240, 1/2

The sky was dark, and so was Melemizargo, his white-fanged maw curled in a gentle smile, high above Erick and Jane. His wings, his neck, his body, and his tail, spread outward like solid black voids, but with scales that glinted in the subtle light of his eyes and in the distant light of the sun, hiding behind the clouds above.

Erick stood next to Jane, on the white crystal dais that was Melemizargo’s public-access throne, while the God of Magic sat slightly curled on his own, raised white crystal dais. Clear crystal spires ringed the ‘throne room’, some of them only meters wide and meters tall, while others were thick as buildings and reached just as high, each of them filled with shadows that curled and danced in the presence of their god.

They were in the middle of Ascendant City, located on the southern half of Ascendant Mountain, right at the cliffside edge that separated the halves of the split land. Melemizargo’s tail even curled over that edge, and then flipped the other way, back into view. He was happy. Inordinately happy.

And Erick had a choice.

He could allow himself to truly wallow in the fury at the machinations that led him to stand here with his daughter at his side, where both of them were vulnerable to whatever horrors would come from searching out the Sundering. Or, he could be productive. Melemizargo had given out his task to Erick, to solve the question of the Sundering, but he had also given him permission to seek out every single bit of information and power that could be used to strengthen Veird for the coming expansion.

Erick wanted those strengthening magics.

There were some concerns, though.

Erick said, “I have some concerns.”

“Speak your concerns, and let all know that I am listening.”

Erick was going to ask some tough questions. He hoped that Melemizargo would answer them truthfully, and that those answers would be acceptable.

“Long ago you said that you consider this world to be fake, and only recently you have changed positions on this. As a part of that previous view on the world, you thought that some outsiders might have been trying to get information or something else out of you, and that you needed to fight back with all your might against their intrusive inquiries.” Erick asked, “Wouldn’t we, trying to solve all of Veird’s problems with Old Cosmology magic, intrude upon that sanctity of the Dark that you were so paranoid about protecting?”

Melemizargo listened, his eyes focused on Erick. There was a flicker of anger there, but he crushed that anger. He nodded, then said, “I’m still the God of Magic, and that Mantle is not passing now, or ever, or at least until I am sure that we truly are outside of this life raft of Veird, and are able to continue expanding uninterrupted. This question of malicious actors desiring power from me remains a paranoia that I experience, but you sorting through my memories of the Old Cosmology does not endanger my Mantle of godhood. To me, what is happening now, is that I am showing you a treasure hall and you are free to pick from the trinkets and books that you find, but the hall itself is still mine. That will not change.”

Erick’s question had been a potentially very dangerous one. But Melemizargo had given a good answer. It was one that Erick could easily believe, for now.

Erick moved on. “How do you see this plundering of the Dark going?”

“Any way you desire,” Melemizargo said, calmly.

As though Erick hadn’t just called it a ‘plundering’.

“A perfect outcome for me would be for both of you to make many different copies of yourself, and to send them out into the Dark together, while you two remain here, and safe. To that end, I have one dungeon with multiple dungeon slimes ready to copy both of you many times over, and the crack between the southern and northern halves of Ascendant Mountain is filled with dungeons that give base mana regeneration per major accomplishment therein. Your repros can go in there and gain base power, to bring you closer to the originals’ power. 99% of the tasks in those dungeons are the killing of monsters, and 1% is touching the dungeon cores themselves, for a final reward.” Melemizargo said, “I expect copies to go and get about 10,000 base mana per day down there in the canyon. After a month, with around 250,000 mana production per copy, they should be able to survive the dark well enough to dive multiple times before they meet their accidental ends.

“I also expect that nothing will happen right away.

“All I care about is that something happens in the correct direction, eventually, and that we’re set up to eventually and inevitably go in a positive direction.

“Gather the brightest minds of your generation. Ward the walls. Set up in another location that more fits with your desire for security, though I will still go to that location and make it mine, but whatever makes you feel more comfortable is fine with me.

