Amdirlain’s PoV - East Wind’s Court

  A fit of amusement had sent Klipyl scampering from the house but, focused on Atonement's expansion, Amdirlain hadn't thought any more of it. When she stopped creating crystals and enchantments, the experience tally jumped her seventy levels. Though it felt like she'd barely made a speck among the vast empty buildings, Amdirlain closed the Gate.

  "Done already?" asked Sarah.

  "The low levels don't take a lot of experience to get through, and I did too much in one hit, especially since it only netted me a single increase in True Song.”

  "You created too many familiar enchantments, so minimal insight to be gained." Sarah drew out some metal sticks with dozens of tumblers along them. "Take a break, and I'll teach you some Dragon games."

  Amdirlain slid over beside Sarah, and they were still going over the basic rules when Klipyl appeared in the living room, her outward composure hiding a theme that was bubbling joyously.

  "You could have warned me I would be an auntie!" Klipyl waved her arms dramatically.

  Amdirlain blinked. "What do you mean you're an auntie?"

  Klipyl clasped Amdirlain's face to squeeze her cheeks. "Your daughters are so cute!"

  "Klipyl? Please make sense."

  An image of thousands of elven featured angels with azure hair and singing in unison started Amdirlain to her feet. "No!"

  Klipyl tumbled back, holding her sides as she started to laugh. "Yes!"

  "I didn't," breathed Amdirlain, a spike of nerve sending a ripple of energy through her body.

  ‘Do you attribute that happy lifetime and all the warm family snuggles for all the kids? Or multitasking when you were cycling your Ki?’ projected Klipyl as she lay on the ground laughing.

  Klipyl mentally replayed the interaction of the Enyali? with Lerina, Farhad, and Erwarth.

  Wide-eyed, Amdirlain's brain froze up as whole seconds of trillions of notes buzzed by meaninglessly.

  "I'm a mum," breathed Amdirlain.

  Sarah gave her a light kiss and gently embraced her while Klipyl stood to wrap her arms around them.

  After Sarah felt the initial shock fade through their mental link, she kissed her again. "That's what you get for playing with too many toys simultaneously."

  [Species: Enyali?

  Details: A species of angels on par with astral devas, created by the Songbird's idle musing while she mixed Thought Form, Ki, and a Domain's wellspring.

  Note: I held back the achievement until someone could break the news gently. Instead, you got little Miss Giggles, but I guess that counts.

  Note: Muse hid what was happening with the thought forms released in the Ki, if you're wondering how you missed it.]

  A pink balloon appeared beside her, with 'Congratulations on many girls, Love Muse.' stencilled in silver glitter.

  [Achievement: Angelic Inspiration (Tier 7 Achievement)

  Details: Creating a new Celestial species, let alone one with an immediate variation, doesn't happen often.

  Note: Most pantheons work together to create new types of Celestial, or they're birthed from dramatic events such as severing Tyr's arm at the foot of the world tree.

  Note: They know a minuscule amount of True Song from their surroundings and advance at Celestial rates.]

  Thanks for the warning, Gideon; I'll team with them on something minor to help them progress without hot-housing them.

  "So cute," gushed Klipyl.

  Amdirlain blinked back tears as a flood of memories washed up from her Soul. "What are they doing now?"

  "They're still creating hectares of flowers," replied Klipyl. "They seem to enjoy creating plants."

  Sarah started laughing, so Amdirlain pressed her forehead against Sarah's shoulder. "I don't know what to do."

  "I'm not being mean, but your 'deer in the headlights' expression is precious. Maybe you should do something repetitive while you calm down," suggested Sarah.

  Klipyl got up and put a hand on her back. "Erwarth has it under control, and Gail has already shown up to teach those singing the Anar octaves."

  "Okay, no more Ki being provided to Eb."

  Klipyl patted her shoulder reassuringly. "She doesn't believe it was Ki directly."

  "It wasn’t, but I don’t want to cause more incidents. Gideon told me how I slipped up. While cycling Ki out to Foundry's core, I experimented with Thought Form, and Muse hid my little escapees."

