No Need for a Core?

Mordecai smiled down at Fuyuko as he lightly scritched behind the wolf girl's ear. She looked like she wanted to be annoyed even as she leaned into his hand. "Well," he said, "maybe we should begin with talking about the afterlife. Now, whatever anyone ever tells you about the afterlife, you should know that it is never the complete truth. It can't be. It is a realm bound by slightly different rules and souls there are not bound by the limits of mortal bodies. In those realms, spirit is as 'physical' as flesh is, and it is in fact much easier to travel to such places in spirit rather than bringing one's body along, and should you ever visit one of these places everything you see will be an interpretation of what is truly happening."

He waited for Fuyuko's nod before he continued, "Souls are not static in the afterlife. While it is a very different existence, time still moves forward and people still interact. Events happen. People change. It is possible that in a hundred years, if you were to die you would find your parents' souls and personalities much as you remember them. The longer the mortal life the more likely this is to be true, but frankly your parents died relatively young. While they should be recognizable as having been the same people and they should still be loving and happy about being reunited, they will also be some amount of different."

Fuyuko squirmed a moment before asking, "How different?"

"There are several different ways. The most minor type of difference would simply be in the way their awareness has grown. They will no longer think the same way about space, time, and other aspects of reality. But there are other changes that can happen. Most celestial beings were once mortal souls, and this change is one of the things that can happen as their perspective shifts. But much like with how many people are not well suited for eternal life, some can not cope with a new perspective on eternity. Of those, some may be chosen to be fully reincarnated while others will change in a way that allows their minds to sleep. When one encounters what mortal minds see as a well-tended mystical tree, a statue that radiates a sensation of peace or love, or any other such thing in a heavenly realm, it is most likely one of these souls."

This earned him surprised looks from everyone and he shrugged. "There's a reason you won't find a priest talking about this during a sermon. It's not comfortable for many people to acknowledge that after finding a place in the afterlife of the deity they follow, they might eventually just need to truly sleep forever. The soul is still there, it is merely dormant, and should the need arise they can be awakened. In a similar manner, a tired soul may give themselves over to another. Like with the other resting souls, the core remains intact but much of their power and mind is subsumed, allowing that celestial or other divine agent to become more powerful."

That could be a nasty surprise for anyone ignorant of this truth who managed to inflict a true death upon a powerful celestial. This would wake up all the subsumed souls who would be aware of what happened and very angry that someone they cared for and trusted enough to give themselves over to had been killed, their soul gone forever. They might have less individual power, but they could be numerous and would be fueled by wrath.

Bridgette bit her lip in thought before saying, "That doesn't seem very, I don't know, eternally blissful or anything."

Mordecai nodded and replied, "True, but that's not what is promised. Each god's realm is in part a reflection of themselves, and they offer a place in that realm. It is a place without most of the woes that beset the mortal world, but it is still not perfect. Most should simply be able to find happiness and satisfaction in the realm of their chosen divinity."

He paused and considered Fuyuko for a moment before adding, "Well, with one exception, sort of. I assume that there is some sort of divine realm that resonates with Li's followers, but I have never heard anything about it. Li himself can not provide any guidance on the subject, though at the least I imagine that other gods have ensured that there is a suitable place. I could try to find out, but I suspect that this matter is deliberately left as a secret."

"Mm," Fuyuko said, "no, I think I get it. That's fine."

"I don't get it," Carmilla said as she turned the page of her book, "you all talk about rejoining loved ones and stuff, but if you worship different gods, you go different places. So how can you be together?"

"Oh!" Moriko said, "I think I've got this one. Um, Kazue love, could you get me the book that I was reading during our trip? Thank you!" She slipped through the passages of the book that had materialized in her lap. "Ah, there it is. 'The Divine Realms are unlike the mortal world, and many connections can be made between otherwise distant places. I would never let such matters stand between passionate hearts, you will be able to rejoin your loves and lovers, whether in my realm or another.' " Moriko tapped her lips a moment in thought. "Though come to think if it, 'be able to' is not the same as 'will'."

