Last second edit. Happy birthday. You know who you are. :)

Chapter 70

With one ghostly fox carrying the two crates (lashed to its back with mana-cloth), and two more carrying Kaede and I, we made exceptional time towards Rondel. Nimble footed, our mounts didn't even bother with roads, meaning we almost didn't see Italica on our way past it towards the mountains we flew over the first time I'd made the trip with the others.

Since we weren't going over them this time though, we started taking the longer way around to the west. But, so long as I didn't suddenly run out of mana, the foxes we were riding would never tire or slow. And if I wasn't concerned about the cursed block of jade getting bumped around too much, we could even had sped up!

But, just as we were getting around the western tip of the Romaria mountain range, after bypassing the mining town Kaede stayed at, she turned one of her ears towards me.

A microsecond later, she turned the rest of her head sharply, and started looking up.

With hardly a thought, my mount put on the breaks, but I'd been just a tiny bit too slow!

A weighted net of thick rope slammed into my side, tangling around me and the fox instantly. I dispelled my fox, and curled up on myself, hitting the ground and rolling to a stop. As I did, I heard Kaede shout, several heavy wing beats, then a few dozen 'thumps' as people landed around us.

Before I could get my hands on the net to rip it off me, something heavy slammed into my back, and the point of a trident speared itself into the ground next to my head.

"Where have you taken our clan mate!" A harsh voice yelled down at me.

Now that motion had stopped, I turned my head a little to see the one sitting on me. Big, purple skinned, wide shouldered with huge bat-styled wings, and a head topped by (stylishly) curled horns...

I replied calmly, since even like this I only felt annoyed, not threatened, "Get off me, and we can talk like civilized people."

"You DARE maaaaAAAAAHHHHH!"

Some of my tails hadn't been entangled by the net, and with a couple latching around one of his legs, and another two snaking around a wrist, they simply flung him off of me like he weighed nothing. No longer under nearly a hundred kilograms of angry dragon-newt, I got to my knees and pulled the rope net apart as if it were made of thread and paper.

"I wasn't asking." I said, standing, dusting myself off, then catching a spear just behind the point, thrust at me from a female. Just as eye-catching as Giselle, she was more of a light gas flame blue, instead of dark purple. "Are you sure?" I looked towards a pair of dragon-newts who were holding Kaede down, "Shake them off."

Kaede wasn't as strong as me, but part way to level three I'd have bet only an Apostle was stronger in this world. With a sharp, "KYAP!" She got her feet under her then just jumped upwards. Both her 'captors' went up in the air with her, but only Kaede landed on her feet when the three got to the ground again. She didn't draw her sword though, but made ready with her gauntleted left hand forward.

"Where is she!?" The one who'd been atop me demanded as he got to his feet, "She sent a message, but she would never abandon her Goddess!"

Aha. I had no idea what her message said, but if it were something like, 'I'm going through the gate and not coming back, and if anyone wants to come with me...' After over three hundred years devoted to Hardy, it would be easy to assume something was wrong.

So, yet again I found myself speaking to a bunch of people who had no reason to trust me. "Hardy abandoned her, and I offered her a new home." Ten in all, I could see the family resemblance to Giselle. Same general horn shape, similar tribal markings (nice bright yellow in clean angular patterns) and all sharing some kind of 'blue' skin and scale colour.

"Lies!" He growled, the others nodding with him and readying spears and nets again.

"Above." Kaede said as she sidestepped over to me.

With a screech and heavy THUMP a pair of wyvern landed on either side of the 'leader'. But they were all shocked when instead of looking worried, acting angry, or even getting ready for a fight, I took two steps forward and said, "Sit."

With a long trailing growl, the two wyvern lowered themselves to their bellies, extended their long necks and rested their chins to the ground.

All of Giselle's extended family (or however you called distantly related dragon-newts who were generations apart from a sister who never had children) seemed to short circuit as I continued walking calmly forward and got to my knees so I could give both the wyverns some head pats and chin scratches.