“As for actual targets in the Dark:

“Perhaps a visitation of the shadows of Old Wizards is in order? Someone to teach you all the various ways in which the final ascent to True Wizard might happen?

“Perhaps I can help you step into Paradox, and pull out a version of you which has already ascended to Wizard, while simultaneously stripping them of their Wizardness, to better secure this current era?” Melemizargo said, “What will not happen right now, though, is that you will not give me any answers at all. Instead, you will stay here for as long as you desire. There are many resources here, at Ascendant Mountain, that do not exist anywhere else in the world. My Shades are just one such resource.”

The Dark God of Magic flicked his wings, shadows going wide. Shades appeared. But not all of them.

“Hollowsaur and Treant are here, in the wild dungeons of the canyon and in the cultivated gardens of the northern slope.”

Hollowsaur and Treant were exactly as Erick remembered them from a few years ago; the last time he had seen them. Erick could have visited them at any time, though, because both of them had worked in this land since it was established.

Both were male orcols, nearly 3 meters tall and just over 3 meters tall, respectively. While Hollowsaur wore ceremonial leather armor crafted from beasts he had killed and harvested himself, Treant wore some leaves, and his skin was more brown-bark, than brown-colored. Both of them bowed to Erick.

“Lapis is a relatively new addition to Ascendant Mountain who has taken to making useful artifacts for people to find inside of my dungeons the world over, and under.”

Lapis was an androgynous dark-skinned woman without any hair on her head, who wore a slick black dress. Her eyes glowed bright white, as did all the Shades and Melemizargo, but Lapis’s eyes were the kindest Erick had ever seen from a Shade, which made a bunch of sense. Lapis had fulfilled the ‘1001 good deeds’ requirement of her “Repent Sinner!’ Quest years ago. Now she was on the 101 year wait.

Lapis bowed to Erick.

“And then we have Fallopolis, my Culler.”

Fallopolis stepped out of the shadows, also looking exactly as Erick remembered. She was a grandmother of a woman, with frizzy white hair that was barely kept in check by a hairband, a rather masculine cut to her suit, and a black staff of kendrithyst crystal floating beside her, ready to be gripped and wielded at a moment’s notice.

She did not bow to Erick. She did nod, though.

“Fallopolis will be your primary contact when I am not available, but if you wish to speak to me at any time, just come up to this Throne, or speak wherever you are, and I will hear my name.” Melemizargo said, “Aside from that contact, we have the Well of Darkness located below this Throne. That is where you will be searching for dungeons that might lead to answers in the Dark, so I suggest you go figure out how that works, for the Well of Souls and Shadows is not exactly me, so it takes some getting used to in order to work it properly.

“The Well will also serve as a [Scry] mirror, to let you find Jane or her copies or your own copies when they’re out there delving in the Dark. All of the Shades know how to use it well, so learn from them when you can.”

Melemizargo stopped talking, and waited.

Erick took a moment, and asked, “Why don’t you just know what caused the Sundering?”

“Because The Sundering was an obliterating event, erasing its own passage through the Old Cosmology, and all I have are partial reconstructions of the past.” Melemizargo said, “I doubt you’ll be able to find proper, exact answers to that disastrous question at all. But you should be able to see tracks left in the Dark. Events where the Sundering started. Planes that were known and then gone, but which left records left on fragments of worlds that survived for a while.

“Lapis has been searching for the Sundering in the Dark for years with little to show, but she still has quite a lot of records about that search, and not just her own. I have been asking ‘what was the Sundering’ for a very long time, Erick, and many people have done research into this topic. You will have unfettered access to that information when it proves necessary, but for now, smaller access is granted.”

Erick scowled a little at not having full access to all records right away. “Why ask me for this? Why Jane? Why hasn’t anyone been able to figure this out before now?”

“Shades simply dissipate inside of me. So they’re no good for proper searches in the Dark.

“I’ve been insane for a long while, so there’s that.