Mordecai smiled slightly and said, "That one is easy, Love. Imagine if things had gone differently at some point and the three of us were now in the afterlife together. Our being together is well and good, but I don't think there would be a long chain of my former lovers waiting for me, nor would either of you be particularly pleased if there was. And over time, depending on how others felt about Moriko, in such a scenario others might appear wanting to be reunited with her. No, it is best to leave it at 'be able to'."

Kazue switched her gaze thoughtfully between the two of them for a moment. "I mean, as long as they all became part of my harem too- eep!" Her teasing was cut off by her giggling as Mordecai and Moriko started tickling her.

When she was at the point of needing to catch her breath, Kazue's spouses relented and Mordecai turned back to the main point of the conversation, though he was amused to notice that despite their differences, Fuyuko and Carmilla had near identical eye rolls for the three of them.

"As I said before, the divine realms do not work on the same rules as the mortal world. Even faerie realms are more limited in how they can manipulate space and time, though within those limitations they can often be far more chaotic. So if Fuyuko's parents followed different gods then they probably have a shared space or home that exists in an overlap between the divine realms in question, even if those realms normally do not touch."

Fuyuko scratched her neck before asking, "Probably?"

"They are still people, so there is always a chance that something has changed between them, or they may have become occupied with something that made it pointless to have a home, or any number of unknowns. I can't make guarantees about things I do not know for sure. Hmm," Mordecai said as an idea came to him.

The question was, was it a good idea? He mentally consulted with Moriko and Kazue to get their opinions, and they agreed that while there was a small chance of Fuyuko reacting poorly, it would probably be worth it. "There is something I could try that might put some portion of your concerns to rest, though even if it works the amount of information we can get will be limited."

Carmilla frowned at him over her book, he was pretty certain she was getting a sense of what he had in mind.

Fuyuko turned her head to get a more direct look at him. "Um, that seems like it should be good, but the way ya said it..."

"Well, I don't know if you will be comfortable with it. I am a high priest, I can attempt to contact them. I must emphasize 'attempt'. I do not know what the results will be."

"Oh," she said and took a moment to let that sink in. After a little bit of thinking, she said softly, "Yes, please. Even if it's just a scrap, I would like ta know more, and get the chance ta tell them I love them."

Fortunately, contacting the souls of the dead did not require the sort of price that contracting with extraplanar entities did. "Alright, I am going to try the basic contact ritual, and depending on the results I may need to do the larger ritual." Mordecai rubbed the top of Fuyuko's head with a smile and added, "I don't feel like getting up at the moment, and this one I can do with a little assistance from my core. If I need to do the big one, it will be a bit more involved."

"Wait, right now? Just like that?" She asked.

"For the basic contact, yes," he replied, "a more involved communication will require a longer ritual, but you always work your way up if there isn't a time limit. All I need from you is this hair," he held up the strand he'd picked up when he rubbed her head, "and for you to focus on your parent's faces, names, and identities. What they mean to you. Whispering their names may help you focus, and adding an earnest prayer will not hurt."

She nodded at that and bowed her head as she began to murmur to herself.

A low table and a couple of empty seats had to be shifted into the dungeon's storage for the moment, but that gave his core enough space to etch the appropriate circle and symbols into the living crystal floor for the attempt to contact souls. That was faster and easier than his avatar could ever have done it.

But the next part required his avatar to perform the magic. Physically conducting the ritual would have made it easier but only a little faster, and Mordecai had the control necessary to weave mana into the proper spell forms without having to move around the circle.

He did still need to use one hand to help focus his mana manipulation along with an incantation. If he had been moving around the circle, he would have been able to eliminate the incantation instead. Hypothetically, at a great enough mastery one could do the entire ritual mentally, but Mordecai had never maintained an avatar long enough to develop such a technique. He had always retired them when he was satisfied with their mastery and accomplishments and was ready to take on a new challenge.

The slower process also gave Moriko, Kazue, and Camilla a chance to observe the forming mana shapes without the distraction of people moving about.

