Ar'Kendrithyst - Chapter 251, 1/2

“There are many ways to instantiate a [Familiar],” Quilatalap said, as he sat on a chair in the kitchen dining room. “We’ve gone over all of them before, but it’s important to go over them with Ophiel, too.”

Ophiel fluttered on Erick’s lap. “I’m here!”

Erick patted the little guy. “Yes, you are.”

Poi merely watched from the side.

It was just Quilatalap, Erick, Poi, and Ophiel right now. The girls and Evan were elsewhere, busying themselves with Solomon, who had been the first to leave once it became apparent what was happening today. Erick wasn’t quite sure what all of them were doing elsewhere, but he was pretty sure they were interacting with the Well in order to figure out the Lifeblood Heart problem. Solomon had said yesterday that they were 60% of the way through a comprehensive plan A, while only 30% and 5% of the way through a plan B and C. Each of those plans would involve actors far, far out of the scope of this operation here in this slime dungeon, so they could only plan for so much. Any of the Heart plans would involve Stratagold and the other Geodes, the Gods, Kirginatharp, and a Relevant Entity full unanimous vote for the project, along with assurances that all of them would be doing their part to ensure the Heart remained on Veird.

All of Solomon’s plans would invariably change when they met Rozeta’s plans and wrought plans and otherwise, and that was fine. Solomon was focused on that, and his Jane, and he did not want to be here for Ophiel’s birth, which was understandable, but still sad. Ophiel had been his son until months ago when he found out he was a repro and not the original. Solomon would be there afterward, though, because Erick had asked him to be there as part of the family. Ophiel would be raised by his uncle as much as he would be raised by his father.

… Hopefully, it worked out like that, but with all these recent happenings, Erick doubted the future would shake out quite so easily.

Erick had a lot of worries as he sat there, holding Ophiel in his lap, as Quilatalap spoke.

“The main way for a [Familiar] to come into being is to wait for them to achieve instantiation on their own, and they’ll naturally take what they want to take from the soul of their parent in order to construct their own soul, while the parent will naturally give up parts of their soul that they wish to give up. It’s all very intuitive but also extremely painful for both parties, for the splitting of a soul is never easy.” Quilatalap said, “If you were to spend 90 days in a [Hasted Shelter], which would be about 36 hours in the real world, then Ophiel would reach a point somewhere in those 90 days where instantiation —or birth— would happen naturally.

“The end result of that varies, but Ophiel should end up as a protean, like you Erick. He could also end up a dragonkin protean, which is something completely new. I’d suspect he’d end up like a 12-year-old boy with some fluffy wings of some sort —perhaps harpy-shaped— but also whatever he felt like being at any given point in time. It will be like raising a dragon in almost all ways, from spontaneous shape-shifting to the sudden destruction of property and the like. However, given your nature and the nature you instilled into Ophiel, all accidental destructions should be accidents.

“Ophiel will be stuck to you for at least a year, Erick; not willing to go anywhere without you, so expect that. But since you want to raise him with Solomon, and since the circumstances around Solomon are very similar to yours, then this expected tendency of Ophiel’s will be lessened.

“I would also suspect that Ophiel will either come out as ten boys, or one boy with the ability to summon a linked copy of himself, or just one boy with the natural ability to summon bird-like selves. I give either option a 33% chance of being the final outcome.” Quilatalap asked, “So do you want to sit in a [Hasted Shelter] for 90 days? I’ll stay with you, and at the end of that, we’ll know a lot more about how Ophiel’s final form and capabilities are going to naturally shape up. I can even help guide his final form into either 10 boys, or one boy with multiple bodies, or one boy with summoned bird-selves, or some other option, should some other option look to be occurring.”

Erick said, “I’m not staying in a [Hasted Shelter] right now, but maybe for a month or two after Ophiel is born. We’ll find out later. I don’t want you controlling the outcome; whatever he is, he will be.”

Quilatalap nodded. “Then let us move on to the second birthing option.

“A forced instantiation.

