk, the entire space is filled with bookshelves and even requires multiple floors for access. The tower itself is divided into five floors forming two half rings to either side of the desk. The bookcases are desgined to double as supports for each floor. The floors are accessed by a switchback of stairs to either side of the walkway.

We arrive in the center of the room, in the circular seating area near the desk. As she walks to it, Magic waves a hand and a chair floats across the room before stopping next hers by the window. Along the way her appearance shifts. I watch, surprised, as her ghostly toga-clad form gains substance and changes.

She grows taller, softer, and ever so slightly curvier. Her washed-out brown curls darken, rich brown locks growing until they reach the small of her back. The wreath of olive branches becomes a blue ribbon she uses to tie her hair and her laced sandals morph into soft shoes. The white toga becomes a light silky dress beneath a slightly thicker blue one. She makes satisfied noises as she streatches before sitting down in her chair.

Even though I don't have a face that can give me away, the way she smirks after she looks at me tells me she knows I was gawking. I'm a little embarrased, but it's not every day you see a ghost transform into a beautiful woman. She starts her explanation after I join her in the other chair.

"I'll begin with the very basics, the three primary 'Planes' or 'Realms.'

The first is the Astral Plane, the realm of the Gods, Spirits, Demons, and other Divine or Semi-Divine beings. It's an infinate space of pure energy that we call mana, and each Divine is able to claim their own "Demense" within it. The only limit to the size of a Demense is the strength of the being that claims it, and once claimed it can be grown. There aren't any "borders" as such though some pantheons will link their sections together to create a larger space as a show of influence. An example of this is the various "Hells" that form "Inferno" and their counterparts the "Paradises" that form "Heaven."

You should be wary of entering another's Demense however, as the owner has absolute control over what happens within their realm. Gods don't have anything to fear for the most part due to the rules of hospitality, but Mortals such as yourself have no such protection. For example, if I wished to, I could tear you apart now and devour your memories, lifeforce, power, and everything else, right this moment and suffer no repercussions from other Gods. Do you understand?"

As she asks her question, I'm not sure what makes me more uncomfortable, the question itself or the fact that she's now giving me the same blank stare Michelle has been.

Holy SHIT. OK. She asked a question, now I need to answer. Holy Fuck is this a bad situation. I really, really don't think she'd have her brother go through all that paperwork just to eat me though, right? Ugh, self, SAY SOMETHING!

Before I have a chance to rethink it, I blurt out, "I'm sure I'd taste terrible though..."

Andraste laughs at my response but I can't relax until she restarts the lesson.

"Alright, moving on. The second Plane is "The Void." It consists of all the things that are not. Concepts, Ideas, creatures, anything and everything that doesn't or cannot exist is within the Void. It is emptiness, absence, and nonexistance. It is often considered the opposite of the Astral Plane, as all things may exist are born in the Demenses of the different Divines while all things within the Void cease to be. The Void can be a difficult concept to explain, but the easiest way to begin is to understand that the less likely a thing is to be, the farther inside the Void it will go. By the same concept, the more likely a thing is to be, the farther outside the Void it will go.

I also need to mention the Abyss, which is the portion of the Void closest to the third plane, Creation. The Abyss is home to creatures we call Eldrich Abominations. They are essentially a type of God and craft their own demenses within the Abyss. The Eldrich Abominations are godlike creatures that represent concepts that no true God or Mortal Soul can understand. We suspect that they may be Gods from previous realities that no longer exist or creatures from universes have fallen into the Void.

The third realm is "Creation" which is fairly self explanitory. It lies between the Void and Astral Planes and contains the raw "potential" to exist. The most ancient gods, who many suspect were the first of our kind, are known as "The Creator Gods" or "The Elemental Gods" were born in this Plane and created the first universe and living things, which birthed the first Mortal Souls in the form of sentient creatures. Though less powerful, the mortals were capable of not only using mana, but learning to understand it. Surpised by this, the Elemental Gods tried to duplicate mortal souls and created "Spirits." While also able to learn and manipulate mana, spirits were unable to take form directly.

There is a key difference between Creation and the other planes however, time. The concept of time within Creation is fixed and linear, not so for the Astral Plane or the Void. As time passed, the mortals and spirits began to worship their creators, allowing the Gods to grow and become more powerful. Though they would age and die, there would always be more souls born and those that died were reborn anew. But all things eventually come to an end, and the universe itself died, the physical realm vanishing, destroying those first souls and spirits.

