Chương 66: A Growing World

Mort Abe told me to stay put so I stayed put. At least for a while. Then I realized that Abe had apparently forgotten I existed. Sighing, I started waddling toward the clearing. It was just me and some very interesting-looking sticks that Lifna would probably enjoy, so I sent them to her. The divine realm accepted them readily, each piece of wood vanishing with a satisfying pop as it traveled to the Liminal Land.

"He's definitely forgotten about me," I muttered, examining a particularly nice branch with good weight and texture. Into the Liminal Lands it went.

"Typical.

'Stay here, Mort.'

'Don't move, Mort.' Then just... leaves." A pinecone caught my eye. Lifna liked variety in her diet. Different minerals from different sources helped with planetary development. At least that was my assumption. I wasn't exactly an expert on feeding baby planets, but I was learning as I went. As I got closer to the clearing, I heard the sounds of excited animal chatter and what sounded like... cheering? Something had happened. Something big. The central clearing around the Church of Reincarnation was chaos.

Pure, unorganized, enthusiastic chaos. Animals were everywhere, and they were all glowing. Faint golden-green light emanated from their fur, feathers, or scales. Excited chittering and squeaking filled the air. A squirrel zipped past me moving faster than should have been physically possible, leaving a faint trail of light behind it. A rabbit's fur had taken on a metallic shimmer. Birds were executing aerial maneuvers that seemed to defy basic physics.

And in the center of it all, sitting on his butt in the dirt like a discarded stuffed animal, was Abe. Although he looked conscious, I knew that wasn't the truth. I was an expert on these types of things. He was definitely unconscious.

"Of course," I sighed, waddling over to where my fellow divine being was sprawled ungracefully.

"Raccoons pretending to be opossums. The fainting is my thing, not yours." Nobody paid attention to me. They were too busy celebrating whatever had just happened. I poked Abe with a paw. There was no response. It looks like I was right. He's out cold.

"What did you do this time?" I asked the unconscious raccoon. A mouse overheard me and blurted out excitedly, "He blessed us! All of us! A divine blessing! Can you believe it?" Actually, I could. This seemed exactly like something Abe would do. Get emotional, accidentally channel divine power, bless everyone in range, then pass out from the energy drain. A voice called out from somewhere in the crowd, "Another evolution option!" Then another excited voice yelled out, "Me too! I got six choices this time!"

A beaver shouted, "The blessing must have triggered advancement opportunities!" I perked up, ears swiveling. Evolution options? A blessing? A rabbit hopped over, practically glowing with golden-green light. She looked ready to explode from excitement.

"Did you get one? An evolution option from the Great Spirit's blessing?"

"I'm a god," I reminded her, trying not to sound too annoyed that I'd missed out.

"Such a blessing won't affect me." Actually, I wasn't sure about that, but I didn't want to admit Abe forgot about me again. Bambi moved forward and smiled, "That's right. Although we didn't get any evolutionary options, we did get blessed to see so many of our brothers and sisters being given a chance to grow stronger." Hearing that from Bambi made me smile. See, I was right. I thought. Then again, I'm always right. People should listen to me more often.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Bambi and I watched as the rabbit hopped away, already distracted by her new abilities. I watched her jump, easily clearing about fifteen feet in a single bound. Definitely enhanced physical abilities, I decided. I looked at Abe again, as did Bambi.

"He's… something," I muttered. The chaos this guy caused was always on the next level. Bambi looked at Abe, her expression somewhere between concern and exasperation.

"Yeah, he is." Sighing, I realized that I could wait for him to wake up here and let the animals fuss over him. Or… I could take him with me into the Liminal Lands. I touched Abe's paw with mine, focusing on our connection to the Liminal Land. The realm recognized us both immediately, Abe as its creator and primary anchor, me as... well, whatever I was. Divine squatter maybe? A frequent visitor who kept bringing construction materials for our little baby?

