Lilith watched Anala nervously. Even though it had been a couple of years since the Queen of Monsters incident, the woman still seemed to be in a state of flux when it came to her feelings. She had periods of time where she was indifferent to Lilith, and periods of time where she was hostile. The most progress Lilith had really made was when Anala came to her wedding, and she offered a curt “congratulations”, but in the months following Anala had returned to her usual distaste.


    Lilith wasn’t totally sure if that was just how Anala’s “base personality” was or if it was a symptom of some sort of emotional or chemical imbalance, but there wasn’t a lot she could do aside from staying respectful and being friendly whenever the chance arose. So, she sat, studying Anala’s expression as the woman watched the recording of Lilith’s meeting with the Elder Gods.


    As always, she seemed split. On the one hand, Anala clearly understood the potential danger if the recording was accurate, but on the other she also clearly didn’t trust Lilith. And, to an extent, that was fair; Lilith had lied about some rather serious things, and, whether it was in service of saving more lives or not, she had indirectly caused the deaths of thousands.


    While Lilith had tried to be as honest and open as possible after that, she couldn’t really blame Anala for being wary. Well, couldn’t blame her up to a point; even Lilith had to admit that it was a little frustrating to have her every action second-guessed and analyzed for potential duplicity, even something as simple as inviting her out for dinner.


    The video ended, and Anala remained silent, biting her lip in thought. Lilith hesitated, unsure if she should say something, but fortunately she didn’t have to make a decision, as they were interrupted by the arrival of Jerry and Amelia.


    “Who are these people?” Amelia asked. “You busy or something?”


    “No, these are the heroes we made for the Queen of Monsters thing we did a while back.” Lilith replied. “We’re getting them up to speed on everything that’s going on.”


    “You’re Amelia, and the one next to you is Jerry, right?” Raesn asked. “My name’s Raesn, we met briefly a while back, if I recall correctly.”


    “You do.”  Jerry replied. “Yes, I’m Jerry, and this is Amelia. It’s a pleasure to meet the rest of you in person.”


    Amelia frowned. “These are your Heroes?” She asked. “They’re…not as good as I thought they would be.”


    “Amelia, you’re thinking about this from the wrong perspective.” Lilith said patiently. “They’re not like the Heroes you’re familiar with. Our heroes aren’t the singular, overpowering, type, they’re people with just a couple of Blessings and a bit of an edge over normal people. Also do remember that your standards are still skewed, and that this universe is still one of the weakest in the faction. To expect them to be anywhere near your level is unreasonable.”


    “I…yes, Lilith.” Amelia replied meekly, looking down. “Sorry, you four. Where I come from, Heroes are…a really big deal.”


    Jerry raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Amelia?” She asked. “It’s not like you to act like this.”


    “Shut up!” Amelia said, face burning red. “I’ve got to pay Lilith at least a little respect! As much as I hate to admit it, she’s stronger than me, and she’s a good person!”


    This time, Lilith was the one to raise an eyebrow. “Did the party really leave that much of an impression on you?”


    “Of course it did! What you did with Lia isn’t the kind of thing a lot of people would do, it didn’t benefit you at all. And, I have to respect that, especially given the circumstances!”


    “I don’t know the people you’ve met, but it’s pretty normal for friends here.” Lilith said. “It was just a game, it’s not like it meant anything.”


    “Yeah, but as far as we knew, we’d forget it all.” Amelia argued. “You might as well have just carried on as you were, it would have had basically the same outcome as far as you were concerned.”


    Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by Anala, who seemed more than a little annoyed. “We can’t be that far below her standards!” Anala protested. “We still beat Eve that once, even if she was holding back, and you’re supposed to be super strong, right!”


    “Uh, if what Eve’s told us is right, Amelia would barely need to lift a finger to demolish us.” Bruce said. “We may be strong be our standards, but that doesn’t mean much.”


    “She’s already thoroughly analyzed your capabilities.” Lilith said. “And trust me, she’s in the running for our faction’s strongest, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”


    “You and Tess still have me solidly beat.” Amelia said. “But not for long, I’m going to catch up, just you watch! And, uh…speaking of the circumstances, have you come to a decision on my proposal? I asked Tess and her wives before I came and they said no, just so you’re aware.”


    “We’re also going to have to say no.” Lilith said. “While we do like you and your wives, we’ve already tried polyamory and it wasn’t to our taste. We’re also not willing to allow the swarm to enter our planes, despite the immediate advantages. We just don’t want to subject our people to that level of change without their consent.