“Done at the beginning of a [Familiar]s life, this sort of thing will get you hit with the Slave Protocols of the Script almost without a doubt. The creation of such a being would be like tying off a piece of your soul which is forever unable to act on their own, and which will always do as you say. Even when separated from the caster, it takes decades for such a soul to learn how to function on its own. When they remain with the caster, the former [Familiar] will never move on.

“But since we’re doing this when Ophiel has already created most of his own soul, that won’t happen.

“What will happen is that we’re going to need to decide exactly where to cut to remove his soul from your own. There are many ways to do that, and we’ve spoken of most of the good ones, but there are always more.” Quilatalap asked, “Have you decided on the ritual you want to use?”

Erick said, “We’re doing the Mortal Umbilicus.”

Quilatalap’s even lips turned down a fraction. “… Are you sure about that?”

“It’s the most normal instantiation method without needing to go through instantiation. So yes. I pick that one.”

“That one is extremely painful.”

“I can handle it.”

“Okay. Then that is what we’re doing.” Quilatalap said, “We should do this under the Script, too; it’s easier that way. So not here.”

Erick smiled, and said, “Let’s go to Benevolence.”

“Before you leave,” Poi said, “I need updates either here or at the cloud house on the daily. Kromolok is asking nicely for constant updates, too, but he’s not asking any invasive questions anymore. He still thinks about those invasive questions, though.”

“Sure; absolutely. I’ll be recovering for a few hours, and you’re right there at the House anyway, but I’ll be sure to keep the House apprised of what’s happening. Might only stay inside Benevolence for a day.”

Poi nodded; satisfied.

Quilatalap said, “Ophiel is going to want to be in a normal mana environment, and away from people. So staying inside your gate space might be the best location for him, for at least a week or two, until both he and you understand how his new life works.”

That brought Erick up short for a moment. “A week or two? I haven’t… Ever done that, actually.” Erick decided, “I’ll have a Benevolence Gate open here for Solomon and the girls and Evan.”

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye appeared in the room, as he said, “I wish to be born as well, father.”

… Ah.

Ophiel got mad, fluffing up, saying, “I’m first! I’m here first!”

“And that’s fine, Ophiel!” Yggdrasil said, sounding exhausted, “But I want to be born, too.”

“Okay okay,” Erick said, just as Ophiel was about to declare his superiority over Yggdrasil by virtue of creation order. Ophiel still looked rather smug, though, so he felt he had won. “I’m going to have to speak to a few other gods, then…” Erick had a thought, and the more he thought that thought, the more it seemed like the proper thing to do. “Yggdrasil? How do you feel about stopping yourself from creating any world seeds for a while, and not letting anyone else use you to create any world seeds, either? All the world will simply have to trust you, and you will have to uphold that trust. How do you feel about no seal at all?”

Yggdrasil’s eye did a little pulse of surprise. “Uhh— Yes! I’ll take a non-magically-enforceable pact to not give rise to any new worlds for 87 more years. I’m sure I can do that.”

He sounded more full of bluster than surety.

It was fine, for now.

“Okay.” Erick said, “Then this is what I am going to do…”

– – – –

“You want Yggdrasil’s seal released now, Erick?” Melemizargo said, as he sat on his white throne at the top of Mount Ascendant. “Are you sure that is wise?”

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye held to Erick’s right, watching, while Ophiel gripped Erick’s left shoulder, also watching. They were the only ones here right now, for Quilatalap had chosen to wait at the slime dungeon until Erick got this part of his life settled.

Erick said, “I need to take a break from all the stuff happening right now and I want to be with my kids, to watch them grow a little before the next Storm comes and I am called away to fight once again.” He looked to Yggdrasil, saying, “Yggdrasil wants to show me his girlfriend, too, and it’s time I do that.”

Yggdrasil’s eye went still, and then he resumed bobbing slightly.