As the ritual neared completion, the air in and around the circle took on a faint glow from the shape and density of the forming magic. Just as it reached completion, Mordecai felt the spell get intercepted nearby, rather than making the distant connection. He frowned at the three-dimensional humanoid shadow that formed in the circle unexpectedly but inclined his head in greeting. "I take it you are the umabel that Lord Ozuran has watching over me?" At the same time, he sent out a mental communication to the others in the room, "Let me handle this, please."

"Indeed," the shadow replied, "I am. I also have the answer you would have otherwise received, and the opportunity to deliver it personally, rather than the rote response you would normally have gotten." The figure faced Fuyuko and said, "I must inform you that for the moment, your parents' souls are not available for contact. They are safe, and there is no foreseeable reason that this would change in the next several years at least."

"What? I," Fuyuko began, but she stilled when Mordecai put a hand on her shoulder.

Mordecai asked, "Can a message be sent to them?"

The umabel considered a moment before replying, "Yes, but delivery may not happen immediately. I can make sure they will receive it the moment that they are available."

Fuyuko glanced at Mordecai, who nodded, and then she turned to the shadowy divine servant. "Tell them that I love them and that I am doing well and I am happy. They don't have to worry about me."

"I will do so. I am certain they will be happy to receive your words." The umabel turned back to Mordecai. "I believe that is all our business?"

Probably not, but that was all the business there was for this interaction. "For now, yes, and thank you."

The shadow faded out of view in response, and Mordecai sighed. "Well, that's not what I expected."

While she started undoing Mordecai's work, Kazue grumbled her annoyance at having such a being inside her territory that she couldn't sense unless it showed itself. He sympathized, but right now he needed to focus on a worried-looking Fuyuko, who asked, "What does that mean about my parents?"

He chose his words very carefully as he answered, "I do not know for sure, in part because there are many possibilities. What it does mean is that they are not choosing to not respond, they simply can not be directly contacted at all right now. I would guess that they are doing something that has them more active than many souls, so they may not currently be in their respective deity's realms. If there had not already been a divine agent nearby, the spell would have failed into a null state that would have meant essentially the same thing, but even less informative."

She frowned up at him and said, "But you have a guess, don't you?"

"I have a few, and I think it is best if I do not tell you. It's too likely that you will become emotionally attached to one idea or another, and that could lead you astray or cause other problems when reality probably presents something else. I don't give any individual possibility a high probability, and at best all of my ideas combined have no more than a fifty percent chance of being correct."

Fuyuko struggled with that for a few minutes as she tried to find an argument around his statement, but came up with nothing. She couldn't say anything she knew wasn't true, and she wasn't able to deceive herself deeply enough to deny what he'd said. "Fine," she said grumpily before turning away and leaning back against the couch again.

Mordecai could have perhaps continued with the initial conversation, but it was probably best to let Fuyuko process the knowledge that she didn't know what her parents were up to in the afterlife. At the very least, they were not simply waiting for her and that undoubtedly shook her mental image of them.

Instead, the conversation turned to less serious topics, though Fuyuko maintained a thoughtful silence at first. She became much more animated once a round of dessert was brought out, and as part of the holiday, Mordecai, Kazue, and Moriko took turns preparing snacks and treats for everyone, even if that presentation was sometimes just taking food purchased earlier from vendors and putting it a serving plate or in a bowl.

They didn't even send Fuyuko to bed at a normal time, which turned into a minor problem for Mordecai when the girl eventually slumped over enough to lie her head on his knee. She was adorable and he didn't want to wake her up, even when she started to drool on his pants a little. Instead, he gently petted her while the rest of them continued to chat and only when it became late enough for others to start heading off to bed did they gently move her. Moriko was the one who scooped the girl up, as Mordecai was pinned. He and Kazue each placed a good night kiss on the top of Fuyuko's head before Moriko carried her away to tuck her into bed.

Carmilla did not stay overnight, though she did have a room of her own available. She had an entire home waiting for her in her swamp, and one that she rather liked.

Kazue and Moriko's familiars had made their way to the master bedroom already, so the trio gave up on their normal playtime and settled in to snuggle with the two dragons instead. It was not a bad end to a long day.