Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

"So, we have a few problems," I told my friends as we left the chasm. "The Realm of Endless Summer, as Atlas calls it, is…complicated. The entire thing is built on very esoteric principles, ones of emotion and disconnection and-"

"It's a webworld," my dad cut in. "Isn't it?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "I've spent time in the Void, Shane, I know about Hanging Lands and the different ways they manifest. Based on what you told me about the fragment you saw and that description, it wasn't exactly a leap."

Abel frowned. "What's a webworld?"

"It's…complicated," I said slowly. "Webworlds are built using spiritual foundations. They're harder to construct, but also harder to break. Your normal Domains are built using a Chronicle as a base, build on top of the legend and into the Void to create a sort of self actualized shallowing. Webworlds still do that, but the construction involves the soul. It's almost impossible to do unless you're born with a freakishly strong one. My grandmother could have made a webworld, for instance."

"She didn't," my mother said with a sigh. "Because they're inherently unstable, and so are the people who make them. The closest thing I've seen to one is the WCP. Your ancestor used webworld concepts to create the absurd accessibility of the Palace. But it's not the same as a real webworld. A REAL webworld can be accessed from almost anywhere when it's properly constructed."

I shook my head. "Not when it's been shattered. Atlas says a broken webworld loses a lot of functionality. Basically entering a fragment can lead you into a shared space where they all connect, but it's not cohesive. Certain fragments connect to certain others, so you have to move through them in order. He says it's going to make Yama less effective, though not INeffective."

"Makes sense," my dad nodded. "And I'm guessing that means we need to enter in specific places. Which is going to be a problem. Do we even know which Hanging Lands we're supposed to be looking for?"

I nodded. "He had some ideas. Webworlds don't break the same as normal realms. When they shatter, they carry through the emotions they're woven out of. The fragments drift to places of meaning to the god in question. Or at least close as they can get in the Void, in this case. I have a list of locations to check, and Yama should help narrow it down, at least."

We stepped out of the chasm and onto the Void Roads without incident. I'd gotten a heading and been eager to be on my way. Knowing Callie would be experiencing a week for every day this took was hell for me. Was she ok? Was the baby? How long would this take?

A hand landed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Zeke smiling at me. "It's gonna be fine, kid," he said quietly. "We're doing well. I've been on a lot of jobs, and a lot of rescue missions. You've kept your head, kept your focus, and assembled a team and the tools you need to succeed. Don't lose it now when we're finally underway."

"He's right," my mom said in her warmest, most upbeat voice. "I mean, remember the time Eli got kidnapped by that fae sorceress and locked in that enchanted tower?"

My dad froze, whipping around to glare at her. "You promised not to mention that ever again!"

"No, that was me," Zeke said, raising his hand. "You didn't ask her to swear because you assumed she was too nice to bring it up."

"Sorry, hon," my mom said apologetically. "But it's for a good cause."

I couldn't help my grin as I saw him sulk. "So dad was a damsel in distress, huh? Why did she kidnap him anyway?"

My mom grimaced and Zeke burst out laughing. "The sorceress in question was obsessed with him. She thought Sasha was a bad influence and was keeping him from his full potential. She wanted him to run away with her, and when he refused she locked him in a tower and tried to force him to be her dark lord boyfriend. He had one window out onto a square she would regularly fill with peasants. The peasants would make wishes, but they were all "evil" wishes."

"They weren't EVIL, they were just STUPID," my dad hissed. "One of them wished that hamsters on that planet could make revenge plans. What does that even MEAN?"

I blinked at him. "Did you grant it?"

"Of course I granted it," he shrugged. "He paid for it. Besides, it wasn't the dumbest wish I granted there. One of them wished to have crab claws for hands. Weirdly, he did not consider all the uses he had for opposable thumbs before asking. I granted that one too, but that was much less annoying. Especially when I had his friend untie his shoe laces."

"You know, I could kind of see you as a dark lord," I said contemplatively. "I'm surprised you didn't just go with it."

He flinched. "Your mother would have plucked out my toenails one by one." My mom glared at him and he coughed, backpedaling. "I mean, that woman was completely ridiculous and I had no desire to engage in that sort of reprehensible behavior, especially not with her."

"Says the man who became a LITERAL devil," I said dryly.

"The devil thing isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be," he shrugged. "We're mostly just a type of fae. I mostly made the switch for the symbolism, though Sasha WAS unhappy about the transformation. We weren't really around each other at the time, unfortunately, but she made her displeasure known with a strongly worded letter."

Zeke snickered. "Like she needed to do anything else. Your dad has always been a sucker for your mom. Anytime she's upset at him he tears his hair out trying to fix it. For someone as disaffected as he is, the idea of his darling wifey being upset with him has a surprising amount of influence over his mental state."

My dad just glared at him. "You know, I can still kick your ass. Just because we're the same rank doesn't mean you're as tough as I am."

Zeke just snorted. "As if I care. If I was worried about that I'd never make fun of Lark."

"You know," the Vampire said dryly. "Someday, I AM going to do something about that. It's not like I leave you be out of fondness. It may surprise you to know that I've never actually liked you."

"Yes, you've always been very clear about that," Zeke said dryly. "In fact, I think your first words to me were 'you, know, I don't think I like you'. But you respect the fact that I'm not afraid of you like everyone else, because they're all, and I quote 'whimpering little sycophantic lickspittles'. Until everyone else stops being afraid of you, you value my input too much to crack down on me."

That had been a surprise to find out. I knew Lark knew my dad, but I hadn't been aware he knew Zeke. They weren't very forthcoming on HOW, but apparently they'd been acquainted for a long time. It was interesting to hear about their pasts, even if I knew they were only bringing it up to distract me. Still, I did need to focus. "Alright, time to pick a direction," I said grimly. "There are a few possibilities, so we'll go with whatever Yama pulls me towards."

The Void wasn't exactly easy to traverse when you were looking for realspace matchups. Space over here was complicated and twisty, often not lining up with realspace properly. This enabled easy travel on the Void Roads if you knew the paths (which basically no one did because the Void was huge and the Roads were absurdly complicated), but it also meant trying to match up the two locations could be difficult if not impossible.

Atlas was able to point me in the general direction of a few places he considered to be likely to be close to one of the fragments we needed, but there were a few of them, and he only had a general heading. Sure enough, when I manifested Yama, I saw the familiar glittering chain stretching off into the distance, turning to point off down the Void Road. "We're going that way. Which, based on Atlas's directions means we're probably headed for Bloodcrest."

"That's unfortunate," my dad grimaced. At my surprised look, he shrugged. "I've been in the Void before, and I do know some general information. Bloodcrest is a particularly attractive hanging land for exiles and criminals. I've visited it myself, and it is extremely dangerous, though admittedly an excellent place to find desperate people to make deals with. I have a few friends there, but there's a small problem. Bloodcrest isn't JUST a hanging land. It's stable, and there are access gates inside it to other realm fragments. No one is quite sure HOW, but it's one of the reasons it's remained so popular."

I grimaced. "Ok, so we'll have to search inside Bloodcrest to find the right gate. Not ideal, but doable. Yama should-"

"It's not that simple, unfortunately," he interrupted. "The Void is huge and dangerous, keeping hold of a hanging land is nearly impossible from the outside, you can only enter and conquer it internally, but Bloodcrest-"

I groaned. "Bloodcrest is a stable independent space full of other stable independent spaces," I groaned. If I knew one thing about Ascendants, it was that they LOVED claiming ownership of things. Especially worlds. With Bloodcrest allowing gate access, I could already guess what my dad was about to say. "The gates are all under the control of other forces, aren't they?"

"They are," he said grimly. "And whats worse, I suspect that there might be more than one gate connected to the lands of endless summer in Bloodcrest. It's an expansive kind of place, and there are a LOT of gates. Your connection is leading us to the right general area, but since we don't know how many gates may be inside, we don't know which of the gates it might be leading to. Bloodcrest might be acting as a sort of signal booster."

"It doesn't matter," I waved him off. "We'll know once we're inside. It might make accessing them more complicated, but it's hardly the end of the world. Do you know anyone there we might be able to hit up for information?"