  "They grew up fast, no diaper duty," offered Klipyl.

  Sarah stroked her hair reassuringly. "It sounds like Muse was greedy for more kin."

  "Okay, first steps. Stop panicking, get my brain working again, and meet with some of them. Eventually, a small project that we can sing together for some experience so they can progress at Mortal rates when they want to do that," said Amdirlain.

  "Why are you panicking?"

  "I don't want to let them down." She paused and re-considered Klipyl's shared images. "They look like they're having fun creating flowers."

  Klipyl shared the images with Sarah, who snorted. "The little bopping in place gives that away."

  "I could meet with them on a Demi-Plane," murmured Amdirlain.

  "Eb says she's talking to them. She says to send Gail a place to meet," advised Klipyl.

  "I've got a meeting with a specialist on my Soul healing technique this evening. I can meet them immediately after that," said Amdirlain.

  Sarah smiled at her. "Some of them—you don't do well with crowds unless it's a performance or teaching."

  Klipyl stepped back to wave her arms enthusiastically. "They already told Eb they'll send someone to meet you."

  "One?" asked Amdirlain.

  "Yep, one."

  "They're telling a deity what will happen?" Sarah kept a straight face, but her gaze shone with amusement.

  "Yeah, they got in first," confirmed Klipyl. "They said, and I quote, ‘We'll send someone, mum won't like a crowd’."

  "They called me mum!" squeaked Amdirlain, eyes bulging in disbelief.

  "Just when things looked like they might get quiet." Sarah continued to stroke her back reassuringly.

  Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to pick on me?"

  "I'm not picking on you. It was just an observation," replied Sarah. "It looks like they're having a bunch of fun. As you said, you're meeting with a technique specialist this evening. One thing at a time, maybe?"

  "Have fun," chirped Klipyl and promptly disappeared.

  "Maybe I should cancel this evening and meet with them. I might be too distracted for the healing session.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Sarah smiled. "You've already arranged that meeting, and it would be rude to back out. It also gives you a chance to let your immediate reaction settle."

  "I could do something simple, like singing hydrogen into existence until it's time to meet my instructor."

  "There's nothing like preparing to create another star to idle away the hours." Sarah leant in for a hungry kiss, and her hands roamed possessively down Amdirlain's back, a touch that heated her to the tips of her ears.

  Amdirlain sighed in pleasure. "Or not."

  Much later in their bedroom, Amdirlain absorbed a mannequin and reformed inside the kimono before it could droop, Sarah's distraction having left her little time to prepare

  "Are you feeling better?"

  "Yes." Amdirlain smiled. "You took my mind off everything, though I still can't believe I'm a mum, even if in an unorthodox fashion."

  "Why do things the normal way?"

  She kissed Sarah goodbye and appeared on the street outside a modest townhouse in the northern section. The black roof tiles and framework made the white screens pop. Its front gate was chest-height oak slates, stained nearly black; each embossed with a pair of silver katanas that stood out from its bleakness. When Amdirlain touched her fingertips to the bell beside it, a chime sounded within the building.

  Within seconds of the chime, the front door slid open to reveal a young Nipponese girl in a shrine maiden's distinctive white and red outfit stepping into her shoes. Her silvery hair had a watery sheen, an outward sign of her Dragon bloodline. She approached the gate with measured steps and stopped an arm's length from it with her hands cupped together.

  "Are you Lady Am?"

  "Yes. I hope I'm not too early."

  The girl unfastened the gate and offered a bow. "You arrived at a good time. Please follow me."

  With that, the girl turned and started inside, leaving Amdirlain to close the gate. She re-donned her slippers and offered Amdirlain a perfectly fitted set before stepping on the short corridor's polished wood.

  Amdirlain changed and followed the girl to a white-screened room with a matching banner covered in Kanji calligraphy on each wall. White tatami mats, edged in an interwoven pattern of green and black that held white flowers, completely covered the polished wooden floor. The girl knelt beside the door to slide it open and, in silence, motioned to a spot across from the entrance and waited until Amdirlain stepped fully inside before closing the screen. Sensing no other person in the house, Amdirlain knelt where she'd gestured and waited.

