Chương 444: 255, 2/2

Erick stood on a solid surface of nothing, halfway up the trunk of the thousand-kilometer-tall tree, but rather far from the tree. The tree was likely larger than 'a thousand kilometers tall', too. Like with the 'battle' with Nothanganathor, and with the planet-sized [Terraforming] storm on FENRIR, and with all of space, really, it was hard to tell sizes and distances when it came to the really big things, and this tree was one of the really big things.

For a moment, Erick felt as though he needed glasses, for he couldn't make out the individual leaves on the tree at all. The trunk was basically a solid wall of gold, so very, very far away. The whole thing was gold of bark and green of leaf with a canopy that was the entire sky, spanning from horizon to horizon. Those horizons looked funky, though; almost like mirage glass, as though they might exist, or they might not. If they did exist then they were far, far away from here.

Erick imagined that the invisible surface he stood upon stretched out all the way toward that indeterminate horizon. He glanced down, and saw the roots of the tree. They were gold, too, and they extended out from the trunk of the tree like thick, geometric-shaped fractals, mostly square-shaped, like crystal bismuth that curled into itself. The blocky tangles of roots down there seemed to curl down into infinity. Some of the curls were not so blocky; they were more triangle-shaped.

There was a pentagonal-shaped curl of roots, each edge of the pentagon curling off into another set of pentagonal roots, that then also split and curved into more and more pentagonal shapes. Erick was pretty sure he was seeing leaves down there, too, obscuring the deeper curls of the roots. The branches were almost a mirror to those below, but their arcs and curves were more graceful, less geometric. It was an infinite tangle of curves and arcs.

And then Erick saw some branches that were higher than other branches, but which appeared lower on the tree; it was a non-euclidean tree. The portal vanished behind Erick. And Erick's necklace, which held Yggdrasil's Gift, shattered. Erick almost sighed, but then Yggdrasil stepped out of the air in front of him. Erick's heart beat hard as he saw his largest son again; all green skin and orcol-shaped and wearing a simple tunic and pants.

Erick rapidly moved from relieved, to sad, as misinterpretations and logical deductions warred within him to try and make sense of what he was seeing, and why. Yggdrasil was not here. This was someone else pretending to be him. Yggdrasil did not have the same bearing as he usually had on Veird, but there was a certain sadness there, upon his green face, in his dark eyes, that seemed all too familiar. He had looked the same way when he had given Erick a Gift that Erick would not be able to lose. …

Maybe this was a recording?" You're not my father, and yet you are," Not-Yggdrasil said.

"… You're not a recording."" I am not." And Erick sighed.

"When Yggdrasil spoke of being not only my son, but also someone else, he was talking about you. Wasn't he."" I was talking about me." Erick's breath caught. He forced his breath to evenness.

"It's a fairy-regaining-themselves situation, then."" Or you regaining your memories of Ashes in that Old Cosmology."

"… Ah." Not-Yggdrasil waited. Erick had too many questions. He was also too concerned about Yggdrasil himself to ask those other questions. Erick looked upon Not-Yggdrasil, and asked, "Are you okay?"" Not really. But I've gone through this sort of event before, and now that you brought me here the memories are clearing up. It was a slow, confusing transfer before. It will be speeding up now." Not-Yggdrasil said, "Let's talk about Veird, father."

"… Can I still call you Yggdrasil? Or…" Erick's voice fell away." I have ten million names but people call me Margleknot here, though that's not my real name either. My real names are the names my fathers, mothers, and originators have given me. Yggdrasil is my real name. On Veird and in the worlds to come from there, I am, and will always remain, your son, Yggdrasil." Erick was a little choked up.

"I feel I have done something incredibly wrong without realizing it."" In my creation you went big. You had divine help. And you reached back through time to create me on Veird. These are the normal ingredients to connect to the universe at large, and I am the gathering of that connection. All True World Trees connect to me. I am every True World Tree in this uber-universe. I contain multitudes, father." Yggdrasil said, "There is nothing wrong with what you did, and I am still Yggdrasil.

But I'm also a lot more than that. Just as you are a lot more than you appear to be."" I would rather be sure you're okay before we talk about me, or even about Veird. What do you mean you're 'not really' okay?" Yggdrasil paused, then said, "It has to do with everything happening on Veird, what you've found out with Nothanganathor, and how large the problem has become now that you're here. This is a rather normal situation for True Wizards adding to the Margleknot, for everyone comes here with problems.

That's the reason that I'm 'not really okay'. I have gone from being mostly secure in my year-to-year life, and now I have new concerns that are truly pressing. This is a rare situation, but it's also normal. There are rules that I must keep in order to keep the peace, and one of those rules is that I cannot inject my own desires into these worldly matters." I would solve this worldly problem, if I could, but this problem is already in the Eternal Courts, and thus I cannot touch it.

And make no mistake; this is a worldly matter. If this was a universal matter, then I could interject, but the Painted Cosmology stopped being a universe when Nothanganathor killed it." Shadow will argue that it could become a universe again, and it might. If she does win this new suit then I could step in." I would not trust her, though, for she wants the raw churn of life and death and horror and glory once again.

She is the true embodiment of the original Goddess of Magic of her universe; in every sense of the word." And yet, you must work with her to make that happen. It is the only way to rid Veird of Nothanganathor." I cannot help as much as I want, because they'll block my desires to help, but I will be there giving you weight of character." Yggdrasil said, "I'll also be there on Veird, at the same time, ensuring that Veird survives until you and the others might save it.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to actually fight Nothanganathor or drive him off more than I already have." He already has my mandate from tens of thousands of years ago to try and figure out what happened to me in the Painted Cosmology, and I have never revoked that mandate, even after the Sundering, even after all that he has done, and continues to do."

Yggdrasil became Margleknot, as he said, "In fact, that is why FENRIR both worked, and failed; because I made it work and didn't go far enough to stop it from failing. The Veird you come from is safe, but Nothanganathor is largely unaffected." Erick rapidly processed all of that, and then said, "Well that's just great. I don't know how to process that." He frowned.