"My friend and I rode these two towards Bellnahgo, Hardy's city, and I let the Goddess possess me so I could talk to her about the Gate, and how it might be removed from my world. After that, Hardy used my body to fight Giselle, and stripped her of her status as Apostle. She could not stay in my body however, and in the aftermath, Giselle was simply a normal person again, while the Goddess left me cursed for refusing her."

During my explanation, the two wyvern were shifting themselves a little to get closer to me, so I could pay more attention to them.

"Then she wrote in earnest..." The leader said, "And... how are you doing that? Our clan has always been able to command them."

"Giselle taught me all the best spots, and these two know it. Don't you, you scaly critter you. Yes, you are a good critter." I was using my thumbs to rub that really hard to get spot around their eyes and they were starting to purr in a really satisfying way. "I asked Giselle to send a message to 'her clan'. It was my hope, and hers, that your people could join her on the other side of the Gate, away from the Gods who want to treat the world like a playground, and not let it prosper naturally."

Kaede came over to me, but didn't join in on spoiling the wyvern. Instead she stood behind me and said, "If you doubt her, you can go to Alnus, and ask to use the Occulus. It might take a little time, but you can talk to her on the other side of the Gate, if you don't want to take the trip yourself." There was a little 'ting' and something glittery arced through the air towards the leader. "Show the Green Men that, then ask."

I'd like to think I'd gotten to be a good judge of character and emotion. It seemed he, and the others, wanted me to be wrong. That their blood relative who had been chosen as an Apostle, hadn't been divested and outcast by the Goddess they (I was guessing) all worshipped.

But in the face of two people, Kaede and I, who were totally unconcerned with their opening display of violence, who had shaken off and subdued their attack (and wyvern 'ace cards') with hardly any effort... Added to that, were clear instructions on how to find out for themselves if it were true or not...

"We'll go." He said, "We'll go and see if it's true, that our Elder sister has left for a new life."

"If you, or others, want to join her there, you will be welcomed." I said, giving one last pat to each of the wyvern's bony beak noses and standing up, "She'll be sure to tell you all about it when you talk."

And they left. They all turned, spread their wings, and jumped into the air. No apologies, no parting words. Oh, and no wyverns. They'd fallen asleep.

"What's their deal? Not very polite!" Kaede huffed.

"They probably don't want me to be right. And they can't resist trying to prove me wrong. Giselle was probably worshipped back at where ever they are from. I mean, in six hundred something years, she'd become a Goddess. And she'd probably be nice to her old clan, right?" I sighed, "Well, if she can convince them, maybe they won't have to wait? I'd bet there's a mountain someplace they'd love to settle."

"Still wasn't very nice." She rolled her shoulder and did a little side-to-side with her head, "Got my poor tail all dusty." She reached back and gave her adorable little pom of a tail a pat too.

"I had that one sit on me. How do you think I feel?" I grumped, giving her a pat on the shoulder and looking around, "Okay... Shall we continue?"

"Yeah. Looking forward to seeing this Rondel place."

Thankfully we had no more interruptions on the way to Rondel. We may have surprised a few people on the road, but due to the rocky terrain my foxes couldn't keep the pace I wanted without risking being seen. Well, we were close enough to Rondel that 'magic weirdness' might be a little less surprising.

As we approached, I spotted a pair of mages guarding the bridge into the city. They were a ways off, but they were alert, and at the sight of Kaede, myself, and the 'cargo' all atop horse sized foxes, they looked to be getting ready to throw some magic our way.

So, I slowed down to something less frantic, and started waving in what I hoped wasn't a 'throw a fireball at me' kind of way. It worked, and we stopped in front of the two guards, dismounting and giving them both a little bow.

"My name is Kodori, this is Kaede. Did Master Cato arrive in Rondel?

"Ah..." One started, his youthful face trying to remain professional... and failing, "Are those eter constructs? How did you make them solid enough to ride? Did you add a second effect for mass and a third for structure?"

The other guard, also male but a little older, sighed and swatted the other on the back of the head, "Focus apprentice. See? Now they're laughing at you."

Well, Kaede was, I was just smiling. "I enjoy answering smart questions." I replied seriously, "But I asked first?"

The older of the two answered, "Yes, he arrived this morning, and... well, if he's not causing trouble then he'll be at a particular Inn near... Hm have you been here before?"