Melemizargo frowned from on high, his black-scaled visage showing a hint of glowing white fangs thirty meters above Erick. And then Melemizargo dipped down, his meters-wide maw coming closer, before switching to stare at Yggdrasil. “You are larger than a mortal, Yggdrasil. This behavior of yours at this young age is only acceptable because you are a child and still attached to your father and you have no real idea what is happening right now; how your plans are disrupting my plans. If you were someone else bringing this level of disruption to my plans then I would have much stronger words to say about your desire for freedom, but I will say this; your desire for freedom comes at a cost. I don’t know what that cost is, but it will be extracted from you nonetheless, and—”

“Melemizargo,” Erick said, softly.

Melemizargo narrowed his giant eyes at Erick and then pulled back. “I will say this, and be done with this foolishness: You never should have been sealed so strongly, Yggdrasil. It is only because of the weakness of this world and all the rest of the New Cosmology that you were burdened so strongly to begin with. That never should have happened if we weren’t so vulnerable right now.

“Do not add to the vulnerability of this world or any other.”

Yggdrasil bowed his eye, saying, “Solidity is strength, and I hope to embody the sort of strength that will hold up worlds one day.”

Melemizargo stared at Yggdrasil. And then he flickered with a golden sheen.

Erick felt something unfurl within his core. Golden light shifted within, like a spider’s web that had dried out in the heat of the day, fraying a little more. It was the seal, reorienting, holding on to the final thread cast by Rozeta. Only one more to go.

Erick said, “Thank you, Melemizargo. I hope Rozeta agrees to such a change of plans as well.”

“She won’t agree that easily, especially if you want to completelyfree Yggdrasil.” Melemizargo glanced at Ophiel, and then back to Yggdrasil, saying, “As soon as you free Yggdrasil, you’re going to want to plant him one final time, to truly plant the World Tree. I suggest the third island of this former Glorious Land, and then we can officially rename all three islands from their broken names into something better. Infamy, Villainy, and Depravity, can become Honor, Virtue, and Nobility.”

Yggdrasil said to Erick, “I would accept this, father.”

Erick had almost said something himself, but his track changed, and now he was speechless. “… Okay. Then that’s the plan there. I’ll probably need a week after getting Ophiel instantiated, though. Assuming Rozeta is okay with this idea.”

– – – –

“Absolutely not, Erick,” Rozeta said, “And I don’t need time to think about it more. The answer is ‘no’.”

They were inside Benevolence right now, and Erick had not yet prepared for Ophiel’s instantiation. He hadn’t done much of anything, actually, except look around the place as he usually did.

It looked normal.

All the ground for a hundred kilometers in every direction was white or barely-grey hexagonal stone, like columnar basalt. It was kinda odd to look at it these days, specifically after that time Erick had spent talking about astronomical engineering with the Stratagolds. They had spoken of making giant, continent-sized plates of hexagonal adamantium lines 100 kilometers long, stacked side by side to make a plate ten thousand kilometers wide and over 200 thick, with a runic web sandwiched between two adamantium plates. Erick’s gate space was already sort of like that, but on a much smaller scale; it even had a double layer of columns, with the center area filled with tiny nooks full of hidden spaces, and lots of water. Erick chalked up the coincidence his Benevolence had to those worldplates more to hexagons being the best possible shape to fully fill in an area, and not to any sort of Establishment, or Wizardry, or stuff like that.

Erick’s Gate Space in Benevolence was more than a simple large plate of land, anyway. Every so often the meter-wide hexagons were pushed down, and wild groups of plants grew in the dirt. A lot of flowers, a lot of vines that sent tendrils across the hexagonal land, searching for other places to grow. There were also trees in some locations, and all of them bore fruit. Erick had a whole orchard of soul balm palm trees growing in here, and they seemed to grow really well by the waterways.

The waterways were perhaps Erick’s favorite thing in this land.

The center of this gate space —and all other Benevolence gate spaces— was special. It was there that this whole gate space reminded Erick of those pins-in-plastic boards that you could use to make an impression of something. The impression left on this land was one of a mountain that was almost like a column. Water crested off the top of that central spire and poured down the column of white stone, cascading down the pillars like an Olympic-sized pool emptying over every edge of that central mountain every second. Green moss, like drapes, hung down that mountain everywhere that the water did not crash too hard.

