Mash waited with Arthur, handing him his own shirt. Luna had called Lisa over for something, which left Mash alone with his brother. Unlike Luna’s constant need for engagement, Arthur didn’t mind a bit of silence. Arthur liked being able to think things through, and Mash knew that too. So, he didn’t really try to force his brother into a conversation and just stayed silent. They stood there like that, comfortable with each other’s presence without needing to say anything.

After another minute or two, Luna and Lisa came back. Luna’s clothes basically resembled what she had before, though there were some odd holes in the front and back that revealed some of the flowers of her new mark. The shirt wasn’t exactly revealing, but it was improper, and somehow worse than just revealing. A choking noise from beside Mash told him that Arthur was probably just as surprised. His voice was loud as he spoke.

“What is that? You can’t seriously expect to wear that around!”

Mash had never heard Arthur sound so disturbed, although Mash agreed. He knew better than to try and stop Luna directly though. His brother’s incredulity would all but cement the new style within her mind. Mash went with a more discrete method.

[Priscilla, just make sure nobody weird approaches her. Focus on other guys.]

He sent along his intentions so that Priscilla would understand. However, Priscilla was quick to tell him that she would protect Luna. The hydra had grown very attached to his sister, and he had the impression that she had already done some of what he was going to suggest. Priscilla’s bodies had some of his abilities albeit in a limited way. Even before bonding with him, she had some kind of domain, and that only improved. Hers was more like a bestial presence than a strict range like Mash’s, but it would definitely be enough to scare people away.

Luna told her brother off, before turning to Mash. She smiled at him before speaking.

“Now, let's go to your world, or are you going to complain about my outfit too?”

Mash shook his head quickly.

“No, let's go, there’s a lot of people you can meet.”

“Like my nephew?”

Luna said the words with a smug smile. Mash shut his eyes at the words, turning his attention inward.

[Why would you tell her about that?]

His message to Priscilla was filled with irritation. Priscilla’s mental shrug only annoyed him more, and her words just felt cruel.

[Your sister specifically asked me to inform her of any children you have, and any relationships you get into.]

The fact that Luna trusted the hivemind about his relationships more than his own mouth, was disturbingly fair. He definitely was not going to tell her about Damah. Arthur, who was still struggling with Luna’s new shirt, turned on Mash with a look of genuine surprise. Mash choked out his words before Arthur said anything.

“Please, don’t say that. His name is Damah, and I’m not his dad.”

Luna grinned.

“You say that, but you knew who I was talking about.”

Mash rolled his eyes and exaggerated the gesture so that she could see it. Then he did it again.

“Just go.”

He raised his hand and pointed to his left where his portal formed. Strands of wood rose from the ground, weaving together into an archway. When it finished, the forest that had been behind it seemed to vanish, and it was clear that the portal led to an entirely different place. Luna smiled and strolled through. Which caused Arthur to rush to follow her as if he expected there to be something dangerous on the other side.

Lisa approached Mash rather than the portal. She touched Mash on the shoulder, a wide smile on her face. Her voice was soft as she spoke longingly.

“You have a good family.”

Mash grinned.

“Yup.

Then he stepped through the portal with Lisa. He looked at his siblings while the portal closed behind him.

Luna gazed around pointing at things and showing them Arthur. His brother seemed fascinated too, though his gaze moved between the people. Everyone wasn’t here yet. Luke, Red, and Jill were still moving people through the portal. That still left plenty of people here though, including the copper dragon, who lounged around the clearing. By clearing, it was really just a section of the forest where they had removed most of the trees. Fate waved at his siblings as their gaze moved toward her.

Luna shouted something, and Mash turned to see Damah hovering just in front of her face. She pulled the tree spirit into a hug, calling him cute and precious. Mash could feel how much the little man hated the compliments and decided to entrust Damah to Luna for now.

He turned his attention to something he could just barely feel at the edge of his domain. A large group of people was gathering in the grassland to the east. Thousands of people congregated in front of Luke as he talked to them. Told them about the world and introduced them to some of the others. Mash considered that and realized that this would probably have to happen with every subsequent group he picked up. His brother had just handed him a list of people that he was supposed to scoop up.

Mash wanted to do it right away, but he decided that it was something he could do later. Rather than worry about the many things he probably should worry about, he took his siblings on a tour of his world. He left most of his friends to handle the move. Only Lisa accompanied him as he showed his siblings the world.

