Time spent recovering in the sunlight, listening to the surrounding wildlife, had been peaceful. Concerned as she was about the Souls, experience held her waiting for full recovery before moving into the unknown. Guided by the glimpse of Solveiga’s memory, Julia cast Planar Teleport and found herself near a group of her Petitioners, but found they weren’t alone. A glance showed Solveiga, plus Souls of men and women she recognised, behind massed ranks of Vargr Drangijaz. Grecian hoplites, their classic armour formed of golden metal, faced off against them. When Julia’s presence hit them, faltering ranks disrupted the posturing hoplites.


    Fuck! What the hell is going on?


    “Why are you pointing weapons at each other?” Julia asked, restraining her voice into calmness.


    “Lady Eakc?, he was objecting to these Petitioners being protected here, wanted them driven out.”


    The gruff statement came from one of the larger of the Vargr Drangijaz. As Julia glanced towards him, he threw a rude gesture towards a hoplite with fancy scrollwork inlaid on their breastplate, making it clear who he meant.


    “Did you consider what the Titan’s servants might do if you’d succeeded?” asked Julia.


    The hoplite’s classic helm hid much of his face, but Julia made out the sneer as he turned away and took action to catch his name.


    Analysis


    [ Name: Lampus


    Species: Archon, Legion (Apollo)


    Class: Fighter


    Level: 60 / 60


    Health: 2,760


    Defence: 320


    Melee Attack Power: 290


    Combat Skills: Spear [M] (57), Gladius [M](23)


    Details: An Archon in the service of Apollo, rewarded with a promotion for valorous service during his last lifetime; one of Apollo’s Generals enacted his promotion. He is currently among the commanding officers contributing to the security of Judgement’s fields.


    ]


    You don’t impress me much.


    Ignoring Lampus’ attitude, Julia focused on Solveiga and willed her promotion. She ignored groups from lower planes as Julia pushed beyond agony to reach for her choice.


    [


    Achievement reward used


    Invalid selection for Fallen.


    Administrator override detected.


    Classification type locked for all further promotions - Angel.


    Promoting Petitioner to Outsider classification selected.


    Calculating progress based on past lives’ achievements


    Species Set: Angel, Erelim


    Evolution applied


    Additional Patron abilities applying to Outsider skill set.


    ]


    Light erupted from within, making her skin shine brilliantly for a moment before it settled down. Julia took in the changes to Solveiga’s petite form as her expression went from half slumbering rest to surprised alertness. The petite woman she remembered had grown half a metre, though the delicates features and smile remained the same. Her brunette hair barely reached below her ears, white-feathered wings only slightly longer than her arms grew from her back, while the loose pants and shirt her Soul had possessed remained intact. A silvery spear formed from the light and remained expertly clasped in Solveiga’s grasp.


    “Lady Eakc?, I’m not worthy,” Solveiga whispered rather than rewarding her with a bellow Julia had experienced in the past.


    “Your own past actions determined the promotion,” Julia declared firmly, not giving the new Angel an inch of leeway when she added. “I would have given you far more; the Titan’s rules were the judge of your deeds.”


    At Julia’s pronouncement, Solveiga blinked in surprise, as if she had just realised something she’d always known.


    “I know things I’m sure I didn’t before,” Solveiga said, her wide-eyed expression almost doe-like in surprise.


    “That happens, young Angel. All Celestials know the essentials of what we need to serve in our role.”


    The rumbling of the Vargr Drangijaz’s words didn’t disguise their kindness, and it drew Julia’s attention back to him. When Analysis didn’t get her much beyond the name of Adalward and confirmation he served Tyr, she merely nodded politely in acknowledgement.


    “With your permission, Lady Eakc? I’ll see the others to your Domain; I can feel its location,” Solveiga said, but before Julia could reply, Adalward spoke as well.