The first gods were shocked and saddened as there had never been true death until that moment. They created a new universe, hoping the original souls and spirits would return. When they did not, the gods created yet another universe, and so on, continuing even now. One thing changed however, as the older universes died the souls and spirits within would migrate to a younger one rather than be cast into the Void or Astral and destroyed.

Do you have any questions?"

Her question catches me a little offguard as I'm still wrapping my head around the concept of 'Void.' The rest is fairly straightforward. I do have one concern though and respond, "It's a lot to take in in one sitting, especially with how different it is from what I was taught in my mortal life, but I think I understand so far. Would you mind if we changed things up a little? I do better with a conversational tone rather than pure lecture...no offence."

She shrugs, smiling with her response, "Everyone learns differently, I was told you had the skills [Comprehension] and [Visualisation] so I was planning to throw all of the information at you at once to see what sticks but... We have plenty of time so ask what you will and I'll fill in any subjects you miss."

Huh...I don't know how I feel about that...but whatever. I should probably ask about the whole Ascention thing, if it's going to turn me into a god eventually then I need to know what it's all about. I might not even want to be a diety depending on whats required...the asshole they mentioned before ate one of those Eldrich Abominations to do it and that's just wrong in so...so many ways.

"Ok, how about Ascention? How am I "half Ascendant" and what exactly does that mean for me? I don't need to eat a cosmic slime mold like the asshat you're at war with right?"

I barely finish my question before she starts howling with laughter. She even snorts a few times. It takes her a moment before she can speak.

"No, that's a shortcut some idiots take every few millenia. It might get you to technical godhood, but it severely handicaps your growth. There's three parts to Ascending to Godhood. The first is raw power, you need to be strong enough to handle the raw energy present in the Astral plane without being destroyed. The second is a true understanding of the power you wield and the energies within the Astral Plane. The last and most difficult part is your "Concept," every God has something they draw power from, similar to a magical affinity. We call you "half Ascendant" because you've begun to understand yourself enough to touch upon a Concept, as shown by the structure of your soul."

The structure of my soul? I just did that because it felt right and I was terrified of getting eaten by the thing inside me. Don't tell me the black hungry thing is my Concept. I refuse to be a god of soul-devouring darkness, thank you kindly.

"Uh, I'm still fuzzy on what exactly a Concept is. Is it possible for someone to have a Concept that they hate? For example, you're 'Magic' right? Could a God that hates magic end up with the same concept?"

I get a little worried because she frowns for a moment before responding, "It's considered rude to ask a god about their concept by-the-by, but as my Champion you should know my concept is best explained as the Understanding of Magic, but even that isn't a true description.

I embody the hunger, drive, and inspiration that pushes mages forward, ever onward, ever seeking new knowledge about magic and the energies that fuel it. The effort of will required to endure failure after failure and spend lifetimes contemplating and meditating on the deepest truthes of the universe. The raw belief that anything is possible with the right spells and rituals. I am the sheer stubborness of a little girl who wanted nothing more than to show the world that even an orphaned beggar without the slightest scrap of inborn power can rise beyond all others. THAT is my Concept as a God."

Woa...Yea, no wonder it's rude...

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how deeply personal it was...though now that you've told me, I suppose it would have to be... Basically a concept has less to do with what you want and is more a result of who you ARE. Right?"

"Correct, and as I said you're going to be my Champion and pupil. You'll make it up to me later by doing a good job right?" She smirks a little, letting me know she's only half kidding, "As you said, its who you ARE that determines the Concept and only true monsters will have morally objectionable ones. Truthfully, once you gain your Concept the power and understanding will follow very quickly.

On another note, you asked about the Sundering earlier as well correct? Do you want to discuss it now as well? Ascention and the Sundering seemed to be the topics you were most intersted in."

Only true monsters...at the core of my soul I've got the howling dark trying to devour me and everything else, what's that other than 'morally objectionable' ...Fuck. Wait, what did she say?

"Oh, sure, the Sundering...what the hell is it? It's somehow "eating" mana right?"

A grimace twists Andy's face as she answers, "Not quite. The Sundering is what happens when you force mana to destroy itself, burning away to nothing. It's often used as a weapon in warfare where one side has fewer or weaker mages and needs to level the field. Usually, it only affects small areas but what happened in your home universe was different...They used a Wellspring and rather than burn inself out, the Sundering consumed all unbound mana in that universe, leaving nothing but the mana inside the souls of mortals untouched. Most of the civilzations in your universe ended that day, as every creature and construct dependant on magic died..." She pauses for a second, eyes distant, before shrugging, "It was an apocolypse."

And she's the goddess of Magic...that must have been horrible...how can she talk about it with little more than a grimace? I'd burst into tears just thinking about it...damn. I need to change the subject...