  A few minutes later, and still before the appointed time, a shift of energy signalled the instructor's arrival. Amdirlain took in the differing style of the Planar Shift she had observed numerous times in recent days. The Immortal was a prim lady with black hair braided into an ornate crown secured with jade pins. Her floor-length kimono hid her careful steps; its primary colour was a yellowy cream with the branch of a plum tree in bloom displayed across it, and she had two katanas slid through her obi. Though her face had a youthful energy, Amdirlain could hear the three thousand years within her theme that matched the precise care of her motions, though it carried an undercurrent of violence.

  "Lady Am, I am Sasakai Maiya, an expert in the entwined lives technique you expressed an interest in." Sasakai knelt across from her and set the blades on the ground before bowing.

  "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Sasakai-san. Please, call me Am." Amdirlain returned the bow to the same degree.

  "Am-san, I've asked Master Cyrus about your unusual situation, but he was evasive. He only told me you've advanced your sigil eight stages," said Sasakai. "My sigil is the blade, and I find in every life there are moments when options are cut away either by our choices or another. Since you've achieved the eighth stage, tell me in eight words why I should train you?"

  "In a previous lifetime, I shredded my soul."

  Sasakai tilted her head to regard Amdirlain. "How?"

  "The bulk of power it contained was removed, along with memories, including how the removal occurred," stated Amdirlain. "I know I caused the wound."

  "You claim the action? Yet, it occurred in a past life. Explain your feelings about your use of 'I'. Try to cut to your truth," instructed Sasakai.

  "Until recently, I wouldn't have considered us the same person but, while I'm not who I was, I result from those choices. Just as a person can live with regret or satisfaction with their choices, a reincarnation can view a past life. Yet in neither instance can we change what has occurred."

  "What do you see in yourself?" asked Sasakai blandly.

  "Creation; all things stem from it."

  Sasakai stopped with an unvoiced question on her lips; clearing her throat, she started again. "I've heard of your star, Lady Am. Did you create the planets, as you stated?"

  "One so far, and a race to inhabit it."

  A slow double blink was her only reaction to Amdirlain's matter-of-fact tone. "Do they worship you?"

  "No, I directed their belief to a Pantheon that suited their species," replied Amdirlain. "I'm not interested in homage. Creating new things and new opportunities interests me."

  "What is your sigil?"

  "A phoenix rising in rebirth, breaking free from the concealment of their shell."

  "When their light illuminates what's around them," noted Sasakai. "How did you find enlightenment?"

  "I'm not enlightened," corrected Amdirlain, continuing before Sasakai could interrupt. "I'm cursed."

  Sasakai clicked her tongue. "To help, I need your core of truth. If you can't give it, leave."

  "I'm recreating myself."

  "Explain. Concisely as possible," ordered Sasakai.

  Amdirlain considered the danger of the summary but went ahead. "I was a Primordial who didn't wish to be one—a grieving child told she'd eventually die, became a lady who wanted a simple Mortal life, to love, grow old, and die. After I lived billions of years, in an act of grief and loneliness, I ripped most of my strength from my Soul. It left me vulnerable to enemies who later mauled me further. I didn't resist their efforts until it was too late. They'd set parasites into my Soul that remained in place because I couldn't tell the boundary of where they stopped and I started. They fed and grew stronger as the years progressed. Eventually, more enemies came, and I died as another had foretold. I've lived hundreds of lifetimes in other realms, some horrible, some good. Eventually, among my rebirths, I was cursed and returned to this realm. I fought free of the body the curse had first placed me in. Through Ki and psionics, I removed the parasites and started to regain some of my strength. That is who I am."

  The two sat in silence. As the silence grew strained, Sasakai looked at her unblinkingly. She coughed. "Master Cyrus said your situation was complex. It seems he was too concise. Might I see your sigil?"

  A loop set the sigil aflame, the Phoenix a bright gold, while the flames radiating around it were now clearly emitting from a wood nest and a broken shell.

