No Need for a Core?

While Fuyuko and her friends were enjoying their time roaming the dungeon, there was one little issue the dungeon had to deal with. It had started with what felt like a small explosion well outside of any combat zone, but the cores shifted their attention away quickly when they realized the exact location and recognized the mingled auras.

Later on, Kazue and Moriko took Bridgette out for a walk where they had a private chat. The princess was in an extremely chipper mood now, but Kazue wanted to make sure of something. "So," she said, "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, but, um, just to be sure you know, Takehiko is a rather dedicated bachelor. You don't want to get too attached."

Bridgette blushed a little and replied, "I guess you guys noticed?"

Moriko snorted. "I felt the burst of mana and I'm not even a core."

"And," Kazue added, "we're going to have to repair the damage to Takehiko's room, it would be hard to not figure out."

"Oh, well, I guess that sort of thing would be more noticeable to you," Bridgette said and then shrugged. "It was a little impulsive, but I just needed to indulge myself for once. My older sisters all got to fool around more thanks to Orchid; she has a spell that lets her swap appearances with someone willing. She knew she was going to be heading off to join the Azeria clan, so she let any rumors get attached to her identity instead. But I was too young at the time for that sort of stuff."

Moriko considered her a moment before asking, "Does that mean it was your first time? Losing control of your phoenix fire to a moment of passion shouldn't happen easily."

"Eheh, yeah, it was," Bridgette admitted, "and, well, I did get better at controlling it once we, um, continued."

That was already more than Kazue really wanted to know. "Alright, I think we can drop the topic if you want. But, if you need to talk about anything you should let us know. Come on, there's a new food merchant in town I've been meaning to check out."

While the three women started shopping, Mordecai was examining Takehiko's hair after the kitsune's third bath. "Alright, I don't think there's enough smoke scent left for Fuyuko to notice." The girl was curious enough that she'd probably ask about it if she noticed.

Takehiko shook his head in confusion, "Why are you so concerned about that anyway? Did something happen to her?"

"No, I don't think so. But anything involving the topic of sex seems mildly off-putting to her so I'd rather avoid her asking questions she doesn't really want the answer to. When she's older, that's her own issue to deal with, but teens have it hard enough as it is." Mordecai shrugged. "She's not the first person I've met like that. For some, that changes when they get older. Some need to meet the right person to fall in love with before that changes, and even then it's only for that person. Others will always be disinterested."

"Huh," Takehiko said, "I've never met anyone like that before."

Mordecai snorted and replied, "It's rare enough among kitsune to begin with and your clan seems overactive there, so I am not surprised. Anyway, go on, get dressed."

"Sure." Takehiko paused a moment before asking, "How long will Bridgette be staying anyway?"

Mordecai gave him a measuring look before dodging the question by saying, "Really? She's the one who makes you think about that? Well, I'll let you figure out if you want to try pursuing that idea, but I don't recommend it. She used you as her final step to get over a breakup and she's not looking for anything more; working your way out of that emotional bucket to get into a different one is not likely. At least, not for a category you want to be in. My recommendation is that you try to just be a friend, especially as that's the part you seem to not be good at."

Takehiko grimaced. "Maybe," he acknowledged. "That's what you meant before about the difference between Moriko and me? She made friends, not just had sex."

"That's an aspect of it," Mordecai said with a nod, "it's part of the whole package of how you treat your partners and are treated in turn." Not that everyone could learn to do that. Takehiko had a relaxed enough personality that he should be able to learn, but a more intense personality... Well, he hoped things worked out well between Shizoku and Derek in the long run. Shizoku wouldn't handle a breakup well and that would cause a lot of stress in their friendships with Fuyuko. "One more thing," he added as he started to leave, "if you have the time between escort duties, you should do some more delving. I have an idea for a group you could join that would benefit everyone I think."

While nothing else significant happened before Fuyuko's training group left, there was a small matter that caused Moriko and Kazue a bit of distress. Moriko frowned at the missive in her hand before she tossed it onto a table and asked, "Did they really have to tell us that Akuma was executed? I was just as happy to ignore the situation and assume he was in prison forever or something." Kazue nodded her agreement, though she looked a bit ill compared to Moriko's annoyance.

Mordecai decided it would be wisest to not mention his own feelings on the subject, which amounted to simple satisfaction that the man wouldn't be bothering anyone anymore. "I'm afraid so. We are the aggrieved parties, yourself doubly so, and according to the charges they were able to connect him to other cases of banditry. He was not a person who sought redemption."

Kazue's expression shifted as a thought distracted her. "So," she asked, "what happens to his soul now anyway? I don't know who his patron deity was, but I don't think many would find him acceptable. I never trained as a priestess and most of the texts are a bit vague about what happens if you don't get into your god's afterlife. I know you face judgment by Lord Yamaraja, and if things go relatively well you will probably be reincarnated, but it's just vaguely ominous from there."

"Let me take a specific part of that," Mordecai said. "I think Moriko can handle the rest. There is a chance he might be accepted by Dormire, if that is who he follows. He was strong and proved his strength, and his downfall was not down to his personal choices beyond who his employer was. Dormire's works are rather silent on the subject of how you use your power other than the universal commandments. I'm not sure he personally cares about some of them but he has to publicly enforce them lest the other gods turn on him."