An eternal flame, a ten-meter wide bonfire, held above that central column, casting warmth everywhere, while the waters themselves fell into a huge lake that Yggdrasil kept stocked with any fish that Erick wanted to eat. Some hidden tunnels in that lake led to the hidden spaces inside the gateplate, where more fish lived and water plants grew in shadowed water.

Yggdrasil, Erick’s largest son, had done most of the directed gardening of this place. He had complete control over the land of this space, but he was not physically connected to this land. Looking off to the south today, for he was not always directly south, there was Yggdrasil, floating in the Benevolent Sky, dwarfing this entire 100 kilometer wide land with his own largeness. He was looking big these days, at well over double the width of this land, and maybe half the height. He was wide.

He was also one of the best trees Erick had ever seen.

Beautiful glowing white bark, a thick trunk, a green canopy that was made of leaves so bright green they looked like they were on green fire, while a rainbow held around his entire crown, and all his serpentine roots held spread out in the air. Only a few of Yggdrasil’s roots reached all the way to this land, floating inside Benevolence. But he didn’t need to actually touch this land at all to control it. The land was already connected to him via the wide river that wandered from the fountain in the center, through a beach-and-hexagonal path, to fall off of the side of the gate space and then flow much more freely right to Yggdrasil himself. A small ocean of water floated all around Yggdrasil’s roots, and that was where he kept his prized fish, or the ones that needed special attention.

Or at least that had been his purpose in bringing fish into this land years ago. Nowadays, scarlet kings and golden slippers and rainbow flits and a whole bunch of others were all over Benevolence.

Whenever Kiri had established a gate space, or whenever Erick had expanded the Gate Network on his own, a new columnar land had been created out there, in the fog of Benevolence, with another water source making another river that flowed off the sides of those spaces, to eventually find their ways to Yggdrasil. Or to each other. Yggdrasil was connected to every Gate Node ever made in this land, and his fish had used that connection to spread far and wide.

There were also stony pathways made of columnar, solid Benevolence, that connected every node together. There was an entire world inside Benevolence. A world that it was easy to fall off of. One could end up anywhere on Veird if you were to fall off the edge of the stone, or dive deep enough into the dark wells in the center to come out the other side, or if you simply fell out of the rivers that wound through the Benevolent Sky, where soft white lightning tangled into black knots here and there.

The Prophesied Storm was still out there, about 4-ish months away, hovering beyond the edge of the gateplate like a black rip in the sky. It was also filled with Red Sparks that only Erick could see.

Erick gestured to the Benevolent Sky right now, saying to Rozeta, “Humor me, please. There is a reason I asked you to meet me here to have this conversation.”

Rozeta frowned at Erick, her pantsuit-wearing business-woman look doing a good job of conveying exactly how angry, disappointed, and inwardly furious she was that Erick was asking this of her. And then she glared at the sky, and said, “Maybe I’ll release Yggdrasil and simply trust him to not make seeds for 87 more years, with no resealing required at all.”

Nothing happened.

Erick gave Rozeta a Look.

Rozeta frowned right back at him, then breathed deep, and looked at the Sky—

Ah.

That did it.

Now she was actually considering Erick’s idea, instead of dismissing it outright.

The Sky of twisting lightning began to twist in a different way.

The 100-year Wall of Problems, which was only 87-ish years away, began to fragment. Lightning twisted this way and that, and like a great wind blowing through a dense forest, a lot of overgrowth and loose issues and minor things were stripped away, passing far into the distance. The few Red Sparks that existed inside Benevolence, inside of a few of the larger tangles, moved with those tangles, or else were pulled apart by Lightning as the future was once again cast into uncertainty.

Erick watched the reorganization, but he also watched Rozeta.

The Goddess of the Script was concerned, and yet… intrigued.

Rozeta spoke to the very fabric of reality, “Maybe Yggdrasil can be trusted with power, both on his own and on the power he will be able to grant others, just like his father.”