"So...what about Pantheons? Are you part of all of them or...?"

"No, definitely not," her answer is accompanied by a dismissive snort, "There's no telling how many gods of magic there are, and there's no limit to the number of pantheons a god can join. Though some are rivals..."

"Next...hurry it up, I don't have all day."

Right, hold your tenticals you disgusting squid thing. I'm coming. It's not my fault the guy in front of me smelled like fermented rodents and moldy socks. Also, you DO have 'all day' its not like you're going anywhere...

It takes a few minutes for me to get to the guy at the counter next to the bigass arch that'll take me to my destination. I just need him to check his system interface for the documents Technology uploaded and push a button...

Oh fuck me...of course he's going to check each and every goddamn page now. GODSDAMN page, Godsdamn it.

He finally presses the damn button to let me through around the same time I vow to every god and pantheon magic told me about to make my first meal in my new universe a large helping of calamari.

Andraste arranged the situation so that I'll come out inside her study. It seems like a lot of effort to get to the same place, but this time there'll be ambient mana and we'll be able to see what my actual status is. This is because she reconnected her Demense to the different universes containing her followers. Including the world I'll be sent to, Aelbid.

As part of my lessons, she explained that dieties can both connect and disconnect their Demenses to the different universes where they maintain followers. By doing so, they can maintain a connection to the timeline of each universe. This connection not only allows their followers to travel between worlds in the same universe, but increases the ammount of mana the god recieves from prayers, rituals, and their Concept.

They can also disconnect from the universe entirely and reconnect to the exact same moment they disconnected in the timeline. Even if the god personally waits ten thousand years before reconnecting, as far as the universe in question is concerned, it's like they never left. In theory. In truth, gods rarely sever these connections except during emergencies, as the longer they are disconnected, the more difficult it is to reconnect at the proper point in time. This is because they have to rely on their own memories to reconnect at the right moment, and even gods get a little fuzzy on details after a few thousand years.

Pantheons often have entire strategies based around forcing opponents to disconnect themselves long enough to lose track of which day, month, or year they left off. It's effective even though they can use the system interface to make note of the exact date they disconnect. Most gods need a personal reference point of some kind, usually emotional, to make the recconnection accurate beyond a few years. This is one of the reasons Champions and Avatars can change the fate of entire worlds, as they often help anchor a god's memories and emotions to the timeline.

The archway flashes for a moment and from the perspective of everyone at the terminal, I simply vanish.

I feel something odd happen inside me as I appear within Andraste's library. As I look inward I can see the swirling dark at my core collapsing into a single, smaller point. My goop, my mana, is still being pulled towards the darkness but with greater force. Causing it to flow faster and more powerfully, as if it's trying to tear me apart.

Andy, Technology, and Michelle are next to the desk, just a couple feet away, waiting for me. I try to tell them somethings wrong, but I can't spare the focus while I'm trying to hold myself together. I think Andy can tell something's wrong because she's not smiling anymore. Maybe it's because I'm just sitting on the floor instead of floating over. She opens her mouth to say something as the structure of my soul starts to flex, painfully.

The agony and pressure increases and I scream.

The crystallized mana of my surface shatters and the jagged edges cut their way to my core, scattering my memory constellations, and vanishing inside the hungry dark.

Power from all around floods into me, raw mana burning through me to feed the terrible hungry thing.

Something else touches me, something physical...it's Andy, she's examining me, wide-eyed, and talking to the others who look shocked. Michelle's starting to cry and Technology's cussing while doing something with his interface.

It's all my fault. I should have told them my concept was evil. This thing in my core, it's nothing but cold empty hunger and pain. I shouldn't have promised to help them, now my Concept is going to eat me and everything else.

Magic's started doing something, I think she's trying to stop or slow down the mana pouring into me. Trying to save it from me. I don't know how much of her power I've eaten already and she's still got a war to fight. I start apologizing to her, but she just looks at me, horrified, so I stop.

I don't know how long this continues, but eventually I lose conciousness.

My brother's most recent incarnation is quite handsome. I'm happy for him, he hasn't been getting very many of those lately. Though I could do without seeing his Intern make moon-eyes at him every time he speaks. Gods just tell him how you feel! He's a dunce, it's not like he'll figure it out on his own!

I'd tell him if not for how badly things turned out the last time I interfered with his love life. How was I supposed to know that particular god of Balance was a hermaphrodite?

And of course, I'm the one who catches hell from their whole pantheon because I didn't warn them my brother was "prejudiced." I'm sorry, but not every god has flexible tastes, it's not "prejudice" to be uninterested, it's preference. Though I can agree he should have been much more polite...