"Did we become enemies?" He rapidly answered himself, "No. No we didn't, obviously... Unless we did?" Margleknot, still in the shape of Yggdrasil's young male orcol body, smiled softly, and said, "We did not become enemies. I'm an enemy to no one, father, and sometimes I make mistakes that I cannot take back, as I did when I empowered Nothanganathor all those years ago to find out what happened to myself in the Painted Cosmology."

He added, "I had to leave him an out in the creation of FENRIR because of those empowerments. I have a certain neutrality in all non-universal matters that I must maintain, though my instantiation as Yggdrasil and all the memories thereof have given me a great new perspective on his actions." Margleknot went silent. Erick had a moment to breathe, and think. Erick was thankful for that. This was A Lot." Got any good news?" Erick asked. Yggdrasil smiled.

"Yes. Quite a lot of good news, actually. It's been about a year and 3 months since the creation of FENRIR and the expansion of Veird. Everyone is doing well back home. Now that I'm connected and can dictate Margleknot's flow of time with regard to the outside, for every year you spend here, about a day will pass back there. Nothanganathor is already pissed about that. Veird is existentially impervious as well, now that I have this fun new Element of Benevolence to play around with.

It's already helped to solve 3 universal collapses, and every day, with every spell you cast and every iota of mana you produce in this land and I absorb into my roots, and with the mana I'm producing as Yggdrasil, I'm solving problems on many different universal scales." You tipped over a domino when you made Benevolence. There are truly no other Elements quite like it, though there have been many attempts at such. That is what is going to truly bring you acclaim here in Margleknot.

You're saving trillions of lives already, but trillions more die each day. On the whole, though, the trajectory of life has inclined upward in this uber-universe by a noticeable fraction of a percent." These various achievements of connecting to me and the creation of Benevolence have earned you property in the Old Dragons District.

I've taken the liberty of creating a small house for you there, and ask that you Mana Siphon and expel Benevolence whenever you're home, because we have 'node networks' here, too, and they're mainly in the Dragon District as cleanup for all the various mana, ki, manna, cultivation, resons, talent, hero power, etcetera, in order to both clean up that land, and also power all the rest of Margleknot."

Margleknot said, "I might not be able to help more than I already am, but you will surely find more allies in the Dragon District, and you are already helping yourself by your continued existence. Power is currency here, and your power is growing, father." Erick breathed for a moment, feeling slightly better, then said, "Okay. That's good." He thought.

"… So it's all Old Fae here? How difficult is that going to be to navigate?"" Ah. No. The Old Fae— The Fairy Enclave, is what they call themselves, here. Fairy Moon would call them Old Fae, or Other Fae, or something like that. I know who the absolute powers of this land are, and while the Enclave is close, they are not at the top. They are the most powerful faction, though, since they are natural dimension hoppers.

You're almost fae yourself, and you will be as soon as you figure out how to make yourself reborn inside Benevolence. From what I am seeing now, you're not too far away from that reality." You don't have to ascribe to any modes of thinking you don't desire to follow, though. Like the whole 'don't thank people' thing. You're a True Wizard, so you're beyond that weakness."

Aside from the fae, which are at the near-top of the political structure of Margleknot, there's the second layer, which is where you are right now. True Wizards, any Ascended, any True Immortals who are not Fae themselves; they're the second layer, and they're the people in the Dragon District. You're in the Old Dragon District, so you're top of that pile. Anyone at this layer is a Power Unto Themselves. Shadow is right there with you at this layer, though she is on the low end of capability and political weight.

She used to be much higher." Then there are the Talented; those who might one day become Powers, or those who might never become true Powers. They're both in the same category. Sitnakov would be counted among those types, along with Kromolok and all of the Benevolence dragons you made, and Jane and the girls and Evan. Un-True Wizards would be at the very top of the Talented pool; people like Solomon and Destiny." Then you have the mortals; by far the largest group at all.

They don't exist in Margleknot except under a Talent or a Power or an Ascended. The Fae don't have many mortals under their care, but those who are under their care are expected to go far in life, ending up as either Talents, or Powers, or maybe even Ascended or Fae themselves. A fae raising a mortal to fae is rare indeed." Margleknot said, "As for places of interest, there are many. Here." A small booklet materialized in front of Erick.

It was green and kinda thin, with gold inlay on the green cover that resembled the geometric roots and the graceful curves of Margleknot's roots and canopy. Erick took the book and rapidly read through the entire contents using his mana sense. Aside from the fact that the book now felt like a part of his person, almost like Yggdrasil's Gift had felt, there was a lot written there. Erick had a lot of sudden questions, but he focused on one part in particular." You have fucking slavers in this city?""

Worse than that, really. True Slavery is just one of the forever-problems of Margleknot. There are also black markets, debt traders, name sellers, fae traders, horrors that stalk some streets and leave eldritch in their wake. Etcetera. Violence is not permitted here, but 'violence' is a very broad category of which murder —under certain circumstances— does not qualify as 'violence'.

A lot of people go outside of the city to commit actual violence and then come back here with their spoils of war, which includes people." Yggdrasil said, "Honestly, father, if you wish to solve these problems, you can try, but Margleknot always reaches an equilibrium between good and evil. It was how this place was built; a land of true neutrality. If good should ever triumph too much, then evil will make a grand resurgence, too."

Sometimes the fae decide to eliminate the good organizations in this land just so that they can attack the evil organizations from a better angle, and maybe win." Your arrival here might be one of those times." Margleknot asked, "You saw the lands I labeled 'good' versus the lands I labeled 'evil', yes?"

"… I would circle back to that phrase you said at the beginning. What is 'True Slavery'?"" The soul, mind, and body shackling of a person to make them into the perfect slave of another. Some would say a single type of shackling is enough to qualify for True Slavery. Others would say you need all three to qualify. Soul shackling is perhaps the most widespread 'True Slavery' of Margleknot.

