1. Atla Naps

“Father, they’re almost here,” Atla said.

“I know. Are you nervous?” I asked my world/son/daughter. He/she/it hadn’t exactly confirmed its gender, or whether it would have a gender. I loved Atla, but it was so very young. It had only woken up five years ago, and like any newborn it consumed a significant portion of my attention.

“They’re very strong,” Atla said. “Stronger than you.”

“I know.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“No. Because they might be stronger than me, but they’re not stronger than us ,” I reminded my nervous child-world. “Bonded as we are, we can face any one of them.”

“But if they work together—”

I laughed. I felt the world flush in embarrassment without knowing why it had that reaction. Or at least that’s how a human child would have felt.

“Child, if one of them attacks, then the others will attack them for me. It’s a tricky balance, but it is a balance. That’s why we tugged at fate a little bit so that they all arrived together, remember?” I pointed out.

“Oh yes, that’s right. You already explained that bit,” my nervous child said. “But I can’t hear them like I can hear you. They’re not … they’re not of me. I don’t know what—”

“Everything will be fine, Atla,” I assured the nervous world. “Nobody will expect you to say anything. You’re a world, and although these people can hear the voices of worlds, they’re not used to one being so … vocal as you are. But that’s okay. You’re very young and have many questions, and it is my duty to answer them as your father. But for now, while we have guests, perhaps it is best if you are quiet and allow me to do the talking?”

“Oh, yeah, maybe,” Atla said. “I’ll keep quiet unless I have a really, really important question.”

“I’m not saying you can’t speak, beloved one,” I said. “But the others might hear you if you do, and they might realize how special you are. If they try to take you from me, then, well, I have seen how the strands of fate unravel if that happens and it is best to avoid that future.”

“I don’t think I want to talk to them anyway,” Atla said. “I think I might take a … a nap until they leave. Yes, I will take a nap.”

The world went quiet, and I felt it as the flows of energy shifted ever so slightly. The awareness of the world vanished from my core for the first time in five years.

I sighed in relief.

Newborns were so very, very needy. But I couldn’t be prouder of Atla.

Opening my eyes, I looked out at the forest. Against my back was a peach tree. The same tree that I had planted myself in the forest of the former headquarters of the Six Mountain Sect. The same place where I had first had the Peach Blossom Dream.

Those were simpler times, and so much had changed since then.

It was not the same peach tree, and I was not the same Little Bug.

I reached into the future, a simple trick if you know how to do it, and plucked six ripe peaches from the tree, placing them in a small basket and walking out to the clearing nearby where a large formation was set up. I had built it myself, it was both simple and incredibly complex, but only the surface level was above ground.

Four circles were glowing, and suddenly flashed. Violet, green, red, and another shade of red, slightly darker than the first. A moment passed, and two men, a woman, and a little girl appeared.

I bowed humbly to my guests, but not too low. “Welcome, esteemed visitors, to the world of Atla. I am the world’s father. My name is Little Bug. If you come in peace, then I extend you guest rights.”

The strangers studied me for a second, then one of the men, a large man with a boisterous laugh, burst into laughter.

“Oh you’re its father, are you? That’s a new one,” he exclaimed. “I am Mioji. I accept your greeting, Worldfather. I vow that I have no ill intentions to either you or your world.”

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“This one is Lilayla,” the woman said. “She also accepts your welcome and guest rights in exchange for a promise of nonviolence.”

“Helloooo! I am Omaia! It’s so nice to finally meet you! Did you know that that old coot Loshi burnt all of the roads that lead to this place, so it took us five years to make the journey?” the little girl said.

“You’re older than he is, Omaia,” the younger, slenderer man said. He had crimson hair and emerald eyes, which were quite piercing. “I am Kuto. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Little Bug. Is that truly your name?”

“In this life,” I answered.

Kuto nodded. “Well, I too accept your offer of guest rights and vow that I have only peaceful intentions.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you all. And since you have all agreed, I extend you guest rights,” I said. And I tugged a little bit on Atla’s power, which he/she/it allowed me to flex, and suddenly the avatars before me became just a bit more real than they had been before. More than that, the Qi that flowed through the world was open to them, where before they had been swimming in deep waters.

The four had varying reactions. Omaia clapped delightedly at what she perceived as my skill of mastery over the world. Kuto’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, while Mioji threw his head back and laughed. Lilayla examined her hands in confusion.

“I have to ask, when did you learn to do this?” Lilayla asked. “I confess that my own mastery of my world is not so advanced as this, though I have more of them in my domain.”

“I had a long conversation with a mythril path cultivator once upon a time, in another afterlife,” I answered cryptically. “Now then, I believe that it is customary to give a gift? I offer you each one peach, grown on this tree behind me five years from now.”

I held up the basket, and they exchanged looks. Omaia began to laugh.

“Be nice to him,” Mioji said, scolding the girl that was not a girl. “These peaches are probably very special, but he hasn’t had time enough to cultivate the mortals to make a proper wine or brandy with them.”

He stepped forward and took the largest peach. He bit into it, and the juice exploded on his face. He gasped in shock, then immediately took a second bite. In a moment, the peach was gone, pit and all.

Seeing his reaction, the others each took a peach. They too devoured the entire peach. They looked at the remaining two and watched with mournful expressions as I took the smallest one and ate it. I saved the pit, putting it in my pocket.

“I don’t care who eats the final one,” I admitted. “I wasn’t certain how many of you would be showing yourselves, so I picked extra.”

“You knew I was here?” a fifth voice asked, stepping out from the shadow.

“I sensed a convergence of six strands of fate,” I answered. “I know not who you are or what you can do, only that we would meet here, at the base of the peach tree that I planted.”

“Interesting,” she said. “Is it too late to claim guest rights?”

“If you wish to be my guest, then make the same pledge as the others and you make yourself welcome,” I answered.

“I pledge no violence during this visit,” she said.

“Good enough.” I waved my had and extended her the same privileges as the others, then tossed her the peach, which she also consumed whole.

“I am Shishi,” my fifth visitor said. “You know why we have come? Do you see the future?”

“I see potential futures,” I admitted. “But things never turn out quite the way that I expect them too.”

“You knew that five of us would arrive,” Kuto pointed out.

“Yes. But I was expecting six.”

The others turned and exchanged looks.

“Loshi is being stubborn and stupid. He refuses to acknowledge you as a Xian Lord,” Omaia said, giggling. “But it’s obvious that’s what you are.”

“Is that what I am called, now that I have bonded with the world?” I asked.

“Yup! We’re Xian Lords too, you know?” she said. “Well, I’m a lady not a lord, but you know, you know?”

“I see,” I said. “I will retire to the ruins of the Six Mountain Sect. We will speak in the estate of the former patriarch in two days, where I have done my best to furnish rooms that will be comfortable for all of us. I’m afraid that the sect is empty these days, but feel free to wander until our next meeting.”

The others exchanged looks. “In two days?” Kuto asked. “We are free to do as we wish until then?”

“I ask that you refrain from interfering with the fate of anyone below the golden path,” I said. “But yes, otherwise I see no reason to restrict your movements with unnecessary oaths.”

All at once, the five guests vanished in different directions. I sighed.

“The real gift was the pit,” I said, shaking my head. “You were supposed to plant it, not consume it.”

“Father, are they gone?”

And just like that, Atla was up from his/her/its nap, and I was back to parenting a growing infant.

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