    “Would it be alright if we escort you and Solveiga, Lady Eakc??” Adalward asked. While others with him seemed to struggle with being distracted by Julia’s presence, he seemed unflustered. The dark blood red fur similar to the old Vargr Drangijaz she’d met in Eyrarháls, a sign of his age.


    “It’s unnecessary,” Julia said reassuringly.


    Is there something more than just a small spat going on?


    “It’s best to ensure we do things properly,” Adalward responded, his firm tone hinting at more, and Julia nodded at the confirmation.


    “Of course. Solveiga, would you guide the way,” Julia asked with a smile. “I told you every promotion comes with more work.”


    Solveiga’s radiant smile didn’t flicker for a moment, but Julia saw the eye roll she gave.


    As they moved out, the Celestials positioned themselves protectively, and Solveiga led the way to a glowing Portal near the Spire Julia had never seen before: vines framed its edge, and it appeared to be formed of emerald green water. When Solveiga touched it, Julia saw a translucent outline of her appear in the pool’s depths. The Vargr Drangijaz didn’t hesitate in following her, guiding the Petitioners between them, so Julia stepped through. Touching the water caused her to suddenly appear at the Spire’s base, and the tension relaxing from Adalward confirmed her suspicions of trouble.


    Gesturing them towards a clearing away from the Portal Julia walked ahead and focusing on her Domain, cast a Greater Portal. Instead of the flames that had occurred in the past, two apple trees rose at the ends of a shimmering energy veil, their limbs overflowing with ripe fruit. The sweet scent of the fruit, wafting with a sense of comfort, seemed to hurry the Petitioners forward. Julia swallowed as she saw a father absently lifting his young boy to pluck an apple before they passed through the veil.


    “Apple trees?” asked Solveiga curiously.


    Clearing the lump in her throat, Julia shrugged and remembered the trees in her parent’s backyard before she replied.


    “Who doesn’t like apples?”


    When they entered her Domain, the Petitioners gained new strength and awareness. Instead of placidly moving along, some showed obvious confusion. Still, others smiled as they walked about, excited by the energy of their new home, the distress that Julia had expected from being aware of their demise completely absent.


    “What did you wish to talk about, Adalward?” Julia asked as Solveiga took charge of the others. “And what was with the Hoplites?”


    “The same thing I wished to talk to you about, Lady Eakc?,” Adalward replied.


    “Drop the Lady - just call me Eakc? and tell me what’s going on.”


    At Julia’s blunt tone, Adalward’s wolfish features twisted in amusement for a moment before the serious air he’d carried about him returned.


    “The servants of some, well, most of the Greek Gods are seeking advantage during Asgard’s current conflict. They harry our patrols seeking to provoke them into violence, to take advantage of our reduced numbers in Judgement; and here in the Outlands,” explained Adalward. Though Julia wanted him to cut to the chase, she waited him out. “During the last three years, we’ve had a surge of activity from the Slaadi, and we’ve traced it to changes at their Spawning Stone. They normally have to battle to stay near its energies till their eggs became fertilised. Instead, they’re being fertilised with such speed they’ve no need to compete for a position.”


    “Which means you end up having to defend against greater numbers trying to breach Asgard?” Julia asked, seeking to confirm what Torm had told her years ago.


    “Correct. Given they aren’t Demonic, they can enter via the outer regions of Asgard where the Plane isn’t as secure.”


    “Has this happened before?” asked Julia


    “Never has it happened before in our records,” Adalward replied. “We do not know what’s causing the change to the Spawning Stone. The pure Chaos in Limbo makes it impossible for óeinn to see clearly.”


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    “I’ll go poke my nose about in Limbo,” Julia offered, and Adalward firmly shook his head.


    “That isn’t the matter I needed to speak about. I needed to caution you that the Greeks might see you as something to prey upon. They will harass your Petitioners and seek to weaken you till you agree to submit to their lead to gain protection.”


    “After what I’ve read, that’s not happening,” Jula said, giving a firm head shake. “Do you patrol for your own Petitioners coming from the Material Plane to reach Judgement or Asgard?”