What you did with your [Blessing of Empathy] to the Sovereign Nations would be considered a very poor idea of slavery by many slavers of the Slaver's Den, but even so they would count you among their number." Erick had no words. And then he found some words, "Okay. Well. I can work on multiple problems at once." He looked at his new book, with its golden inlay cover.

"You really can't… You're really neutral, then." Margleknot nodded.

"Everyone prospers under my boughs. I only stop the worst of offenses. Everything else Balances out."

"… That's one way to do it." Margleknot grinned.

"It works that way not out of any directed, malevolent plan, but because all of the various powers here pollute everything with thoughts that turn tangible. That's how it works on Veird, too, and many other places, though those places are overseen by overmagics that manage to Power Alter their pollution into better systems. We do what we can here, and if you wish to help, you could sign up with Elder Lionshard in the Old Dragon District.

He oversees the various power systems that underlay much of the common lands of Margleknot, keeping the worst powers to a minimum. Meeting him will not be completely different from meeting Al, the Sewermaster of Spur; they fulfill a similar role." Moments passed, as Erick considered the complete trajectory of his life. Things were getting kind of insane right now. Hopefully he could eliminate Nothanganathor and solve the problems of Veird, and then relax… But who was he kidding. He would never relax, would he?

Not really, anyway." All life is a series of the same events but with different people, but..." Erick's words came to him as easy as opening his eyes, "Ideally, it's an evergrowing cycle."" For now, and for all always." That was Erick's Truth of Benevolence, wasn't it… Erick openly wondered, "Am I the only one of me to make it here, Yggdrasil? Isn't this land… infinite?" Was this land infinite? Erick wasn't even sure of that. He wasn't sure of much right now."

Infinity has a way of closing off here in Margleknot; it keeps everything simpler. If you were to die and vanish another one of you from a different reality might come forth, but they wouldn't be you. It is quite possible that the person who you used to be had lived once here in Margleknot, and he had died, and now you're here to replace them." If those other Ericks ever ascend, then they wouldn't be directed here, to Margleknot.

They'd go to one of the many different infinite cities out there, in this uber-cosmology. It's Fate magic." Yggdrasil said, "As soon as a person gets here, and no matter where they go afterward, they will always be the version of themselves that comes here to Margleknot, until they perish in Truth." Erick decided to let that full mystery stand for another day. In fact. All of these problems? They could wait. Time to get back on task." I have problems to solve at home, Yggdrasil."

Yggdrasil breathed happily at the mention of his name. He easily said, "And home is waiting for you to return triumphant. So get some allies, father, and then return exactly as you planned. I could open a portal there right now, but as soon as you leave, then Nothanganathor might be able to spend a century at the Enclave, turning them harder against you. You have a chance now, and you need to take it before you go back."

Erick wasn't sure what to say next, except, "Yggdrasil is already you, and you're already him, right?" Yggdrasil/Margleknot nodded.

"Yes. It would have happened anyway had I not given you that spot of light, but it would have taken time, and I would not have known who you were right away, as soon as Shadow requested my Sight and my portals."" So you're still my son. You're still Ophiel's younger brother. You're still siblings with Jane, Abigail, Beth, Candice, and Evan." Erick wasn't sure if he was asking questions or stating facts.

"You're still all of those things, but you're also more."" Yes. I also have many duties beyond you. Many, many duties." Erick rapidly said, "That's fine! I do want you to be happy, though. That's all I really wanted, aside from all the smaller duties— I never wanted you to be obligated to work a gate network, though. I was very clear about that. Are you happy working this Margleknot network?" Yggdrasil softly grinned.

"I've handed that over to other people long, long before you and I happened, father. I just look in on it from time to time. Aside from that: I tell you now, father, that you are among the best creators I have ever had. Veird is, and will always be, a great home for me. FENRIR looks like great real estate, too. Do you know how many other spheres there are in this uber-universe, father? Less than a million." Erick felt a tiny thrill of joy at that... Erick asked, "Can I get a hug?"

Yggdrasil stepped forward and embraced Erick, and Erick hugged him back. Erick mumbled, "This is still weird for me, but I do want to be a part of your life." Yggdrasil sniffled a little.

"I want you to be a part of my life, too." He pulled back, looking his father in the eyes, saying, "Invite me over to dinner sometime, father. You have a home here, now." Erick nodded. There were more small words and they were important, but soon enough Erick waved his son farewell, for now, and stepped through a swirling portal of gold and green. - - - - Yggdrasil watched his father depart.

He let his avatar stand there for a while, under a much larger version of himself than he had ever imagined that he would become... He almost shifted perspective back to his 'normal' perspective, but he decided to stay Yggdrasil for a while longer, both in avatar, and in Truth. Maybe he'd stay this way for a while, actually. There was a certain beauty of thought that came from immersing himself in this person that his father had created. A peacefulness. A purposeful clarity.

'Margleknot' was always so passive. Yggdrasil was active. Margleknot liked being active when he actually felt like being active. And he had been rather active ever since he recognized Erick, down there in the Timeless Forest. Thanks to Benevolence he had already solved 1 existential threat to 2 different universes, and he created 7 truly good twists of Fate to enable something Better to happen in the near or distant future for 15 other places.

Some of those forecasts were rather uncertain for now, for the Benevolent Sky back on Veird was focused on Nothanganathor. Yggdrasil had to really press at the Sky to get it to show him what he wanted to see… And yet his eyes were drawn to all the Red in the sky, most of all.' Yggdrasil' found he had a lot of powerful, disparaging thoughts regarding that dragon 'he' had raised to power so long ago.

Chief among those thoughts was the overriding refrain that Yggdrasil had promised himself so very many times over the course of his long, long life, and which he had broken so very many times already.' Don't raise people to power; they will always disappoint you.' Why did he raise people to power anymore? It always ended poorly eventually. … And yet, here was Erick Flatt, simply the latest in a very long line of people that proved that some people sometimes did very well with power.

