Erick stepped out of Benevolence, into a hole in the ground, and then he stepped through a few more intervening spaces, before he finally stepped down onto the serpentine roots of Yggdrasil, deep in the Underworld of Veird. He was now about 1,500 kilometers below the southern pole of the planet. This was a private location known only to a few, because even inside Benevolence Yggdrasil didn’t have that much privacy. Other people were always looking at the Benevolent Sky. This place, however large of a cavern it was with water inlets and light everywhere, was near-absolute in its secrecy, because Yggdrasil was able to keep it that way, and so he did.
“What’s wrong, Yggdrasil?” Erick asked, as he sat down on Yggdrasil’s white roots, looking up at his largest son.
A chill wind blew, as was normal in this area. There was no [Scry] eye in front of Erick just yet; just the light of Yggdrasil, and the coolness of the air.
Erick waited.
Yggdrasil’s eye appeared. “… I might have messed up, asking to be released from your soul.”
“You didn’t mess up at all.” Erick said, “Everyone wants what they want out of life, and you want to be your own person. It’s a perfectly reasonable request. When I made my own 100 year request for a divine seal on you, before you were born, that was a reasonable request, too, because none of us had any idea what Melemizargo would be like in the following years. If his sanity would hold. I think it is holding, but I also think he’s up to some shit.
“And I know we can’t hold him back forever.
“He’s cramped in this world, just like you’re cramped inside of me, and you want to be let out. It’s all perfectly reasonable to want your own freedom, Yggdrasil. Please do not think that you are doing anything wrong.” Erick said, “I knew this request of yours was coming for a very long time, and I think Melemizargo is just taking advantage of this, like gods do sometimes. They probably all knew this was coming eventually. And that’s because of course you want to be free.”
Yggdrasil listened, staring intently, his eye seeming to shine as Erick tried, and seemed to succeed, at validating him.
Erick continued, “And Melemizargo wishes to be free, too. Perhaps part of that freedom is the freedom in knowing what had killed the previous Cosmology, so that he can prevent that from ever happening again. That’s a perfectly reasonable stance to take, too.
“And I suppose that there’s never going to be an ‘actually good time’ to venture into that horror zone. So now, with all the stability we have and with Kiri being my backup— And Ezekiel, too… I suppose this is good enough for them to risk opening new worlds. And of course, you’ve proven yourself as a capable person, working that fish farm by Treehome, and helping people whenever they come to you.” Erick said, “So the only real question is: Do you feel comfortable being your own person, Yggdrasil? Do you feel comfortable, knowing that Melemizargo and others will be using you to open new worlds, if they can?”
“… I know I can stand strong against the storm... But I know that a storm is coming, father, and...” Yggdrasil said, “And I don’t actually feel secure in anything, father. When you were gone, I now recognized that time as a time of frozen winter. Nothing really happened.
“But now that you’re ‘back’, I feel like the ground shifted, and land feels good to grow in again. I want to poke my roots deep and grow taller. But I’m not sure where to grow, or how to grow.
“Maybe I want to be ‘independent’? That might be the word. Years ago you told me that you didn’t want me overseeing any work with House Benevolence, because you didn’t want to force that obligation on me. But I want an obligation, father. I want to be more than I am.” Softer, “People are telling me that they don’t trust me to be myself, and I want to prove that I am capable of being my own person.”
Erick wasn’t quite sure where to begin with all of that, but he found a place soon enough. “If you want to tell me who is talking bad about you, and if it’s a problem I can fix, I will fix it. But people talk bad about me all the time. I try to ignore it. Have you talked to anyone else about this?”
Yggdrasil strained as he said, “Gnowmi tells me to ignore them, too. But it’s hard.”
“I understand that. It is very hard to ignore the haters, especially when they start speaking falsehoods, and accusing you of preparing to do the worst to all of them.”
“Yes!” Yggdrasil said, “They think I want to kill them in their sleep! I have no idea how it started, but…” Yggdrasil turned away, then he turned back. “It’s tough.”
Erick nodded. “It is tough.” He asked, “Have you thought about how you want to prove that you’re capable of being your own person?”
“I’m not sure how. I like the fishery, but that’s not much proof at all.”
Erick understood.
Yggdrasil wanted to be his own person, but he also wanted people to like him. He probably had the Arbors at Treehome telling him how he should not try to please everyone, and Erick had said those exact words, too, but Yggdrasil was still young, and so he was still worried about things like that. His worries were valid, though, because if people didn’t like him, they would try to kill him, as they had already tried before.
Perhaps he needed more political experience?
Erick offered, “How about the political track at Candlepoint University? You could take courses there. But you’ve been watching me for over ten years, so that’s probably just as good of a political education as otherwise.” As Erick spoke his first suggestion, Yggdrasil went through a few unsure emotions, so Erick continued, “And yet, actually getting certified in political theory might help. You could try to test out of certification programs here and there. See how it goes. See what critical thinking theories you might be missing, that you can learn.
“You could also hold office hours, like I do. I can set up an office for you in House Benevolence that you can work through. Get you some assistants for guidance and otherwise.
“You could even try something as simple as making a life for yourself in some location, using only the money and magic you make in that life to get by. It will teach you a lot about how normal people live, and that’s an important skill to have, so that you don’t lose touch with the people you protect—”
“That one,” Yggdrasil said. “I’ll do that one.”