He grinned. "Oh yes," he chuckled. "A great many people. The Wish Devil was quite popular in Bloodcrest. The WCP doesn't deal with exiles most of the time, but the devils are less selective. Not to mention my power to make unbalanced deals means places like Bloodcrest are excellent sources of desperate people looking to make deals. I made quite an impression on the populace, for good or ill."

I expected my mom to be unhappy, but weirdly she didn't seem bothered. I remember how ruthless she could be sometimes. My mother was a good person, but she was still an Ascndant. You didn't reach A-rank by being squeamish.

"Well, it doesn't matter who knows who until we get there," Abel pointed out. "And the Void Roads aren't exactly safe to travel."

I blinked at that. They'd seemed safe enough to me. But then I remembered a conversation I'd overheard on my last trip. Everyone who was anyone had been at the warfront last time I'd been here. With the tower's descent, the war had cooled somewhat. It had heated up when we got back, but there was no telling if the residents of the Void, spawn or not, had gotten the memo.

Sighing, I shook my head. "Well, we'll see how it goes. Only way to know for sure is to make the trip. Everyone get ready, we move out in ten minutes. We're heading for Bloodcrest." No time to waste, I didn't want Callie waiting for me any longer than necessary.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We were attacked six times on the road to Bloodcrest. None of the attacks were particularly successful, and Lark didn't even need to get involved, but it was still a stark contrast to my relatively peaceful journey on the Void roads not too long ago. It didn't bode particularly well for…well, anything.

Still, over a span of five days, it wasn't TOO crazy. It was, at the very least, a good distraction from the fact that my wife had now been waiting for another month plus. It was frustrating and scary, but I kept my eye on Yama to watch the chain, and I was able to confirm that she and the baby were both safe. In fact, the baby was growing like a weed. The chain looped through Callie's had been getting thicker over time, and I could see how strong she was becoming.

I wondered if the fact that there was only one chain made twins impossible, but given how weird twins could be in terms of souls and abilities, it was also possible there WERE two of them and they just shared one link. Or it could be a factor of them not being born yet, it was hard to say this early.

Still, distraction could only do so much, and when we came within sight of the entrance to Bloodcrest I couldn't help but be relieved.

"Oh hey, another door," Bethy chirped excitedly. "I wonder where this one goes? Maybe to a secret garden full of flying fish? Or like…a mountain of candy." She paused. "Actually, I feel like logistically a mountain of candy would be a problem. Like there would be no way to keep it all clean, it would probably mostly go to waste. You'd need a special environment."

"True," I said with a chuckle. "One of our honeymoon destinations was a candy planet, I think. I didn't think to ask how that would even work."

We arrived at the end of a long line. I was kind of shocked to see so many people out here, given we were in the Void. We hadn't really spotted many humans on the Void roads up to now, just a few stragglers in the distance who made a point not to get close. Here though, there were dozens of people lined up and waiting, so we could only queue up for entry with all the others.

My mom laughed as she got in line behind us. "It's an ecosystem thing. On a fully candy world all the particulates are candy. The dust, the rain, the oceans. A fully enclosed candy ecosystem remains untainted as long as outside factors don't pollute it. Most places like that take measures to prevent visitors from dirtying the place up, purification artifacts being among them. My dad actually does business with some of them."

Bethy perked up. "Can you schedule me a visit? I want to make CANDY wine! It'll be my next big thing. I can sell it at my concerts, delicious candy wine that you can only get while listening to me sing!"

I paused. "That…actually doesn't sound bad," I admitted. "I don't like wine much, but candy wine might be ok. I do like sweets."

Zeke sneered at me. "Philistine," he snorted. "Your childlike palate simply can't appreciate the complexity of a sophisticated vintage. Unlike those of us with more refined tastes. Where did I go wrong?"

I rolled my eyes. "I once saw you accidentally drink drain cleaner because you put your whiskey bottle too close to it on the counter," I said dryly. "You don't get to play the sommelier card you crusty old drunk. Although…how the hell did you even GET drunk on Callus? There's no way you had B-rank booze lying around."

"I didn't," he snorted. "I got lightly buzzed at most. I just pretended to be drunk to give you the freedom to gain life experience."

To my complete shock, scent of truth…detected honesty. Kind of. I was pretty sure that was at the very least shaded in his favor, but still, if there was ANY truth to that statement it recontextualized a lot of my childhood. Zeke hadn't been an absentee guardian, really, but he'd mostly left me to my own devices. It had worked out and he was always there when I really needed him, but I was shocked that had never come up before.

I was snapped out of the confusion by a hand waving in front of my face. "Toll?" demanded an impatient voice.

Blinking, I looked up to find a pair of beefy men in heavy armor glaring at me. One of them had absurdly long hair and a clean shaven face and the other had a huge bushy beard and was bald. It was quite the contrast. I looked at my dad, who reached into a pocket and withdrew a familiar stone. Infinity crystal. He tossed it to the nearest guard who literally bit down on the stone to test its authenticity before waving us in.

"Infinity crystal?" I asked him as we entered.

He nodded. "Bloodcrest is in the Void, and space is in short supply here. Or at least they always need more of it. Infinity crystals are currency here. I always carry some on me just in case, as well as every OTHER type of currency I've seen. Always pays to have a full wallet."

I made a mental note of that. Keeping various currencies on hand for traveling did seem smart, given how much space I had in my Domain. My ring was convenient still for transport… I froze. Everyone turned to look at me, standing just through the door and into the city. "The rings!" I sputtered.

Dashing over to the wall, I tore free a piece of paper and a pen, scrawling a message and dropping it into the paired ring. I stayed stock still, waiting for a second before a message popped up in return. I held it aloft, checking the paper. "I forgot about these things," I read aloud. "I love you too, and obviously you're coming to save me. Good to know about the time difference, I'll be waiting."

I grinned at the others triumphantly. "Our wedding rings," I said excitedly. "They're connected. A shared space that works between dimensions. Even divine artifacts can be put through them. It's how we got the scythe to Black Sorrow after Rackham!"

With a one week to one day time dilation, she had minutes to respond on her side when only seconds passed on mine, which was a relief, but just knowing that she was safe, even discounting Yama, was enough to make me weep with gratitude. I didn't even remember where we GOT the rings, a wedding present I was pretty sure, maybe from my mom, but knowing they provided a connection still was too comforting for words.

My mom was at my side in an instant. "She's alright? Thanks the gods, here give her these!" She started digging out items, shocking them towards me. "These will be good for the baby, and these will help with morning sickness, and this is to help with her feet swelling." She piled items into my arms frantically, and I couldn't help the warm smile. I knew she was worried about Callie for my sake, and because she cared for her, but seeing how much effort and time she put into helping her through the pregnancy.

I tossed it all into the ring, along with a note for my wife. Naturally, she responded in moments, and I smiled as I passed my mother the note. Shaking off my new state of jubilation, I turned to the others. "Alright," I said cheerfully. "We got some good news, but we have a job to do. Dad, who are we meeting up with first? I'd prefer not to break out Yama in the city's front porch. I doubt anyone will be able to tell what I'm doing, but doubt isn't fact."

"Agreed," he said after a glance around. "I think House Ralkyne is probably our best bet. We left things on good terms and they were pretty powerful. Which is nice because it means they're useful AND I didn't take advantage of them too badly. Some of my contacts may be…less than thrilled with me."

"I don't think I want to know what you did," I said, vividly remembering him forcibly conscripting souls on the heirworld. "These Ralkyne people DO actually like you, though?"

"They paid up front," he shrugged. "Too powerful to bully or threaten. Too stable to tempt."

I snorted. "Good to know you have standards. Do you remember where they live? Or do we need to ask around?"

"Nah, I know where they are," he assured me. "Though we need to head to an old haunt of mine first. All my directions are relative to that place, I have no idea how to get anywhere from here. It's not too far though, I don't think. I want to say…that way?" He pointed off to the left uncertainly.

"Oh, well if you're sure," Zeke said acidly. "I'm glad we're not leaving this up to chance."

My dad smiled sweetly at him. "How I about I leave YOU up. On the moon."