“I’ve only been able to invite people into the Dark recently, with the dungeons, which was one of the major reasons for the dungeons in the first place.

“And so, I would need to either appoint a Champion to gather more information, which I have agreed not to do, or I would need a paladin capable of truly delving into the Dark, of which Jane is that person. Though she has yet to actually accept her paladinhood, so it is what it is.

“The other major solution is to have a Wizard, True yet or not, piece together what is out there into a cohesive whole. And that’s you.

“Know this, Erick. I cannot do it myself. I have tried. My memory is a fragmented mess, but I am still a God. I can still put myself back together rather well, and your Particle Magic has helped as an anchor for my mind. You have given me an edge to hold myself together. And that is terrifying, for many different reasons.

“The fact that a simple Wizard’s exploration of a new universe is enough to pull myself together should terrify you, because I should be beyond you. I am eldritch. I am unknowable. Except, I obviously am not all that. The very fact that you were able to pull me out of my insanity is crazy. But it happened.

“And I don’t know why.

“I have a theory, though.

“My theory is this: Whatever caused the Sundering is still out there, still actively hiding, and it is doing a very good job of hiding, but for some reason, Particle Magic fucked it up, too.

“That is why the Relevant Entities of the Script agreed to this. That is why this is happening now. You’re not looking for the previous causes of the Sundering. You’re looking for the active cause of the Sundering.” Melemizargo breathed out. “Or maybe the Sundering was left far behind, and Particle Magic destroyed whatever remnants of it existed, freeing me from my insanity. Either way, find the answers, Erick, and let us put this horror to a proper End.”

Erick felt sweat break out across his body at the thought of the Sundering still being active.

And so, Erick simply said, “Okay.”

Melemizargo breathed out again, relaxing another fraction.

And that was enough talking for him.

Melemizargo gave Erick the smallest of nods, and then he vanished backward, his voice trailing, “I look forward to Ending this horror, Erick and Jane, and to civilization once again spreading out to the New Cosmology.”

The Shades spoke in unison, “To the New Cosmology.”

Erick felt another chill, even as clouds disappeared and light chased away most of the shadows.

And then Fallopolis stepped forward, being more personable, as she said, “Hello again, Erick. We have lodgings for you and your daughter, if you wish to use them. Or you can bring a cloud castle in.”

“My gods,” Erick mumbled, the depth of what had just happened leaving him a little shaken. And then he gathered his wits, and strongly said, “Let’s get to the housing! Get this shit show on the road! Know now that I’m gonna be changing everything I don’t like around here, Fallopolis.” Erick opened a small [Gate] to the library in House Benevolence. “Goldie? Are you there? Or are you already here?”

Goldie stepped out of the Shadows near Melemizargo’s Throne, saying, “I’m here, my King.”

“Good.” Erick looked around, breathed deep, and then said, “What about Farix and Queen? Or are they not involved in this?”

Fallopolis said, “Farix is at New Brightwater, but he can be made to come here if you desire it.” She added, “Queen is in Nelboor at the moment, working on several Quest-points right now. I heard they’re at a delicate stage. She will obviously report here for duty if you need her to be here.”

Erick felt some of his anger drain. “No. Unnecessary.” He breathed again, centering himself… And then he noticed Fallopolis, Treant, and Goldie’s all-white eyes seem to flicker to the top of Erick’s head. His horns were out. Well that was fine. They could stay out. But he had also grown a decimeter in height. He had no idea when all of that had happened, but that extra height could stay, too. He fixed Fallopolis with his gaze, and said, “Let’s see the lodgings, and to the Heart of Melemizargo; the Well of Souls.” He said to Lapis, “I would see your work.” He said to Goldie, “Do you want to stay, or go back?”

“I’ll stay, my King. I would like to act as your Hand in this arena.”

Fallopolis raised an eyebrow in Goldie’s direction, then said to Erick, “I would call upon you later, if Goldie is going to be acting as your Hand in this land.”