Erick nodded. “Okay. I’ll help you set that up—”
“I want to set it up myself.”
Erick smiled a little, saying, “That’s fine, too, but that’s not a public thing, and only when you’re in the public eye can you influence public opinion. If you want people to stop talking bad about you, or to at least get to know you so they won’t just listen to the uninformed opinions of others, then you gotta have a public presence. You gotta put yourself out there for interactions, Yggdrasil. I suggest you consider the public offices in House Benevolence.”
“… Okay. I will do that. I’ll get an office.” Yggdrasil stated, “By myself.”
Erick smiled softly, and said, “Okay. Then talk to Zolan and Kiri, and do not take on too much work. I trust you, Yggdrasil.”
“… I wish you would trust me less.”
A sledgehammer to the face would have been less upsetting.
Yggdrasil saw Erick’s reaction, his wide eyes and stilled breath, and spoke louder, “I don’t know what I’m doing, father! I’m just growing big, and that’s all! I’m barely able to talk to people. I’m not sure if some people are taking advantage of me or not! I don’t know what I am doing anywhere at all!”
Yggdrasil cut himself off there, unsure how to continue at all.
Erick softly, seriously, said, “No one knows what they’re doing, Yggdrasil. Everyone is just basing their actions on their own imagined view of the world. For there is no real Truth above Truth. Every social interaction is every imagined reality that people keep in their heads interacting with other peoples’ imagined realities. We’re all just learning how to navigate each other’s figments as best we can… And I’m not sure how to help more than I already am.” Erick felt it was finally time for the father-offspring talk. He had given this one to Jane a while ago, when she was 17. She probably only grasped the surface words back then. The specifics between that interaction and this one were wildly different, but Yggdrasil was in that same boat right now. Erick said, “I’m just a person, same as you. Same as Jane, same as Ophiel. For all my power and ability to see the future, and ability to change the future, I’m only as strong as I am in any given situation. I have no ultimate power to make other peoples’ choices for them. Sure, I have a [Blessing of Empathy], and [Reincarnation], and you have those too, but I know when to use them and when not to. Mostly, I don’t use power against others, because I wouldn’t want power used against me.
“And I make mistakes, but then I try to fix them later.
“You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to try and fix them later.
“That’s what life is.
“But learning opportunities abound! You’re young enough and not trying to oversee too much that you are allowed to make mistakes, and the consequences will be acceptable. Those consequences will rip your heart out and pain you for a very long time, but you’ll heal, and you’ll do what you can to fix those consequences.” Erick said, “That’s what I mean when I say I trust you.
“But if you’re looking for learning opportunities… Do you want to come to Dungeon Island with us? Make a body for yourself? Come with your sister, younger brother, and I, and see what the Dark wants of us all?”
Yggdrasil’s eye hovered there as Erick’s words hung in the air. He thought. And Erick waited. That’s what the big conversations were sometimes. A lot of waiting. A lot of thinking.
And so, Erick waited.
Yggdrasil asked the same question he had at the beginning, “Is wanting to be myself a big mistake?”
“No. That’s not a mistake at all, Yggdrasil. You’ll make a lot of mistakes, but being your own person will not be one of them. I can only suggest that you try to be the person that others can look up to, and rely upon. That’s who I try to be.”
“… Okay.” Yggdrasil added, “I… I don’t want to visit Dungeon Island right now. I want to have an office in House Benevolence… And I think I do want some arcanaeum certification tests.”
Erick smiled and nodded. Yggdrasil was figuring it all out, and trying to be independent more and more with each passing day. Erick hoped Yggdrasil wouldn’t become as independent-minded as Jane… And yet, Yggdrasil needed to be that independent and more.
This was for the best.
Except.
Erick said, “I would like to be there for you at the beginning, to help you on your path, Yggdrasil. That’s what fathers do.”
Yggdrasil’s voice was full of relief. “Let’s talk to Zolan together.”
“Sounds good to me.”
A quick step through a few [Gate]s landed Erick back at House Benevolence.
Once there, Erick spoke with Zolan and Yggdrasil, laying out how he understood Yggdrasil’s desires to prove himself to the world at large, and then Erick left them to it.
- - - -
Dungeon Island was not the original name for the largest of Quintlan’s three Australia-sized islands, located to the south west of the main continent. They were originally called the Three Sisters, and from largest to smallest they were named Infamy, Villainy, and Depravity. Before that, they were just one island, known as ‘Glorious Land’. There was no hint of that Glorious Land of 1,100 years ago, back before the Fall of Quintlan. The final death throes of the major dynasties of the last major survivors of the Sundering were filled with so very many horrors, not the least of which was the cracking of the Glorious Land into three different islands.
Different gods blamed each other, and also Melemizargo, but in the end it was just some mortal archmage who cracked the world and rerouted an upward waterways right up through the center of the Glorious Land, washing away much of that land, separating it into three different parts.
All of that destruction happened over 1,100 years ago, though, so aside from how the mountain ranges of all three islands were shaped away from the Font in the center, and some of the formations of the inner beaches showed ancient destruction, no hint of that cataclysm remained. All had been wiped clean, and then allowed to regrow wild.
