“It’s… not actually that… can we not stand like this? Please?”

I blink. “Oh. Sorry. This is really important though!”

“Then,” she sighs, “can we at least sit down somewhere? This is far less than civil. Do you intend to simply invade my home any time you have a question of some kind?”

Apparently, I took too long to answer because she continues, “Oh gods. You are. You absolutely are.”

“Maybe,” I shrug as she gestures to a table and chair set to one side of her room – though why she would put something like that in her own bedroom escapes me. Maybe she wants to entertain while her guests gaze upon her four-poster bed.

Well, whatever.

“So what exactly do you want to know?” Eris asks while sheathing her sword and taking a seat, a complete tea set appearing on the table from her dimensional storage. Is it strange to keep an entire tea set piping hot in your dimensional storage? I’m not sure. Maybe I’d consider it if my maids didn’t already provide such spectacular service – I’d argue that the service is part of the experience to begin with.

“You said it could make us strong enough to resist the compulsion, yes?”

She shrugs lightly. “Possibly, but it’s not a guarantee. It also varies by what heaven or hell you’re on at the time, and whether or not its owner is in favor of your presence. More often than not, if they disapprove, they’ll simply ban your passage to begin with.”

“Then why haven’t you banned my coming here? If you’re so dead set against me visiting when I want, couldn’t you just ban me?”

“To be fair, I would,” she sighs, “but my planes – none of them – are heavens or hells. I don’t want to force the limitations and expectations on my people, and freedom of movement is important to me.”

“Huh.”

I think for a moment. What else do I even need to know? Aside from the obvious, of course.

“So how do I make my plane one of those then?”

Eris blinks and stares at me for a moment. “You… don’t even want to know the sort of limitations and expectations I’m referring to? Not at all?”

“Well… maybe. They’re probably important anyway.”

And now she’s rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“You should talk to Nyx, you’d probably get along,” I comment.

“I shall take it under consideration.” My unwilling host takes a sip of her tea before continuing, clearly taking her enjoyment to recenter herself. Why does everyone always seem off balance around me? Well, aside from my retainers.

“First of all, and perhaps most importantly, heavens and hells are closed off to mortals outside of specific circumstances. Most often those are completing some kind of significant task a god assigns, but they can also sometimes include a certain level of devotion or even ranks in their cult.”

“What if I just made a dungeon somewhere nobody cares about, or where another god is fine with it? I could set a reward for clearing it to be access.”

She nods. “That would probably work as well.”

“And that’s one problem resolved, so what else? That hardly seems like something you’d want to use to prevent access to your lands even if you care about… what was it? Oh, I don’t care.”

“Freedom of movement,” she answers matter-of-factly. “And I know you don’t care. The second important detail is that all mortal residents of a heaven or hell are subject to specific treatment. Heavens, for example, offer some kind of benefit. They are the archetypal ‘happy afterlife’ for those who’ve done well in life by the standard of that specific god… or at least a holding ground before their souls are reincarnated. While there, they are spiritual beings much like gods lacking a Vessel, meaning they can’t leave until reincarnated.”

“Hm, hm. I see. And what of hells?”

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“Suffering,” she says flatly. “All mortals in a hell will experience some degree of suffering as described by the owning god.”

That… would explain why Izahne was forced to torture so many people on the Deep Blue… Ceto must have considered that adequate punishment for… I don’t even know what. Why would children wind up there, especially the ‘innocent’ sort she always wound up slaying?

“What would stop a god from simply saying ‘the suffering is that you have to eat periodically or you get hungry’? It seems to me like this is full of loopholes.”

“Because that isn’t suffering. It has to be something that a reasonable mortal would consider suffering… don’t ask me how the Record enforces it, I have no idea.”

Huh.

“What exactly constitutes a mortal in this case?”

“Simple,” she says, setting down her now empty teacup. “Sentience.”

…

“Wait, so you’re saying if I did this, it’d affect my dungeon people too, right?”

Eris simply nods again as the teapot hovers and refills the porcelain vessel before her. Telekinesis I’d assume… how long has it been since I’ve used mine?

“But I don’t want them to suffer. They’re my people, I farm a lot of divinity from them!”

