The Court of Souls?

“Diwata (from Sanskrit devada, "gods"), engkantada (from Spanish: encantada, "enchantress, charmed") or engkanto (from Spanish: encanto, "spell, incantation, charm") are lesser gods and goddesses. Some are dryads who guard natural creations such as forests, seas, mountains, land and air. Diwatas are said to reside in large trees, such as acacia and balete. They bring blessings or curses upon those who do good or harm to the forests and mountains.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis***

***Shade***

I nudge the magical energy formation inside the nut a little, just enough to allow the crystal seed to fuse with the nut. “The damned nut is way too fragile. We've already failed two times because the crystal does too much damage during the fusion.”

I eye the nut with suspicion. We established a joint laboratory, just to create this item. The room looks clinical, and apart from two writing desks and a pedestal with a few instruments, it doesn't look like we are conducting a world changing experiment. Most of our work is of purely magical nature and doesn't require many complicated instruments.

Originally I didn't even bother to create a special room for this. But after the second attempt blew up in our faces, I decided that having a secure room is preferable. The pedestal which is holding the nut is a strong force field generator. It should protect us from being peppered with roasted nut fragments.

“Don't call it a nut, it is a seed. It is surprising that Doreen is willing to give us that many for our experiments. Yggdrasil creates just one seed every hundred years. We should feel honoured that she is allowing us to use them. There isn't even a guarantee to gain something from these experiments,” Elona complains.

I feel her magic merging with mine, trying to stabilize the biological component of our joint creation. It's the first time that we are working together in order to create something of this magnitude.

“Sorry, but the term 'seed' is reserved for my crystals. This offshoot of Yggdrasil looks like an oversized nut, so we will call it a nut. End of discussion,” I explain in no uncertain terms.

Elona sighs. “Fine. But at least use the technical term. Yggdrazil is closely related to a raspberry, so calling the seed a nut is misleading. Maybe we should go with nucleus? And go slower. Your magical formation is spreading too fast, I can't correct the mistakes like that.”

“Third time's the charm,” I sing in a melodious voice and slow down. What we are attempting to do is without precedence. We are trying to fuse a living organism with my crystal technology. If we are successful, the newly created being should be a multidimensional entity which can spread itself through all layers of existence. Once it grows big enough, it should turn into a metaphysical body which imitates the pathways of the old multiverse.

The pathways were rivers of magical energy. They spread throughout the entire multiverse, sometimes in huge currents, sometimes as almost unnoticeable filaments. People also called them Ley lines, but to gods they were simply known as pathways. To someone who had the ability to use them, they granted instant access to the entire multiverse. Not only from world to world, but also between different realities. It was the most important perk of being a god.

I pour more of my magic into the nucleus and try hard to keep the magic from running out of control. Our attempt at changing the magical nature of a biological organism is very ambitious. The biggest problem lies in enchanting the seed without destroying the organic components. My part of this work is the creation of the magical formation we want. Elona has her hands full with trying to keep the result alive and functioning.

Many may wonder why we can't achieve our goal with crystal technology alone. The answer is simple. Mana Crystals are pure, condensed mana. They can be shaped and enchanted with a spell, but all my attempts at allowing them to grow uncontrolled on their own resulted in failure. Past results showed that they can be controlled by introducing something living into the equation.

Huge concentrations of raw magic have a certain tendency to run out of control. The mana storms are a perfect example. A mana crystal is much more sturdy and longer lasting in that regard, but it still flows and changes with time, eventually losing its original purpose if the magic isn't fixed in some way. The easiest way to explain it is to compare the myth of flowing glass. Glass may seem sturdy and everlasting at the first glance. But give it some decades and it flows like water, even if the process takes a really long time. Something like that would make our efforts naught.

What we want to create has to last forever and repair itself if a problem occurs. I had partial success in controlling the crystals by using a soul fragment to give intent and purpose to my magical constructs, but that's obviously limited by the soul's potential. It may have enough power to span a planet or a solar system, but we are talking about the entire multiverse.

The result of our efforts will be something like a living enchantment. A world enchantment which should slowly influence and change this multiverse's nature. Hopefully in a way which recreates what we know as pathways.

The funny part is that we intend to use the mana storm to fuel our creation. Once it starts to leech on the storm, we can attack as we want.

“I think we've done it! There is no interference between the seed and the crystal component.” Elona joyfully pumps her fists. “I can't believe it! And we did it in just seven days! We should work together more often. On our own we would have spent months on this project.”

“Yeah, well. Maybe from time to time?” I don't really want to say it, but sharing a lab with Elona is tiring. She is such a fanatic when it comes to keeping order. Which doesn't mean that my labs are messy; if I were to work in a messy lab I would get nothing accomplished.

But Elona is taking it to a whole new level. Up until now I never watched her when she conducts real research. Everything has to be in its place and most items must even have a certain orientation or she freaks out.

I thought that she would organize her laboratory in a similar manner as her kitchen, which is a messy witch's den. But the two things are apparently two completely different things in her mind.

On a second thought, that's somehow frightening. She is using the kitchen to brew up all kinds of dangerous stuff. I am almost a hundred percent sure that she brewed the stuff with which she healed and enhanced Doreen inside her soup-pot.

“What do you mean from time to time!? We are the perfect team! I just have to teach you how to keep order.” She walks around the pedestal and kisses me, then she hugs me and presses her cheek to my chest. I feel myself soften in her embrace.

No! I can't falter. “I am sure that there will be a lot of opportunities to work together, but there is a limited amount of what we can invent. Technology and biology can only be combined in a limited number of ways.”

She doesn't get the hint. “Oh, there is enough. Let me think about some joint projects. I am sure that I can plan at least a few thousand years in advance until I run out of ideas.”

“Ahem... yes.” I close my arms around her, careful not to crush her round belly against me. Fuck, sucubbi are really dangerous when it comes to their reproductive cycle. It has been only a week since she decided to stop using protection. If I am not careful I'll end up with a whole football team by the end of the year! “Elona, how many children did you plan for this time?”

“I thought that six or eight is a nice number. But since we already have two in quick succession, I thought about giving it a little time until Seria and her brother are a little bigger. We could stagger them, maybe every ten years, one or two. That would ensure that we never run out of entertainment.” She reaches for my ass and pinches me with an evil grin.

I cough and try to disentangle myself. “I don't have anything against kids, but strongly vote for a long recovery time between the brats.”

She purses her lips and squints her eyes at me. “How long?”

I avoid her beautiful eyes and focus on those glorious lips instead. “Oh, I don't know. How about using the solution we had as Angrod and Celes? A few centuries between each set isn't so bad?” That would give the others time to leave the house and I wouldn't be permanently surrounded by my offspring.

“One.”

Putting on my best smile I sink my fingers into her perfect butt. “Three?”

Her lips quiver. “Maybe two, but you have to take extra care of me.”

“Deal!”

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