Their mother laughed. “It’s a law in this universe that all medicine must taste nasty. The worse it tastes, the better it is for you. The better it tastes, the worse its effects. Haven’t you ever wondered why all the medicine that supposedly tastes good on Earth is less effective than the ones that taste bad? That law is why. It was written in when the universe was first created.”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t create the universe?” Charles asked while wiping off the residue from his tongue.

“Nope, this is a sort of starter universe for us. The one where we have our training wheels on, while we’re here we can create worlds, and life, travel between the dimensions. However, there are certain things that we cannot do until we leave to create our own universe. Even we have rules that we need to obey. That said, the universe was already here when the first High God was born. We have no idea how it came to be, and no, it wasn’t that big-bang stuff your world seems so fond of.” Conor snorted in derision. “All we can think, is that there is something above even us somewhere.”

“What now?” Charles slurred, feeling everything begin to turn sideways as the very center of his being relaxed. It wasn’t simply his mind that suddenly felt calmer, but also something more. It was as though some invisible pressure from his core that he hadn’t even realized was there before was suddenly gone.

“Oh,” Charlotte was studying her empty mug as the effects took hold of her as well. “That’s strange. I never knew how much pressure my core was putting on me until now.”

“Hmm, and my mind,” Charles muttered with a glazed look in his eyes. “Keeping up all those partitions to meditate on each element all the time. Breaking your mind into pieces is hard… I’m not sure I’ll do it again. Not for as many, at least.”

“Which do you want to work with?” Conor asked his wife.

“Give me Charles. I can tell that he has managed to awaken more of himself than Charlotte. She’ll need the extra oomph you’ll be able to better provide her with.”

He nodded. “Alright, let’s go with that, then. Cassy, Steve, make sure you have everything you came with or want to take with you for when we are done. It sounds like we are on a deadline.”

“We’ll be ready, and thanks for doing this.” Steve took hold of his wife’s hand and quickly pulled her from the room.

Clara pulled Charles to the side and held his hand in her own. “I see you have a meditation rune, and from what you were saying earlier, you’ve used it a fair bit. Well, what we are going to do is somewhat similar.”

In fact, it turned out to be a somewhat similar process to what they had done for Zack and Zara. Clara first surrounded his core statue with her divinity and began compressing everything he had inside. The cloudy mixture condensed and formed into a liquid that filled up the bottom half of the statue. It stopped a little above his navel.

If he had to guess, that meant he had managed to awaken himself to around fifty or sixty percent.

Next came the part that was similar to what he had done to Zara. His grandmother injected her divinity directly into the core, filling it up until it shone brightly. Then she slowly mixed her divinity together with his until they were one and the same. Her divinity would regenerate back naturally in time, but this was still a precious gift rarely given.

Since High Gods were effectively immortal, few were willing to rush things like this. It was usually only done to those who had offended someone they shouldn’t and would need their full power when designing an avatar. It was useless, as they always lost in the end anyway.

Awakening someone’s power this way kept it from truly being theirs, at least for a while. It was too abrupt and unearned. Until they practiced and learned how to control it all, it wasn’t truly theirs. However, none of that was a concern for Charles and Charlotte.

For a brief moment, Charles worried about what he might have done to Zara, before remembering that she was different from him. She wasn’t a High God, and her body wasn’t adapted to produce pure divinity like his was. Even with the small amount he had given her, he wasn’t sure that even qualified her as a weak demi-god. Certainly nothing more.

Satisfied that he and his sister hadn’t screwed up with the siblings, he pushed the matter from his mind.

The session lasted from the beginning to end just over twenty minutes.

It took a few more minutes for Conor to finish with Charlotte. Then they were ready to place the restriction seals on them. During their entire stay in the dimension of the High Gods, they had never left the room where they had first entered.

“I think this entire dimension consists of this one dining room,” Charles joked with Charlotte, as he flexed his hand. His perception of his body had changed, but everything else felt remarkably normal.

“There’s a reason we all tend to stay in this dimension the most.” Their grandmother remarked, seeing him stare at his hand. “Living under seals all the time can be annoying for most. But they are nothing compared to what comes with being in a place you don’t naturally belong. Our senses in the lower dimensions expand. It can be a hard adjustment, even for us.”

