Theo stepped through Xol’sa’s portal, standing awkwardly on the first floor antechamber. He had spent most of yesterday—the day he ordered the big metal box from Thim—actually relaxing. For once, he didn’t force himself to push harder, creating whatever land features the town needed, dealing with heavenly problems, or otherwise bogging himself down with concerns. He stood on the bottom floor of the tower, looking at the stairs and hesitating. The alchemist stepped outside, closed the door, and knocked.

It only took a few minutes of pounding for Xol’sa to come downstairs, opening the door with a confused look on his face. “Why are you out here?”

“I didn’t know if… You know.”

A smile spread across Xol’sa’s face. “We lock the door to our chambers, you know.”

“Right. I didn’t want to push, but have you made progress on the interdimensional beacon and tether?”

Xol’sa clasped his hands together, a look of excitement spreading across his features. “For once, I’m able to help you with otherworldly affairs. I have prototypes, and many problems. Let’s head up to my lab.”

Theo followed Xol’sa up the stairs, nodding to Zarali as they passed the sitting room on a lower floor. They found their way to the lab, where several crystalline devices were sitting on a table. The power from within them was familiar, as though they held pieces of the void itself. The alchemist wouldn’t doubt if they did.

“The tether won’t be a problem. You only need to get the shards into the void,” Xol’sa said, gesturing to one device. It must have been the tether. “But you have a massive problem to overcome. Two of them, actually.”

“What might that be?”

“Your first problem is placing the beacons. They need to go to specific spots. That’s bad news, but I have worse news.”

“I love bad news.”

“Many of those locations are in Tarantham. A shockingly high number, actually.” Xol’sa gestured to a map of the world on the wall.

Theo grit his teeth as he looked. Xol’sa had marked eight points on the map for Tarantham, while there were only as many in other places of the world. “What’s up with the density of shards over there?”

“I can only cast the spell that finds their intended location,” Xol’sa said, shrugging. “After being clued into the signature they left, it is trivial for my class core. It does reveal a concerning question, though. You’re right about that. Who and why. Who placed them there, and why. Perhaps the old gods come to roost? I cannot say.”

“Hold on, what’s the second problem?”

“My people,” Xol’sa said plainly. “You’re not planning to abandon them, are you?”

“I have a loose plan.”

“No you don’t,” Xol’sa said, patting Theo on the shoulder. “I know that look in your eye. You’re intending to wing it.”

Theo clicked his tongue. The space elf wasn’t wrong. “I’m facing a difficult problem. I still don’t have a mortal cure. And with the new rules, I don’t know how they’ll react if I bring them to Tero’gal or Khahak. The Realm of Healing—Hallow’s world—is out of the question. That place is off-limits for all mortals. My Dreamwalker’s Core is kinda reluctant to even take me there.”

“You need to better understand the nature of the sickness,” Xol’sa said. “I think the gods have some responsibility in this. You should lodge a complaint.”

Theo offered a nervous smile. “Lodge a complaint with the gods…”

“What happened to you? You would have jumped at the chance to spit in Drogramath’s face.”

Theo thought about that for a moment. Xol’sa wasn’t wrong, but the alchemist had some idea about the true nature of the ascendants before he learned the truth. They seemed too unlike gods to be given the title. But these new gods were gods. Perhaps the space elf did have a point, though…

“I think we can petition Hallow for help. Maybe if I go to the Realm of Healing with Khahar. Actually, I don’t know if Glantheir calls it that anymore.”

“Put it this way. Don’t ask them for help curing the sickness. Ask the gods to tell you what the issue is, and we can work from there.” Xol’sa smacked Theo on the back. “You’re in the rare position to do this, my friend.”

“Okay,” Theo said, letting out a breath.

Before vanishing the way he normally did, Theo considered any chores he needed to do today. Salire could handle the stills for now. They would not jump to the next tier for a few days. Not until the experimentation chamber was completed. Reforming the landscape could also go on the back burner. That left this project. Saving the space elves.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do. But you need to be on standby.”

“Oh, I won’t be leaving my tower for a few weeks,” Xol’sa said, winking.