“Then don’t make it a hell.”

I’m not sure what that small grin she’s giving me means.

…Wait, wouldn’t it be weirdly ironic for a demon lord – let alone a demon empress to live in a heaven!?

And from Nyx’s hysterical laughter, I can tell I’m not the only one.

“From the look on your face, I assume you realize the implications.”

“Maybe. So closed access and blessings or whatever. And lots of dead people. What else? Are there other limitations?”

“Mostly just that they have to have some kind of patron god, although most are just a patron in name.”

“Then why doesn’t every god have one? It seems pretty simple.”

She sighs. “Often the same reasons I don’t. Plus most don’t want to deal with the administrative issues.”

Huh. So I’d probably have to run it myself…

Or delegate. Probably that. Maybe I could just have Rose do it, she’s already running the rest of the plane for the most part.

“Alright. I think I’ve decided… the Shadowed Plane will be a heaven! And um. Let’s just have everyone there… ah, perfect! They have access to my dungeons! And I’ll give them an experience boost, how about that?”

“Hmmm… I’m not sure, but that might be enough. Just be aware that any blessings you offer will cost you in divinity.”

“That’s fine, I don’t really care.”

“I figured as much,” she shrugs. “There are rituals to convert a plane, but arguably they are just window dressing. You simply need to will it to happen. You are a god, after all.”

A grin spreads across my face. “I’m not doing any ritual. No, I have a better way. I am the demon empress, after all.”

And without another word, I open a rift and pull myself backwards through it.

***

I decided it would probably be a good idea to talk to my retainers about it first, since I’m planning something as major as making my entire plane a heaven…

(So you’re really going to do it then, aren’t you?) Nyx asks in the back of my mind.

Yeah. Yeah I am. And I’m hoping that unlike everything else, this might actually make a difference.

…Especially since even now I’m feeling that pull. I need to see her. I need to, and it’s taking far too much focus to resist it. I have no idea how exactly Izahne isn’t here herself, already pressing herself against me or gazing into my eyes or whatever.

That sounds nice…

(Yeah. Tell me about it, pal. Compulsions, right? Good thing nobody else you know has ever been under one of those.)

Uh… yeah. Sorry about that.

My former System Assistant is silent for a moment. Maybe she’s surprised I apologized? I’m not sure.

(Just… know what you’re getting into. You might regret this later.)

Maybe!

And there’s that trademark Nyx sigh, nostalgic as ever.

Some things never change.

Vivi and Omorth are both in support of the idea… Vivi even seemed like she was surprised I hadn’t done this sooner. I’m not entirely sure why though…

As for Olive… she gave me the most adorable head tilt in thought before nodding. If anyone was going to raise red flags about this plan I assumed it would probably be her, and her support gives me a great deal of confidence about it.

Tathra didn’t care, aside from the possible limitations of whether he could host potential business partners if they can’t even enter the plane.

Simple. I can just bring them here myself, problem solved. Annoying maybe, but simple enough.

And finally…

My wife. The person I’ve been dreading most speaking with…

Not because I’m worried we’ll fight, or even that she’ll reject the idea.

No, it’s because I know exactly how it’s going to end, because even now I’m still craving her presence.

And her touch.

And I know she’s feeling the same, whether she wants to or not.

…

But I can’t put this off any longer. I can’t keep putting her through this.

I’m… I’m going to come to talk. We need to talk; I’m going to do something that’s hopefully going to help us both.

I hope it does, she replies through our link.

Her conflict hasn’t let up, and I can still feel her straining against it. If anything, it feels like her will to resist is getting weaker… the compulsion has been slowly overwhelming her while I’ve been busy trying everything I could think of.

If she weren’t so stubborn, maybe she would have… I don’t know. I don’t know how she would have been able to resolve this… considering she seems absolutely dead set on resolving it on her own. Maybe she thinks that since it’s her Mantle, it’s her problem.

Which is frustrating. I want her to depend on me… to lean on me, and hold me, and-

I shake my head in frustration.

Part of me wants to just discuss this telepathically, but I’ve already made the mistake of wanting to talk with her… I can’t resist it.

I need to see her. And this is a perfect excuse.

So I open a rift and begin pulling myself to her.