“Lovely. That’s acceptable. I’ll see the rest of you later.” Erick gestured away. “To the lodgings we go, wherever they are.”

Jane started walking left, saying, “They’re this way.”

Because of course Jane had already been here, and knew where to go.

Goldie also started walking to the left, nodding, her giant black sword hovering behind her like a plank of black steel.

Fallopolis, Lapis, Treant, and Hollowsaur, all bowed to varying degrees, as Erick followed behind Jane and Goldie, to the east side of Melemizargo’s Throne.

– – – –

Erick stepped down a wide white staircase, deep into a canyon of clear crystal, following his daughter and the former Shade of Assassination, through lands that reminded him a lot of Brightwater, back in Ar’Kendrithyst. Back when he first went into that land, he had stepped down a similar staircase, and all around had been skyscrapers of crystal with sky bridges and little courtyards filled with plants and a whole bunch of different living areas, all filled with shadelings walking around in fugue-states. Those almost-people played out their lives as though they were real people, and not barely-sentient souls of the Old Cosmology stuck walking tracks that their lives used to walk, so very long ago.

Looking back on that moment, and knowing what he now knew, Erick could tell that the shadelings around here, in these skyscrapers and in these living spaces, were actual people. Humans and incani and harpies and goblins, and all the other races of Veird, were present in this place. And they all noticed Erick, Jane, and Goldie, walking down a staircase that did not connect to any of the nearby crystals. Erick walked through the lands of shadelings; separate, but seen.

It was better than walking through a land of ghosts. It was better than walking ‘invisibly’, knowing that if the residents did see you, that they would go dark-shit insane and try to kill you.

As it was, these people all bowed at Erick’s passing, some going all the way to their knees to press their foreheads against the skybridges they walked upon, and against the floors of courtyards that hung suspended between crystal spires. All conversation stopped. All sounds ceased, save for the wind blowing through the crystal city, through the second largest shadeling civilization here on Veird.

This all sort of reminded Erick of the actual largest shadeling civilization on Veird; Candlepoint. Except a lot more layered.

In four minutes, Jane led them from Melemizargo’s Throne, to step onto a large white-and-clear crystal courtyard; one of the largest around. To the left and the right were sky bridges that encircled the area under the Throne, providing what amounted to a ‘wall’, separating the shadeling side of Ascendant Mountain from the rest of Ascendant Mountain. Behind Erick lay an inhabited city. Further forward lay lands of real monsters, and cultivated danger. That’s where sentinel golems prowled and adventurers killed those sentinels, to gain keys to the greater dungeons, which also lay ahead, in that land of white crystal, deep shadows, and grand dungeons.

Jane headed right, along the border sky bridge, following a wide gap in the crystal city.

Erick followed. Almost no one walked this road for it was guarded by guardians who hovered above and to the sides, ready to kill anyone who came this way without keys, or without permission.

Jane soon came to the end of the road, to where a large open space held out from the crystal lands like a cliff-balcony, reaching beyond the city, to stick out over the canyon. She turned right. Erick glanced to the left, and saw the northern slope of Ascendant Mountain, about 3.5 kilometers down, looking like a carpet of green with a few brighter colors here and there. Between the northern slope and this southern rise, lay a dark canyon filled with monsters and dungeons… somewhere down there in the shadowy mist—

Jane pointed forward and spoke for the first time in the fifteen minutes they had walked here, “That’s where we’re staying.”

It was standard crystal housing, looking from the outside almost like a skyscraper, like the upscale hotels of Treehome. The whole thing was white and opaque and boxy, but there were also tan areas, shadows in corners, and glinting gold here and there. Some balconies on some of the windows offered great views of the north, and also of the east, where the sun would rise over a land of crystal, and mountains.

Jane walked up to the entrance, and then went into the crystal tower.

Erick easily followed, and so did Goldie.

“A whole hotel to ourselves?” Erick asked, as he looked around the lobby, and saw for himself what awaited him. Luxury. And a lot of it. “I suppose private pools for bathing quarters are nice. If a bit much.”