"We're in the Void dipshit," Zeke taunted. "There isn't even a moon HERE. Maybe instead of stealing souls you should have charged one of those suckers you conned some common sense."

Lark sighed. "This is truly fascinating interplay," he drawled. "And while I would LOVE to see Elijah send Ezekiel on a lunar sabbatical, we ARE on a job here."

My mom rolled her eyes. "Just tell us where we're going, Eli. What is this old haunt of yours?"

"The Hollow Pumpkin," he said immediately. "It's not far from here. I can't actually see it from here but it's not hard to recognize. Follow me." He gestured in the same direction he'd been pointing, and we all trailed after her. I'll give him credit, he did seem to navigate the streets smoothly, finding alleys and turning down side paths I hadn't noticed. We walked for about ten minutes, before stopping in front of…

I glanced at my dad. "You're kidding me," I said dryly. "I assumed it was a BAR called the hollow pumpkin."

"It is," he shrugged. "It just happens to also be housed inside an ACTUAL hollow pumpkin."

"Well, at least they don't need a sign," I sighed. "You know how to get to our destination from here, then?"

"I do," he admitted. "But it would be smart to check in there. You can look into the link once we're inside. Then once that's done we can use it to pin down which gate we need to access and contact the Ralkyne with all the information. It'll make negotiations easier."

Sighing, I nodded as Bethy squealed with delight. "I bet they have PUMPKIN wine! I bet pumpkin wine tastes so good. I'm totally going to grow pumpkins to make wine out of. Vampires have a natural affinity for pumpkins, you know. There are always pumpkins around when people dress up like vampires."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Abel clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Just…let her have this one," he said dryly. "Plus once she actually tries it she'll change her mind. I've had pumpkin juice before. It's not great. I can't imagine the wine is any better."

Since she heard him, Bethy just huffed and started telling him off, the two of them heading into the building with my parents following behind, accompanied by Lark, Crell, Alanna, and Fade. As I watched them go, I couldn't help but smile. This was far from over, and obviously I wasn't feeling completely better, but the relief of making contact lifted a heavy burden from my soul. Beyond that, all my friends had been doing their best to keep me engaged and upbeat, and I appreciated it. I had the best family in the world. Now I just needed to go make sure it was complete.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The Hollow Pumpkin was surprisingly crowded. I don't know why the word hollow had convinced me the place would be completely empty, but when we stepped inside, I was shocked by just how noisy and energetic it was.

Groups of Ascendants at tables, doing shots, playing cards, occasionally doing something crazy like breathing fire. Once group was playing darts, trying to get the projectiles through moving smoke rings blown by a nearby witness. I winced as one of the darts went stray and hit someone in the face, though he seemed more annoyed than injured.

"I missed this place," my dad grinned. It was honestly weird to see the expression on his face. He smiled sometimes, but it was usually either malicious or the soft kind he rarely sent at my mother. I'd never seen him look so…wild and free.

"Well, well, well," came a lazy drawl from behind the bar. "If it isn't the wish devil himself. I thought I recognized that handsome scarlet mug of yours, Eli."

My dad rolled his eyes, turned to smile back at the woman behind the bar. "Surprised you can recognize anything Serena, given your penchant for dipping into your own product. You still have to order an extra three kegs a week for your own abuse." He snorted, nodding over to us. "Shane, Sasha, come over here and meet a friend of mine. Serena and I go way back. I'm the reason she owns this bar, which is why I drink free here. Serena, this is my son Shane and my wife Sasha. Don't be yourself."

She flipped him off. "I'm so sorry you two have to put up with this insufferable ass. I only knew him for a few months back in the day and I was already sick of him by the time he left. And I never said you drank free here. I have a business to run."

My mom snickered. "Don't let him bully you," she advised. "Eli will push and push until you set some boundaries. We'll be happy to pay for drinks."

Serena shook her head. "I was just giving this idiot a hard time. I'm not gonna charge you. I wouldn't have been able to build this place at all without him." She glanced around fondly, taking in the building.

I followed suit, studying the place, and I had to admit it was kind of cool. The interior of the pumpkin had been hollowed out, but rather than just leaving it to dry, it seemed like they'd coated the walls in some kind of varnish. The texture and look reminded me a lot of dark wood, and it really brought the inside of the bar together.

Along the walls, big iron lanterns hung burning, casting a flickering glow across the slate grey floors (which I was pretty sure had been made with ACTUAL slate), and the furniture was built in a strange boxy design aesthetic with rounded corners that seemed to compliment the pumpkin shape.

"Where did this place come from, anyway?" I asked with interest. "Like, where do you get a pumpkin this size?"

"The Garden of Coloss," she said with a frown. "One of the nearby gates. It used to be the realm of some giant plant god. Everything in there grows huge, but the larger plants are sentient. My family fished this thing out after a huge fight about three hundred years ago. My brother was set to inherit, but Eli…took care of it."

Bethy lit up. "Oh! Did he kill him?"

"What?" Serena asked in confusion. "No, he just helped him get a job working for another local family. Honestly, what's wrong with kids these days?"

I chuckled at that. "Just Bethy being Bethy, she doesn't mean anything by it."

The bartender snorted. "Whatever. My brother needed help acquiring some skills that helped him land a job. Eli hooked him up and he made room for me to take over this place. It was a favor I appreciated, though I doubt Eli himself thought twice about it. He probably only warned me it was coming out of habit. Why reap one benefit when you can reap two, right?"

"That does sound like him," my mother chuckled. "Well, I won't insist if you're sure. I suppose we'd like drinks then. Bethany, I believe you wanted to ask about pumpkin wine?"

"Pumpkin wine?" the bartender asked in confusion. "Who would make pumpkin wine?"

Bethy slumped. "Oh," she sighed. "I really wanted to try that. But I guess pumpkins aren't great for making drinks or whatever."

"What? No we have pumpkin drinks, they're just not WINE," Serena scoffed. "We have pumpkin BEER. Does this look like a damned vineyard to you? The only wines we keep on hand are the local specialties and that weird mushroom wine my brother tried to market before he handed me the place. I've owned it for years and not a single cup of that stuff has ever sold. I spilled a bottle of it once and I think it ate a hole in the floor."

My dad winced. "I remember that stuff. He kept trying to pay me with a case of it. Liquid shouldn't LUNGE."

"It doesn't do that anymore, to be fair," she added brightly. "Well, not unless the mice get too close. But I think I'd consider that to be more like pouncing at this point. We keep it in the basement now though. The cold keeps it docile."

"No," I said immediately as I saw Bethy's contemplative expression. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to buy any of that."

Bethy glared at me, stomping her foot and turning to pout at her dad. He just shrugged. "You swore yourself to his service," he said casually. "Means he's the boss of you. If he says no mushroom wine that means no mushroom wine."

I shot him a deadpan look. "Gee, thanks. I'm so glad to have you here to immediately pass the buck as soon as she gets upset. Truly, I see the courage of the strongest mortal in the universe."

"True strength is knowing when to turn and walk away," he said sagely. "Also my daughter can get very loud when she's upset and she sulks for weeks. Not worth it. But hey, now it's your problem. You and your sister. I just get to spoil her rotten and leave you to deal with all the annoying parts. Thanks for that."

I just stared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be some menacing figure of mystery?"

"Menace and mystery are overrated," he shrugged. "I usually only bother in public. Right now, I'm on vacation."

Chuckling, I turned back to the bartender. "I'll take a…" I glanced at the scrawled menu hanging behind her. "Wizzlefisker?" I frowned. "What is that? And why does it sound like it's covered in gears and probably steaming?"

She snickered, turning and grabbing a large bronze mug. Stepping over a series of taps behind the bar, then started pulling, mixing about a dozen liquids together. Then she grabbed a stick or something out of a nearby barrel and plopped it into the drink. The stick had a metal pinwheel on it, and when she flicked it, the pinwheel let out a high pitched shriek and sparks erupted out of it.

I gave her a blank look, then shrugged and took the mug, taking a cautious sip. "This…what is this? I don't know what the hell I'm drinking."

"Pineapple, orange, grape, apple, a few other assorted fruits cut with brandy and a dash of rum. My own personal blend. The secret is the ratios. If any of the juices are too dominant or not dominant enough it unbalances the taste. If you do it JUST right it combines into something that doesn't really taste like anything else you've ever had." She winked at me. "I'm a Mythic Mixologist."