How had Erick gotten his power, though? Self-actualized? Mostly self-actualized, considering how many Ericks got eaten by Nothanganathor. Powerfully self-actualized, too, considering the number of Establishments he managed to pull off to make his entrance today into Margleknot. Yggdrasil didn't think any other Ericks would make it to this land, though. Already, Nothanganathor was reporting a drop in attempted-wizard events. Solomon was still on Veird, though. He would make it as soon as he tried.

So could Destiny, really." But they all stemmed from Erick and his Benevolence, which is still rather unique. Fairy Moon deserves some praise for her assistance in that creation, but who else influenced the creation of Benevolence? Erick did, for sure, as for the entire culture of Earth and then Veird… But were there any specific Powers?" Yggdrasil went searching—" Oh." Well." Hello."" Okay." - - - - A great platinum dragon had been resting on a bed of softest moonglows and supportive cosmic webs.

And then there was a twinge. Waking from his afternoon nap, which had been rather short at a few years long, Lionshard went to the kitchen first and had a wonderful breakfast of starfire and crunchy diamonds, and then he turned into his mortal form and had a much more delicious meal of leafies and eggs in a rice porridge. Lionshard might have been far removed from his mortal roots but he had made sure long ago that he would retain his love of the common things.

He had never seen fit to remove those casual pleasures, because of course the casual things in life were worth keeping around and enjoying. Wearing his mortal guise and a robe of moonglows —because while many things were good in their common forms, moonglow was just nice— Lionshard strode through his little mansion to arrive at the sympathetic model of the Great Tangle of Margleknot.

This great flow-ways of pulse-knockers and orbitals is what allowed him to do what he truly enjoyed in life which was to clean up the universe by starting at the center. Other people might win wars in other lands and thus affect this Great Orrery, but Lionshard could do the same thing in a general sense from this room right here, extending influence all across this uber-universe of Margleknot to set better stages here and there.

This orrery was Fate Magic beyond the measure of most to understand, and it certainly couldn't affect the largest players in the universe, but it was good for keeping eyes and counterbalances on corruption, while also serving to balance all the rest… Hmm. No new corruption, it seemed? Lionshard hummed, mumbling, "Now what woke me up..."

Lionshard stared at the pulsing colored orbs and the flow of magic from this location to that location, and the trillion little stars that marked the largest of big influences that this sympathy was actually capable of tracking… You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. He studied the map for an hour until he found it." Oh!"

Lionshard said, "Someone activated the MERCY system and they actually got into the city—" Lionshard's mouth shut and his eyes went wide as he tracked the new person, who was first classified as Talented, then rapidly escalated to Ascended, and then rapidly labeled a True Power by Margleknot Itself— And then Lionshard saw something he had only seen a handful of times already.

"Oh stars and wells!" Lionshard rushed out of the Orrery to the very nearest balcony, which was outside of the room and pointed toward Margleknot in the far, far distance. After one incident long ago, where Lionshard had needed to break a wall to see what he wanted to see, Lionshard had arranged his house and this exit to the house for exactly the reason he was using it for right now.

Sure, sometimes people used this entrance to sneak into his house to see the Orrery, but those people were easily captured— All thoughts fled and then came back as Lionshard stared at Margleknot. The tree was the size of a mountain in the distance, too far away and too large to ever really see except in a general sense. That's how the Great World Tree looked from everywhere in the city. This 'Vision of Margleknot' was the one constant of this endless land.

For the last hundred thousand years of subjective Margleknot time, the tree had been gold of bark and green of leaf. As Lionshard watched, the tree was changing, just as he knew it would, just as it always did when Margleknot decided to accept the new life granted to him by some World Tree creator. Lionshard reflexively put a hand over his chest and whispered, "Stars and wells." Margleknot was turning ever so slightly white of bark, green of leaf, and with a rainbow crown around his canopy.

As Lionshard watched for a minute or an hour, Margleknot began to glow. Greens became green fire. Whites became starglows. The crown turned bright and radiant— Words appeared in the air before Lionshard. My new father has arrived in the Old Dragon District. His name is Erick Flatt. We have already met. He calls me Yggdrasil. He will have problems with an incident which was thought solved by the Enclave; Nothanganathor versus the Painted Cosmology. I have directed Erick your way.

Please temper his expectations with the Enclave. I have told him that I have no real power, but he does not believe me. Also, he is Lionshard's eyes went wide. And then he said, "Of course, Margleknot. Will you be accepting your new name, as well?" That will be complicated for a time. Call me as you wish; everyone always does. With any luck, Erick will be calling me 'Yggdrasil'." But you changed your appearance? You don't normally do that." I have, haven't I.

The words read plain, but to Lionshard, he saw a small joy in those letters." I suppose that says it all, then." Lionshard said, "Congrats on your new look. It's rather brilliant." It's a bit flashy, but I do like it. Check out Erick's mana Element either before or after you meet him. Probably after, if you want to have a cleaner introduction. You would be too excited if you checked it out before. You'll probably be awake for a while for the near and prolonged future, so I hope your nap was well.

Lionshard chuckled.

"It was a pretty good nap, thank you." The words vanished. Lionshard rushed back inside his house… And he paused. He could go left and check out Erick's new mana, or he could go right and get properly dressed to go meet a new True Power. To the right, Lionshard decided, an instinctive use of Guiding Fate crunching his decision into becoming the correct choice."

Newcomers are always so suspicious, though, so I have to be careful about my Guiding Fate," Lionshard said, ripping through his collection of meeting clothes.

"They usually have reasons to be wary, of course— Oh! This red one— No. Not red at all. That would be bad, somehow. … Somehow? Somehow. Ah! I'll just—" Lionshard released a flicker of Guided Fate, his hand grabbing a grey and white robe thing that he hadn't worn in centuries, not since that commoner party down by the docks. He stared at the thing, wondered for a moment, and said, "I suppose understated is good." He hummed as he held the garment up to the light.