Before the Teleport Lock, and from the sky, each land was so very similar to the other, that if one didn’t take care to track the sun and truly know where one was, then one might get lost down there. And that would be dangerous. Just like on continental Quintlan, these jungles and mountains and fields were full of death. Most of it ooze-related. Even so, people still braved these lands to delve into ancient strongholds, or to make new strongholds for use to hide out from the world. These islands were good places to hide, if you could succeed against the oozes, for [Teleport] used to be able to get people around these lands well enough. But ever since the Teleport Lock, the only truly safe spaces here were on the coast, in the cities that had only popped up in the last ten years. Whatever small measure of civilization anyone had made inside the islands, after the Teleport Lock went up, were gone.
And dungeons were everywhere.
But thanks to Erick and Jane’s spearheading of the Dungeon Guild, and thanks to the need for dungeon research, Infamy had been taken back from the oozes, and while people started setting up cities, Erick went on and cleared the other two islands and then much of Quintlan of oozes. Shade Hollowsaur and Treant did a lot of the major lifting on ooze eradication, of course, along with Zenipeq Frostflower, of the Fractured Citadel Frostflower, who was one of Erick’s first Benevolence Dragons. Zenipeq was still up in her frozen tower in central Quintlan, but the two Shades were… somewhere. Probably around Dungeon Island, and Ascendant Mountain in the Center.
Erick wasn’t sure right now, but he’d find out soon enough.
Much more varied horrors inhabited all of those lands, from shadowolves to spiders and murderous snails, all burrowing into un-mastered dungeons and then erupting in strength to go assault more dungeons, or to be assaulted themselves, and fight back or die. Dungeons broke all the time across this land, and people tried to make new, permanent dungeons all the time, too. The dungeons that succeeded were the ones overseen by people, and they became world-famous for the power that one could gain inside of them. But getting to those dungeons was to take your life in your hands, and step into the deadly forests, full of threats unknown. Every few months it seemed like a whole different ecosystem of monsters flourished and floundered in this land of jungles and death.
At least it wasn’t all oozes anymore.
… Erick had done what he could do, long ago.
Erick wasn’t a miracle worker— Not most of the time, anyway. And miracles were overrated. What was much more impressive, to Erick anyway, was the continued march of people toward civilization, and the drive to maintain in the face of death and destruction. That particular culture was alive and thriving here, under the guide of the Dungeon Guild, and the people who killed monsters.
Stepping through a [Gate], onto the white stone of Aniduun’s gatestation, Erick felt that where he had stopped, other people had picked up the work, and continued with enthusiasm. One of those people stood right beside him. Jane looked confident in public, wearing her grey and black Dungeon Guild outfit. Personally, Erick thought she exposed too much skin around the neck area, but she was usually technically nude out there when she was in a [Polymorph] form anyway, so it was what it was.
Erick wore white and black, as per normal protocols. Ophiel flitted on his shoulder, in the semi-organized shape of a crow with two or three pairs of wings, depending on what he felt like having, and around three eyes. Seven— No; nine eyes right now, though.
A hundred spires of varying heights and a thousand shorter buildings dotted the land, packed together into a minor metropolis 20-ish kilometers wide, ten kilometers inland, and ten more out to sea. Fishing farms floated out there, while vegetable farms grew inland. A river flowed north of the city, coming out of the mountains, and hitting the ocean in a deluge of white water. That river was the Westside River, and a lot more than just water traveled on that river.
Aniduun was built upon the southern coast of a large crescent harbor, south of the Westside River, facing the Duun Ocean, which was very much the largest ocean in the world. Here at this latitude, just like over at Oceanside, the wind blew in from the west, bringing with it a secondary ocean of mana that washed directly into this tamed land. Most of that river of mana followed the path of least resistance, which meant following the wide river, into the island. That river was the ‘monster road’ for much of this area.
Just a simple river couldn’t direct the massive flows of an entire ocean, though, or even a simple part of it, because mana always simply followed the path of least resistance. And so, just like with Everbless sculpting Storm’s Edge’s mana down monster roads, the people of Dungeon Island had a similar solution, but vastly different in execution. Dungeon Island actually had the original solution; Everbless had copied it.
For Aniduun was filled with a node network and defensive spellwork, too, just like all the rest of the major cities of the world. The network here supported massive, perpetually-cast [Force Wall]-type magics all throughout the land, and the manasphere rushed thick against those sculpted panes of Force.
The node network here also did their societal-protections different from everyone else, creating one of the most unique city-wide defenses found on Veird, because the people who lived here were special and simple Denial spells did not work on them. Aniduun was the ‘City of Ten Thousand Cores’, named that way because this area boasted the most amount of people with cores of anywhere on the planet, except for Shadow-controlled lands, like the lich-filled Fractured Citadels, or New Brightwater with all its shadelings.
Creating the node network here had been a mess and a half, and it continued to be a mess and a half. Cores were among the only ways that people retained power when under anti-magic influences, and with how all the people here delved dungeons, and got more true mana creation/regeneration, a vast majority of these people were able to make cores, and thus ignore most normal Denial spellwork to a certain degree.
Some of these people had become pariahs in their original lands, because they couldn’t be controlled anymore. Lotta humans from Greensoil for that reason. This land had its fair share of exiles from Nelboor, too, for that same reason. Former Cultists and current Cultists. The place looked like Candlepoint, really.
Erick kinda loved it here, for much the same reasons as he loved Candlepoint and all his normal haunts, but this was Jane’s space, and so he had stayed away for the most part.