    “That is part of our duties,” Adalward confirmed, and as his gaze narrowed, Julia just smiled in return.


    “Could Solveiga accompany you and gain experience with your Patrol?” Julia asked. At her question, Adalward’s eyes went distant for a moment. “I’d appreciate it if you’d also help her look after them?”


    “We’ll be glad to help your pup find her balance, though even with this, we still consider weregild owing for our kin’s actions.”


    Seriously, but I made Torm their permanent commander.


    “I already agreed that their reporting to Torm to be sufficient compensation,” Julia stated and scowled when Adalward shook his head.


    “That agreement asked nothing of them but following the orders of a worthy leader. That was considered to be an offer to cease fracturing trust, not Justice for misdeeds,” declared Adalward.


    Yeah, and their own decision making aided someone who wanted me destroyed.


    “Tyr offered the loss of his own arm to Fenrir as weregild for his family chaining him up,” countered Julia, enjoying the challenging look Adalward gave in return.


    “It was his choice to offer it, to ensure peace,” argued Adalward, frowning.


    “I choose to accept their offer to settle things peacefully,” Julia grumbled playfully.


    “You’ll be a fun one to argue with over a mead or twelve,” Adalward stated, his tone firm. “Though I’m not the one you need to argue with, as it was Tyr’s judgement it was insufficient; he ruled on the matter years ago.”


    “Fine, toss it up the line of command. I’ll argue with him.”


    “You would at that. Patrols monitoring the Outlands are already keeping watch for your Petitioners along with ours, so are the Summer court,” said Adalward. “We’ll take Solveiga to gain battle experience somewhere a mistake won’t mean her permanent end.”


    Julia stuck out a hand and smiled as Adalward clasped her forearm in return.


    Yep, just add someone else’s problems to my plate as well. I want to help the Lóm?, though keeping clear of the Abyss might be safest presently. I can at least reduce the numbers threatening Asgard.


    “I know the Outlands have a connection to Limbo; After I let Solveiga know the plan, could you take me to that portal?” enquired Julia, still gripping his arm.


    “That’s unnecessary,” Adalward growled.


    “I don’t need you to guide me to Portal. I was being nice and asking,” retorted Julia, her smile drawing a huff in response.


    “We’ll need to get her equipment first,” Adalward said. “Could you wait on that?”


    “That won’t be necessary,” Solveiga interjected, having heard her name. “I’ve got a spear, plus I’ve taken Wizard and Monk as my Classes. When I selected Wizard, all my spells returned to me, and Harmony unlocked Ki Armour plus some other things.”


    “How have you gained classes already?” Adalward blurted out. “And what do you mean by unlocked.”


    “My Profile appeared after we got here,” replied Solveiga, giving him a confused look. “Don’t all Celestials have them? It’s better than Master Yngvarr’s plate. I can ask it questions with a skill called Analysis. I picked classes from a list it gave me, then I saw messages telling me I’d learnt some things. It says they were unlocked because I already had the requirements for them.”


    She got Analysis, this could be interesting. She seems to remember more than Torm said he did from life.


    “Why don’t you show me the Portal to Limbo?” Julia asked, offering Adalward a way out of the conversation. “I’ve already set the Domain’s boundary to only allow allies within. I’m told the Petitioners will know the safety it represents for them.”


    “The only stable Portal to Limbo is within the town of Xaos closer to the Spire. The local merchants there will trade goods salvaged from Limbo for things that could be useful to your Petitioners here,” Adalward noted. “If the town’s Portal is under pressure from the Slaadi they might provide rewards for killing them. ”


    “Would Tyr clear the weregild he feels owed by helping get my Petitioners settled? I got advice regarding establishing the Domain, but I didn’t ask enough questions about what came after,” admitted Julia sheepishly.


    “It varies between Domains Eakc?. Many Dwarven ones are like walking into crafter’s halls. Mars and some others have their Domains laid out like military camps,” Adalward asked, “Yours feels like readying for your family to come home.”