    “Likewise, I think we should table the prospect of a mono-gendered system until we’ve explored alternatives a bit more. I’m sure you’re correct in that it’s more Mana-efficient, but I suspect you haven’t looked at anything else, right?”


    “It wasn’t necessary.” Amelia replied. “It suited my needs and was better than our current system, so I went with it. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider, though? This seems like a lot of extra work for little benefit.”


    “The benefit is that our people potentially won’t need to upend their lives even more over the system change.” Lilith said. “And who knows? We could find something even more useful than just better Mana efficiency.”


    “Hold up.” Anala said. “What’s this about a mono-gendered system? You couldn’t seriously be thinking of forcing that on us, right?”


    “To be fair, she did reject the idea outright when I proposed it.” Amelia said. “The only reason she was even considering it was because Kali insisted that they needed to properly weigh its benefits and drawbacks first.”


    “Is this the greater good again?” Anala asked, eyes narrowing.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    “Yes. And I won’t lie to you, we were actually going to go through with it before I realized that Amelia likely hadn’t explored other options.” Lilith said. “The hope is to turn our planes, Earth, Haven, and the new one, into one of our faction’s powerhouses, and even just an increase in mana efficiency could mean hundreds of billions or even trillions of lives saved.


    “We wouldn’t have forced anyone to change, it would have been something you could choose to do in exchange for some benefits, but the new system would hopefully still increase everyone’s strength overall, even if men would be weaker comparatively. But, that’s a moot point for now; unless we find that there simply is no other alternative that provides a similar increase, we’re not doing it.”


    “But that’s completely unfair to half the population!” Anala argued. “They didn’t do anything that would warrant being treated as lesser!”


    “And that’s why they’re not immediately doing it.” Jerry said. “But, young lady, I don’t think you fully understand the gravity of the situation we’re in. We’re about to enter a war that will make anything you’ve seen or heard of look like two infants play-fighting. To say that such measures are unwarranted is an ignorant, even dangerous view.”


    “We’ve had world wars, and weapons of mass destruction have been used.” Anala said stubbornly. “Don’t assume you know everything about what I’ve heard of.”


    Jerry sighed. “I’m quite familiar with your world wars; Kali asked me for advice during the second. Likewise, I’m familiar with all your weapons of war, I made a point of studying the history of these planes. Nuclear weaponry, awe-inspiring and terrifying though it may be, is nothing compared to the sheer brutality of an Administrator war. I once saw an entire universe of six planes completely annihilated for sport. Every last scrap of life was cleansed before the conqueror took the planes for herself. That is what we risk by not taking every opportunity we can to strengthen ourselves.”


    “That makes no sense.” Anala said. “Who in their right mind would go through the effort of completely wiping out a plane when, pragmatically speaking, the worst they would need to do is wipe out sapient life. It’s completely unrealistic.”


    “She wasn’t in her right mind.” Jerry said flatly. “She had a god complex and thought that it would be fun. This isn’t about just retaining autonomy, it’s about survival, and I refuse to watch my friends be butchered like livestock again. If I have to get my hands dirty to stop that, then I gladly will. Perhaps, that way, others can keep their hands clean.”


    “The road to hell –”


    “Is paved with good intentions. I know. I have no intention of claiming that my choice is morally correct. Perhaps this is all completely unnecessary, and I may well be overreacting, but if there’s even the slightest chance that what I’m doing will save the lives of those I love, then I’ll do it.


    “And it’s not as if I’m committing genocide or similar atrocities; my people will see benefit from this, the methods are just less than tasteful. And yes, only these types of methods will suffice for the benefits my people will reap. Judge me if you wish, but know that you have only ever seen comparative peace.”


    Anala paused, clearly taken aback by Jerry’s sudden intensity. “Was it really that bad?” She asked in a small voice.


    “Worse.” Jerry confirmed. “And the only reason we were able to stop the war was because I made systems and our faction became overwhelmingly more powerful than the others. And this is exactly why it’s so vital that we don’t cut corners here; the consequences for failure could not be more dire.”


    “And…do you have any proof that you are who you say you are?” Anala asked. “Sorry, but I’ve been burned by this sort of thing once before.”


    Jerry shrugged. “I could take you to my planes, if Lilith is willing to pay for your passage. Fair warning, it’s not going to feel good; travel between universes is hard on people who aren’t used to it.”


    “I’m willing to pay.” Lilith told Anala. “So it’s up to you if you want to take Jerry up on the offer.”


    “You know what, sure.” Anala said. “Take me over, and if you have any video or pictures from the war, show them to me. If you can, then I’ll believe you.”