And now people were noticing him and Jane. Took them a bit longer here than at Adventure City. 5 seconds as opposed to 3. Guards at the waystation focused on Jane, first, because she was the most recognizable and she spent a lot of time here. And then they recognized Erick and Ophiel, because they were Erick and Ophiel.
Jane glanced Erick’s way, wondering if she would be allowed to be in charge here.
Erick easily said, “It’s your show, Jane. Let’s see you run it.”
Jane nodded and walked forward. As guards suddenly walked around corners and stared openly, most of them not knowing what to do because The Apparent King was here, too. So Jane commanded their attention, giving orders that were easily followed. They might not know what to do with Erick being here, but they certainly knew what to do with Jane, and that was to obey.
Soon, Erick and Jane were out on the streets, and telepathic messages unfurled from every person all around. Neither Erick or Jane had called ahead, informing anyone that they’d be coming here, but this was a land used to emergencies. They adapted.
- - - -
The Dungeon Guildhouse of Aniduun was like the courthouse of Spur, or Candlepoint, or like the king’s castle in Storm’s Edge. It was not just a guildhall; it was a place of business and governance, for the land here wasn’t under the control of any one nation. Or any nation at all, really. These cities were research lands under the power of House Benevolence. A power which Erick never flexed.
In Aniduun’s case, their guildhouse was also a fortress, located on the north side of the city, overlooking the river, the city, and the ocean. It provided a major staging ground for all sorts of defensive measures against the monsters and dangers of this land. The city behind the guildhouse had only grown as large as it had because more and more people kept coming out here; most of them adventurers, looking to get back into the ‘killing monsters’ business.
So it was damned busy, all the time.
Erick and Jane managed to get past the wide open gates of the guildhouse, into the massive courtyard, before the guildmaster appeared in a flash of golden light, upon the stone stairs leading up into the main building. He had been waiting for them, and he had cleared out many of the people who would be in this courtyard to start with, but some people remained, probably because they just didn’t believe what was going to happen.
Baxter Swampwalker smiled brightly, throwing his arms wide, shouting, “Welcome back to the Island!”
A good ten people were in the courtyard, either talking with their small groups or caught between two different places, when Baxter shouted. Not too many people were alarmed by his shout. But then they saw Jane and Erick. There were some pratfalls. Everyone ignored those pratfalls except for the friends of those people, who quietly poked fun at the fallen, or helped them to their feet. Two people even mumbled that they didn’t believe it, which earned them even more ribbing from their friends.
Jane strode forward, uncaring for circumstance or decorum, as one does in places like this, and said, “Good to be back, Baxter. We’re here to see the state of the Island, and then we’re heading on.”
Baxter was a tall, strong man of blonde hair and barely-tanned skin, who anyone would be forgiven for instantly assuming was human, but he had incani blood in him; he was a demi. His eyes were unnaturally red-gold and he had tiny blonde nubs for horns which were mostly hidden by his hair. Those red-gold eyes flashed with joy as Jane spoke of staying for a little bit. He said, “Things are going great, far as I know. Come on in, though!” And then he turned and eyed Erick, smiling even more. “It’s good to see you, too, sir.”
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Erick smiled a little, saying, “Jane is in charge today; I’m just a guest.”
Baxter’s eyebrows went up. And then he made a play, as he usually did. “So that means that Jane can talk to the talkers, and you and I can go check out a nice cafe by the water? There’s a new one with live music.”
Baxter was an incorrigible flirt who had absolutely destroyed marriages and other relationships in the past. But he was also one of the few archwarriors/archmages in the world, and capable of getting away with that sort of thing either through pure power, or through his stupidly handsome face, or because of the rest of him. Still, though, more than once Baxter had had a boot thrown at him from a disgruntled spouse as he exited a bedroom window in the early morning hours. Erick had personally tried to frighten him off with a transformation into his draconic form, when Baxter went a little too far with his flirts.
Baxter had seemed to enjoy that attempt at intimidation, though.
Erick had a much simpler way of dealing with Baxter these days. “I still have a boyfriend, Baxter.”
“He can join us.”
“… Ah. So that method no longer works on you. Why not?”
Jane had walked past Baxter, smiling a little bit as she left him with her father.
Smiling wide, Baxter stepped down the stairs into the courtyard, walking closer to Erick as he said, “I managed to make it through ten out of ten of Quilatalap’s dungeons this last month! My prize was a date with him and with you, if you also agreed to such a thing.”
Erick frowned a little. “Well… That’s… No.”
Baxter’s enthusiasm did not wane, but he did pull back. “I thought you might have come around because of that wager, but if that’s not what brings you here, then what does? Or is this all for Jane?”
Erick began walking forward and Baxter walked with him, as Erick said, “We’re headed to Ascendant Mountain. I suggest you tell everyone headed that way to rethink their journey until I give word otherwise, because while Jane is in charge, what is happening is my sort of show, if you get my meaning.”
Baxter’s eyes went wide, and then most of his friendly nature vanished behind a whole lot of deep thinking. He gauged Erick, and then Ophiel, and then he looked to where Jane had gotten off to. Erick’s daughter and one of the heads of the Dungeon Guild were currently in a meeting room, far beyond the gathering-hall-portion of the guildhall fortress, talking with the various people who oversaw this land a lot more than Baxter usually did.