    Julia just gave him a puzzled look, but her reply made him smile.


    “Why wouldn’t I treat them as family for the trust they have in me?”


    “I’ll send some messengers off, and take you to Xaos,” replied Adalward, waving some others over.


    “You want me to enter a town?” Julia asked incredulously.


    “I have some suggestions there,” Adalward replied, glancing at members of his pack, distracted by Julia’s presence. “I can give you some directions to make your passage quick.”


    “Sounds like I should just Plane Shift to Limbo,” countered Julia.


    “It''d be better to pass through, so when you return they know you. You can trade with them for your Petitioners and Celestials,” countered Adalward. “That will help regardless of who Tyr sends to assist.


    “Alright tell me what I should do.”


    <hr>


    Julia hadn’t known what to expect of Xaos, but her arrival at its outer gates had been without incident. They’d built it into the side of a hill with wide terraces leading up to a central keep. The buildings were a variety of materials, wood and stone were common but many appeared grown. Others were far more exotic, and Julia saw buildings whose walls seemed to be continually in motion. Those showed the most significant variations: one formed by living bees, others made of tinted water, and still more looked to be made of liquid metals, crystals, mists and stranger materials. The common theme between them all was there wasn’t a straight line in sight. The builders had composed every building of circles, arcs, waves, and spirals, and even the roads and pathways weren’t straight, but rather crescents and curves along the hillside.


    The town’s inhabitants varied as wildly as the buildings and while many appeared Human or Elven, others were far stranger. The horse-sized praying mantis outside a feed store bargaining with a bipedal grey rat barely a hundred centimetres tall had made Julia look twice. Though when both looked uncomfortable with Julia’s attention on them, so she hurried on to avoid upsetting them. A touch ensured the Noh mask was still sitting correctly under her hooded cloak. The tinted lenses she’d set in its white cypress certainly weren’t traditional but hid the vibrant energy of her gaze.


    At least I don’t look completely ghoulish. Though maybe I should have gone for a patchwork look.


    When she arrived at the keep, the guards barely glanced at her, their focus reserved for threats from within. Its structure was a chokepoint instead of somewhere to make a last stand. Spiralling ledges outside of the walls ran past arrow slits, allowing guards to fire into its interior.


    “Traveller,” called a guard as Julia approached. “There won’t be a trader though this shift, you’ll find the last trader''s goods already in the markets.” Their appearance was human though their solid mass of plate armour could have hidden much; still, the hints of tanned skin she saw seemed normal.


    “I seek to enter Limbo,” Julia replied, keeping to what Adalward had instructed.


    “The Portal’s last shift took it near to a Monastery, the Monks-”


    “Monks?” Julia asked excitedly.


    “If you don’t know of the Githzérai, then best wait till the next shift and confirmation comes about its connection point.”


    At the guard’s words, an image of a tall emaciated-looking humanoid came to mind, Planar Lore providing details Julia hadn’t even been aware she’d known. An impression of angular skulls with noses flattened back so much their nostrils were mere slits. The memory showed jaundice looking skin tight across an ascetics wiry muscle that belied the endurance they commonly possessed.


    “I’d still like to go through,” Julia stated firmly, and the guard who considered her request seemed openly sceptical.


    “You’ve not the height of a Githzérai, and this Monastery apparently has even less love of outsiders; boulders almost crushed our Scouts.”


    “The risk is mine, is it not?” Julia asked.


    “Your death you mean,” The guard muttered and called towards the gate. “One to go through.”


    As he gestured towards what appeared to be a barred porthole in a secured portcullis, Julia heard the call repeated.


    “You’ve no gear slowing you, so slip through there. We’ll not risk a larger breach in the defences. The captain will want to see you before you access the Portal.”


    Julia nodded politely and flowed past the guard, ensuring she kept her movements slow. Though it was a snail’s pace to her perceptions, she still made some guards start for weapons and forced herself to halt till they relaxed. When she moved again, it was with even more restraint. Soon through the portcullis, guards directed her away from the main corridor into a side chamber.