It quickly became apparent that he knew nothing about his own world, which left Priscilla to actually guide them. She had been scouring the world since he first came here and knew of many of the interesting places. The changes that happened to him affected far more than just the tree.

Mash carried his siblings through the air. At this point, he didn’t even need to grow wings or do anything special to lift them. He had enough control of his magic within his domain, that he could simply manipulate the air around them. It was definitely slower than if he transformed, but it gave them the opportunity to talk and catch up.

He told them about what happened on the island, and everything he was up to. He even revealed his more secretive plans, the ones he hadn’t fully told the others yet. More than that though, he told them about his concerns. About the fact that he wouldn’t die, ever. The very real possibility that he would lose his mind and become some kind of planet-destroying monster. He felt like he was already teetering on that line already. Mash sent a look toward Lisa, who smiled and made a motion of zipping her mouth shut. Despite not knowing her for that long, Mash trusted her.

A lot had happened in his sibling’s life, and Luna was happy to explain things that Arthur wouldn’t. Arthur was now officially engaged to Princess Amara and was apparently one of the more popular candidates to become the next king. Knowing what Mash did now about classes, he wondered how inheriting such a position worked. Could a king just pass on his throne? Or did the next king have to get one of his own? Other than that, Arthur had his hands full with wars, revolts, and riots. The topics got serious quickly, so they changed the subject to Luna.

Mash was happy to hear her talk about her life. Compared to his and Arthur’s it was as uneventful as could be. She spent the majority of her time healing people. Luna had become closer to her goddess, but their relationship was less like that of a follower and more like a friend. More than that, she spoke of learning how to cook, and the many disasters that she had tasted in the process. He was glad to hear that the most annoying thing about her life was work.

After a few hours, they had explored a decent chunk of the world. It was a fraction of the entire place, but they had gotten to see a lot of the different environments. His world was covered in a wide variety of magical locations. Forests where the trees leaked enough water to turn the ground around it into mud. A formation of mountains shaped oddly enough to resemble human teeth turned upside down. Grasslands shimmered like a rainbow under the light of the sun. And there was so much more to explore too. His world was way bigger than he had expected, probably even bigger than his home.

Before Mash thought of returning to the others, Priscilla drew his attention to something.

[There is something you need to see, something odd.]

Mash could feel her hesitation as she sent him the message. It was maybe the first time he had ever felt like she was truly trying to hide something from him. He could find out forcefully, and dive into her thoughts and memories as she did, but he didn’t think it was necessary. Priscilla had long since become one of those people that he truly trusted.

He abruptly changed the direction of their flight, turning toward whatever, it was that Priscilla had found. She led him to a desert, one where the sand was bright red almost like tiny gemstones.

“Wow, that is weird.”

Luna commented from the side, as she stared at the red sand beneath them. She was talking to Lisa, but Mash could hear the words easily. His world didn’t seem to be as resigned to normal colors as she had expected.

At first, he didn’t notice anything but the red sand either, though as he got lower to the ground, he became aware of something else entirely. Beneath the surface of the desert, he could see hundreds of different creatures. They were within what looked like buildings, though ones constructed of stone. He watched as what looked like a standing insect pushed a stone slab in the same way one might open a door.

[What is that?]

Upon seeing the creature, and the many others like it beneath the surface, he decided he had to get more details before heading in there directly. Mash didn’t think he was at any risk, but Luna was still fairly weak.

[Intelligent monsters. The insectoid beings here are only one of the species that I have discovered.]

It seemed like his world’s equivalent of people were monsters. He couldn’t help but feel like that fit considering what he was. However, the existence of these creatures or these people, now that he was thinking about it, wasn’t enough to justify Priscilla’s hesitation. Before he could press her for more information, he noticed something about the creatures. They had a presence about them that felt very disturbingly familiar.

[They can level. From what I have gathered, all creatures in this world get access to a variant form of your classes.]

Mash grimaced, his thoughts quickly jumping to the future. A time when each race in this world fought with levels and classes. His world was headed down a path he knew all too well. He hadn’t wanted to do anything but enjoy his time with his family but there was another problem he would need to think about. He didn’t want to enforce a fragile piece even if he could. How would he prevent the world from becoming a place as violent as his home?

He had an idea, one that he had been hesitant to explore for a while now. It was time for him to change the world intentionally, and that would mean using his aspect while in the world.