The world shifted and the sounds of the excited animals faded. We appeared on the smooth, not-quite-solid ground that made up the realm's surface. Abe was still unconscious, but instead of sitting upright, he fell flat onto his face. He lay there, sprawled on the ground. I absently patted his back, but decided he would be fine "There, there," I said.

"You'll recover faster here. Probably. By the way, we need to talk to you about expanding this place because Lifna's getting way too big and she's running out of room. It's becoming a problem." As usual, Abe ignored me though. It always seemed like if he wasn't yelling at me, he was ignoring me. Anyway, bringing him killed two birds, one stone. Very efficient problem-solving. I was an excellent co-parent.

"Wait, that is a terrible saying, two birds with one stone. I wonder what else I could say. Any suggestions?" I asked, turning to the molten planet that was filling up most of the divine realm now.

"No, but I'm glad you visited." Lifna's voice rumbled through the Liminal Land, warm and delighted. Despite having visited just yesterday, I was still struck by how much she'd grown. She was a proper miniature planet now. Maybe fifteen feet in diameter, significantly bigger than last time. Her surface was a constantly shifting display of geological processes happening in fast-forward. Molten rock flowing in rivers of orange and red. Then the lava would form into a dark crust.

There was even a faint shimmer of what might become an atmosphere beginning to coalesce around her equator. She was beautiful.

"Hey, sweetie," I said, approaching carefully. The heat radiating from her surface was intense but not unbearable.

"Miss me?"

"Always…" Her voice had that quality like grinding stone, raspy but somehow affectionate.

"The gifts... from earlier... were good... Thank you…" I felt that familiar glow of parental pride.

"I'm glad you enjoyed them."

"More metal?" Lifna's voice carried a hopeful note.

"I'll look. No promises though," I said.

"For some reason, there just isn't as much stuff being left around anymore."

"Oh…" She sounded disappointed, her glow dimming slightly.

"But I'll find something," I added quickly. I couldn't have my daughter sad.

"Maybe some copper wire. I know you like copper." Her glow brightened immediately.

"Copper... is good…" I glanced at Abe's unconscious form.

"I brought Abe with me. He passed out again."

"Why?" Lifna asked, her voice curious.

"He blessed too many animals at once. It drained all his divine energy." I was starting to wonder if Abe was actually an opossum pretending to be a raccoon. I'd seen him shapeshift, so it was entirely possible.

"Like... you do...?" There was definitely amusement in her tone.

"Exactly like I do," I admitted.

"Though I've never blessed anyone. Actually, now that you mention it, I haven't been passing out as much as I used to. I wonder why." I settled down near Abe's unconscious form. The crackling sounds from Lifna's surface as lava flowed and crust formed was the only sound. Still, that didn't ease my mind. It actually made things worse. Because somewhere in this space, invisible to me, and even invisible to Lifna, were the souls of dead animals. They were the ones who'd died in the battle defending Abe's cabin.

Abe had claimed their souls for his realm, saving them from whatever afterlife they might have faced otherwise. Or so he said. Being a trickster god, though, he could have just been screwing with us. I doubted it though. He wouldn't joke about something so serious. According to Abe, they were here. Aware. They were supposedly even able to see each other and interact. But neither Lifna nor I could sense them. I shivered despite the warmth from my daughter.

"Daddy... cold?" Lifna asked, noticing.

"No, just... thinking about the ghosts," I said, not wanting her to turn up the heat. It was hot enough already. We sat in silence for a while, both of us hyper-aware of the space around us. Sighing, I wished I had my stick. I so wanted to poke Abe to wake him up. Maybe with the sticky end too. Just because I could, I poked him with a paw, but it wasn't as fun. The raccoon was still out cold, breathing steadily and showing no signs of waking soon.

"Maybe I need to keep a pokey stick," I muttered. Annoyed that I didn't have one already, I poked Abe with my paw again. Yep, definitely not as satisfying, I thought. Come on. Wake up. We need to do something about my daughter's living conditions, you absentee landlord.