I chuckled as I took another sip. "This is weirdly delicious. I kind of can't stop. Anyway, you have a place I could use for a bit of quiet self reflection?"

She snorted, then tossed me a key off a nearby hook. She pointed across the building, to a door under a set of stairs bolted right into the outside of the pumpkin, ones that led up to a smaller second story. "We rent that room out for private parties. Should work for what you need."

I nodded as the others ordered their drinks, scooping up the key as walking over to the door. I pushed it open, bumping it closed with my hip, and then set my drink down on the well crafted carved wood table. Then, without hesitation, I triggered Yama. The word was consumed with strings and threads, karmic ties and chains and bonds covering the space around me. The most important was exactly where I knew it would be, right in my heart, strung through with a single ch- I froze.

The red chain within Callie's larger shining chain. It wasn't a single chain anymore. It was two. The two chains were wrapped around each other tight, so I barely noticed until I looked closer. But it had split. I just stared in awe as I processed what I was seeing.

Twins. We were actually having twins. A lot of people had made jokes, comments, even predictions. Hell, I'd made them. But seeing the single chain I'd convinced myself we'd all just been off base. Now though, now I could see it, definitive proof we were going to have two babies.

I reached for a piece of paper, about to send a note through the rings…but I stopped. Callie had said she didn't want to know. I didn't want to ruin the surprise. It wasn't like she was going to be more protective of two babies than one. She'd do her best for our kids no matter how many there were. I smiled mischievously and put my hand down. She'd been the one who asked me not to confirm it. I was just doing what I was supposed to. Eventually though, I snorted and wrote a note anyway. Then I folded it and wrote "Baby secret: spoilers", and dropped it into the ring.

This way she could make the decision for herself, and the worst that could happen was that she figured it out from context based on the tag. I also debated on sending over some juice or something for Callie, maybe the same drink I got minus the brandy and rum. I decided against it because I was worried Belsara might notice the cup so in the end…I just sent her a video.

Picking up an old scan ring, hit the record function. "Hey Cal," I said softly. "I'm sorry it took so long to get in touch, I know it's been months for you. I realize I explained the time difference but I still feel bad. I'm sure you'll be careful listening to this, just like you are with the notes, probably checking them in the vault, but I wanted you to see my face and hear my voice. I wish I was there with you guys, and I will be soon. Just…be safe, be careful, and I know I love you so much."

I slipped the scan ring into the paired rings and waited. To my surprise, it reappeared within about thirty seconds. Which made sense given the time difference, I guessed. When I took it out, I saw a new video saved.

Hitting the button, I watched a holographic screen appear, and almost melted with relief as my wife's face appeared. "Hey hon," she said softly. "We can't do too many of these, because I DO have to watch them in the vault and I can't be in here too much. But I got your notes. ALL of them. Thanks for ruining the surprise, you jerk. All three of us love you too. You be safe too, and we'll see you soon. Love and miss you." The recording cut off, and I stared at the ring for a moment…then I watched it again. I played the video four more times before tossing back my drink and double checking the heading. Then I headed back out to the others.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We spent a while at The Pumpkin. Bethy DID, in fact, try pumpkin beer, and she drank way too much of it, and we all universally agreed that Bethy wasn't allowed to touch beer ever again because whatever Maenad nonsense made her immune to wine didn't work on the stuff apparently. We weren't kicked out, but we WERE asked very firmly to leave and come back another day, and none of us could really argue.

Rather than head right over to House Ralkyne, we decided to stop at a local inn my dad knew to rest before meeting our potential allies. If it had been before, both the stop and the rest would have been unthinkable to me, but after actually hearing Callie's voice and knowing she was ok, I was more willing to take my time. I was still determined, but I wanted to go in as deliberately as possible. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, as Abel had said to me more than once during training when I was starting out.

When we woke up the next day, we headed right over to meet them, and it didn't end up being a long walk. The place we arrived at was…unsettling. It was carved from the stone of a cliff, one that had been pared down over time into a huge hulking building that seemed to all be one big piece. Built right into the side of a mountain, the walls and entrance were formed from dark, jagged stone shot through with veins of flickering ruby gemstone. It was gorgeous to look at, but something about it seemed almost malicious, like the rock was watching and waiting for us to turn our backs.

"This place is creepier than I remember," my dad said, squinting up at the towering edifice. "Suddenly this feels less like a good idea."

My mom smacked him upside the back of the head. "Don't say that out LOUD in front of Shane," she scolded. "It's way too late to back out now." She shot me a warm smile. "It's fine, honey, we'll be out of here in no time, tracking down Calliope and my TWO GRANDBABIES!" she all but squealed the last part. Or rather, she did squeal it, and I had to wince at the volume, even as the sentiment made me smile.

My mother had been ecstatic when she found out that we were having twins, and had been at least partially responsible for Pumpkin Beer Bethy when she INSISTED on making multiple toasts to the babies. It had been sweet and deeply appreciated, at least until it resulted in our expulsion from The Hollow Pumpkin when Bethy somehow bit the building and started draining it of Impact, causing the roof to partially collapse.

"Can I help you?" came a quiet, almost whispered voice.

We all jumped, turning to find a massive, pale man with long dark hair looming over us. His eyes were deep set and surrounded by dark circles, and his back was hunched, as if he was bending over to avoid some invisible doorway that was too short for him to walk through. His gaze was weirdly intense, and his eyes burned with a strange dark light that reminded me of way the red glow reflected off the stone behind him.

My dad grimaced at him. "Dawkins," he said distastefully. "You're still here. Lovely. I'd hoped you were dead by now."

The tall man's eyes flicked to my dad, who he'd been studiously ignoring. "Ah, the peddler. Come to sell more of your snake oil? Why, it feels like it was only yesterday you were here, making a general nuisance of yourself and being a bad influence on the young lord and lady. I confess, I too had prayed for your demise, I suppose my pleas for divine mercy went unanswered."

"Then I should probably thank you," my dad said sweetly. "Given how unpleasant you are there's a strong probability at least one or two of my miraculous survivals in the last fifty years were the gods spiting your prayers."

"Hello," my mom said, stepping between them. "Apologies for my husband, we've been trying to house train him but he's having some trouble learning to go outside. Please don't take any offense. We're here to speak to House Ralkyne." She waved sheepishly. "My name is Sasha, and this is my son Shane and all his friends."

One thing I hadn't really consciously noticed about my mother up to this point was how…persuasive she could be. She was a warm, caring, charismatic person, and she just had this sort of natural charm to her that made it impossible to ignore her.

Most of the time it wasn't obvious, but when she actually turned it on, it was easy to see why she was the only person I'd ever even heard of who could influence my father. It was impressive to see her dazzle a random person in real time though, and I wasn't really prepared to watch the conversational whiplash as Dawkins shifted gears from vocally hating my dad to being charmed by my mom.

"Oh, well…I suppose that's alright," he said uncertainly. It's hard to be pissed at someone who is being genuinely friendly to you, and my mom had always managed to sound incredibly sincere whenever she spoke. It was definitely coming in handy here. "What are you looking to discuss?"

"We need a guide," my dad cut in. "Specifically, we want to hire Stanley."

Dawkins whirled to glare at him. "How DARE you! The young lord is not some…servant for you to employ at your convenience! He is an honored and dignified member of House Ralkyne and far beyond such petty concerns as your nonsensical errands."

"Well damn, Dawkins," my dad said acidly. "I didn't realize you'd been adopted into the family. That IS what happened, isn't it? Because you MUST be a member of the Ralkyne line to be making definitive statements like that on behalf of the heir apparent. You must be pretty high up, too, if you expect him to listen to you."

The big man's mouth snapped shut, and he glared at my father. "I will…" he bit off his words, grimacing like he was physically forcing them out. "Alert the young lord to your presence," he hissed. "And defer to his judgement."

"Of course you will," my dad said with a smug grin. "Because you're a very good dog, aren't you? Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are!"