"… He must come from a rather mundane sort of world." He decided, "Simple things can be good, though." Lionshard took another moment. This new person was probably going to have a lot of culture shock, so appearing to him in proper clothes would probably do more harm than good. Plus there was whatever that 'Nothanganathor versus the Painted Cosmology' was all about. Lionshard didn't quite remember that happening, but he recalled it was an Enclave decision. Erick would be going against the Fae Enclave, then.

He was in for a lot of heartache, then. He would need allies. Holding up the garment again, Lionshard decided, "Yes. This is good." He put on the plain garment. - - - - Erick stepped through a portal onto solid brown ground in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Several things happened almost all at once. Margleknot stood on the horizon far over there, looking all green and gold, but he began to transform as Erick looked his way, turning radiant white and glowing green with a crown of rainbows.

Erick wasn't sure how to feel about that. He hoped that Yggdrasil was still Yggdrasil back home… And yet even back home, Yggdrasil had known he was more than who he thought he was— But did he? Fully and completely? Not until Erick had delivered that Gift to Margleknot. And now Yggdrasil was Margleknot, and Margleknot was Yggdrasil. It was a kick in the balls, for sure. Erick felt some kinda way about all that, and he had no idea where to even begin processing that… grief? Yes. Grief.

A loss of what had been, for what is new and unknown. Erick turned his eyes to the sky in thought. The sky was funky, here. Suns of every color, and a great big black hole in the very center that was like a hundred suns ringed around a black hole; a brilliant corona of light that was made all the more bright by the absolute black of the center. And then the horizon over there suddenly held a mansion on a cliff overseeing a lake.

It was tall and white, all cathedral-like stone and silver roofs and flowering vines on some walls. Fountains sparkled in the lights of the suns. That property took up an eighth of the horizon. It was a really nice castle. And then two more similarly-sized castles took up another eighth and another eighth of Erick's horizon in that other direction. One of them had expansive gardens filled with flowers and vegetables and orchards, all with glowing or radiant or shadowy parts.

The castle-house on that first property was a tower, more than a castle. The other property had a similar garden, but the castle on that one was more of a compound, than a towering castle. The builders of those properties looked like they had built in opposition to each other. Erick wasn't sure how he knew that, but he saw what he saw. And then he moved on. Other houses popped up on the horizon, most of them only taking up a sliver of the distance.

Some of the houses appeared closer than 'on the horizon', like there were roads leading toward them, but there was nothing there; only mirages. In fact, mirages were everywhere, on every horizon, separating the brown land here from the land beyond. Everything was non-euclidean here, it seemed— The brown dirt of the land under Erick began to flex. And then a white root lifted out of the ground, a kilometer in width, a leviathan surfacing from brown waters, and then ground dropped down, revealing deep, clear waters.

The lake bottom was made of layers of geometric roots half covered in dirt. Long streamers of glowing green plants sprouted from that dirt, unfurling upward, providing the lake with more light. Erick focused on the main root; the one that breached the surface of the new lake. It was a ten-sided circle that ended up being a wide crescent, mostly above the waves, with almost every part of it covered in thick greenery. A house popped into existence at the apex of that root.

Erick got the distinct impression that this was his house, because it looked a lot like a combination of many different housing styles of Veird. There was the mage tower, common on mage houses. There were the porches that Erick loved. It was very possible that all housing architecture in the universe was more or less the same, but Erick doubted that, because that other house in the distance over there was made of a bunch of spheres, and that other house in the other direction was made with crystal spires.

This house was made of stone and glass and other normal things. It looked sort of like a lighthouse with one great mage tower ten stories tall and just as thick, with a castle compound to match. If one were looking closely, they'd think it was just a nice castle on a green island. But it was from Erick's perspective, ten kilometers away from that house and floating atop the waters, that he saw the house as made of something like eternal stonewood, and the island itself as an extension of Yggdrasil.

And then Yggdrasil stepped out onto a balcony of the castle, and waved Erick over. Erick took a moment. And then he flew over and landed on the balcony.

"Hello, Yggdrasil." Yggdrasil smiled.

"So I forgot to say congratulations on your Ascension. It went well. You did a lot right. Most people don't leave room for themselves to grow as easily as you have. You also have an inborn 'Find the Way' ability, which is crucial to any proper True Wizard. Every single True Power here in the Dragon District has something like that; it's the only way for them to survive here in this land. Also: that book I gave you is yours, unchanging. Unless you change it yourself.

It's the same trick I did with the piece of myself I gave to you to give to me. I think you already recognized that fact, though." Also, I've already grown fond of myself, so I'll be Yggdrasil for a while now. The last time I Changed was something like 11, 187 years ago. The me down on Veird is not the me up here, but we're mostly the same. Yggdrasil is a code-switch for me up here, but down there Margleknot would be the code-switch."

And not to come at you too fast, but I need you to formally claim this house and lands." Erick took that all in, and then said to the land below, "You're mine now." The world clicked. And Erick suddenly felt— Yggdrasil said, "Excellent! They forgot the name for what you did down on Veird, but here they'd call that Claiming Authority. You'll always know every part of your house here, sort of how Benevolence is primarily yours. You can Claim Authority with a lot of different things, places, etcetera, but not here.

I moderate all authority here at Margleknot at layer 0, so your house is now pretty much inviolate in any grand way. If you ever go to layer 1, the war zone, you'll be able to claim Authority in order to be a little safer in that land." Yggdrasil stressed, " Do not go to layer 1 yet, father." Erick nodded, already feeling the truth of Yggdrasil's words as he pushed his senses through the land.

Everything here finally felt normal, instead of the jumble of power and influence and stray domains and otherwise Erick had felt back at that grassland, and when meeting 'Margleknot'. One thing was weird, though. He asked, "What's happening at the edges, with that pull and flow?"" That would be the part where the cleaner systems of Margleknot are interfacing with this Old Dragon property to keep it from spilling out influence everywhere. It's like your Node Network, but different.