Theo dropped through the veil in an instant. His Dreamwalker’s Core wrapped in him a bubble of protection as he considered his next destination. Khahak, the Realm of Healing, or… The alchemist angled himself to the bright formation at the center of the system. He sailed through the darkness of the void, almost blinded as he reached his destination. Driving snow assailed his senses as he landed, a raised platform of snow-dusted stone ahead. The twelve spots, representing twelve gods, sat empty. The system stood in the center.

“Hello,” Theo said, waving awkwardly.

“Permission granted,” the system said.

Theo froze, nodding to himself slowly. “I guess I don’t need to verbalize it, huh?”

“You do not.”

“And I’ll just get going now, if that’s okay…”

“It would be best if you did. Approach Hallow’s mark.”

So, instead of diving through the void to make his way to the Realm of Healing, he would dive into some circle on the ground. Whatever the system wanted, it got. Theo turned to look at the figure before stepping on the circle. His eyes glossed over the unoccupied spots. There were still godly positions up for grabs? Interesting.

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Theo felt a strange sensation grab him by the navel and toss him through infinity. It was too different from passing through the void, feeling more like being ripped apart and put back together again. He felt his Dreamwalker’s Core keeping him together. A breath later, he was standing in the House of Healing, looking upon Glantheir… John… Hallow. A man of many names.

“The process is changing by the day,” Theo said, looking around. The realm seemed much as it was before. Perhaps it wasn’t the same exact realm, but it looked the same. The one thing it lacked was elves. A few mingled around the area, but not nearly as many as there were before.

“Nice to see you, Theo,” Hallow said, placing a hand on Theo’s shoulder.

His smile was so warm and inviting, the alchemist considered staying in the realm forever. What did the mortal world matter, anyway? Theo shook his head, unable to dislodge the thought. Then the pressure subsided from the god… A true god.

“Sorry about that,” Hallow said, gesturing for Theo to head to a sitting area on a balcony. “I haven’t had an ascendant in my realm, yet. Not after the recent changes.”

Theo jabbed a thumb at himself. “Not an ascendant.”

Hallow smiled, pointing an opposing finger at him. “Yes, an ascendant. The true definition of the world.”

“Censure!” Void said, springing from nowhere. “I vote for censure.”

Hallow turned, narrowing his eyes at the spiral-faced god. “I’ll say no more. Can I give him the diagnosis for the lost elves?”

Void folded his arms, sighing. “Yeah.”

“They need new brains,” Hallow said with no fanfare.

“Well, that was a tad too specific,” Void said.

Hallow turned to Void, shaking his head. “Do you want the shards back in place, or what?”

“Yes, I would like them to go back.”

“Then let the man work. This will take forever if he has to figure out how to heal them without help.” Hallow looked slightly grumpy at the appearance of the other god.

Theo could tell things were still being ironed out here in the new heavens. They didn’t have decent organization or well-defined rules. The new gods were working things as they went out, and this period where the mortal world was without the shards served as a trial. At least this gave the alchemist wiggle room as he solved the problem plaguing Xol’sa’s people.

“Thanks for the information,” Theo said, bowing his head. “I hope things are going well here.”

“Censure!” Void shouted. “I vote to remove Theo from his position.”

“You can’t remove ascendants,” Hallow said. “That’s the point of the thrones.”

“We can go back to calling them throne-holders,” Theo said, unsure about the confusion the term ‘ascendants’ would cause. “I vote for that.”

“You don’t get a vote,” Void said. “You can leave, now.”

Theo looked around, shrugging. “I have permission to be here.”

“Don’t make me hate you, Theo.” Void glowered.

There was some more information Theo wanted about the old world. How everything had played out before his world was destroyed. Each step led to this new world, and the plots that came with it. Perhaps if he could understand why things had happened back then, he could come to terms with this world. It seemed to him two worlds had been destroyed. But if the restart for this planet went well, that would be the end of the cycle.

“Love you, Void,” Theo said, slipping through the cracks. He felt the god right on his tail, bringing with it an oppressive sense of power. The alchemist appeared in the system’s area, then dropped into the void. Void was right behind him, angling directly for the outer areas of the void. Some time later—it was hard to tell exactly how long—he set foot on the land haunted by space elves. “I really hate this place.”