There were four servants in the hotel, each of them shadelings. Three of them were in the kitchens, located about 40 meters away and down in the bowels of the hotel, all kowtowing in Erick’s direction. The fourth was kowtowing beside what was obviously a concierge desk, right in front of Erick.

Erick said, “Rise, and tell me what you’re here for.”

The concierge rose. He was a human shadeling—

And Erick knew him.

Erick scrunched his eyebrows, saying, “Gary Dearth-of-flowers? Is that you?” He had to be. Gary was a person born as a woman, who wished for and got a [Reincarnation] from Erick several years ago, along with a new first name chosen by Erick; his primary name remained his choice, though. Gary had become a human through that transformation. “You’re a shadeling again? And working here? Rise, please.”

Sometimes people who went through [Reincarnation] to get away from their shadeling status decided to go back to being a shadeling. Or they died again, and their souls went to Melemizargo because they still believed in Melemizargo. Erick wasn’t sure which camp Gary belonged to… But he wished to know.

“Yes, my king; shadeling again,” Gary said, getting to his feet. “I actually worked in a smaller hotel to the south side, where adventurers might stay, but when it became apparent that you would be coming here there was a call for volunteers. I spoke up. And now I am here, gratefully serving you. Any mundane thing you wish for, I will bring to you.”

Erick cast his gaze over to the other three shadelings in the kitchens. He didn’t know them. He turned his attentions back to Gary. “Okay. Well. Nice to see you again. The rooms look lovely.”

Gary grinned at that, and then bowed professionally. “We aim to please.”

Erick decided to just ask, “Did you die, Gary? Do you want another [Reincarnation]?”

Gary’s small grin turned into a nice little smile. “I tried delving and failed miserably, but I am happy with my life now. Everything is as it should be, and Melemizargo is as good of a god as any.”

“Okay… Well. Then that’s fine.” Erick said, “Spread the word, if you could, if anyone wants [Reincarnation]s. I’ll probably be here in town for a while, with my daughter… Who appears to have already gone up to the rooms.”

Jane had gone ahead, with Goldie pausing to look at Erick for a moment, before she decided to stand at attention at the side of the room, like a professional guard.

Erick said to Gary, “I’ll probably be going back to Aniduun for a small gathering and politicking. No need for dinner tonight, but I will be wanting to talk to you later about the relations between the dungeon guild cities and Ascendant Mountain.”

Gary bowed. “Your will be manifest.”

Erick moved on, up the stairs, to their rooms, which appeared to be four whole floors of high-class hotel rooms. Jane had already picked her rooms, so Erick went into there. Goldie followed, and then melded into the shadows behind Erick, leaving him ‘alone’ with his daughter.

The rooms were nice.

And then Jane asked, “Why are you going along so easily with all of this? I thought you’d be yelling back there.”

“That’s an easy answer,” Erick said, “My personal comfort in this scenario is the least of my concerns. Your comfort in this scenario ranks much, much higher. And besides; I’ll be changing all of this to suit my needs, and if I didn’t do this, then someone else would, and I’d rather be here at the center of it all instead of on the outside looking in.”

Jane relaxed a little, and then she nodded. “… Okay.”

Erick asked, “How were you going to go about all this?”

“Pretty much exactly as Melemizargo outlined up there. Copies of myself, hunting in pairs or trios for the answers in the Dark.” Jane asked, “Are you going to make one? Because that’s what I had planned on doing right now.”

“… Are you mentally ready to wake up and not be yourself?”

“Yes,” Jane said, without hesitation. “I’m ready for that. Have been for a while now.”

Erick didn’t believe that right now, but he was ready to start believing, soon. “I assume this hotel would have been for multiples of you?”