The sky sparked and a hundred tangles vanished, leaving behind one very visible black tangle like a world-swallowing hole, deep in the Benevolent Sky.

Aside from that major black tangle there were a good 24 smaller tangles scattered here and there. Erick recognized most of those smaller tangles. That one, located several years out —and also 40 years out— was the advent of the Computer Mage, as some people in House Benevolence had taken to calling them. That one over there at around 30 years out was the breaking of the Greensoil Republic; a rather new prognostication but one that was already on the way out, as King Darundi Raivo was already taking steps to ensure the peaceful transfer of power to whoever would come next.

With the voiding of tens of threats and the advent of one large one, Erick was actually quite happy with what he was looking at. That big problem was 250 years out. The ‘hundred year wall’ was practically gone.

But there was another hole in the sky, lined with Red, that only Erick could see. That Yawning Void —for that is all it could have been— was a year out, just beyond the edge of the platform.

It was a rising sun of Red, like a giant Red Eye attempting to pierce through a veil of Benevolence, trying and failing to stare into Erick’s soul. But it flickered left and right. It saw nothing. It was blind.

Erick ignored it, putting it out of his mind for a moment, both because it was not a problem for various reasons he would pull apart later, and because Rozeta did not see it.

Rozeta just stared at the Yawning Void in the far Sky. Softly, she said, “On the balance, it’s better. Stronger. But that hole in the world 250-ish years from now looks like a Yawning Void. It is concerning that such a shift would ever exist at all, and since we’re pretty sure this universe is… more basic than the Old Cosmology, then that could only mean the Death of Benevolence Itself.” Rozeta looked to Erick, and said, “Which is concerning for other reasons.”

Erick jolted a little. He looked to the Sky again. “… Ah. Well. I don’t like that. That seems like a future that could slip around, too… Oh. Well look at that.” Erick frowned as the black void 250 years in the future slipped forward in time by 249 years, briefly overlapping the Red for the barest moment. The Death of Benevolence was Right Here for a vague moment—

That’s not what was happening at all, though.

Erick held most of his surprise in, not letting it show, when the Black Benevolence zapped the Red Void Eye, annihilating it, and then flickered back into its position in the sky, and then rapidly slipped further away. This time it was 450 years out…

Benevolence had just killed that [Scry] eye, hadn’t it? Because that’s what that Red Sun had to be. A [Scry] eye.

… Thank gods Erick made Benevolence able to act on its own all those years ago!

Erick played it off, saying, “I guess it decided to go away and come back 500 years from now?”

“I must confess, Erick, I strongly thought of killing you right now, to test what I was seeing.”

“… I know. I was going to brush past that, though.”

Rozeta still had that ‘kill switch’ implanted in him, through his connection to the Script. Erick ignored it practically all the time, but apparently he shouldn’t be ignoring it so much.

Rozeta apologized, “Apologies, Erick.”

Erick ignored it, turning back to the Sky. “That Prophesied Storm in a few months has vanished. Which is strange.”

Rozeta eyed Erick. And then she looked at the Lightning Shield on his wrist. “You’re wearing that thing everywhere, then.”

“It’s not as much of a challenge to wear as one might think.” Erick gestured with his left arm and the Shield floated a meter away, becoming slightly insubstantial. “It’s a high-grade divine artifact, so it can be unobtrusive if it doesn’t sense any nearby threat; floating in the air or at my back, or whatever. I might even give it back to Sininindi in several months.”

“She talked to me about that meeting that you had with her. She said you looked like you had seen the end of the world.”

“I have; a few times now. Benevolence is capable of saving more than I imagined it could be capable of, but also seeing more than I ever considered, and I’m still trying to digest all of that.”

“Is that why you’ve chosen to step back from pulling items from the Dark? From continuing on the initial path you set for yourself?”

“Among other reasons. I need a break. Ophiel needs to be born in a time of peace, and so does Yggdrasil. Solomon and you and all the rest of the world need time to figure out how to handle the Heart; to keep it here. I won’t be ascending to True Wizard anytime soon, Rozeta; it’s just not happening. I do, however, know what I need to do to get there.”