Baxter was technically in charge of Aniduun because he was that powerful, but he would have lost this ultimate position of authority years ago if he wasn’t just as good at governing as he was at magic and swordplay. His ‘skill at governing’ was only mostly to appoint the right people to the right jobs.
It was a valid strategy.
Baxter asked, “Perhaps we should be in that meeting, if only to see past the security veils that they threw up into the room.”
Erick smiled at Baxter’s casual competence. Yes, there were security veils in that room with Jane and the other three people, and Erick was looking past them with an Ophiel on Jane’s shoulder, but most people would mana sense in that direction and only see a nothing-conversation, about the weather, or about population growth numbers.
- - - -
Erick went into the room first, disturbing and almost breaking the Privacy spellwork surrounding the place, but he also casually repaired and reinforced that spellwork through a bit of [Renew] magic. Baxter followed, magically making sure his disturbance to the spellwork was as minor as he could make it, but visually it looked like he wasn’t doing anything at all, except pretending to step over an [Alarm Ward] strung across the bottom of the door. There was no [Alarm Ward] strung across the bottom of the door.
Erick sealed up the magics behind them.
All conversation had stopped while the two of them had entered the room.
“Hello, everyone, good to see you again,” Erick said, breaking the ice. “Jane has already informed you of some of the danger coming this way, and I am reinforcing her message of that danger.”
Leona Carver was an 89 year old stern-grandmotherly human woman who had been a Pirate Queen in her younger days, and though she still had the Class she had left that life behind ten years ago. She mostly functioned as a variant Abyssal Mage, when she wasn’t the overseer of the Dungeon Research Department of Dungeon Island.
With a few looks from Leona to the others, the group allowed her to speak first.
“I like a good puzzle as much as the next woman,” Leona asked, “But is this Sundering research necessary?”
“It is necessary because the Relevant Entities have voted for it,” Erick answered succinctly, and yet not satisfying anyone at all.
By consensus, Olivia Stoneway was next. She was a rather young Stone Archmage, at only 30 years old, but she was already head of the Roads and Infrastructure department of Aniduun. She was responsible for the major defenses of this land, and for maintaining the node network. She got down to brass tacks and simply asked, “What sort of defensive preparations would you recommend?”
“All of them,” Erick said, “At a proper guess, though, I would put Elemental Void and Destruction threats higher on the list than most other threats. I’ll be adding a few spells of that nature to the front lines, far afield of the city. Don’t count on them, though, because I won’t be there to reinforce them, and we don’t know the actual threat yet.”
Olivia grumbled a little bit, her eyes narrowing on nothing as she looked away and thought.
Aniduun had no real mayor, but Cintro Prokop, a 60 year old demi Book Mage, was close to that sort of designation. He was technically head of ‘Civilian Relations’, but that was a Dungeon Guild department that only existed in Aniduun, under the power of Baxter.
Cintro asked, “What should I tell people?”
Erick said, “Stay away from Ascendant Mountain, or prepare to lose your life, for we will be exploring the deep, unknown memories of the Dark, in order to understand, move past, and protect against another Sundering. It’ll be a healing experience, I hope. If nothing else, it’ll be us ensuring that the unknown causes of the Sundering will never again threaten Veird, or any of the other worlds yet to come.”
Silence stretched.
Concern was carved deep into the furrowed brows and frowns of everyone in the room, except for Jane and Erick. Jane was as stoic as a leader should be, and Erick loved seeing her like that. For Erick’s part, he still wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen, either, so keeping his answers short was necessary to assuage fears.
But the tone was still getting too dark in here, so Erick lightened his tone, saying, “I’m rather certain that Jane and I will be able to solve this conundrum. All I need out of you is to keep doing what you’re doing, but maybe keep people away from the mountain while we’re there.”
Baxter spoke brightly, too, saying, “If that’s what the Wizard wants, that’s what the Wizard gets! Shouldn’t be too difficult for us at all! But you’ll come to town now and then to keep your sanity about you, yeah? We’ve got all the amenities that you ain’t gonna find out there in the Dark, right here in our little slice of paradise.”
Erick smiled in turn. “We’ll give updates when necessary. No news is probably good news, though.”
“Fair enough! Fair enough,” Baxter said. “You’ll be able to stay for dinner, right? Let us treat you to a feast.”
“We’ve got to give the same sorts of warnings to Jokun and Zawindi,” Erick said.
“I’ll invite Golgoro and Debiza here,” Baxter said, without missing a beat. “They’d love a good feast, and something tells me the little bit of information you’ve given us is not as satisfying as you could make it, Wizard Flatt,” he said with a sly grin.
Jane glanced at her father, and Erick could tell that she didn’t want to stick around.
And Erick had his own obligations, too. So.
Erick compromised, “We need to see the others, and then head on to the mountain. If we can be back in time for dinner, we will. Don’t wait up.”
“I’ll need to make it a feast to talk about you and yours when you’re gone, anyway,” Baxter said, good-naturedly. With an arched brow, he added, “And you can show up if you want.”
“That works,” Jane said. Then she asked Erick, “Shall we move to the next city?”
“Then we’re off.” Erick gave a nod toward the rulers of Aniduun, and all four of them bowed deeply in turn. Erick opened a [Gate] from one stone-keep room to another, then stepped through, already telling the startled receptionist on the other side, “Erick Flatt for a meeting with Golgoro, please.”