“As do I, my boy,” Void said, elbowing Theo in the thigh. He couldn’t reach the alchemist’s ribs.

“Why are you talking like that?” Theo asked, patting Void on the head. “And why did you follow me?”

Void cast his spiraled face at the ground. “I admit. You might need help with this one, and it won’t break any rules for me to help you. I’ve said it before, but this place is the void. I have influence over it.”

“But you can’t cure their brain-meat?” Theo asked.

“Only mortal means can do that. I’m the master of the void, not the sicknesses it creates.”

“So, a regrowth potion?” Theo asked. Void shook his head. “Regeneration potion?”

“Nope. You got what you need, though… For now. Wink wink, nudge nudge.”

Theo’s intuition turned over like gears in a great machine. In a snap, he knew which potion he needed to craft to heal the statue-like elves. He spotted some near the forest, lurking around like stock-still goblins. The creepy factor never left.

“I could whip the correct potion up in half a day if I still had my Drogramath cores…”

“Woe is you. Let’s talk about your plan before you head back to the mortal world,” Void said, shaking his head. “You wanna gouge a section of the planet out and take it with you, huh?”

“I knew the new gods could hear better than the old ones.”

“I’m not opposed to it in principle. But it needs to go to a vote in the heavens. Just warning you.”

Theo wouldn’t say it aloud, but he was happy to have the favor of at least three gods. Assuming Void liked him, and wasn’t just putting on a show. With only a few other seats filled, he had nothing to worry about.

“The gods have agreed to do a reset?” Theo asked.

“It wouldn’t be the first reset of this world. Although, we hope it will be the last.”

Theo found his mind falling away from concerns related to moving his alliance. He knew he could do it, if there was enough cause for his Dreamwalker’s Core to bring the place with him. His mind instead swirled around the things he would need to craft a potion for the space elves. The one he had in mind was third tier… technically. Suffuse potions were hard to track, so it might be possible to craft one at the second tier. The process wouldn’t be pretty, and he couldn’t guarantee it would work.

“I’m just happy to have a stock of Troll Blood sitting around… Because who the hell needs Troll Blood?”

“That’s the spirit!” Void said, slapping Theo on the butt. “Sorry, meant to hit your leg. Ahem. Anyway, good luck with all that. Stay here much longer and you’ll be eaten by ravenous space elves.”

“Yeah, screw this place,” Theo said, falling into the void.

The trip back to the mortal world was simple. Theo built a list of things he needed in his mind to make this happen. Working with primal essences would make this easier, and he had a stock of LIghtning Poppy growing based on Tero’gal’s requirements. But his confidence in this plan wasn’t great. Before creating this new potion, he would need to get second tier Tero’gal alchemy working…

Theo landed back where he started, finding Salire working in the lab. As he had expected, she was tending to their new, smaller lab. She greeted him, watching as he rushed to go through their stock of reagents.

“What are you looking for?”

Theo held up a flask of Searing Regeneration Essence. “I found a cure for the space elves.”

“Hooray!”

“But we need to get second tier working now.”

“Boo!”

Theo already had an idea how to get it working. The clues were right before him, easy to pick up if one was experienced with alchemy. During his testing of stills to distill reagents, he noticed something strange. Only two types of stills made it to the final stages with any effectiveness. The one with the paddle, and the centrifuge.

“We’re talking about removing impurities from essence. What better way?”

“Oh. Throk made a few versions of those for you…” Salire dug through a nearby crate, pulling out a few 50-unit stills for him to check.

Now that Theo knew what he was looking for, he dismissed all but one. He wouldn’t use the heating feature on this one, only the spinning action. This was an iteration from the vertical and horizontal shaker. Those had the effect of agitating the contents, while those would have a separation effect. If everything went according to plan, they would squeeze a few more percentage points of purity out of the essence, resulting in a second tier essence.

“Let’s get this set up outside,” Theo said. “Bring some Lesser Healing Essence.”

“Let’s go!”