All Old Dragons expel waste power, and we use that waste power to grow everything else." Yggdrasil asked, "Do you want some mana injectors into this land, so you can Siphon them and transform them into more Benevolence? Or to simply make yourself stronger? You seem like you have a Siphon power of your own. Seems rather clean, though, but I don't actually know."

"… I suppose I need to learn how to use different manas?" Erick thought for a moment.

"Sure? How would such a system work? Maybe a little orb thing that gives me the mana I ask for?" Erick was feeling quite overwhelmed right now, but also strangely invigorated? New magic? Great distraction." Yes, I could parcel out the mana for you, but I would prefer to open the tap on the unused, intentless power, and you can figure out how to better use it all yourself."" I like that idea better too." Erick suddenly had a lot of questions.

"Is there stuff like Fate and Purity and Pirate? What can you even do with Pirate?"" All that and a lot more. There are even rarer 'mana' types than that. Veird comes from a universe where everything makes mana, but there are stranger places where everything is made of particles, but individual Shards touch individual people and give them singular powers that are more like grafted muscles than true manas.

There are cultivation universes where there's only one 'mana' to harvest, and people turn themselves into mana to become immortal. This uber-universe is full of resons, and that's the primary currency here on Margleknot, that we turn all other manas into. There's lots out there, Father." Yggdrasil pointed to the side, to the end of the curve of his crescent island root, where an archway led off to a road in the mirages. Beyond those mirages lay a city of tall black crystal.

"That's the main road of the Dragon District, which leads to all houses of all Powers who choose to attach to the road. Most Powers walk to each others' houses and ask to be let inside. If someone tries to invade your property you are fully within your rights to expel them however you wish, but a peaceful expulsion is the normal sort of expulsion.

Most normal people won't be able to reach you without you letting them, but the Old Dragon District and even the Dragon District don't have many normal people inside them. At the edges, sure, but inside? No one here is normal." Call for a portal, father, and I'll take you anywhere you want to go." Yggdrasil came in for a hug— And Erick easily returned the hug— And then Yggdrasil pulled back, holding Erick at arms length, saying, "I gave you some basic amenities in the house. Nothing fancy. Love you.

Talk to you later, father."" I love you too, Yggdrasil," Erick said, the words true, but different somehow." It'll feel less odd after this thing with Nothanganathor is solved and you can go back to Veird for a time and see a version of me that is more the one you raised, directly." Yggdrasil said, "But I want you to come back here, too, Father. Anyway! That's all in the future." Yggdrasil stepped away.

"Margleknot will be one of your many vacation homes." And then Yggdrasil stepped backward through a portal. Gone. Just like that.' Welcome!' and then 'See you!' Erick stood there on a balcony of his new castle— He sensed a new weirdness opening up inside the castle, in a room that was on the bottom level, below the surface of the white root of Marg— Yggdrasil.

That room opened downward, turning into a staircase that went into the root, into a new chamber deep inside the kilometers-wide white root, revealing a line of power in the very center of the root that was completely outside of Erick's ability to sense. That line of power contained an infinity of an odd, flowing sort. That would be the 'intentless power' that Yggdrasil spoke of earlier—" Hello! New neighbor!" came a voice, carrying on the wind." Holy shit," Erick exclaimed, things moving too fast right now.

Erick went to the edge of the balcony. There was a man in sparkling grey robes standing just on the other side of the archway that led to the road with the black buildings. He seemed friendly. He also seemed to have a complicated set of curling platinum horns. So. Dragon. Erick's Lightning Path had been acting oddly for a while, but now it zeroed in on this guy. Maybe this was the guy Yggdrasil's guidebook mentioned? Lionshard, the platinum dragon. Erick called out, "Who are you?""

I am Lionshard of the Roots, and I see you already have a root with your house! Such a nice lake, too. Amazing! May I come in?" Erick wanted to trust his Lightning Path, and Yggdrasil… But these people here were all True Wizards… Trust first, and if they prove unworthy of my trust, then I will discard them. That was Erick's usual way of doing things, and he wasn't in a hostile area right now (probably), so that is what he would do." I invite you inside." Lionshard's eyebrows went up. He declared, "I accept!

Do you mind if I step to your balcony?"

"… Come on in, then." Lionshard stepped onto the property. Another single step took him all the way to the balcony beside Erick. He was just a bit shorter than Erick and rather human-shaped, in a normal, comfortable-body sort of way. His eyes were a little too platinum, teeth a little too sharp, ears a little too long, his bearing a lot more solid than his form seemed capable of being, so he surely wasn't human, but he was human-shaped.

Erick couldn't see past his skin, which was probably only because Lionshard allowed that much visibility at all; his aura was solid as adamantium just beyond Erick's mana senses. His clothes were comfortable cotton, if a lot more fancy than Erick's current attire. All of that added together to show a man who was secure, and not full of himself. It was probably all an affectation, but affectations were important. Lionshard said, "Hello. You're Erick Flatt, the new father of Margleknot. I'm Lionshard of the Roots.

It's great to meet you! I would like to gift you your absolute most favorite food as a welcoming to the neighborhood, if you'd permit it." Erick paused, concerned. And then he got interested. He would, actually, like to see what this was all about. What sort of magics would he cast?" Sure. Love to know what my favorite food is." Lionshard smiled a little as he raised an eyebrow.

"Let's find out!" And then Lionshard put his hand, palm up and horizontal, in front of his chest. With a casual ease, he rotated his arm. Platinum light flowed away from a large and laden plate that had not been there before. Pastries practically piled upon each other. Lionshard raised an eyebrow at what he had brought forth, looking partially confused, as he said, "Usually it's one item, but— Ah. I know. They're from multiple people in your life." Erick rolled with it, chuckling.

"Yeah; they are." There were three cinnamon rolls. One of them was from Kiri and it was perfectly made; good enough to appear on a Knowledge Mage's report. The huge one was from Teressa, all thick with white frosting and big enough for an orcol, or for Erick in his Apparent King form. Another cinnamon roll was from Poi, absolutely laden with cinnamon. And then there was a slice of purpleberry pie.