For a long moment Rozeta said nothing.

Erick waited.

Rozeta said, “Give me a week on this new plan to simply trust that an unsealed Yggdrasil won’t be a problem. I’ll get back to you with an answer then.” Then she softened, and said, “Good luck, Erick, with Ophiel, and Yggdrasil. What method are you going with?”

“The Mortal Umbilicus.”

“A fine choice if there ever was one. Good day, Erick.”

Erick grinned. “See you around.”

Rozeta flickered away, dispersing in a faint cloud of white-gold light—

Yggdrasil’s eye appeared and the big guy happily said to Erick, “I can wait a week!”

“Good! Then you have time to show me your girlfriend. Either before or after Ophiel’s birth; your choice. I’ve given you enough warning. I need to see her and vet her.”

Yggdrasil froze. “… Uh. I’ll. Uh. I’ll get back to you on that.”

And then Yggdrasil’s eye vanished.

Erick smiled to himself a little as he held his head high and walked across the hexagonal land. It was time to make a temporary house, and since the Sky was looking rather clear, perhaps it would be nice to have some big windows facing the Sky? A nice little sunroom, perhaps.

The Red Sparks had already returned to the edge of the platform, a good 40 kilometers away, but they were no longer a red sun lurking on the horizon. They were just normal Red Sparks, trying to influence the Sky and succeeding here and there. But mostly failing.

That was because they weren’t Red Sparks at all.

The Benevolent Sky was the basic prognostication functionality of Benevolence. This meant many things. First of all, it meant that the things a person saw in Sky were not really in the Sky at all; those Red Sparks were not Red Sparks, they were ‘images captured on film’, or ‘watching a nuclear blast from behind ten mirrors and deep, deep in a bunker, protected from the blast’. Erick suspected that the Red Leviathan was using some sort of similar methodology to do his own prognostication efforts since having a divorced view of possibility was an essential part of safe prognostication.

Of course, prognostication was not nearly that simple, and simply seeing a thing in the deep mana might alert that thing to [Scry] like effects, if one was attuned to that sort of sensitivity. ‘A thing’ might even be ‘a specific future’, and viewing that particular thing might cause that particular thing to happen in rare cases. It was the titular ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.

Benevolence certainly did some of that as Erick could attest with his latest ‘lightning path’ realization of Benevolence.

But very, very few things could influence the Benevolent Sky outside of the Benevolent Sky’s own control.

One of those things was obviously the Red Sparks, though. The Sky had also gone wonky when the Anarchy Wizard and the Blue Wizard were around, but those Wizards weren’t able to fully escape the Sight of the Benevolent Sky, and they weren’t able to break the Benevolent Sky, either. The Red Sparks were a world of difference from two Wizards, and it was obviously capable of understanding that something was undermining its power—

Hence the giant Red Eye that had tried to peer into this place.

—But it wasn’t able to break this space. If it were capable of that, it would have already done it.

Perhaps this inability of the Red was because Benevolence was fully accepted by Rozeta and the God Pact, and already heavily integrated into the world, what with the Gate Network and Yggdrasil and such? Or perhaps the Red liked the instability and newness that Benevolence brought forth, and it was going to use everything Erick had built in order to make the ensuing crash all the worse.

Whatever the Red Leviathan was, it was clearly Malevolence Itself, but Erick kept that word out of his mind and especially out of his mouth as much as he could. You don’t go naming great evils and not expect them to show up right away.

Erick was already mentally making adjustments to his plan to hide out for a while and not confront the Red until he absolutely needed to. The world was good right now. No need to go upsetting the applecart. The Red had already displayed its willingness and capability to kill, so now it was time to go into hiding. Besides! Solomon needed to become immune to the Red Sparks and make a good plan to get the Heart, and that would take some time.

Time enough to raise some sons.

He would get back to war soon enough.

– – – –

Erick stood outside of a little cottage he had made with the resources of the land.