My new disciple should be here soon. He's a delightful little idiot, though he won't stay an idiot for long if he keeps asking questions. Needs to focus a little more however, as he tends to ramble a bit when he actually speaks more than a sentance or two.

He has the potential to become quite useful just from the abilities we know of. [Reclaimer] alone can be potent enough to shift this war in our favor if used correctly. I can't wait to pry as many talents as I can out of his memories. After all, what he learns he might be able to teach...

Ugh, there she goes again with the moon-eyes. He's not even talking about romance, just babbling about my disciple's AI. If you're that bad off just take care of it yourself! Nature Gods!

Hmm...regarding my disciple, I still need to find out why Michelle's so nervous around him. She won't even participate in a conversation about him and tries quite hard to avoid the topic. I don't know what happened when she found him after he went missing, but it certainly had a profound effect.

Ah! There's the little fellow now...why is he drifting to the floor? He can't be drunk, surely. Even spirit wine can't affect a soul without a body.

Wait, there's something odd going on with his core...and his mana is fluxuating dangerously and pulling towards his center like...

Oh no...I need to get to him and correct this NOW.

He's started screaming, he can't have much longer if I don't do something...

SHIT! His own mana just cut right through him and he's stopped screaming. He better not be dead, because if he is I'm going to kill him!

I'm such an IDIOT, why didn't I examine him more closely when I had the time? Why did I just assume it was a Gravity Affinity? This...

It shouldn't be possible but...DAMN IT! Why is he apologizing? This isn't your fault and you're not a monster, you goofy little fool, so shut up and let me focus! You shouldn't even be concious!

Alright, now...First I need to slow down the mana flow even further to keep it from causing more damage...

Next is stabilizing what's left of his structure...gods he's in pieces...NO, he'll be fine. Nothing to worry about, I just need to patch him together enough that the next part doesn't kill him outright...he'll be fine.

Now, to fix the cause of this mess. I need to sever the connection to the source of the problem without killing him... Hopefully that'll be enough and I won't have to try and remove the whole thing...

I can't just use raw power here, it'll just suck the mana up and keep burning away. I need something else...

"Technology stop screaming at your interface and FOCUS! Did you ever work out that device allowing mages to use psionics? Great! Go get it for me now. Michelle, you're a God of Nature right? I need you to help me keep him alive until my brother gets back."

Mother's Breath! No living thing should scream like that, let alone a pure soul!

This absolutely cannot be happening...it just...can't. How can a creature's own mana cut through it like that?

I can't believe how quickly Lady Magic reacted, even my mentor was caught off guard. He's trying to make the bas...no he's not a bastard, I'm not calling him that anymore! Not now! The soul's AI won't tell us what's happening and Technology's trying to force it.

Lady Magic just sent her brother to fetch one of his projects and needs me to help. I can do this. Stop crying, crying never helps. Just...go and help.

By All That Lives, I can't believe how much damage he's taken in such a short time...no, no more crying, fuck the bloody crying. Just focus, hold him inside your mana...

How the bloody hells is the damned Sundering INSIDE him!? A soul is nothing more than crystallized memory inside a body of liquid mana, exposing a soul to the Sundering so completely...it would destroy them almost instantly unless...

The ambient mana. There's no ambient mana in my universe so the effects on him would be survivable, but...it would be sheer torture. He'd be torn apart over a thousand years rather than moments...the spell slowly devouring him from the inside...

Bloody hell I dont' think I'll ever stop sniveling. This whole thing is just too much, even Lady Magic's having to wipe her eyes a little.

I'm feeding his own mana back to him, what he gave me before... It shouldn't matter, mana is mana, but I can't help but think it'll help. I have to focus. I need to make sure his memories stay inside the liquid mana or they will disperse, lost to the void.

They're so beautiful, each one a different color and arranged just-so in their own constellations... How did he learn to arrange them like this? I've never seen anything like it inside anyone else... I swear he still looks just like a Crystal Galaxy.

My mentor is back. He's holding a small crystal but he looks so frantic. I think he's worried about backlash of some kind...Lady Magic doesn't even listen, she just snatches the trinket from him...

She's using psionics! How is...the Sundering just bloody dissappeared! Mother's Tits, he has mana just pouring out from him now! Lady Magic looks exhausted, but she's smiling brighter than I thought she could.

The little soul's regaining some of his shape, though the memories aren't reconnecting themselves, he's not dissolving into a puddle anymore. Thank the gods, he's going to survive.

I'm crying again but I don't care anymore, I'll just blubber as much as I need to, even if my nose is runny.