"Run by a red skinned Pooka named Harmar?" I guessed, "Has a little fairy living in a lamp near the front desk?"

"That's the one." He nodded, "What's in the boxes?"

"Some books from the other side of the Gate, and a very cursed artifact." I answered honestly, "One is a donation to the school, the other... I'm not sure yet, but I'm hoping to not leave with it."

"Ah, research materials." He nodded again, "Very well. Don't cause trouble."

Kaede swished at one of my tails, "Don't forget."

"Of course not." I smiled, "Hold out a hand." I said to the 'apprentice'. Once he did, I put a little pocket fox on his hand. As usual, it did a happy twirl in place, then put on a silly smile and did some happy tail flailing. "It is a mix of my internal Eter, coloured by my elemental balance, and given a basic instinctual intelligence. She'll last until sunrise tomorrow, unless you figure out how to give it power to sustain it."

He almost dropped the wispy fox, but it saved itself and hopped up onto his head, perching proudly and asserting dominance. "I can keep it? But..."

"Ha! Maybe you can treat this one better than the other critters. It's not dangerous is it?" The 'master' asked.

"Only to your socks if it gets bored." Kaede laughed, "Oh... Maybe we shouldn't have all three of them in town?"

I looked back at the three foxes we'd been riding/hauling with, and with a little exhale, only the one with the crates on its back was left. "Good point. Take care you two."

"If he is there, tell him he still owes me a Denari for the last time we went drinking."

And with that, they both stepped aside to let us pass.

This city was far less familiar with foxes than Orario, so our slow meandering pace through the aqueduct lined streets of the city had a rather mixed reaction. Some, the merchants mostly, avoided the large 'wild' animal even thought it was acting like a horse. It wasn't out of fear, no one in the city hid behind anything. They just moved a little further to the side or stepped off the street completely to let Kaede, myself, and the horse sized fox pass.

Then there were the curious ones. Thankfully it never got more 'invasive' than a few small magic circles pointed our way. My foxes were still weak to magic, unless I was trying to ground it out deliberately. So the first person who cast a spell at my cargo-fox would probably make it pop. Unless I saw it coming and had it literally eat it.

And lastly there were a couple children, and the mother who hastily tugged them out of the way. But my foxes had long since been 'programmed' to avoid little grabby hands, and I waved off the embarrassed mother and assured her I was used to little foxes/children getting under foot.

"Ah! There you are!" Not entirely unexpected, it was Arpeggio who greeted me. I knew she'd be here.

Unexpected though, she skipped the wave, and gave me a hug in greeting once we stopped in front of the Inn. "Hello there." I said, returning the hug mostly by reflex, "Something good happen?"

"Master Cato told us all about his trip." She sparkled at me, then leaned over a little to spot Kaede, who was giggling at the display, "Oh! Miss Kaede, you came along too?"

"I wanted to see more of the world, and Kodori-san said this was the most interesting place." Kaede replied, "And I agree!"

Of all things, Arpeggio looked relieved at the praise of her home city. "Well good. Um..." She looked at the giant fox, "Do you need to... do foxes even need a hitching post?"

"Is Cato sober? I'd rather save the drinking until I complete my current quest." I said, "I also want to give that big crate there to the school."

"Oh! Is that..." She started to ask, then went right back to sparkling when I nodded, "Oh! Lemme go get them!"

She ducked back inside, her excited words muffled by the stone and wood of the wall. Kaede took that moment to say something a little impolite (not rude, just 'bluntly true'), "Really excitable. Is she always like that? Looking at Lelei you'd never guess they were sisters."

"I have my theories on how Genius works." I shrugged, closing my mouth as Cato and Lelei came out with Arpeggio following behind. "Cato, Lelei. Going to watch?"

"I am curious as to how you will get their attention." Lelei said, "You are aware of the stigma of what you are about to do?"

"Cato told me." I said with a serious nod, "But doing something because I'm not supposed to, is a little different than doing something because I need to." I squinted at Cato, "Isn't that right?"