Dawkins looked seconds from lunging across the gravel at my dad, but eventually forced himself to calm down and then whirled and stalked away. My dad grimaced as he left. "I REALLY don't like that guy." He said idly.

"We noticed," I glared at him. "But what the hell, dad? We need these people to help us, why are you antagonizing their doorman?"

"Because he's not a doorman," he corrected. "Dawkins is more like a butler. And he's not THEIRS. He works exclusively for Culver Ralkyne. Culver is the nominal lord of the house, but he's a recluse and is rarely around. Dawkins does odd jobs for Stanley and his sister Violetta, but is mostly a spy for their father. Neither of them can stand the man, and they take a special joy out of seeing him angry."

I blinked at him. "Wait…that was a show for the people we're here to see?"

"No," he said bluntly. "I just really hate that guy. But it will also most likely amuse Stanley. As for Dawkins himself, I could care less what he thinks or wants to do to me. If he tries anything I'll turn him inside out and drown him in a tub of lemons. Seriously, I cannot begin to describe how deeply unpleasant of a human being that old man is. I've met actual slimes that are less slimy, and cuddlier cacti."

My mom nodded. "Noted. I'll keep an eye on him. Do you think I played that wrong, then?"

"Nah," he waved her off. "Your instincts were good. Dawkins isn't completely ineffectual, and having someone in his good books won't hurt. I doubt Stanley and Vi are going to hold basic politeness against you. This way, we get the best of both worlds."

I blinked at them. "Wait…you guys did that on purpose?"

"Your father was being aggressive," my mom shrugged. "Which meant I could be passive. You'd be surprised how many situations require both carrot and stick. Why do you think I smacked him. It was one of our signals, telling him how I planned to proceed. There were a few verbal responses that would have changed my trajectory, but he let me run it my way, which I always appreciate."

That was actually really impressive. "How many scenarios have you guys gamed out like that?" I asked carefully.

"More than a few," she smiled. "We've been married for quite a while, Shane. We might not have a soul bond like you and Callie, but we know each other about as well as two people can. Chances are good that if you catch us bickering or interacting in a way that seems odd, there's a reason for it."

I thought back to the number of times I'd watched them snipe at each other. My mom being occasionally pushy, my dad being a grump. Thinking back, almost all of those times had been when something else had been going on. Maybe I'd needed distracting or maybe the situation was tense. Maybe they'd ALL been for other reasons and some of them were just ones I hadn't been able to put my finger on.

Seeing my silent contemplation, my mom just smiled. "Trust, Shane," she said warmly. "Is the most important bond a husband and wife can have. Remember that. Your connection with Callie is magical and special, but it's not all you need. All the empathic sensing in the world is useless without trust. Your marriage doesn't work so well because of the soul bond, it works because of how you use it. To open up to each other. To communicate. That's what makes the two of you such an amazing couple, and it's going to be what makes you even better parents." Her eyes took on a sad shimmer. "Better parents than we were, by far."

My dad put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and she gave us both a forced smile. I could tell she didn't want to burden me with her guilt. Her wish was granted by the most unlikely of accomplices. Dawkins.

Returning in a huff, the butler stalked out of the opening in the cliff house angrily. "The young lord and lady await you in the solar." He said stiffly.

My dad nodded casually to him, then grabbed my mom's hand and tugged her along behind him as he strolled inside. Shooting a glance at Abel, I gestured my friends to follow as I trailed behind them. Abel caught up pretty quickly. "So, your dad was right, this place IS creepy."

"I know," I admitted. "But there's not much to do about it at this point. We're here, and my mom is right. We need them. We don't have time to do this the slow way. My heading from Yama tells us where to go generally, but there are quite a few gates around here and most of them are protected."

We needed Stanley as a guide to tell us which gate we were looking for. If we just followed the chain, we might stumble into one that was just between us and where Callie was, or run into one we couldn't access at all. The Ralkyne were power players here, and they were exactly what we needed to find the right gate. Which meant I'd play whatever games they wanted and go into the creepiest houses they had if it got me this meeting and their help. Callie was waiting, and I was going to be there as soon as I could.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The interior of the Ralkyne house was just as unsettling as the outside. The same black stone and red veins permeated the inside of the house, but more than just the materials made it jarring. Somehow, the angles of the place seemed wrong. Jagged lines where none should be disrupted the flow of vision, while outcroppings and growths occupied places that seemed discordant in a way that was difficult to quantify but no less real for the confusion.

"These people should fire their decorator," Bethy noted clinically. "I get wanting to be spooky and stuff, but this is just tacky. The lines are so choppy."

Abel groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bethy, there's an A-ranker within earshot, and I'd be shocked if the guy who owns this place isn't S-rank. Can you not make comments about their house when the butler is right there?" He pointed at Dawkins, who had stopped and turned to glare at our cheerful vampire.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Lark said airily, his eyes locked on the larger man. "I'm sure Mr. Dawkins has better things to do than take out his frustration at his employer's poor decorating choices on my daughter. Don't you?"

Dawkins, who had previously been turning to glare at Bethy, froze in place as the sensation of a very large predatory eyeing him up rolled over the hallway so heavily even the rest of us could feel it. He stared at Lark out of the corner of his eye, body stiff, and I could see him trembling slightly under the regard. "Of…of course," he rasped. "I'd never dream of imposing on such a lovely, well mannered young lady."

Lark prowled forward, clearly having taken my dad's comment about Dawkins to heart. Lark loved to mess with people, and having found a target who aroused his ire, it was clear he wasn't going to let it go. He put an arm around Dawkins hunched shoulder, pulling him down at what must have been an uncomfortable angle. "See," he said in a blandly cheerful yet somehow deeply threatening voice. "That's not what I said. I said that you wouldn't take out your employer's bad taste on Bethany. Do you agree with that statement? You should confirm verbally."

Dawkins looked terrified, and he nodded quickly. "I…I do. I think the manor is…gauche. I dislike the decor as well. It is the height of garishness."

"See," Lark said, letting him go. "What a friendly, approachable person. This is the kind of help you want to hire to watch your house. Assuming, of course, you have a house that dosn't suck so they don't have to stew in resentment at being forced to work there. Cheer up Dawkins, I'll make sure to tell your boss about your feelings when I meet him. I'm sure he'll be happy to work with you on the decorating to make this place more suitable to your tastes."

Still shaking, the butler stalked ahead, trying to put space between himself and the terrifying vampire.

"Don't you think it's a little crass to bully the help?" my mom said reproachfully.

Lark shook his head. "It was subtle, but there was a flash of killing intent aimed at Bethany when he started turning. He's lucky I didn't peel off his skin and nail it to the front door. Remember kids, predators can always sense when you have the intent to kill. If you don't have a way to restrain that aura, try to keep your planned reactions nonlethal."

I blinked at that. I hadn't realized he could do that, but then, I was pretty sure Bethy had demonstrated similar sensory abilities. I'd seen her track people through abstracts like that before, so it made sense Lark would be even scarier.

Previously I'd felt kind of bad for Dawkins, but hearing he'd been thinking about killing Bethy washed that away quickly. What kind of asshole gets homicidal over decorating critiques? My dad hadn't been kidding about how unpleasant that guy was. Luckily, we didn't need to spend much time with him, following along until he reached a large open plan room in the upper story of the house. "The young lord's solar," he said, stepping back and bowing as he gestured us in.

We nodded back, dismissing him from our minds as we stepped inside to find a pair of people waiting for us.

Stanley and Violetta Ralkyne were interesting. Thin and fine featured, with deep olive skin and lilac hair, the two of them were dressed in what I could only describe as historical imperial dress. Violetta wore a voluminous gown with short cropped sleeves leading into lace demi gloves, and Stanley wore a frilly looking suit with a ruffly ascot tied at the neck and a literal monocle set over one eye. They each smoked a carved wooden pipe covered with complex designs, the black material covered in the same red veins as the stone of the manor.

"Eli," Stanley said with a grin, leaning back and puffing his pipe. "Welcome back! I see you haven't lost your sense of humor."

My dad grinned at him. "I know how much you hate Dawkins. He still trying to poison you?"

"Only on days that end in Y," he said dryly. "He's recently begun pumping it through the vents. We use the pipes to neutralize the toxins. I wouldn't worry too much about yourselves, it requires long term exposure and he wasn't trying to kill us anyway."