He was quite proud of his ‘little’ house. It was only one floor, which was a big change from his normal sorts of living spaces. There was a big kitchen, a big family room, some rooms for him and Quilatalap, another for Solomon, another for Yggdrasil, and a few for some guests. Great big bathrooms, one with a heated hot tub. A nice kitchen. A few learning rooms…

Okay. Well. It wasn’t a ‘small house’ at all. It had turned into a compound.

Erick had even made an outdoor play area for Ophiel that included a bunch of jungle gyms and flying courses because Erick wasn’t sure what Ophiel’s final form would take until it actually happened. Ophiel had one bedroom right now, but Erick had extra space down on one side of the house to add more rooms if needed, if he ended up with 10 Ophiel, but if that happened he’d probably just build a second story for all his extra kids.

The only reason he went for one story right now was that Erick was absolutely sure that Ophiel would end up on the roof at least once and try jumping down and then failing to fly, for some reason. So he didn’t want to build the house too tall.

Erick asked Ophiel, “How do you like it, Ophiel?”

“I want taller! Give me roost!”

Erick tensed a little, and then he went to the playground and made a ‘big tower’ that looked much larger than it actually was, at only two stories tall. It was a children’s play tower.

“Now add color!” Ophiel demanded.

Erick smiled. “You and I can add color together when you’re born. That’s one of the plans I have planned, okay?”

“… But I want it now?”

Erick chuckled. “You gotta wait for good things sometimes, Ophiel.”

“But I waited so loooooooong!”

Erick would have chuckled, but he was worried. He hugged Ophiel to his chest, saying, “And soon you’re going to have to relearn everything, Ophiel. Are you ready for that?”

“Yes! Make me purple pie!”

Erick smiled softly. “I’m sure Quilatalap has one saved up for afterward. What do you say we go get him now?”

Ophiel flapped and squirmed right out of Erick’s arms, fluttering to the air and summoning a [Gate] right away. Quilatalap was on the other side, messing with some ritual equipment one final time, but now he looked surprised.

Ophiel announced, “Where is my pie!”

Quilatalap nodded solemnly, saying, “I have it in a secure location, ready for afterward.” He looked to Erick. Erick nodded. With a wave of power, Quilatalap lifted a whole bunch of crystals and metal and one intricately runed pair of scissors into the air, to follow the large orcol man as he stepped through into Benevolence. Ophiel shut the [Gate] behind him.

Quilatalap breathed deeply, then smiled as he looked around. “This place always makes me feel great. It’s the soul healing. Like a bubbly bath.” Then he looked to Erick, adding, “But I can’t stay more than 5 days in here before it starts to push me out.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to, and this place was never meant to be a permanent residence for anyone except Yggdrasil, and even he’s only 1/9th present in this place.” Erick said, “I’ll be stepping out when Ophiel wants to leave, and I’m not sure how long that will be.”

Quilatalap nodded then began walking toward the house, his ritual gear floating with him, as he said, “We can set up out here, yes? Any place in particular you want?” He set down the crystals and the strange-looking scissors on a bench beside the front door, before he went inside. “It looks nice.”

Erick followed, and Ophiel went and inspected the ritual gear. “If I need to put more rooms in for more Ophiel, then I will.”

Quilatalap turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “You sure about that?”

“Yes. However he wants to be, I will let him, and if there are ten of him, then there are ten of him.”

“Erick,” Quilatalap said, “I know you could theoretically handle ten new sons, but you should solidify something lesser than that. You have that choice.”

“Ah. Well. I mean, that if he wants to have multiple bodies, he can. That’s the version I think I want to pursue. Single person, many bodies. If we can do that?”

“I am me!” Ophiel said.

Quilatalap grinned. “Glad that’s settled, then. Then how about spellwork? I see you have the secondary core gestating in your belly. I highly suggest you give Ophiel no spells at all, and you let him form his own magic.”

Erick smiled. “Nope.”