Haruhime's glare was much better than mine, but it was still enough to make the old man flinch a little. "Er... Well yes." He nodded, stroking his beard to try and salvage a bit of 'wise old man' cred. "Those boxes...?"

"The big one is for the school." I said as we all started walking again, my fox giving Lelei a 'good to see you' nudge with its nose before I could reassert full control over it again, "The little one contains Hardy's curse. The ritual was a success."

His eyes went a little wide, but he smiled, "Good! What do you plan to do with it? Submit it for study?" He sounded hopeful.

"Eh..." Kaede started nervously, "That would be a terrible idea, right?"

"Very much so. The nature of its containment is potentially delicate. And it might leak out if mishandled. Considering her curse made me forget how to work metal, stone and all the knowledge about anything underground..." I shook my head, then looked to Lelei, "Are you ready to close up the Gate again?"

"Yes." She said simply, "Closing it will also give us time to study on how to untangle our worlds. I suspect that since our worlds are closer, it may be impossible to return to 'Earth' until your world moves further from ours." She then finished with a very timid, "Maybe..."

It was obvious she didn't like being this uncertain.

"Well, don't pull the string off the door just yet." I smiled.

"How is that plan of yours going then?" Cato asked.

"Well..."

I told them the short form of how things had gone so far, and they were quite surprised by the scope of the plan. I openly admitted I wasn't expecting what might be all of the Dark Elves in the world. But there was space for them. Due to the nature of the Monsters, the Dungeon, and adventurers, the nameless world where Orario was had a LOT of open space.

You needed people to become adventurers. You needed adventurers to fight monsters. You needed a God to make adventurers. But the dungeon was the biggest source of power for the adventurers. And once you got established in Orario, most adventurers didn't want to leave.

Unless you exiled a Familia, like Apollo. But most of the Apollo Familia stayed and switched Familia.

So I needed people. And once those people got settled in, I was 99 percent sure a God or two would find them and start advertising themselves. And that meant adventurers. Until that happened, it would be on me to source protection for the new community. But, any God who wanted to volunteer their Familia, would get a head start on ingratiating themselves with the new folks.

Plans within plans...

But I left that out of my story for the three mages of Rondel.

Books delivered (I was glad the nice old lady Lelei introduced us to last time didn't have a heart attack when she sparkled at me when I told her what was in the books), payment for the books redirected towards Arpeggio's 'medium grant' repayment (earning me another hug and a very undignified 'squee' from the mage in question), we got back out into the city, and stood before the two three metre tall statues of Ral and Elange.

Their nice slightly blue stone figures were perfectly clean, without even a speck of bird crap or dirt on them. Magic effect? Dedicated custodians? Still, it was clear that even if it was taboo to ask them questions directly, they were very well respected.

To be expected. In 'life' they'd founded this city and gave those who wanted to learn a place to do so. An 'aberration' among the Gods and their Apostles. I suspected that when they finished setting up the place, and there were enough people here, they no longer needed to defend the city against Apostles. They were strong, but not very tough, and well now you had a bunch of people who could throw fireballs around if you started disturbing the peace.

"So... How will you get their attention I wonder?" Cato asked as the five (plus a smaller cargo fox) looked at the two statues.

Keade, in a rare case of 'breaking etiquette' gently tugged one of my tails, "You're not going to let them possess you again, are you?"

"I learned that lesson already. And I don't think I could handle both of them. No." I shook my head.

"You said Hardy might have been able to stay in your body forever?" Lelei asked.

"Maybe. But I'm not letting that happen again to find out." I looked around the statues, noting the nice circular courtyard with the nice benches and little steps that led up to the school. "Hmm." I looked to the three mages, "Anyone have a bit of chalk?"

I suppressed a little chuckle at the sight of the three of them patting themselves down to find something in a pocket. A moment later, Cato perked up and offered me a little lump of raw chalk that was smooth on one side, "What else is in that pocket anyhow..." He mumbled after I accepted it. "Hm, will need to wash this." He added, turning the pocket inside out and dumping a bunch of lint and chalk dust out onto the cobblestone.

"What do you plan to do?" Lelei asked, "Ah, that's..."