"Your butler is trying to poison you?" I asked skeptically. "Isn't that like…the opposite of what he should be doing?"

He chuckled. "You would think so. But Dawkins finds our handling of house affairs undignified and uncouth. In the event of illness or unfitness for duty, custody of the house would be remanded to him. He's been trying to arrange for myself and Vi to have a survivable but deeply inconvenient 'Accident' for years now. The poison started when we were about twenty or so. I suspect he was worried about stunting our growth if he used it earlier."

"That's…really messed up," I pointed out bluntly. "In a bunch of ways."

"It's life," he shrugged. "We've been trying to kill him for just as long. Old bastard just won't die. We need to be subtle about it, you see. He works for my father, which means he's technically protected. I think the last time was…damn, was it the locusts in his wardrobe?"

Violetta shook her head. "It was the chandelier," she reminded him. "The locusts were before the exploding cigar box. After the tiger in his bathroom."

He grimaced. "We didn't think that one through. That tiger has been wandering around for years now. I think it snatched one of the maids last week. Hard to say though. Obviously it keeps eating the evidence. She might have just quit."

"It PROBABLY would have wandered off if you hadn't spent months leaving meat out for it," she scolded. "But please, have a seat. I'm sorry we've been boring you with our petty family squabbles. What can we do for you?" She said this like she hadn't just described multiple murder plots and a literal wild animal loose on the premises, and my dad apparently decided to just go with the vibe."

"This," he said, jerking a thumb at me. "Is my son, Shane. He seems to have misplaced his bride, and we were hoping you might help us locate her. We've managed to trace her to the area, but all we have is a general direction, and given the gate density…"

Stanley nodded. "You're concerned you might waste time entering the wrong gate. What do you know about where she's being kept?"

I sighed in relief. "It's called-"

"Wait," my dad said immediately, cutting me off. "We discuss payment first." I was about to interrupt, declaring that I didn't care what I had to pay, but he cut me off with a sharp glare. Realizing that giving up our leverage might not be a good idea, I settled back to let him do his thing.

Stanley smiled brightly. "Payment? Don't be silly. You did so much for us last time you were here. We'd be honored to help, no charge."

"That's kind of you," my dad said flatly. "But we couldn't possibly impose."

The young lord chuckled again. "Oh, very well. I suppose we can discuss compensation if you insist. What's your offer?"

My dad snapped his fingers, holding out…something. I had no idea what it was, actually. I'd never seen anything like it. It reminded me slightly of an infinity crystal, but the facets were full of swirling silver starstuff, with flickers of strange grey lightning playing through it. While I didn't know what it was, it was clear Stanley very much did. His breathing stopped. "An infinity mineheart?" he breathed, his eyes transfixed. "Where did you-" he reached for the object but my dad pulled away.

"Questions aren't confirmation," he said mildly. "Do you accept the terms?"

"You didn't name any terms," Stanley protested. "I can't just agree to a blanket request for hel- wait no stop! I'll do it! I'll help you! However you need and for as long as necessary!" He tried to argue, but as soon as my dad made the crystal vanish he surged to his feet desperately. My old man smiled, withdrawing the crystal again, and then produced a contract. He set the crystal and the page down on the table, then handed the other man an old fashioned feather pen.

Stanley glared at him, but took the pen, reading over the contract with his teeth clenched before signing it quickly, then snatching up the crystal. "Now," he said tightly. "What do you know about where she's being held?"

"It's called the land of endless summer," I said confidently.

He stared at me for a moment, waiting. "Ok, and?" he said slowly. "Most of the gates here open to unclaimed world fragments no one has ever identified. We don't KNOW their names, so we give them new ones. Knowing what it used to be called is not helpful. What's the directionality, what special features does it have?"

I blinked at him. I hadn't considered that. "I mean…time passes different there? Seven times faster, from what I can tell. And I think it's a forest, or at least contains one. Heading from here is about fifty eight degrees northwest." It took me a second to calculate that based on our new position, but not much longer than that.

He hummed, considering what I'd said. "Four," he said after a moment. "I can name four different gates that might apply to." I grimaced, and despite not seeing my face, he grinned at me. "Don't be too discouraged. Four isn't bad. There are a lot of gates here. I can get you access to three of them. The fourth I can make an introduction for, but securing entry is up to you. Agreed?"

"That's fine," I confirmed. "I can enter the first three to check, and we can address the fourth on the off chance it's none of those." A seventy five percent chance of finding the right place wasn't bad.

Stanley chuckled again, leaning back and taking a deep puff on his pipe. "I'll need to make arrangements for entry. None of the gates in question belong to Ralkyne. We have good relationships with the forces who do control them, however, so it won't be too much trouble to secure your passes."

My dad nodded solemnly, clearly pleased with how things had gone, then he leaned back and smiled. "Excellent. Now. As per the terms of the contract, you'll be putting us up while we're here. Why don't you show us to our rooms."

It was hard not to laugh at the sour look on Stanley's face as he snatched up the contract to read over it again. I knew there was a reason I'd let my dad be the one to make the deal. I wondered if meals were included?

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I woke up the next day feeling refreshed. It felt…good to sleep properly, to let myself unwind. Now that we were so close, I felt like I could breathe for a minute. Not too long, mind, I had work to do, but it was nice not to feel like an axe was hanging over my wife's head for a minute. Reaching for my ring, I checked it for messages, and I had to smile when I found a note.

"Morning lazy bones," I read aloud. "I assume you're sleeping like a log while I'm being kept permanently awake by your children, I hope you fall and can't get up. PS, I love you."

I rolled my eyes, sending a quick message back. I told her good morning, said I loved her, and asked her if she wanted me to send her some scrolls from my stockpile. To my surprise, she informed me that she didn't need them. Apparently she was a local celebrity, which wasn't too surprising, and she was getting a substantial income of points just from the notoriety. On top of the income from news of her kidnapping making the rounds, she was looking at potentially making it to A-rank before I found her.

Of course, she wasn't quite ready for that breakthrough, she didn't have enough pages bound, but she had nothing but time there, and had been hard at work over the last four months.

On the one hand, I was happy my wife would be able to protect herself better, but on the other…I hated knowing we'd been apart so long from her perspective. How far along were the babies? I was too scared to ask, and she hadn't told me. I was sure she was worried it would hurt me. If I missed their birth…or worse, missed MORE than that, I didn't know what I'd do.

Closing my eyes, I climbed out of bed. If I couldn't get there now to help, I needed to improve myself. My previous ease was gone, replaced with steely determination. If Callie didn't need the scrolls, I would use them.

Of course, I needed someone to use them ON, but I had a few people with me that I was sure could help. So I dragged myself to the bathroom, showered (even this had lost its luster) and strode off to find my friends…only to become IMMEDIATELY lost. The interior of Ralkyne Manor wasn't just creepy, it was also CONFUSING. All the hallways and walls looked the same, and while impressive, it made finding anything nearly impossible. Finally I just gave up and triggered Dantalion.

I smiled in satisfaction as the flood of information rolled over me, and I followed the proper turn to the room where Abel was staying. I knocked on the door, and he opened it within moments. He blinked as he took in my expression. "Hey Shane," he said slowly. "What's up?"

"Wanted to see if you were interested in trading some points," I asked with a shrug. "I'll ask the others too, but I figure you might benefit from aligning your stats a bit. Just don't go overboard, obviously." We'd seen from Jessie how much good specializing could do, but my own situation was proof positive that letting your stats get too unbalanced could also be a detriment.

He hummed with interest. "I mean, I'm not AGAINST that. I've got a hundred million to play with. If I skim a bit off everything I could seriously boost my might."

"Perception is a particular priority at the moment," I said wryly. "Though I know you use that one more often than not. Still, I'm sure you can spare something. Anything at all would be useful. I need all the help I can get."

"I'm sure you'll be netting some Perception," he pointed out. "I mean, you're currently off on a tracking mission that everyone in the WCP knows about. I'd be expecting a big bump."