“Okay. Then I’m definitely going to be spending a maximum of 3 days here, to mitigate any possible stray magic coming my way. As soon as he’s more solid in his immense magical power then I might rejoin you. Other than that, I have received an invitation to be at Ascendant Mountain to deal with the new old Shades and an invitation to get back to Storm’s Edge, to finish the dungeon. I’m going to be taking both options, but the Mountain first; Storm’s Edge can last a while without me.”

“Are Soltic and Vanya doing okay on their own?”

“I believe so, but I would feel better about being there in person.” Quilatalap looked at Erick’s Lightning Shield. “Are you going to keep that on? This sort of magic does work best when the creator is unadorned.”

“I am absolutely sure that me wearing the Lightning Shield will not interfere with Ophiel’s instantiation.” Erick had already foreseen the option of taking off the Shield or leaving it on for this, and the Benevolence was telling him to keep the Shield on, and that was his own instinct anyway, so it was an easy enough Lightning Path to follow. “If Ophiel inherits any peculiar Lightning capabilities because of the Shield then that is fine. If he inherits any Sight magics because of my All-Seeing Eye, then that is fine, too.”

Quilatalap nodded slowly, then he said, “I thought so. And that’s why I wanted to sit down and have a talk with you about giving your children too much stuff.”

Erick almost objected—

But Quiltatalap held up a hand, saying, “You can make your own decisions, but I would be remiss —as someone who has seen everything before, and participated in most of it— if I did not try to talk you out of this decision to give your kid so much power. When he instantiates he’ll have automagic Script access, but he’ll still be a kid. Not a weapon. He does not need a whole 1-for-1 copying of your magic. What he does need is the ability to protect himself and not harm others. [Cleanse], [Mend], [Grow], [Prismatic Ward], [Pristine Benevolence], and [Gate], but maybe not [Gate] at all. You don’t want him vanishing on you and being lost, unable to come back because he accidentally stepped through a hole in the world and he doesn’t know how to properly use [Gate].

“You especially don’t want him with [Gate] if Solomon or I are going to be watching after him at all; we literally won’t be able to provide boundaries for him at all if he has [Gate]. He certainly does not need [Luminous Beam], or [Vivid Gloom], or [Wither], or any of the massive Shaping magics you have used through him. Please trust me on this. At the very least when we do the ritual I ask that you let me cut closer to him, instead of in the middle.”

“I hear and understand your concerns… And you’re right, honestly.” Erick said, “But even though it might lead to difficulties, I know what choices I have to make, and I have made them already.”

Quilatalap nodded. “Okay. Then I have said my piece and I will interfere no more with your decisions regarding your children, and will simply support you.”

He was acting way too distant, wasn’t he.

Erick gave Quilatalap a Look, saying, “I know you put a love for Ophiel in your heart, Quilatalap. You don’t have to act like you don’t want to be a father.”

Quilatalap’s eyebrows went up a little. And then he chuckled. “Thought I hid that better.”

“You have, but I know you.”

Quilatalap said, “What I want and what is good for others are not always the same things, and this is one area where I recognize my shortcomings. For example, if Ophiel were a normal child, and someone in school bullied Ophiel, I would ask Ophiel the severity of the bullying, and instruct Ophiel to give a commensurate response. If someone poked Ophiel with a penknife, I would tell Ophiel to punch the child in the face until A Child’s Protection activated.”

Erick paled a little.

Quilatalap continued, “And if someone should actually assault Ophiel, I would tell Ophiel to cut off some limbs.”

“OKAY!” Erick said, “Those are all debatably good responses to grown-up violence! Not good responses against child-level violence.”

“And I would agree to disagree on that. Children are vicious.” Quilatalap said, “So let me be the violent uncle who makes pies, and not the second father.”

Erick almost said something more—

“I want my pie!” Ophiel said, standing to the side on the floor, between Erick and Quilatalap, looking like a very angry, very small bird. He barely came up to Erick’s shin, and he didn’t even rise above Quilatalap’s ankle. “Stop ignoring me! Where my pie!”

Erick picked Ophiel up, saying, “Let’s get you born first.”

Ophiel was almost about to squirm out of Erick’s grip, but he calmed, realized what Erick had said, and cried out, “Born!”