The three of them started to make concerned noises, while anyone passing by stopped in their tracks and turned to look at me. Why? Well, I was using the chalk to mark the ground around the two statues. If I couldn't make a magic circle like all those people in Orario with the Mage skill, or a lot of the magic users here, well, I had to go old school.

Yes, I was jealous. Sigh...

"Just distract anyone official looking who wants to throw a fireball at me or something." I said as I worked.

Just like words, shapes had power. Shapes however, came before words, and thus were more primal. What were Gods? Primal entities, creators that used willpower and nothingness to bring into being that which was not there before.

At least, so the stories go.

Even if these two, Ral and Elange were 'new' gods, they were still gods. A circle for containment and a triangle within it to represent Mind, Body and Soul. This would differ from my usual 'iron hoop' circles on my crafting tables, since those were just for inanimate objects that I wanted to keep free of outside magical influence. I was also inside the circle. I was probably going to need a lot of power here, and I didn't want that leaking out into the city. The magical currents were wild enough as it was without me adding raw Eter from two other worlds.

Sure, nothing might happen. Or it would make pretty lights. But it also might set the sky on fire, and I really liked this city.

I didn't add anything other than the two perfectly drawn shapes. I didn't know if my poor skill at Shinto would work, I didn't have HIDA-lite around to make a 'mathmagic' drawing, so I stuck with what Delly had taught me. 'Simple is best'.

Once done, I stood up, put the chalk in a pouch for later, and stood between the outer curve of the circle and inner line of the triangle.

"Here we go." I said, ignoring the slowly growing crowd. It was getting on in the day, and I was guessing the evening classes were over.

"Good luck Sensei!" Kaede called out.

I gave her a thumbs up, then looked at the two statues. "My name, is Kodori Haruhime. By the divine status, earned by my own hand and written there by the blood of my Goddess Hestia, I Summon you both here."

Nothing, save a slow release of my mana into to power the circle and enforce the triangle.

"Ral and Elange. I am not asking for wisdom. I do not seek answers into the obscure or hidden." I said, hearing some of the crowd gasp in surprise. "The world you watch over is stagnant, and only this small place, the gem in the centre of this land, has any hope of uplifting the people."

Still nothing, save the slowly growing mumble around me, outside the circle. So, I increased the power I was letting out, and continued.

"I have visited three worlds now!" I said a little louder, making sure the people watching heard me, "And in this world, I see a tragedy on the horizon."

Nothing. More power, louder voice...

"The Gods of the world the 'Green Men' came from, stepped back from the world. Magic left, the people advanced unchecked. Greed rules their world now. With no guidance, the people worship false icons. With no magic, their technology has grown to the point where a single switch may burn the world, or a lapse in judgment wipe the world out with plague. Money is worth more than life, and the wants of the few ignore the needs of the many."

Still nothing, though, I was starting to get a little feedback from the circle. Something was starting to take the mana I was throwing out.

"The Gods of my world live among the people. Their wants shape their followers, and in return for service the Gods grant a spark of their own divinity to anyone willing to indulge their curiosity and desire." I took a breath, "We fight a common enemy, not each other. We study what we wish, learn what we wish, and do as we wish, so long as we continue to fight the common foe."

Eyes... I could feel something looking at me. And it was more than the people crowding around the circle. I had someone's attention.

"Magic thrives, science grows. The people are educated, strong and love their Gods. Like any society, we have our quarrels, but we are free to do as we please so long as we get along and fight the common enemy."

Yes... Something was looking at me, observing, judging... I started to focus the huge amount of free floating mana I'd let out into the confines of the circle into the inner triangle.

"But this world... The Apostles of the Gods suppress knowledge. The people fear the Gods. A single organized race, out of all the races, has run out of land to conquer and has now turned upon itself. Magic is nearly gone but for this one city. The common person cannot read. Children may not see their second year because few understand the most basic of medicines and prevention."

It was working! The inner triangle, representative of Mind Body and Soul was starting to shimmer like a heat mirage.

"And we, the Adventurers from another world, have seen first hand that the common people have started to fight a common enemy. But it is no mindless monster nest. But instead the Apostles. They are uniting against the Gods because of their lack of guidance and negligence."