    “I’ll take her now.” Jerry said. “I have a few recordings from back then, and it shouldn’t be more than an hour. In the meantime, Amelia, why don’t you get to know these people more? It can’t hurt to broaden your horizons.”


    Amelia sighed. “If my wives hadn’t told me the same thing, I wouldn’t agree.” She said. “But, since they did, I’ll humor you.”


    “Is there anything I need to know about traveling between universes before I go?” Anala asked warily.


    “Just that it’s okay to throw up. I’ll have a bucket prepared.” Jerry replied, then walked over and grabbed Anala’s hand. “Brace yourself.”


    The two of them vanished, and Amelia walked over to the group. “So, I suppose now is the time to swap stories.” She said. “Tell me a bit more about your fight against the Lord of Monsters.” She said. “You obviously didn’t fight Eve at anywhere near full power, she would have absolutely destroyed you, but I’m intrigued to see how she compared to the one my wives and I fought.”


    “I assume Lord of Monsters is what your Queen of Monsters equivalent?” Bruce asked. “Oh, and I’m Bruce, and this is my wife, Ava.”


    “You already heard, but I’m Amelia.” Amelia said. “And yes, I think it’s the same thing, just under different names.”


    “It is.” Lilith confirmed. “Eve just wanted to stylize herself that way.”


    “You know, it’s rude to talk about people when they’re not there.” Eve said, walking into the room with Levia and Aria trailing close behind. “And yes, I limited myself quite a bit. You won’t have any direct way of comparing, but in terms of raw strength I was almost certainly operating at a level that was under the Lord of Monsters you fought. He would have increased his power to account for you and Rose.”


    “She.” Amelia corrected. “After everything started going down, she’s hopped the gender fence.”


    “Why?” Ava asked. “What does all of this have to do with gender?”


    “It’s all about Worship.” Eve explained, taking a seat on one of the couches and aging her body up so she could fit both Levia and Aria in her lap. “Because the swarm only has women, and Jerry is letting the swarm take over her planes, the Higher Beings will need to shift their forms to ones that more closely align with how people will be seeing them.


    “It’s by no means required, it’s probably a ten to twenty percent increase in Worship gain, but Jerry is all about efficiency, and purposefully chose to make her Higher Beings not care about their gender when she made them for exactly this reason. So, for most of them, it’s really not a big deal.”


    “Connie compares it to changing clothes.” Amelia said. “They shift their appearances to best suit their needs.”


    “But why not just take that appearance when they appear to people?” Ava asked. “Surely it should have the same effect, right? Unless physical appearance actually impacts Worship gain.”


    “Couldn’t tell you.” Amelia replied. “It’s probably just more convenient for them. But I wouldn’t be surprised if your base form has some impact on Worship, since you’re conceptually leaning into being one way, and Worship’s even more about conceptual links than regular magic.”


    “Wait, conceptual linking is actually a thing, not just some folk belief from Earth?” Bruce asked. “The wider magical community always called it bogus, so I just sort of assumed…”


    “Yeah, it’s a thing, and it’s really hard to pick out at first but once you notice it, you’ll never stop noticing it. You have to be really in tune with Mana to fully grasp it on your own, and even then it’s probably system dependent to an extent, so I’m not surprised no one in your planes noticed it. I was one of the first, if not the first, in Jerry’s planes to do so. I can show you, if you’d like.”


    “Please do!” Bruce said enthusiastically. “I’m always open to learning more about magic!”


    “Okay, so, this is easier if we have a monster to train on…shall we move to the practice rooms?” Amelia suggested.


    “Lets.” Bruce said.


    “I’ll stay here with the kiddos, if anyone wants to stay with me.” Eve said. “I was sort of expecting this conversation to be a bit more…stationary.”


    “We can go, Mama.” Levia said shyly. “We’re not that tired.”


    “But then I won’t get to snuggle you like this.” Eve said, pulling her and Aria a little closer. “Isn’t this nice?”


    “I’d like to stay.” Aria said quietly. “I like snuggling.”


    “Um, I didn’t mean we had to go, I just meant if we were causing trouble we could go.” Levia said. “We did sort of just follow you here.”


    “You’re not trouble.” Eve said, leaning down and giving Levia a kiss on the forehead. “I like spending time with you like this.”


    “I’ll stay and chat with you.” Ava said. “It sounds nice.”


    “As for me, I want to see this conceptual stuff.” Raesn said. “You’ve got me curious.”


    “Alright.” Amelia said. “Follow me, then.”