I blinked at him, but realized he was probably right. Of course, I'd probably also be netting a ton of Focus, but I wasn't exactly displeased with the idea that I might be able to balance my Perception a bit. Though now that I recognized that, I realized my next flame would probably need to be Focus based to balance out the Perception.

Following him inside, I started pulling out my scrolls. I was JUST about to have him start wishing, however, when a loud, rapid knocking sounded at the door. Frowning, I walked over and pulled it open to find Bethy, Crell, Fade, and Alanna.

Bethy waved excitedly. "Hey boss!" she chirped. "We doing wish stuff? I wanna!"

Abel groaned behind me. "Sure, everyone come on in. Might as well make it a party, anyone bring any booze?"

"Um, only DUH!" Bethy squealed as she burst into the room, two huge bottles of wine appearing in her clenched fists. "Now you're speaking my language Abner! Come on, lets all get hammered and wish to be fuzzy mammals!"

"We JUST took the wine from you," Crell frowned as he pried the bottles from her fingers. "We can't afford to get drunk in this place. Don't you feel how creepy it is? We're here to help Shane, because he won't be able to focus on balancing his stats right if he only has one person to work with. Am I wrong?"

I shrugged. "I mean, not really, that's a fair assessment. Even distributing things evenly wouldn't be enough, I'd be worried about unbalancing Abel's build."

"Exactly," he nodded sagely. "So instead you unbalance ALL of our builds. Just…y'know. Less."

Sighing, I gestured to the nearby table, where I started laying out the scrolls. They dug into the pile, getting started right away, and I waited for the influx of stats before I allowed myself to FINALLY relax and process the weeks of pent up power.

Wishmaster status. A-rank. Ability: Mythic Wish- Eleven times a day grant a Mythic wish in return for proper compensation. Wish must be feasibly achievable by the candidate's own efforts within a three day period with current statistics.

Mythic Path of the Demonbinder- The Domain of a Great King.

Might-99,654,183()

Impact-285

Fantasy-46,472,182

Vitality-57,118,871 ()

Focus-84,434,651

Perception-75,501,420

Creation-47,829,243 ()

Progress to next rank: 411,010,835 /1,000,000,000

Soul strength- Mercury Soul Body

Body Forging: Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art- 36/81 drops- First Layer (Life Nova) 9/9, Second Layer ( Cosmic Phoenix) 9/9, Third Layer (Ruin Phoenix) 9/9, Fourth Layer (Arcadian Phoenix) 9/9

Chronicle: Myriad Demons Manual (pages bound:100- 4 Zagan, 1 Leviathan, 1 Beelzebub, 9 Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art, 3 Limbo, 3 Overlay, 9 Mephistopheles, 1 Song of Arcadia, 1 Cosmic Waltz, 7 Life Nova, 9 Angelic Bond, 1 Wisdom of Solomon, 12 Dantalion, 2 Sammael, 1 Cosmic Collapse, 1 Cooking, 1 Double Trouble, 13 Doom Sovereign, 9 Azazel, Song of Arcadia 12)

wish scrolls stockpiled: 0 (5 in the possession of friends to be used over time)

Domain size: 108 miles

Soul supported stat number: 25,000

Bonded companion: Archimedes (Life Nova Phoenix)

Weapon: Pillar of Goetia

The influx of strength was, frankly, kind of staggering. Not really in relation to the amount of power I HAD, but relative to what I EXPECTED. I'd netted more than a hundred and fifty million points. That was substantial, even for the Wishmaster. Granted, six or so mil of that was from the scrolls, but the fact that it was such a substantial boost was still kind of absurd.

When I mentioned the total to Abel (because I needed to tell SOMEONE), he just rolled his eyes.

"You're on a vengeance quest to save your pregnant wife who got kidnapped by a long dead goddess, AND you recently hit A-rank. At twenty one. I don't think you understand quite how absurd all that recursion is getting at this point, Shane. A-rank is a BIG deal. I asked around. It took Aiden a decade, even after becoming the wishmaster. Your growth, your accomplishments, your travels…it's a potent mixture. Bringing the void gods to the table, even if not all of them, bringing Elonwy to teach people how to possibly become gods, you've done a LOT. For the WCP and this universe as a whole. People notice."

I blinked. I hadn't really looked at it like that. I mean, I knew hitting A-rank so young was impressive, but it wasn't like it was just me. Abel was A-rank now, as were Bethy…and it occurred to me that I had just listed the two most freakish geniuses I had ever met as my measuring stick for what was normal progression. Maybe he had a point.

"Well…at the very least I got some much needed relief from that Focus imbalance," I groaned. I hadn't QUITE equalized them, but it was a lot closer now. I'd poured all those scroll points into Perception to help, and it had clearly done the trick, at least combined with whatever income I got from rumors of this mission. I wondered how much of those rumors my own people had started, and how much was just the normal leaky faucet of the rumor mill. I honestly didn't care if it got me strong enough to save Callie, and I was pretty close to halfway through A-rank now, which definitely didn't suck.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I'd been way too busy for my proper training, which meant I hadn't even started in my fifth layer of nine phoenix. I had the flame on hand, but I was just so swamped I didn't have to do the work. At the very least, I knew Nine Phoenix himself was working with Gaze of Certitude to form the template, and that was assuming it wasn't already done.

But still, I felt good. Strong. I knew the extra power would help me on my journey back to Callie and the kids. I just needed to actually get GOING on that journey. I turned to Crell and the others. "We get any feedback from the Ralkyne yet? I assume my parents are with them now?"

"Last I checked," he nodded. "As for feedback, nothing yet. They claim they can't rush the responses. They sent out feelers, and now we just need to wait for access to the gates. The three he can get us access to, at least. The fourth…well, Stanley said he set up that introduction, it's up to you when to accept the invitation that came with it. He said you'll be expected to attend a formal dinner."

I frowned at that. "By myself?" I asked suspiciously. That sounded like an ambush waiting to happen.

"You can bring a plus one," he said with a headshake.

"Oh! I want to go! I'm your master of challenge, right?" Bethy bounced in place excitedly. "I want to go and show off at the party and let everyone so my sick dance moves. I learned this really fun one from Benny where you move your arms like a cyborg."

I snorted. "That's why you're NOT going," I cut her off. "This isn't a game. It's a serious meeting with political ramifications. Plus there's a ninety percent chance your dad would follow you, and if someone made a rude comment, drown the whole place in a sea of blood. Since we need them to presumably LIVE to help us, I think bringing someone more political would be useful."

Crell winced. "It's gonna be me, isn't it? I hate when it's me. Can it be someone else? Please? Anyone? You could bring that coatrack. It looks very stoic." He pointed across the room at a wooden coat stand.

I rolled my eyes. "Suck it up. You've been raking in the points as one of my cabinet. Time to pay up. I don't want to be there any more than you do, so watch my back, tell me if I'm about to offend someone, and don't let me drink poison." I paused. "Or eat poison. Help me avoid poison in general." Oddly, he didn't seem comforted by my comment. Strange.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So," Stanley said as we took our seats across from him. "We have your meeting scheduled for the Moonfiend Grotto. We're not on the best terms with the owner, but he's not EXACTLY an enemy. You'll need to pay the entrance fee yourselves, but without us, you'd never have gotten the chance."

I nodded. "The Moonfiend Grotto is one of the four? What about the other three? The ones you CAN get us into."

Personally, I doubted the Moonfiend Grotto fit the bill, given the whole trees thing, but Stanley knew what he was doing. He seemed to notice the brief hesitation, but didn't mention it, moving on to answering my question. "Autumn Dusk, Red Desert, and The Burning Plains. That's what WE call them, anyway. Most of them are HUGE, mind, but they all have trees somewhere in them. Regardless, those three are held by allied forces. Moonfiend Grotto is owned by the Bad Doctor, and he's no friend of ours, but like I said, we got you in to see him."

I cocked my head. "The Bad Doctor?"

"He owns the local hospital," my father said grimly. "Not that anyone goes there on purpose. It's the kind of place you take people who are probably going to die anyway. Sometimes he saves them. Sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes the former is worse."

"Sounds lovely," I said dryly. "Are we going to have problems if we go in there?"