The chalk lines of the triangle were starting to extend upwards, slowly becoming a wall of light around the two statues.

"I have read the hidden histories of the Green Men's world. And unless something is done, they will overthrow the Gods, tear down their temples, imprison the Apostles... And then grow unchecked, to follow the same path. I am not here to ask for knowledge, I am here to offer it! But here, in the only bastion of free thinking, is the only place it might take root!"

And with a sudden flare of light and sound, both of the statues came to life. All at once, the 'debating' one and the 'thoughtful' one dropped their hands to their sides, and turned to face me. People shouted, cheered, cried, and even ran away. But I didn't care about them. I needed to convince the two smartest Gods of this world to help.

"And what, Kodori Haruhime, Apostle from another world, has made you think we might help you?"

"You presume to judge this world and its Gods, yet what facts can you cite, that back up your claim we are on a path to destruction?"

"Help me? No, you misunderstand. I am not here for help, I am here to help. And while I could be wrong of course, that I may simply a doomsayer, that the world, this 'garden' you've cultivated will continue as it has forever... History has taught me otherwise." I started to pace, the usual three steps and turn that I would do at the dinner table.

"The Gods would commonly covet the women of mortals, but wouldn't stay to raise the child, offering no guidance. Bitter mortal parents would curse the Gods, receive punishment from them, but then have the half blooded child take vengeance for the family that raised and guided them." I started to do a little hand talking as I got more 'into' the story telling. "The Empire of Rome, of the Green Men's world, fell to ruin because it refused a people in need."

"And you see the people here, as those in need?"

"You said yourself, that unchecked advancement brings ruin. And the weapons of the Green Men show this."

"The people need guidance. Teachers. Education! The Gods of my world call the mortal races Children. And aptly so! They guide us, motivate us, and at the same time give us the power to achieve our own goals by our own means!" I finally looked outside the circle, at all the people assembled, "I was told there was a fire here. And it erased much of the accumulated knowledge. What might happen if the Empire, or even a sickness that no one could cure, swept through here?"

"Then the information would be lost."

"It was our decree that Rondel stays away from the affairs of the world, so that would not happen."

"Oh yes, we've seen what staying away from the world has done. It took... what? A year for the JSDF to subdue the Empire, shatter it into civil war, and even have some of the peasants worship them! If your ability to defend does not match the threat, you will be attacked. Even the animals of the forests and grasslands follow that rule." I looked in the direction of the Gate, "The knowledge, whether you wished it or not, has come here. But because the Gods have stepped back, and only step in to suppress what they deem 'unwanted' you have no defence against it."

"We were not responsible for that."

"We have already told Hardy how foolish she was. That probability dictated the Gate would someday do this."

"And now, something that may have taken another hundred years, can start happening now. The People already know how to put down your Apostles, and now they have the weapons to do it thanks to the Gate putting those weapons into their hands. But you can still salvage this. Prevent the people from turning away from the Gods."

Someone outside the circle had finally had enough, "We would never abandon our Gods!"

This of course was followed by lots of 'Yeah!' and 'You tell her!'

"We have the faith of our people."

"And we have allowed them to grow strong on their own."

"And what about the rest of the world?" I shook my head, "Being passive will not help you. You are going to have to choose, to step up, or step off. Without education, the people will only do what they know. And after so long, after the Gods have beaten them down, after the Empire has enslaved them... All they know is violence. Without some kind of direction, some form of guidance, the people of your world will become savage. And while your bastion of learning may stand, it may also fall."

I looked behind me, locking eyes with Cato.

"La and Elange! She is right!" He shouted, "I have been to her world, seen how the people act, the Gods act, and the way they handle information and progress!"

The motionless faces of the two statues looked past me to Cato, following him as Arpeggio and Lelei used some (very weird feeling) magic to open a small gap for him. The Sage then glowed a faint blue, and floated over the chalk circle and through the little gap his two apprentices had made.

"Sage Cato, once again you speak to us."

"Do you seek answers again? Or have you joined this outsider in her cause?"

This caused a little stir from 'the people' watching. The twin Gods had just outed the Master Sage, marking him as 'guilty' for asking the Gods something.