Jane followed.
Erick closed the [Gate] behind them.
- - - -
In a nice tower room that gave full view of the walled city of Jokun all around, Erick looked down upon the Southside river and the delta of that river, to the south. This river delta was only partially a monster road, and not nearly as well-used as the Westside River, north of Aniduun. The real monster roads of Jokun ran north of the city, because that’s where most of the mana flowed onto the land.
For the land north of Jokun was what faced the Font; one of the many upward waterways of Veird.
Far to the east, in between the Three Sisters, the ocean burbled up from the Underworld, creating something like a reverse whirlpool, ever-active underwater volcano, and a major flow of mana, on par with what Aniduun experienced coming off of the Duun Ocean. The Font was a major part of the water cycle of the Surface of Veird, for it brought water from over 3,500 kilometers below the Surface, to the Surface. The Font wasn’t visible from here; not even on a clear day, like today, even though the Font was 500 kilometers wide…
Sometimes the scale of it all really got Erick, and now was one of those times. He couldn’t see the Font from here, but what was visible was an ever-present cloud that hovered on the horizon in that direction, and never went away, while also reaching far, far into the sky. That cloud covered a full eighth of the horizon, and went all the way up to the Edge of the Script, which was comparatively close to the Surface, compared to the size of that ancient waterway—
The door burst open, slapping the wall with force, splintering a little as the orcol warrior king Golgoro Spinesnapper stood there, his clothes ripped up and blood still on him, though only some of it was his. His ax was sheathed on his back, but his hands looked like they were itching to grip that ax once again.
Golgoro fixed Erick with his eyes, asking, “Is it true? You search for the Sundering?”
“Aye,” Erick said, “It’s true.”
“Then you are a fool and all the gods should kill themselves and leave us out of it.”
Golgoro walked away.
Erick sighed a little, then said, “Always a direct sort of guy. Respectable.”
Jane nodded. “I like him, too.”
- - - -
In a nice room with nice couches and with a wonderful view of the expansive delta of the Northside River, a servant served steaming cups of tea that no one drank, and Erick delivered some bad news to one incani woman, named Debiza Gloriz. The leader of Zawindi, the Delta City, was a woman of many blacks, from her skin to her hair to her eyes and horns. If it weren’t for her white teeth, then one might think she was an adamantium wrought, but she was not wrought royalty. She was a very good stateswoman, though, almost the same as any queen in any other nation.
Debiza said, “This is a disturbing development. Thank you for the alert. Will you be joining us for dinner at Aniduun? My contemporary has expressed to me the nature of your visit before you arrived, but hearing it in person makes me want to think about it for an hour or two, and then revisit all of this in a more informed setting. A dinner party would suffice.”
“If we’re able to return to Aniduun for dinner, then we will,” Erick said.
Jane added, “But we’re off to the Mountain, now.”
Debiza gave a professional nod, and then she bowed, “Demons bless your journey.”
“And you as well,” Erick said.
And then he opened another [Gate].
- - - -
One could not step on Ascendant Mountain without passing the trials that surrounded the land, first.
… But Erick should have been able to bypass those trials with [Gate].
When Erick’s [Gate] opened up on the foothills of the giant mountain instead of directly onto Melemizargo’s throne, or rather onto the space in front of that throne, Erick did a little frown at the journey ahead, and then stepped onto the grasslands. Jane followed.
Erick looked up at the mountain ahead of him, and at the chain of mountains stretching north and south, going far, far out of his sight. He and Jane stood upon some gently sloping plains, but the size of those mountains made it like they were standing in a valley. Mountains of that size could only ever exist on Veird, or in other unnatural places.
“Can’t even see the city from here,” Erick said, as he stared ahead, at the expanse of cracked green, grey, and white that capped the world. “I’m honestly not sure where we are, exactly.” He pointed forward, toward the tallest peak. “That’s Mount Vesi, isn’t it?”
“It probably is.” Jane frowned a little as she studied the path ahead. Beyond this clearing it was all untrod jungle, filled with trees that mostly topped out at 50 meters tall, but there were a few wild ones that grew a lot taller than that. The shadows here were deep, even under the full sun. Jane glanced around at the clearing they were in, and asked, “Is this the only clearing in the area?”
“Looks like,” Erick said, as Ophiels flew up and around, scouting the area. Erick checked the near past, and then said, “This area wasn’t a clearing until two minutes ago. There’s still trees churned into logs and mulch just under the surface.” Erick sighed a little, and then he fixed his gaze on a deep shadow in the woods, saying, “Melemizargo. Is this little path through the forests necessary?”
Monsters roared in the deep forest. Birds chirped. Monkeys howled. Bugs buzzed. The sun beat down hard.
And there was no answer from the shadows at all.
Erick frowned. “Melemizargo?”
… Still no answer.
Jane began walking forward, leading the way, her body turning to glitter and prismatic light. She stepped—
She stumbled out of prismatic power, having traveled only five meters. She looked down at the ground, and at herself. She lightstepped, shadowstepped, and airwalked all at the same time, the harmonious blending of magic carrying her another grand total of... 5 meters ahead, almost to the treeline. She looked around.
Jane said, “There’s some impeding magic in the air… Oddly strong.”