“Yes. I’ve been to a lot of places here already, but in a preliminary sort of way.” Jane looked around. “Every room is the same, except for the view. There were going to be, like, 10 of us, making do and making progress, with Lapis directly helping and Fallopolis running around taking care of larger concerns. I was going to learn a few things before I got to copying myself, though, so that all of me didn’t have to keep learning the same thing every time.” Jane asked, “To that end: want to go see the Well? Or talk to Lapis? Both need to be done as soon as possible.”

Erick recalled what he knew of the Well.

The Well of Melemizargo, also known as the Heart of Darkness, or the Black Mirror, or any number of other names, was the geographical ‘center’ of the Dark. Or at least that was the popular theory of it all. The Dark Mirror is where some shadelings came from, though most were born from smaller gatherings of Darkness and Shadow near the Well, and not from the Well itself.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

The Dark didn’t actually have a geographical center, though.

The Well could move, gathering shadows wherever Melemizargo desired it to be. The Well used to be at the Spire in Ar’Kendrithyst, and though it had been physically destroyed in that location tens of times over Ar’Kendrithyst’s long history, it was not an actual item. It was a place, and it was sort of like the Vile and Exalted moons of Hell and Celes; gathering locations of power.

It was not at all like Erick and his production of Benevolence. He was the headwaters of that ocean, just as Melemizargo was the ‘headwaters’ for the Dark… Though Erick wasn’t too sure on that fact, actually.

The Benevolent Sky inside Benevolence Itself, located near the Yggdrasil planted there, was where Erick’s own ‘Heart of Benevolence’ existed, if anyone wanted to call it that. Of that, he was rather sure.

And that was pretty much all Erick knew about the Well… That, and that people peered into the Dark there to find answers to… Everything. Back when the New Stats were first coming out, and people were taking more than one New Stat and thus falling to the Shadeling Curse, people could journey to the Well and learn of the Dark and become normal people again…

Was that all Erick knew? … Yeah. Mostly.

“Have you actually poked around at the Well at all?” Erick asked.

“No. That was for today. You and I are mostly on the same page now, dad.”

“Let’s go to the Well.” Erick said to the air, “We can walk and talk with Lapis while we go there.”

Lapis stepped out of the shadows of the lobby downstairs. Though a few floors and walls separated them the Shade of Enchantment bowed toward Erick, and waited, hands crossed over themselves, just above her belly button.

– – – –

They went back to the encircling wall/sky-bridge between the adventuring districts and the shadeling city, and took a left only a hundred meters past the overlook. Deep into the bowels of white, shadow, and clear crystal, Erick, Jane, and Lapis walked into a shadowy space that was filled with light from above, but also wreathed in deep gloom. The path led toward the Throne, but lower.

There weren’t many shadelings in this part of the city, for to the south lay infrastructure and amenities. The only voices in the air were those of Erick and Lapis, as they walked and talked, while the smell of baked bread and hydroponic-grown vegetables and greens filled the air. This was sort of like the farming center of the city, but not quite.

“And everything is so clean,” Erick said, “Even without [Cleanse]. Unless you have adventurers that come in and do that?”

Lapis said, “Ascendant Mountain is a shadeling city, but we do have around a 2% shadowless population.” The androgynous woman raised an eyebrow at Erick, her white eyes glowing brightly. “You truly have never been here? I had thought that rumor was false.”

“I’ve been about as busy as anyone, yourself included. Last I heard you were working with Farix and New Brightwater, making inroads with Anhelia’s kingdom.”

The sounds of their feet clicking on the stone echoed slightly in the canyon of crystal. A sudden wind carried the distant sounds of people through the air, talking and laughing and working on farms, or otherwise. Some loud thing roared far behind Erick, way, way back beyond the walkway that separated adventurers from shadelings; it was some sort of fight.

Erick gazed through Ophiel, to look down at that fight, while he also walked beside Lapis, with Jane right behind them. It was a normal sort of adventurer fight, happening between what looked like two mages, a tank, a healer, and a pair of white-crystal-and-gold-automatons which slashed and flickered through the light, aiming to maim and succeeding rather easily. There went legs and a hand, curses settling into limbs like shadows soaking into sponges.