"First!" He said in that old man 'about to teach a whippersnapper' voice, "I think it's you two who need to learn something!"

And like a circle of children on a schoolyard, the crowd 'ooooo'ed at the declaration.

"I've been to her world. Walked their streets, seen their people, chatted with some of their Gods." Cato said, tapping the end of his staff on the ground, though it seemed more of a nervous tick than to punctuate his words. "Just like this city you founded, each God gathers like minded Children to them. Each God represents a distilled ideal, and each Child does their best to live to that ideal."

He looked to me, then looked around a little, asking a question without words. I nodded and motioned for him to go ahead. I had a handle of how much power was needed, and now that the ball was rolling, and the Gods were 'here', it was much less demanding to hold the summoning spell.

"I have travelled far and wide over this continent. True, I do not know everything, but I've seen enough to infer many things. Kodori has spent hardly any time here. Yet, she had already taken our world's measure!" He shook his head, "The races of their grand city Orario all get along. The Gods encourage their Children to grow, and reward effort with power. And while the desires of Gods and Children may clash, they still follow a nearly powerless mediator, so that things to not get out of hand!"

Pacing, he used his free hand to wave about and punctuate his words, "They have machines that run from magic. Some of their average artifice puts the best construction this city has to shame! Children of only a handful of years already know how to read and write! Yet with all this wonder and education running free, they have no 'chaos' past that of the day to day we all see as normal!"

With a sudden turn, he pointed at me, "She has only been an 'adventurer' for a few years, yet she dealt with Rory Mercury as if she were an infant!" He pointed at the two God statues, "Yet with all the power the people are given, they still venerate and respect their Gods!"

Silence. Stillness. The only motion from the statues was the slow turning of their heads as they followed Cato's pacing.

"Yet here... The Gods are feared, or spoken of in whispers. Our children, and even adults, may never learn to read. Slavery, sickness, war... All things that could be prevented, with some kind of direction, guidance."

"It was not our place to push you to greatness, only to give those here a place to learn."

"Greatness isn't given, it is found. As is knowledge."

"NO!" Cato pointed at the statues. "Knowledge that isn't shared might as well be useless! What is the point of figuring something out, when you can't tell someone else?"

"There is nothing stopping you from sharing-"

"WRONG AGAIN!" Cato yelled back, "The last time I shared one of my great discoveries, I had an Apostle chase after me! The last time I wrote it down, our great library was burnt to the ground by fanatics!" He huffed, leaning into my hand when I put it on his shoulder. After a deep breath, he brushed my hand away, "Oh yes, you have done the world a great favour, building and supporting our sanctuary here. But that alone will never be enough."

Aside from a low hum from the magic circles, there was silence.

"I have found new purpose." Cato said slowly, "With tools and insight from Kodori's world, I am going to re-establish the original goal of your city. To be a bastion of learning and education. To bring the people as a whole out of their collective unwilling ignorance." He tapped his staff on the ground again, "But I am old, and while I am loath to admit it, I lack time."

"You petitioned us to become an Apostle before. Our answer remains."

"And you wish to take short cuts? To borrow unearned knowledge from outside?"

There wasn't much emotion in those voices, but the disapproval was clear.

"Considering the way the Gods deal with advancement? I'll take any help we can get to pull ourselves past working with simple iron tools." He sighed, accepting the disappointment stoically, "But, to give myself a little more time to see my vision through, I would like to accept the blessing from one of the Gods from Kodori's world."

The people watching us went nuts. Shouting, cursing, boos, catcalls... It was clear what Cato was proposing. Even past talking down to the Gods of the city, to those who didn't know, it sounded like he was about to abandon them. But the statues speaking again cut through the noise like a knife.

"You would ask our approval to find help from another God? An outsider? One day a potential Rival to us here?"

Cato laughed, starting with a little chuckle that evolved to a full blown nearly hysterical pitch. After a moment of getting it out of his system, he shook his head, "I wasn't asking permission. But I would like your approval."

"If that is your answer to your lack of time, then it is up to you to see if you are right, or wrong."