He shook his head. "The Doctor is a scavenger. He takes people who can't fight back, but he tends to avoid dealing with the healthy. He CAN do it, mind, and it's messy when he does, he just considers it a waste of his valuable time."

I grimaced. "Got it. So what does this have to do with a gala?"

"A formal dinner," Stanley corrected sternly. "It's ostensibly a fundraiser for the hospital, but in reality, he holds them to identify potential subjects for his experiments. It's not unusual for an offer of expensive materials or medical aid to be tendered in response to him spotting a subject he takes a shine to."

"And people just LET him do this?" I asked in disgust. "No one stops him?"

Stanley grimaced. "Bloodcrest is…fraught. Danger around every turn. But more than that, it is a place of darkness and despair. In such venues, certain in demand skillsets can be difficult to come by."

Violetta rolled her eyes. "He means healers don't stick around. The Bad Doctor is a Bad doctor, but he's still a doctor. They're in short supply here. Alienate the Doctor and maybe the next time you get sick you don't get better. Maybe you die of your next injury. Maybe while you're IN the hospital. Or maybe you don't and just wish you had."

I gritted my teeth. That was horrible. Holding medical treatment over a whole town like that. I had the urge to take him out myself, but given the rest of them didn't bother, I was assuming that it would just make things worse. I'd just need to make my deal with him and be on my way. For now. On the way BACK however…well, that was a whole other ballgame. "So, when is this dinner?"

"He has them regularly," Stanley shrugged. "But the one we got you into is tonight. That was why I asked you down here. If you're going to be attending, there's a certain…dress code. I'm afraid your current apparel is unacceptable."

I scowled, looking down at my armor. The seal was an important part of my kit, though it was in dire need of an upgrade. I supposed I didn't need to have it on me, in any case. I could store it in Gehenna and still get the benefits. "How much are these clothes going to run me?" I asked him cautiously.

"Not much," he assured me. "My tailor is under contract, and she can just adjust some of my formalwear. Shouldn't be more than…six crystals?"

Without moving my head, I glanced over at my dad, who shook his head minutely. I let out a snort. "Six? I wasn't born yesterday. I think we can do a little better than that, don't you?" I left him hanging on purpose, since I had no idea of the actual value I was aiming for.

He chuckled at that. "Just testing. How about five?" Another head shake. I shut him down again. Finally, he sighed. "Four," he said with a sour look. "And you can keep the clothes after." That got a nod, so I agreed, and we shook on it. After that, I was sent upstairs to a cramped room with drapes along the walls and too many mirrors. An elderly woman who was so thin she looked like a skeleton with a cloth draped over it. I was kind of shocked, because she was A-rank, and that level of aging meant she was OLD, but I didn't say anything, just letting her poke and prod me for about twenty minutes.

She stuck me with way too many needles for someone who had to be rocking at least a Mythic skill in tailoring, but I kept my mouth shut and let her do her thing. Finally, when it was over, she quickly slipped me into the new clothes and showed me to the mirror.

I stared at myself in the reflection with interest, turning back and forth to get a good angle. "I look hot," I said smugly.

"Are you done?" Crell groaned from behind me. "Because we need to go or we're going to be late. Not that I mind the idea of not spending more time with the creepy murder doctor, but I'm pretty sure we want to make a good impression."

Sighing, I nodded along, following him downstairs. Outside the manor, to my surprise, a vehicle waited. Not a car or anything, but rather an honest to gods horse and buggy style stagecoach. It was a handsome vehicle, made of dark wood with gilded edges, and the horses hooked up to it were strong and fierce.

The whole thing was B-rank, obviously, because what lunatic would make an A or S-rank mode of transport that only moved on land for short distances, but still, it was a stylish way to travel to our destination.

"This is pretty nice," Crell noted as we climbed in. "I could get used to this."

"I don't disagree," I admitted. "I might look into getting one of these for the WCP. Could you imagine me rolling up in this thing to an elder's council meeting? Just tell the guards to watch my horses as I swagger inside."

"Yeah, the elders seem like the kind of guys who love finding horse crap in their hallway," Crell said dryly.

I shrugged. "Well then they'd better not keep me in the meeting too long, then. It's like a built in timer for any social events I have to attend. It's genius. I wonder how hard it is to drive these. Hey, driver, how-" I leaned over, pulling back the curtain of the window separating the padded interior box from the front of the coach and froze.

"Um…is that a dog?" I asked dumbly.

Blinking, Crell leaned around me, staring for a moment, then nodded. "It is. It's a dog." The dog in question, a small terrier of some kind, nodded to us calmly, a pair of reins in its mouth. As it did, its big floppy hat slid forward slightly, though it stayed mostly in place.

"Sorry," I said politely. The dog gave a short bark and a nod, then turned back to the front of the coach. I closed the curtain. "So we're just going to pretend that didn't happen," I told Crell bluntly. "Because I'm very confused and I don't think that dog can answer my questions. Anyway, you remember the plan?"

He groaned, but nodded anyway. "We need access to the Moonfiend Grotto. The Bad Doctor controls the gates."

"Yeah, did anyone say WHY he does that?" I asked after a moment. "Because I feel like the Moonfiend Grotto doesn't seem very medical. Like what exactly does he use the place for? Or does he just sell access?"

"Nope, he uses it," Crell grimaced. "I asked Stanley about that while you were off getting fitted. Apparently there are several venomous sea creatures in the grotto's ocean area that produce toxins the Doctor uses. Paralytics, pain relievers, even a few mutagens. Shady stuff, and he pays people to collect it for him. Charges samples for the exit."

I grimaced. "Great, the ocean. My favorite place. And that'll be in the opposite direction of any trees I assume, which is annoying." I didn't know Callie was near trees, but I didn't know exactly how near them she'd be if she was. I had no real way to check because Callie, in her messages, had revealed that she was currently inside of a large castle complex and wasn't really allowed outside the walls.

Belsara claimed it was for her and the babies' safety, but Callie was pretty sure she was just being held hostage. She didn't seem to mind though, because the babies WERE safe, and she was gaining a lot of stats from it as she waited.

We were still discussing what to do exactly when we arrived when the coach stopped. I frowned at Crell, then pulled the curtain to find the dog gone. Sighing, I climbed out, patted the nearest horse, then gestured for Crell to follow me. We headed up to the door of the large, creepy looking building, greeting the guards. "We're here for the formal dinner," I told them bluntly.

The first guard, a large red haired man with a nasty scar over one eye and what looked like a permanent scowl on his face, raised an eyebrow. "You got an invite?"

Crell did, it turned out. He reached into his coat and handed the man a piece of dirty grey paper. The guard read it, scowled, and then handed it back. "Fine. Go in then. No fighting and don't touch the wisps."

I had no idea what that meant, but I nodded anyway, and we slipped past them to hurry inside.

When we got there, I realized that the whole 'don't touch the wisps' thing was self explanatory. The building was ancient, covered in mold and rotting wooden boards, but the lights were coming from floating clouds of multicolored gas that cast the whole thing in an eerie, almost haunting spectrum.

"Which way do we go?" I asked worriedly, looking around for some sort of guide.

As if summoned (and maybe it had been), a flash of grey light the exact color of our invitation flitted up to hover in front of me. It circled me three times then zipped away, only to come back when I didn't follow. It waited impatiently, and then as soon as I started moving toward it the little thing zipped off, just slow enough to be kept in sight. "Nevermind," I said dryly. "I think I got it."

We trailed after the wisp for about ten minutes, trying to stick together in the twisting run down hallways. Finally, we reached a large open room with a dining table, red carpets, and chandelier. As soon as we entered, the lights flared, transforming the world around us from a creepy run down hospital to a well lit party. Even the air was warmer. I shot Crell a look and noticed he looked as unsettled as I felt.

"Ah, our guests," came a booming, amused voice. "Welcome." We turned to find a man standing up from the table. "I've been looking forward to meeting you." The man was huge, face covered with a long beaked mask that hid his eyes behind blank, birdlike lenses. This, I realized, was the Bad Doctor. "Please," he said, gesturing us inside. "Come and sit. Come and eat. We have so much to discuss, you and I." I grimaced, but eventually nodded. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be much fun. Best to get it over with so we could get going. Callie was waiting.