  She leant closer to Amdirlain to study the details carefully before settling back on her heels.

  "Interlace Ki and Mana, whatever Affinity is most comfortable. One loop of the sigil at a time, you will focus on the events in the lifetimes you've aligned to. Feed the Ki through the conduits into the scars of pain from those lifetimes and give them tiny droplets of energy to heal. Tell me what you sensed at the end of each loop. Do not continue until I instruct you. Release the sigil and start from the beginning."

  Amdirlain nodded, and a point of white Primordial fire flared beneath her navel, it seared into the scars the magical leash had set in the Pix's heart.

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  Before the time of her meeting with the Enyali?, Amdirlain paced the barren floor of an empty Demi-Plane, her surroundings lit by the luminescent effect of Chaos being translated by the boundary. It rang with her steps as each motion released a coiled twist of notes from her Soul. Old unknown wounds sterilised by the drip of Ki and Primordial energy throbbed as if someone had poured raw alcohol into an open gut wound. Though Amdirlain only sensed it as notes, her mind translated it into a factual echo of twisting innards and spikes of discomfort. The effect brought her mind a strange clarity, though, as if a fever had broken, she felt fatigued by the effort.

  Should I ask for a delay? How would they take that? Just talk to your daughters' representative.

  Right on time, a Gate ripped a patch in the darkness a distance from her, but the energy was from the Outlands, not a heavenly Plane.

  Gail rushed through the Gate and leapt into Amdirlain's arms. "Hey, Auntie."

  The alabaster-skinned Angel who stepped through smiled at Gail's antics; she drew in her shifting-hued wings and examined the rolling grasslands while Gail claimed a hug. Amdirlain caught the Glinnel and Psion Classes in her theme. The sturdy Celestial undertones supported them, but she only had normal regeneration. Her bright cheerfulness echoed Klipyl's typical delight, though they carried an innocence rather than a celebration of life after an existence of cravings.

  As quickly as Gail hugged her, she let go and turned to make introductions, but her companion got in first.

  "Hello, mum. I'm Irini." Irini spread her arms wide and turned in a circle. "You did a good job. The whole springing forth fully formed worked out well."

  "Hello, Irini. I'm sorry for being completely unprepared and not being aware of your birth," blurted Amdirlain.

  Irini beamed at her, and bright, chiming notes ran through her theme. "That concern for us was your immediate response will delight everyone. Listen to my song. Do I seem upset? We're having fun singing flowers and could do that for a few millennia. I'm sure the novelty won't disappear with all the subtle shifts you can make in petal formation. Erwarth and Gail are sorting out lessons, and we'll see what other fun we can have while we get strong enough to help."

  Joy thrummed through Irini's words. She extended her hands shyly to Amdirlain, and Gail stepped aside.

  "You want to help?" Amdirlain took her hands carefully.

  "Who wouldn't want to create life? Do you have suggestions about what songs we should work towards? Gail said we should ask you for a list. She said your lists are important tools."

  Amdirlain laughed; worry and nervous anxiety she hadn't let herself admit washed away, and the sound carried underlying faded sharp notes.

  The sound drew a slow blink from Irini. "Gosh, you were tense. Don't worry, Mum, things will be lovely. I called dibs to meet you since we remembered you prefer small groups, but the others hope to greet you soon."

  "You've memories of me?"

  "You think fast, Mum, so we didn't catch all the thoughts, but you passed patterns of knowledge to us. We can tell what you prefer among the patterns, but they're incomplete. For example, we didn't know about the lists. I hope Gail didn't say that to tease me since she sounded genuine. We're not clones, but we know we're inexperienced like everyone starts, so we're eager to learn more."

  "I tend towards lists to keep myself organised," admitted Amdirlain. "Especially when I have a lot going on."

  Irini wiped her forehead dramatically and tossed Gail a wink. "Phew, I'm glad Gail wasn't teasing me. What should we focus on?"

  "It's more something I can do to help you rather than something you need to do. We should sing something together that gives you experience," said Amdirlain. At Irini's frown of confusion, Amdirlain continued. "That should let you learn at Mortal rates afterwards."