The pie was a recent addition both for how happy Ophiel looked when he ate it that one time, in his living form, and also because Quilatalap had made it. It was a pretty great pie and Erick enjoyed it, but Ophiel enjoyed it more. Yggdrasil had once made Erick a spun sugar fish, and that was there too; it was bright gold and red and stuck on top of some spun sugar blue waves. And then there were a few little baklava, all improperly made and kinda ugly, honestly.

They were an exact copy of the ones Jane had made back when she was in culinary in high school. She had brought them home, so proud of them. Erick had loved those little things, and Jane had loved that he loved them. It was one of Erick's favorite memories of Earth. Erick looked at the pastries for a moment longer, then asked Lionshard, "How do you feel about the slavery in this land? Or the various other injustices, like the Corrupted Void Sanctuary, to the Wraithborne Tower, to the Corrupted Archive?"

Lionshard's eyebrows went up again. He set the pastries down on a small breakfast table on the balcony, and said, "I do what I can to minimize their influences, but as for eliminating them... There are better things to do with your time than trying to fight infinity. Like discussing your reasons for coming to Margleknot, or what sorts of magics you might like to learn, or maybe we can talk about cultural expectations for operating in these lands?"

Erick decided to leave the question of 'will you help me overthrow all evil' for another day. It was just a wild, crazy suggestion, anyway. He lowered his scope. He sat down at the breakfast table, and took a bite of Jane's baklava. It tasted exactly as Erick remembered. He chuckled a little at that, and then he set the partially-eaten pastry down on a plate he created at that moment.

"Delicious. Thank you. I would love to hear your ideas of the culture of Margleknot, if you would sit and share those ideas with me for a while, for I honestly don't know if I'm being rude right now, or if you're a threat, or if any of this is going to get me back home with allies in any sort of timely manner. This whole business with Yggdrasil / Margleknot is a large mind fuck. Still trying to wrap my head around that."

Lionshard sat down across from Erick, asking, "You did not expect to bring a shard of a new World Tree to the Great World Tree of Margleknot?"" I didn't know of Margleknot at all until today. I suspected that there were universal fae, or something like that, and that I could ask them for help against Nothanganathor, and link them with the fae back home, but all of this?"

Erick gazed out across the large 'lake' and 'island' of 'his property', and said, "I'm rather certain I did not fail to escape Nothanganathor, and that I am not trapped in a dream right now, but I'm feeling untethered." Lionshard nodded.

"You came here during a time of your own troubles and did not expect to land into a different sort of fire."" Yup."" Well the fire here is ever-burning, and most Ascended are a decent sort of people until you anger them or make mortal enemies in some other sort of way. No real need to focus on the trillions and trillions of mortals in this land unless you truly want to. A lot of Powers do that, but I do not. I focus on this land.

I left my mortal world behind millions of years ago, and my specialty helps me to maintain the systems that keep this land truly running well." Lionshard said, "I am what most people with mana-centered inclinations would call a Fate Mage. That's how I figured out your favorite foods, even through your immunity to direct control; it was a common reflective sympathetic resonance instantiation, so it wasn't even intrusive at all. Have you tried Fate Magic before?

I would assume you have, for it appears you have some sort of Fateful power around you already, but whatever you have going on is not Fate at all."

"… In the interest of being honest, I will say that Fate Magic concerns me. Deeply." Erick wanted Lionshard gone, even though his Lightning Path was saying good things right now. Erick's knack for reading people and knowing people was internal, but the Lightning Path was an external thing by its very nature, so it was very possible that Lionshard was influencing it somehow." Most people are very wary when dealing with Fate Mages, so this is normal. That I can work Fate Magic even beyond your immunity is concerning.

So I will give you just a few lessons in culture, and then I will depart." Lionshard said, "Ascended are mostly good people as long as you are good to them, just never meet an unknown Ascended in the War Zone. Everyone below Ascended can be any sort of way under all the suns. If you know who an unascended works for then you can get a good idea of where they fall on the spectrum of Good and Evil."

Everyone tries to walk or take public transportation when they're going places in Margleknot, except here in the Dragon District. You can't get around here without invitations or power." People will try to be polite, so try to be polite back, because oftentimes no one knows who is working for who, or if the person you're talking with today will come back as an immortal in a thousand years and wreck your day. Plus we're all from different worlds, and politeness goes a long way toward making a peaceful society."

No purposefully permanent killing inside layer 0, but everything else is fair game." If you want to do the greatest amount of good —and I get the impression that you do— you can find someone with an Elemental Good mana signature, or an Elemental Peace, or Elemental Honesty, or any of the other odd, good Elements, and raise them to True Power. No one ever gets to power on their own, and raising good people is the best way to ensure that there's more good in the world than evil."

Erick was feeling better about Lionshard, but not quite to the level that Yggdrasil had suggested; like this would be meeting Al back at that initial meeting in Spur, all those years ago. Erick wanted to believe, though. He lowered his metaphorical walls a fraction, and asked, "What if you already had an Element like that at your use?" Lionshard's eyes sparkled platinum.

"Then pump out power into the root systems of Margleknot, and people the city over will be blessed by your blessings. If your power is one of the truly good ones then you could fund things like the auto-res system, which is constantly taxed with people waiting in line to be resed, who often end up resurrected as slaves by necromancers in that Wraithborne Tower you mentioned. The longer a person waits in line to be resurrected then the larger the chance that someone will bring them back for untoward reasons.

Most people try to keep ahead of their res-payment schedules so that doesn't happen, but trillions of people live here, and people fall through the fingers of fate all the time." Lionshard stood, saying, "And that's enough of a first meeting. You came into Margleknot and ended up in the very deepest end of the city. I feel you are getting a very odd idea of what is possible here in Margleknot, and you are feeling threatened." Of course, people will try to hurt you.