Erick narrowed his eyes, focusing on the air, tapping into the power of his All-Seeing Eye. There was a certain sort of Darkness to the air. Erick pulled his Sight back, saying, “It’s divine magic. Melemizargo’s, I reckon.”
Erick started walking forward. He tried a full Step, and ended up traveling 5 meters, just like Jane had done. And then he controlled his stepping to something smaller, and easier. He stepped through real space, instead of through Benevolence and Light, moving fast instead of instantly, and that made all the difference. In a moment Erick stood next to Jane, waving a hand, opening [Gate]s in front of him—
The other end of the [Gate] appeared behind them instead of anywhere ahead. Jane turned her head around to see the other side of the [Gate], raising an eyebrow in silent question.
“It was supposed to open ahead of us.” Erick closed the [Gate]. “Anyway! Looks like if we traverse real space then we can go fast. No elementwalking, though.”
Jane nodded. She faced forward. “This is what happens in the Dark. You can move around through real space, but no stepping… At least I imagine that’s what happens in the Dark. I don’t actually have ‘darkstepping’, but I imagine Melemizargo has it, and can properly elementstep, unlike everyone else.”
Erick began walking, his steps moving him further than normal, but not instantly. He plunged into the shadows of the forest. Jane followed, keeping pace. And Erick noticed that Jane had something she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure how to say it.
So Erick said, “So you’re on the Worldly Path, eh? That was just a bunch of ‘you can’t use [Teleport] to shorten the trip’. No actual restrictions on movement, though. Where did you end up going on your Worldly Path?”
“… Sorry I didn’t tell you about that.”
“There’s a lot you didn’t tell me about,” Erick said, as they passed by a dark hole in the world, nestled in the roots of a tree and a tumbled boulder. A small snail on the tree above the wild dungeon shot a Bolt of Decay at Erick, but he splashed that Bolt away with a flicker of light. He and his daughter continued on, attacked by a few scattered monsters here and there, but not actually threatened at all. When Jane remained silent, Erick continued, “How about we talk about what you expected to get out of this journey into the Dark, working for Melemizargo as his Paladin.”
More monsters.
More silence from Jane.
They both used Force or Light or Shadow or Benevolence to deflect attacks and step over deadfall, or around large trees, or through steel-strong spiderwebs that attempted to block the path, but which failed miserably when faced with Erick, and Jane.
“… I’m expendable, dad. That’s why I’m doing this. You’re not expendable.”
Erick perhaps killed the attacking prime shadowolf that was as big as a van with a bit too much strength behind his swipe. That monster turned to shredded gore and bone, and spread out across a good hundred meters.
Erick controlled his anger, and said, “You should stop protecting me, Jane. It’s not your place to protect me. It’s my place to protect you.”
“No,” Jane said, vehemently. “That’s too simple of a metric, and in its simplicity, it is incorrect.” Jane carved a slavering dog-like thing in half as it jumped at them. They continued onward. “You are a ruler of the world. You shouldn’t even be here. You should go back to House Benevolence and take up knitting, or something. Stay in reserve for when there’s another Wizard in the world that chooses to harm instead of help. We got lucky with the Anarchy Wizard and his wife. Another Holo could happen at any time. Another Blue Wizard could, too.” Jane briefly stared at her father, saying, “I am expendable compared to you.”
Erick’s heart broke as Jane called herself expendable, his control over his magic faltering. He slowed down. Jane stopped, and Erick stopped next to her. He looked at Jane and his voice cracked, as he forced himself to say, “You— You’re not expendable.”
Jane breathed, and nodded, her emotions kept on a tight leash. “You can lie if you want, dad. But I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
Erick had no words.
Jane still had some words. “Another truth to be acknowledged is that we and Veird are in a moment of safety right now, brought on by you and House Benevolence—”
“And you, too! The Dungeon Guild was—”
“Anyone would have made the Dungeon Guild happen and I’m not even in charge because I know I do better work out there fighting, so that other people can be safe at home.” Jane continued, “I can pave the way. You can build the houses and the government. And that’s fine.” Erick tried to say something, but Jane just spoke louder, “Besides! I’m going to be copying myself tens of times up ahead so that at least one of us will be able to make it through this coming trial. But I’m still going into this trial. I do this so that all of the New Cosmology and all who come after won’t have to worry about the Sundering coming back to kill them all when they least expect it. This is important work, and it will be done, and I should be the one to do it so that you don’t die—” Jane’s voice cracked as a tear fell, “I want to keep you safe, okay? Let me do this for you. For us. For everything that is to come. You can watch from the sidelines. I’m sure the Dark will provide ample viewing ability and ample ways for you to pull me out, or save me. That’s probably why he got you involved at all.”
About a thousand questions tumbled through Erick’s mind.
The one that came up first, and largest, was, “How long has this been going on?”
“Four years. Ever since the Wizard of Anarchy lifted the Stairway to the Edge out of Quintlan and you almost died out there. Over the course of… A while, Melemizargo questioned me. Probing questions to see how on-board I was with this sort of idea, in theory, mostly. He had already seen me breaking dungeon cores for the last half a decade, but after Holo… Melemizargo started revealing to me some of his major plans. It wasn’t till the last month that I got a lot more insight into what he wanted. The full scope. You and I are probably on more or less the same page. I understand he told the gods everything.”
