Sieni took a hesitant step, their mycelium dragging along behind them, the fluorescence rapidly sending waves of illumination in what Iseult could only assume to be a nervous pattern. They moved as if in thrall, a floating sort of gait almost seamless in step. The world itself seemed to hold its breath as they stepped through, even the wind seeming to quiet. A sheen of iridescent void seemed to reach for them out from the bounds of the gate frame, the crackling light acting even more erratic as Sieni passed through. Their body seemed to sigh, to release some intangible thing, though to Iseult it looked as if ghostly vapors were emerging, steaming of Sieni’s body, and she could hear the faint voices of many souls being set free, dispersed back into the world to reassemble as new beings elsewhere. Were the gods actually doing a service to the world, she wondered all of a sudden, were they helping souls to recombine into new beings? What would that mean for the world? Would passing through the gate have to be a regular thing a god had to do? A sort of regular pilgrimage? She would have to bring it up with Mejias, to see what she had seen when Sieni passed through.

Reaching the other side of the gate, Sieni seemed to perk up, the weight of the souls they carried now lightened, causing them a very physical reprieve. They fluorescenced in a god-tongue pattern inconceivable to Iseult once again, Mejias smiling widely and Orikka nodding serenely. It was a bit frustrating being the only one of the assembled unable to understand the other being. Well, besides Zichu’s acolytes. It was uncomfortably easy to forget they were there, as they were perfectly silent. Iseult felt a bit abashed at the reminder, she hadn’t meant to disregard them as beings. The mycelial god approached a cherry blossom tree nearby, wrapping their mycelium strands around the base, the tips of the fibers worming their way into the earth. Slowly, they began to sink into the soil, disappearing in front of their eyes. ‘Wait, what just happened?’ Iseult asked, a bit alarmed. ‘They rejoined the earth,’ Mejias said, ‘did they, did they just die?’ Iseult asked hesitantly. Mejias laughed, ‘no, they just returned to their lands. They travel by trees, they can initiate a symbiotic relationship with any roots and move through them.’ ‘Oh,’ Iseult felt a bit embarrassed about her distress. With all her work assembling dossiers she hadn’t one for Sieni. She supposed she’d have to make one. Though now with the issue of corruption purification, would her research even be needed? She suddenly felt a bit bereft. Well, they would still have to make contact, so she supposed it would be necessary for at least a little longer.

‘What do you think would happen with the gods’ associated designations?’ Iseult asked, as they returned home. Zichu had invited them to stay at the palace, but they had declined, Orikka as well, preferring the comfort of their own heavenly home while they searched for more gods. They agreed to meet in the following days to arrange a plan for finding and approaching the eversleepers. ‘Noctua,’ Iseult had named the god of dreams as one way to locate the dreaming gods. Zichu acquiesced when the suggestion was relayed, ‘we should step carefully, he is a notoriously tricky god,’ she warned. Iseult nodded, she had gathered as much in her research on the god. It felt so long ago, that she had worked collecting information on the gods in their pursuit of the moribund. She wasn’t sure if she remembered enough about them, or if the information she had gathered would be up to date. Elske would be an invaluable help, she grimaced. He would be unbearable if he found out she had thought that of him.

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‘What are you working on?’ Mejias asked, the next morning, making herself breakfast as Iseult sat at the table, working. ‘I’ve decided to start documenting the gate,’ she said. She had stayed up last night worrying about what she could contribute to their new project, and decided that her research skills would be the most useful thing she could offer, as Zichu and Elske would be the best suited to locating the gods. Mejias peered over her shoulder, looking at the ghostly book she had assembled. ‘The book of the soulgate, huh? Kind of a pretentious name,’ she said, turning back to grind her coffee beans. Iseult bristled a bit, ‘I thought it was fitting.’ Mejias looked back over her shoulder with a smirk. Oh, she had been teasing her. Probably to get back at her for all of her joking from yesterday. Iseult rolled her eyes, scoffing a bit, before returning to her writing.

She had made the book herself, stitching the rough cut pages from a ghost tree. She had hoped when she had started to make a book that would be accessible to both the soul world and the world of the living, but wasn’t sure how to do so. ‘Do you think if I passed the book through the gate it would be accessible to the world of the living too?’ Mejias shrugged, ‘only one way to find out, really.’ Iseult huffed, such an unhelpful answer, but that was teenagers for you, Iseult thought, forgetting that she still technically was one too. ‘By the way, what did it look like to you when Sieni passed through yesterday?’ she asked the girl. ‘Hmm’ Mejias mulled the question, trying to find the words, ‘I could see the souls leave their body, sort of like the puff of a mushroom spore, actually. I wonder if that was just Sieni or if it is different for every god.’ Iseult held up her book, ‘research question noted.’ Mejias giggled. ‘I was actually wondering what would happen for demi-gods and acolytes,’ Iseult began enthusiastic about the new questions created by the gate, ‘we know that devotees are released from their devotions, and I would hypothesize that acolytes will experience something similar, but I have no idea what will happen to demigods. Like, they have godseed, so they accumulate souls that underlie their magic, but they don’t have a corrupted soul. Well, sort of. They have that whole symbiotic thing with their god, though. Do you think they would be released from their parent god?!’ Iseult was getting excited now, despite Mejias’ bored expression. ‘As I said, there is only one way to find out.’ Elske would be interested, Iseult pouted.