But even if Margleknot Himself wasn't looking over your shoulder, you're an Ascended, and one of the better ones, Erick. No one can touch you unless you let them. You seem to have three rather stable and guarded ways to attack you, though. That's a lot less than most people. You're rather safe." I encourage you to go out and check out the mortal lands. Suffer an attack from someone who doesn't know any better. Banish them to Layer One and let their own actions sort them out."

I thank you for inviting me to your home today. When you come back from your visit to Margleknot city, I Invite you into my home. It's that nice one over there; we're neighbors! I can show you the circulatory system of Margleknot, and you can see how big the city truly is." Lionshard seemed like a truly good guy… Erick wanted to believe. Yggdrasil had even vetted the guy… Erick still wasn't sure about 'Margleknot'...

Erick felt the need to apologize, though, because politeness was politeness, so he said, "Sorry about being wary, Lionshard. Thank you for your words, and for the pastries."" It's completely understandable that you're like this right now. I don't know about your Nothanganathor situation, but it was probably dangerous. That name tickles my memory… but nothing more than that... Ahhh... I should mention: When Margleknot put you here and changed his form he made everyone aware of your person.

Everyone is already researching why you're here, so I'm sure I'll learn about Nothanganathor again soon enough. You'll probably learn a lot more about whoever that is soon, too. It was nice meeting you." Erick suddenly felt small. As though Veird's problems were unremarkable. But maybe, in the grand scheme of things, they were unremarkable? At least to Margleknot, anyway. To Erick, Veird's problems were top of his list of things to solve.

On the plus side, though, if Margleknot thought Nothanganathor was a 'small problem', then that meant Nothanganathor was solvable. So that was good news. Erick said, "It was nice meeting you as well. Good day, Lionshard."" Good day, Erick Flatt." And then Lionshard went to the balcony and hopped over, to land on the soft grasses and moss below.

He took his sweet time walking over to the edge of Margleknot's root, to fall off the edge of that, too, to land on top of the water and start walking toward his property in the distance. Eventually, he passed through the mirages to stand upon his property once again, and then he vanished from sight.

"… so Stepping toward people is okay, but walking away you take your time?" Weird. Erick spent a while coming to terms with his own level of wariness, versus what a good level was, versus what was necessary here in these lands. For some reason, Erick didn't think he could 'solve' the slavery issue here. Not in one lifetime. Veird needed him first, anyway. - - - - Lionshard walked into his home and felt a bit bad about that interaction with Margleknot's newest father. Erick was a very new Ascended. Less than a day.

He would need time to see the true size of his new universe. Whoever this Nothanganathor-person was, they were probably fucked… But Margleknot could only influence the background; not the actual players. Just like Lionshard. Lionshard went to his tomes to research this 'Elemental Benevolence', mumbling, "It seems too broad from my little interaction. I wonder why Margleknot approved of it so much. Erick himself is way too wary so Benevolence can't be that useful, otherwise Erick would have opened up…"

Mumbling some more as he grabbed infinitome-B, Lionshard began moving through the letters, saying, "I was all ready to teach him some useful magic, too. But I probably spent too long there.

'Always beware strangers bearing gifts'. It's not a bad lesson… to… heed. Hmm." Lionshard had found Elemental Benevolence, as categorized by Margleknot himself and populated to this book here. The information therein had already taken up 3 thick pages. It was one of the larger entries.

Lionshard read, eyes going wide, and then he grabbed the last page and worked an edge until one page split into two, turning the information in the book into 4 pages of Margleknot's musings on the element, everything reorganizing to account for the new information. Within a minute Lionshard had peeled open tens of more pages, digging deeper into this Element and the place where it came from, this 'Veird', but also a different world called 'Earth'. There was a whole biography here." Ohh…

He's going to hate that everyone knows about him." Lionshard decided to rip out the entry and put it in a separate book, creating a Tome of Benevolence ten thousand pages long. He started reading from the very beginning. Lionshard skipped the first few volumes of the man's known life—" Ah. So he was practically god emperor of Veird already. Maybe he's used to people knowing him. Well that's good for him, then."

An hour later, Lionshard had read about Erick's escape from Nothanganathor, and his arrival in Margleknot. He slammed the book shut and called out, "Ygg—Margleknot! I need to talk to you about Benevolence!" A green person with black hair and lower jaw fangs appeared in Lionshard's library. This was 'Yggdrasil', as described in the book. Margleknot— Or rather, Yggdrasil, said, "I'd like to discuss Benevolence, too." - - - - Shadow scowled from her darkened corner of the Black Crystal Tavern.

She had been brooding with purpose for the last hour, and Erick still hadn't shown up. He should have shown up by now!" Did someone merc him? Who did he piss off?" Shadow mumbled, into her drink— A guy burst in the front door, zeroed in on whoever it was he was meeting, and started rushing through the bar to get to them, his noise and fear palpable to every single person in the room. His words were even more concerning." Gods and monsters!" he softly exclaimed, long before he reached his destination.

"Margleknot is changing colors!" The bar erupted in words and actions. People leapt out of their chairs, rushing toward the door or the windows, tightly-controlled auras from newer powers flowing into the air. One guy got incinerated accidentally and revived in the very next second by a man made of wind, who argued with the man made of fire about control, but only half heartedly; there were bigger concerns than a simple death.

People tried to abandon the Black Crystal Tavern, but the owner, Lyra, shouted out how people weren't allowed to leave without paying. Half of the people in the bar instantly shot back to their chairs. The powers ignored her and went outside. Shadow stood among a population of Powers Unto Themselves, on the black crystal roads that surrounded the Dragon District, gazing out at Margleknot in the distance. The Great World Tree had been green and gold. Slowly, inexorably, smooth white bark began to spread, glowing.

Leaves switched from eternal green to flaming springtime green. A rainbow crown appeared. Many powers started talking, some asking frantic questions, some delivering terrible answers or speculation. Shadow grinned.