"It is why we created this city."

There was a moment of silence, and Cato nodded satisfied, turning to me. So, I spoke up again, "Can they count on your help then? Will you be a little more active? Will you protect your followers and set an example for them and maybe the other Gods too?"

"You do not understand the dynamic of this world and its Gods, Kodori of Hestia Familia."

"Our power is limited here in the physical realm. Having experienced that first hand, you should know this better than most."

"True, I do not understand the mechanics of how the Gods and Mortals work here. I understand that you need a powerful, or mentally disciplined mind to sustain your presence. But I'm sure you've noticed, you aren't in my body, yet here you are, speaking to us." I smiled, "But what if I were to tell you, I have a fragment of godly power, in a physical vessel?"

I would mark it as a crowning achievement of my life so far, to have two Gods of magic and knowledge give me a puzzled 5 degree head tilt.

"You see, I was at a bit of a loss on how to get rid of it. Inside, this vessel is the curse Hardy put on me. To forget everything I knew about metals and stone, of all the ways to work them to my will. It's a dangerous thing indeed, to just have laying about." With a little command I called my cargo fox over to the edge of the circle. With a nod to Arpeggio and Lelei, they made a tiny gap in the circle to allow the wooden box through.

Now in hand, I looked back to Ral and Elange, "There is a lot of power here. I myself wouldn't dare try and harness it. I am strong, but it required a lot of work to remove the curse, and even more to contain it properly." I smiled, "But to ones such as you, it would simply be energy, would it not?"

"What would you have done with it, if not this?"

"If I were evil, I might had tossed it down a well. The curse, days, years, decades from now would leak out into the world, and maybe infect anyone who drank the water thereafter." I did a little pacing of my own, "Were you to refuse, I would have added a little incentive to convince you, throwing it into the sky so it would circle your world, until one day falling down again, leading to the first situation."

From somewhere in the crowd, I heard a quiet, "Yes! I knew the world was round!"

"How would that convince us?"

"You would have to help the people work together, to create something of magic or artifice, to capture it before it returned to the ground."

"Forcing us to step in, or risk a world that would never leave the age of stone! You ARE evil, Kodori of Hestia Familia!"

"From your perspective, I may be. But I am a follower of Hestia, a symbol of hearth, home and family." I said firmly, "And from where I am standing, I am trying to get a pair of negligent parents to look at what their children are doing. You may not have seen this situation as wrong, but a good researcher should always be willing to hear a second opinion."

There was a pause, the two of them turning to each other, much like their original positions before they'd become 'possessed' and started moving on their own. Then they looked back to me.

"We accept. We will take this offering, and with it, we will walk among our... children."

"But. We will need to reestablish a few rules before we begin guiding you all again."

I held out the little wooden crate, feeling pleased I wouldn't need to test the special heat and pressure resistant casing by throwing it into orbit. With a wave of their stony hands, the box lifted off my palm and floated over to them. As it crossed the distance, the wood planks came apart, the treated spider silk, salamander wool and hellhound bone shell peeled apart, and finally the brightly glowing green rectangle prism hovered between them.

"I leave the rest to you." I said, putting a hand on Cato's shoulder and motioning him towards the edge of the circle, "Do not break the triangle until you've figured that out, please, and do not break the circle, until the energy inside has dispersed."

"Soul feeds the mind controls the body contains the soul."

"The circle contains, confines, defines. We are simply surprised such simple methods were used for this."

"My world is filled with practical people. We only ever make things complicated when simple doesn't work." I said with a fist-in-palm bow, "It has been a pleasure talking to you both."

And for a third time, Lelei and Arpeggio opened up a small gap in the circle wall, allowing Cato and I to float/jump through.

"You okay, Kodori-san?" Kaede asked, "How much magic did you use? You look a bit pale."

Now that I wasn't basically swimming in a high mana environment, I was starting to feel a bit light headed, "Like I need a nap." I said with a yawn. "Want to contact the other team? I'm gonna take the rest of the night off."

And so, with the two animated statues that now housed the Gods of Rondel, I led the way to Hanmar's nice Inn.

NOTES!

I dunno... is Kodori evil?

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