    The door looked like a hobbit door, but Julia found it tilted upwards off centre, rather than a side hinge she’d expected. When she entered the large chamber, she found its twelve-metre diameter occupied by a huge jellyfish floating in mid-air. Even floating in the middle, its long tentacles could still pull ledgers and journals from shelves along the walls and set them on stands. The pulsing main body reminding Julia of painful stings from a box jellyfish she stopped well clear of its closest tentacles.


    “Reason for your enquiry?”


    The jellyfish’s words vibrated through the air, though Julia couldn’t tell the source.


    “The guard said the Captain would want to see me before I go through the Portal.”


    “The Portal’s current connection is a pink rated location. Are you aware of the chance of your demise?”


    Pink rated, what?


    “I’ll take my chances, but pink rated?” Julia asked as the jellyfish went about its paperwork.


    “Your blood will splatter so widely, mopping the Portal’s step will only stain the water a pale pink. Please excuse the bipedal basis towards red blood. Ichor stains are easier to deal with, so it’s a worst-case scenario.”


    Colours within the jellyfish pulsed, the barest hint of pink appeared within its flesh and change to a solid red.


    “What about those that have black blood?” enquired Julia, restraining her amusement at their explanation.


    “If the blood stains blend with the flooring, why bother to mop? I’ll let the Captain know someone passed on and tell the cleaning crew to deal with it after the next shift.”


    “You’re not the captain?” asked Julia, observing its reactions.


    “Why did you expect me to be?”


    The question came with a hint of startled surprise, and without waiting for Julia’s response, it rushed on.


    “I’m its receptionist. It is quite busy with its latest joy toys - best not to bother it. Just sign the ledger to your left waiving all rights to compensation for lost goods if you need to reincarnate, reanimate or reconstitute.” While the words had been cautious regarding the Captain, they were as lively as a robot telemarketer when it touched on the legal matters.


    “What about next of kin?” Julia asked, surprised by the apparent bureaucracy.


    “What about them? Are you expecting them to pass through and die with you? If so, they’ll need to sign as well.”


    The jellyfish’s flesh turned dark grey, blending into the stone of the fortifications.


    A tentacle thrust a charcoal stick in Julia’s direction and she took it gingerly, though True Sight showed no spell present.


    “Make sure you mark a blank spot and not over someone else’s runes.”


    As the grumble came from the jellyfish, Julia caught the waving motion of its fringe and wondered if used it to speak.


    “I was told I could get a list of currently needed goods for the township,” Julia stated. As soon as she signed, they took the charcoal away. “Who do I speak to about that?”


    Catching the wood bundle the length of an arm that was tossed her way, Julia found they made it of thin bound slats. The list along them alternated in Celestial, Abyssal, Infernal and three other tongues she didn’t recognise from the glyphs.


    “The last three slats with the red script are goods that are overstocked. Don’t come back with those unless immediately departing with all stock, the town’s storage fees apply and the markets will not stack shelves for their sale.”


    The statement was another cascade of flatly spoken words and carried such annoyance, Julia wondered how often its warnings were unheeded. When the jellyfish flicked tentacles at the doorway, Julia took its hint and left. The guard outside took one look at the stack of slats and directed her further into the keep—the spiralling ramp descending into the hill made Julia wonder if they had built it around the Portal. Eventually, the ramp led Julia into a black stone cavern that was so dark she wondered how red blood would show up.


    True Sight showed the wards that ringed the Portal and Julia could tell they would unleash a flurry of devastation at a single command. As she came closer, an arc of enchanted ballista’s around the chambers pivoted between her and the Portal. While the one from the Judgement to the Spire’s base had been almost beautiful, this one looked unpleasant and Julia regarded its free-standing energy with distaste. Storing the cloak and mask, she touched the Portal, and the oily sludge that made up its surface engulfed her.