  "Mortals learn faster?! I guess they'd need to since they don't live as long. That's fair. Is it okay if we do that, though? Isn't that cheating?"

  Amdirlain smiled. "It's okay to use a cheat code from time to time. You'll still need to put in the hard work and be open to learning to benefit from this one."

  "Okay, when do we do it?"

  "It'll need to be something substantial enough that there is experience to share but small enough so it doesn't dump lots of levels onto everyone."

  "We’ll sing together because it would take too long to do it with each of us," murmured Irini thoughtfully. "How long has this conversation gone on for you? I mean relatively, since you think so fast. I remember being swept off in the flow of Ki, and the flurry of thoughts, some of them forming my sisters. They moved so fast I couldn't keep track, but they were this beautiful storm in the distance, lightning jumping between clouds of intent."

  "Please don't think I'm concerned about my time. It's about not wanting to keep everyone waiting for their turn," reassured Amdirlain. "I've already come up with a suitable composition to use after listening to your strength. Would it be fair to say your sisters are on the same strength scale as you?"

  Mirth twinkled in Irini's gaze. "Of course, Mum."

  Amdirlain gently squeezed her hands again and turned to Gail. "Thank you for helping. I know you have other things going on."

  "It's time I left some of them to others. I've got so many cousins, and I get to be the more experienced guide," Gail gushed, hiding an undercurrent of grief. "Mum still won't let me be a big sister, but this is close."

  Sharp notes rose from inside Amdirlain's Soul, but she recognised them as Ori's guilt and grief rising unprovoked by Lethe, only to cut off as suddenly as they had started.

  "When you want to talk, I'll listen," offered Amdirlain.

  Gail gave a lopsided smile. "Part of growing up is getting your heart broken, right?"

  "They're an idiot."

  "Nah, I waited too long to clarify that I was serious. Let's get on with happier things," stated Gail. "What are we singing?"

  "A simple theme for this Demi-Plane, with lots of life supported by Mana flows. It'll put them each at third level Glinnel, or second, in Glinnel and Enyali?. Gail, would you organise everyone to come here while I chat with Irini more?"

  "Okay."

  "Come directly from Laurelin," Amdirlain managed before Gail vanished.

  "So, what mystery business did you want to discuss?" asked Irini.

  "Not so mysterious, more administrative. I could ask Sarah's mother if she'd help with your Psion Class," offered Amdirlain. "Does everyone have it?"

  "Yeah, we're all weird outsiders. We probably could use some help with the psionics. The music we hear around us, getting mental patterns to form, is complex."

  A memory crystal appeared in Amdirlain's hand. "These are basic exercises, along with the progression for your Profile Control to move it along to Profile Mastery, which lets you distribute experience gains as you'd prefer."

  "Is this a gift-giving session? Just because I look older, you should know I've not had my first birthday yet," laughed Irini.

  "I'll make you each a world to practise on later."

  "Each?!" blurted Irini. "That’s so cool!"

  Amdirlain kept a serene composure.

  "I also need to practise, and making playgrounds is good for my True Song. I'd give you an end goal for each world."

  As Irini clapped excitedly, Amdirlain cracked a smile and gently touched her cheek.

  "Please tell me you weren’t teasing. We get blank worlds to play with?"

  "Yep. Since you want to help, I'll give you the tools and places to train. If you want to create plants, I'll make you countless places to enjoy creating them. Let me know if you want to do more, or something different."

  That brought Irini up short, and she nodded in understanding. "Our existence surprised you, and you're still so generous."

  "I'm trying to behave and not give you too much at once."

  "Such as?"

  "How do you feel about Protean? It would let you recover from singing faster and make you harder to kill."

  Amdirlain caught the melody of Analysis, and Irini blinked. "Is that what Gail possesses?"

  "Yes, it is."

  "I'll discuss it with the others."

  A large Gate appeared a safe distance away, and the fields of Laurelin appeared. Before Gail could step through, the first Enyali? darted across the threshold; a colourful flood of shimmering wings and fresh faces came after her.