“But that is our natural dimension. It’s where we were born.” Charlotte protested.

“Indeed, it’s going to be interesting to see how the two of you respond to everything. In a lot of ways, you are the first of your kind. Everything about you is new and exciting, you’re pioneers in a very real way.”

Charlotte suddenly understood how others felt when she looked at them as a test subject for a science experiment than a person. It was uncomfortable, and a little sad in that the people doing it were her own grandparents. She could only hope that wasn’t the main reason they had decided to come along with them.

The door to the dining room opened revealing a long hallway beyond. Steve and Cassy came bustling inside, with small packs in their arms.

“We may not have been here long, but I do admit the High Gods have access to some nice things,” Cassy said with a happy sigh. “I had almost forgotten about some of it. I even got some toys, err, I mean presents, for the two of you to play with.”

Steve rolled his eyes, used to his wife’s antics. “Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about Scott or Kira, and the girls, though they were harder to get something for since we haven’t met them.”

“When did you have time to get all this together?” Charlotte asked in wonder.

Their mother smiled. “Just now, instant delivery, and paid for by your grandparents.”

“Can’t you just?” Charles waved his hand in the air.

“What, just create it from thin air? I can’t right now. I told you my powers are sealed at the moment. Besides, just creating everything you want is a great way to make an economy fail. We have an unwritten rule that any major, superior product designed by one of the worlds managed by a High God needs to be bought. Money doesn’t mean anything here since that can be created, but it’s still an attempt to keep things moving.”

Charles blinked in dumbfounded amazement. They refused to just create it themselves and instead decided to buy things with the money they created instead. That was just silly.

“What do you even use as money? Suns, planets?” Charlotte snarked, though also a little serious.

“Oh, there’s an idea, dear. We should bring that up in the next meeting. Can you imagine buying things with a planet or two as the currency? That would be so interesting. Everything would need to be taken into account. From the number of people on the planet, what they have produced, the World Spirit or the possibility of there being one.” Clara was hopping in place with excitement. “Can you imagine it?”

Conor was only slightly more restrained as a wide smile spread across his face. “I can indeed, and it sounds amazing. Such a delightful idea, Charlotte!”

Cassy came up behind her children. “You need to be careful what you say around High Gods. Never forget, they are just like the gods you knew of on Earth, just infinitely more powerful. They are always bored and looking for entertainment in any way they can find it. Doing an insane amount of math just to buy a bauble might sound like a chore to most people. But to them, it’s an easy way to spend a millennium or two.”

“How did you escape it?” Charles asked in a whisper.

“Easily really. I was still fairly young when I left, and the places I visited kept me entertained plenty. You have to understand just how old people like my parents are. Besides, I’ve found that living like a mortal with my powers sealed is a much more fulfilling life than living forever. What’s the point of living that long if there is no one at your side?” She held Steve’s hand tight as she answered. “I never found anyone among the other High Gods that I clicked with, and trust me, when you are looking at forever, it pays to be picky.”

Charlotte bit her lower lip, suddenly worried. “Are we going to be immortal as well, mom? What about Scott, or Kira, and any kids we have?”

“I don’t have all the answers for you, but yes, you are immortal. You won’t die from old age. You can still be killed, but you won’t age. Think of a certain Scottish highland fellow with a sword. As for Scott and Kira, well, they’re in the same boat as your father. They are not fully human anymore, either. They’re something more, better, longer lived at the very least.

“However, we do have the ability to keep them young or to retrieve their souls if they die. The same will apply to your kids. They will be something different, the same as the two of you. I don’t know what will happen. All we can do is live our lives and wait for whatever comes.”

Conor approached with Clara, their hands glowing. “Are the two of you ready? We’re going to place the seals now. It will be like you are completely normal again, with no more access to your divinity while in the lower dimensions. Those powers will be gone for the time being. However, it will still have certain effects on your body simply because it is part of who you are. There is no escaping that, not anymore.”

Charles breathed in deep and shared a look with his sister before nodding. “We’re ready. Let’s do this.”