“… You were the original plan,” Erick said, realizing something important. “And then I shoved myself into this space. Or maybe the Relevant Entities decided they didn’t like Melemizargo’s original plan... But Melemizargo has been building you up to be the perfect delver into the Dark.”
“Yes.”
“And he expects me to stand back and support you.”
“I think so.”
Erick breathed, and then he explained, “I’m gonna tell you straight up some true facts, Jane, and you need to listen. If you died, I would go crazy. Everyone knows that, but here I am saying this. So you’re not going to do this incredibly dangerous shit. What is going to happen is I’m going to take your place, and make a copy of myself, instead of you making copies of yourself.
“AND!
“That has to be Melemizargo’s original goal—” Erick was going to continue, his rage kept in check by the need to get his words out, but then Jane got personally offended that Erick would think that Melemizargo would try to screw her over, or use her against him, or some other such order-of-events that Erick could barely comprehend right now due to the anger. “Don’t you give me that look, Jane, like I’m making up stories, or that I’m somehow implying that you’re not ‘good enough’ or some other imagined falsehood. I have never said you can’t do anything you wanted to do; don’t go imagining I don’t believe in you now. You’re better than that.
“BUT! But you talk of motivations of the highest powers of this world in one breath, and then state that you’re somehow beyond manipulation in the second. I know for a fact that I’m being manipulated right now.”
Jane demanded, “Then give me a solution, dad!”
“We both make copies, or some shit like that! And neither of us go into the Dark.” Erick said, “But that’s probably a manipulation, too! I’m almost 100% certain now that the copy of myself that I made earlier in this Path is the actual backup for whatever shit we’re walking into, and that Rozeta knew of this when she asked me to do that… Or maybe she didn’t. Actually. That’s more likely. Melemizargo is manipulating Rozeta, too.”
Jane stated, “And even if we are being manipulated, the Sundering still has to be permanently stopped, and that involves us understanding what the Sundering even was, which involves me doing this, whatever ‘this’ might be.”
“Involves ‘us’ doing this, Jane,” Erick said, “You’re not alone. I am not alone. We are not facing the end of a universe without each other.”
Jane frowned a little, another unruly tear falling. Her voice was softer as she said, “That works, too.”
And then Jane rushed to her father, and held him tight. For the second time in the same day, Erick spilled some tears on his daughter’s shoulder.
Softly, Erick said, “This is a right mess, isn’t it.”
Jane chuckled, a strained sound. “… Yeah.”
“So are we gonna hang out on Ascendant Mountain for a month while our repros —if they’re willing— go out and solve the Sundering?”
Jane softly said, “I’m pretty sure mine will want to do that.” Softer, “It’s not going to be that simple, though.”
Erick chuckled. “Probably not.” And then he said, “I guess you’ve had some time to come to grips with all of this, eh?”
“I have, dad. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Don’t worry about it. If this [Onward] thing is true…” Erick pulled back and looked Jane in the face, as he said, “Maybe you couldn’t tell me.”
Jane shrugged. And then she let go, and looked to the east, to the deep forest, and to the mountains beyond. “I bet Melemizargo put us here so we could get that out of the way before we got there.” She looked to Erick, saying, “He’s really not a bad guy… Except in the ways he’s a god and above everyone, I suppose.”
“… The only part of all of that which I am glad to hear you say, is how easily you mentioned talking to Melemizargo. That means you’ve talked to him a lot, and probably the surviving Shades, too. That means you’re rather comfortable with this sort of arena we’re walking into. You were doing that ten years ago, but...” Erick said, “I love how much you’ve grown.”
Jane smiled and chuckled, as she casually swiped her left hand behind her, entrapping an invisible shadowolf-variant in metallic threads, which killed it instantly. She didn’t bother to look at the monster she had killed, as she said, “Well that’s enough melodrama. Try a [Gate], now.”
Erick rolled his eyes, casting a [Gate] directly, and easily, straight from their forest path to the white dais at the center of Ascendant Mountain; the place that served as the ‘public’ part of Melemizargo’s throne. That had been Erick’s original [Gate] target. And this time, it landed.
Beyond a circle of white lightning lay a white land, ringed in clear crystal.
No one was on the other side right now, so Erick said to Jane, “Do you actually like Sitnakov? Because he pretends to dislike drama, but he’s a complete softy at heart who cries at movies and weddings, so if you don’t like talking about feelings with him you’re not going to land that man.”
Jane’s face heated up. “… Let’s not talk about that right now.”
- - - -
Erick and Jane stood upon a solid, flat surface of white crystal, kilometers in diameter. Crystal spires ringed the world all around. Shadows crawled in those spires.
And then shadows crawled across the world, blotting out the sun.
Melemizargo appeared upon his throne, his dark wings cast wide, his serpentine head angled down, and smiling. Glowing white fangs shone in the black.
“Welcome to Ascendant Mountain!
“And now to announce your task, Erick Flatt:
“You’re not only searching for the cause —and likely causes— of the Sundering. You’re going to plunder all of the knowledge I have of the Old Cosmology, and then you’re going to use that knowledge and power here on Veird in order to protect against every possible bad end.
“You don’t even need to go into any dungeons if you don’t want to.
“Or! You could make your own dungeon, and go through this whole ordeal with a lot less personal danger. Lots of options here."