Moriko sighed and said, "That matches my understanding as well. But, if Akuma is not accepted into an afterlife, his fate has a whole lot of factors involved. If this is his first life, he's almost certain to be reincarnated. Lord Yamaraja will suppress Akuma's memories and Lady Kikoi Muerte will find a suitable host who otherwise would not have had a child or who would not have given birth to a living child."

She sounded a bit like she was simply quoting, but Moriko had begun looking deeper into religion about five months ago so it was to be expected. "If it's not his first life," Moriko continued, "then Lord Yamaraja will judge whether the soul has learned or grown and if there is still hope of him becoming a better person. Some options involve a period of discipline and training before being reincarnated and stories of customized fates designed to help drive a lesson home. But if that soul is judged to have no more potential to learn how to be an acceptable person, well..." she trailed off uncomfortably and looked at Mordecai, but it was Kazue who picked up the thread.

"They get sent to one of the hells," she whispered, looking downcast. "I know that much, but it's always spoken of like a very distant threat."

"Correct," Mordecai said thoughtfully, "but I assume that neither of you knows much about what happens there, other than it is an awful place?" His wives both shook their heads. "This can be complicated. Are you sure you want to learn?"

The pair glanced at each other and then nodded. "Yes," Kazue said, "if there is a possibility that my actions are going to lead to someone going there, even if it is their own fault, I think I should know."

This was deeper lore than almost anyone needed to know and mostly a matter of academic knowledge, but Mordecai had needed to learn the practical realities a long time ago. "There are several aspects to what the hells are. The first aspect is that they started as a sort of void for putting souls that could not be redeemed. It wasn't intended as a punishment so much as just a dumping ground, because destroying a soul is deemed an even worse fate."

Normally Mordecai would have stopped there but he found himself compelled to tell more. "Damn it," he growled out through clenched teeth, "I didn't want to get into this, but not telling you would be too close to a lie. There's a more cynical aspect to it too." The pressure began to ease as soon as he said that.

Ignoring the concerned looks his wives were giving him, he continued, "The simple existence of souls provides additional fortification against the primordial chaos of nothingness the universe was pulled from. There is a pressure to revert the universe to that state. The more souls there are, the more counterpressure they provide. This is good for the primogen gods as they are the ones who support the universe against returning to nothingness. So they have an incentive to keep as many souls in existence as possible."

Mordecai kept his anger in check as he didn't want to inflict it upon Carmilla. He didn't think leaving that part out would have caused a problem for most fae nobility, but the truth compulsion interacted with his vows and nature as a high priest of Ozuran in sometimes unpredictable ways. He had a lot less wiggle room. And he'd wanted to leave it out as not being relevant but it had been too big an omission about the purpose of the hell-void as a holding place for unsalvageable souls.

Both of them stared at him before Moriko said, "I hadn't heard anything about that."

"Well," Mordecai said with a sigh, "as far as I know, most of them are unhappy with that practical need. But they also don't want to destroy souls to begin with, so everything works out. Mostly. The problem is that souls can't be put entirely into stasis, especially not when placed together like that. Malevolence built and the nature of their part of reality warped. The souls started becoming proto-demons and eventually, demons from other realms were able to breach into them, bringing the first true demons into contact with any aspect of our universe. Our hells and their hells are connected through their similarities, though the distance involved is a type of infinity that is hard to breach. Much like with the gods, the most powerful demons can create domains that bridge the realms."

Kazue shook her head in confusion and said, "Wait, why do you know so much about this?"

"Gil recruited one of my past selves for a rescue mission. A demon cult had managed to snatch some souls that had not made demon contracts. The cult had already been taken care of but an expedition into the hells is a daunting prospect even for the likes of him. It was, well, not a pleasant experience. We rescued the soul gems and kept the souls of our fallen safe with soul gems of our own. All the souls were released once we were in a consecrated temple."

"It's easy to forget that sort of lives you've lived," Moriko said. "I take it this is part of the memories you've been unpacking?"

Mordecai nodded. "Yes. There's still a lot to unpack and general knowledge is of a higher priority than specific memories, but sometimes specific memories are needed for context."

Kazue scratched her cheek thoughtfully before saying, "Part of me kind of wishes I hadn't asked. I may have been happier not knowing, and our faerie status made you tell even more than I was really asking about. Though, it does explain how the demons got here to begin with. The divine texts talking about the demon war skip that part."

"There are always answers for those who truly seek," Mordecai replied, "but most people don't want to look that deep. And I think that's deep enough for one day, so let's switch topics to something more cheerful, shall we? Do you think there's any more we should add to Fuyuko's 'traveling princess' package?"

They had already prepared her seal; it was of a similar design to theirs only with four heads instead of three. Fuyuko's was a horned wolf of course and while it was slightly larger than the others, it was on the bottom instead of on the top. While her sigil was not likely to become well known any time soon, the design communicated her position as subordinate to them clearly. Carmilla was going to get one of the same design but with stylized fairy wings for her symbol.

In addition to the appropriate stationery, they added a sealed letter confirming her identity and status along with some simpler regalia than her birthday presents and one dress suitable for a ballroom even if it was a touch on the subdued side. It seemed unlikely that any of this was going to be used any time soon but Mordecai preferred the paranoid approach. Given their recent experiences, Kazue and Moriko were quick to agree.

This care package was tucked into the bottom of Fuyuko's pack. She should find it when she started unpacking and that felt right. They were concerned she would be too self-conscious if they gave it to her directly.

When their daughter said her final goodbye at the border of their territory, it left all three of them teary-eyed.