***Midhold, Summer Residence***

***Celes***

I stretch myself and sigh, enjoying the sun in my red bikini while Angrod is floating on his back in the nearby lake and levitating a book above him. Sometimes, I wish I could use magic for convenient purposes like that.

Seria is playing in the garden of our log-house which became a very beloved retreat from the worries of the Eternal Palace which is the centre of government for our world.

Located in a valley on the southern part of the continent, the summer residence is the perfect resort for swimming in the summer and skiing in the winter.

While peeling an oranle, a fruit which is a strange mixture between an orange and an apple, I ignore the screams of pure pain and horror.

Angrod reaches out, using Levitate to steal my glass with cold fruit-juice.

I ignore it, knowing that Rose was about to bring out seconds anyway.

The screams are coming from Aengus. He is rolling around on the ground while trying his best to scrape out his eyes.

“Haaah... Celes, do you remember when we were that age? Isn't it reassuring that we aren't the only ones who have to suffer?” Angrod calls over from where he is drifting in the lake.

“Sure, my dear. Though I have the feeling that Aengus is going through the full transformation, just like you,” I chuckle while sucking on a piece of fruit.

“Couldn't you do something to ease the pain? What good is it to put all that effort into researching our bodies if you can't lessen the pain a little?” Angrod raises the stolen glass, allowing the contents to trickle into his mouth.

I snort. What a sloth. “Maybe I could do something, but it would require some pretty heavy drugs. I don't want to give stuff that strong to a little child,” I hum, enjoying the sun. “And he has to learn that joining forces with his sister to trick me is a bad idea.”

“What's happening to big bro, Mom?” Seria studies her brother with a concerned expression, yet staying at a safe distance, just in case that his problem might be contagious. Worried, she comes over to me, expecting an answer.

I am so proud of my little angel. She is so smart.

“Ahem...” I clear my throat. “Nothing dangerous, dear. He is just undergoing the metamorphosis. His adult-features are developing. Like horns, and split pupils. Once the process is over, he will look similar to Papa.” I smile at Seria and pat her head.

“You forgot the teeth!” Angrod calls over. “Those and the eyes are the worst of it.”

“Hooooorrnnnnnnnsss!?” Aengus howls in terror. “Puuuuppiills!? Whaaaahaa... III DONnn't wannNNNAaa bEEE AA DEEOEMON!! HUUURRRRTTTSSS!!!!!” He rolls over the lawn and then starts hitting his head against the soft ground, attempting to end his suffering.

Seria's expression turns frightful as she witnesses her brother's antics.

It turned out that Aengus was similar to me in one of his former lives. A paladin and fighter for good. One who stands in the light. His character took to those memories like a fish in water, fuelled by the fact that he is currently in a phase of hero-worship, thanks to all the bed-time stories Rose always reads to him.

It must have been a shock to learn that he would turn into his 'presumed' worst enemy.

Maybe I should take a look at those goody-two-shoes children's books.

I sigh and decide to elaborate on the problem, “The affected body tissue starts growing and changing rapidly. As a side effect, the nerves inside it are going havoc and starting to fire constantly. It's, in fact, a form of phantom pain. There is nothing that can be done about it easily. Especially since it is a natural process, better not to disturb a working system without knowing all the variables.”

“Aaah. I remember it like yesterday! It was like someone was stabbing screwdrivers into my eyes while twisting them and having a mixer mashing up my brain at the same time,” Angrod laments, recalling his own metamorphosis.

“Kyyyyaaaaa!” Aengus sobs. “Thiiis IIS Theee PPURRRTAAAGOORY! III KneWWW I WAAS In HEELLL!”

Even Ghost, Angrod's familiar, lays back his ears at the discordant tone of Aengus’s screams. Normally, there is nothing that could keep the big Razorclaw from roaming the garden and the forest behind the property, but now the cat goes back into the house, unable to endure the shrieking.

“You have to experience the dark side of this world, as well as the bright one, Aengus. Try to control yourself a little. You're starting to sound like a little girl,” I smile and suck on another piece of oranle.

It brings me no pleasure to see my kids suffer, but Aengus has to learn to deal with pain at some point. What better opportunity than this one is there?

“Don't be so high and mighty! You started to cry like a little baby yourself!” Angrod rebukes me.

Pah! As if he didn't do so himself. In fact, we both cried like little children by the end of it.

“Mom! Will that happen to me too?” Seria asks me with a frightened voice.

“Most likely, but you have one or two years until it is your turn.” I lick my lips. “Though, you will be spared from the screwdrivers through the eyes.”

Seria lets out a sigh of relief and sits down next to me. “Then it will be only half as bad.”

Smiling, I use my tail to entangle Seria, lifting her into my lap. “Oh, it won't be half as bad. In exchange for the screwdrivers, it will feel like someone is constantly stabbing and drilling a stake up your butt, directly into your spine! Where do you think my tail came from?”

Seria's stiffens as she comes to view my tail in a different light.

We get interrupted by Angrod's mother. Ireth enters the garden through the veranda, clearly curious what all the ruckus is about. “What's with all the screaming... Oh, my! They grow so fast. Before you can take a look, they are already at age. How is it Aengus?”

“IIS? Iiii waanana DDIEEEE!”

“Your parents are horrible for letting you go through that even though you did nothing bad.” Ireth wanders over to my son, studying the child who is writhing on the ground.

“WhhhyYY?”

“On the other hand.” Ireth's expression turns contemplative. “We never showed them the proper method to ease the pain for a while because we had to educate the naughty children.” She ponders over the past while she scratches her chin.

They did what!? “There is a way to ease the pain?”

“Grandma! Save brother and show me the method! Pretty please!” Seria jumps at the opportunity. She gets out of my lap and runs over to plead in her brother's stead.

In the meanwhile, the screams have taken on another dimension.

“Okay! If my cute little granddaughter asks me nicely like that, we will save your brother.” Ireth pats Seria's head.

She walks over and grabs Aengus at the neck to drag him over to the nearby fountain.

I watch, wary of what the old goddess-turned necromancer is up to with my child.

Ireth bends Aengus over the fountain and unceremoniously pushes his face under water.

“Blergh! Bllblblber!”

The screams are cut off and finally, silence reigns supreme as Aengus bucks and thrashes, flailing his arms. A long and nasty fight for life and death starts. Aengus tries to cast a spell for breathing underwater, but Ireth cancels it as she holds him under with hands of steel.

I am not entirely sure if the experience of drowning is better than the pain.

After long and gruesome ten minutes, Aengus's movements slow and lessen to mere twitches of his left leg. It's really hard to drown a god, even if it is a child with limited access to his memories.

Seria just watches the scene unfold with a slack-jawed expression.

When Aengus stops moving, Ireth pulls him out and casts a mid-level healing spell on him, relying on the fact that this level of spellcraft won't restore his consciousness while ensuring his survival.

“See? Much better, isn't it?” Ireth asks Seria with a bright smile. She lays Aengus on the ground and folds his hands on his chest... just like someone would do with a dead person.

Seria just nods, clearly uncertain how she should react to her grandmother's actions. Then she walks over to me with dead eyes. “Mom, Papa, I am so sorry! Aengus is right. I really created hell.”

We both just grin at her and say nothing. After all, this world’s strange biology was her fault.

That is when Rose arrives with a plate full of new drinks. She walks over and sets them onto the small table next to my deckchair. “Um, everyone. There is something I want to ask.” Rose fiddles with her fingers. “Would it be a problem if I took leave for the rest of the day?”

“Of course not!” I reply quickly. “But if such a request comes from you, I have to know why. Otherwise, I would die of curiosity,” I answer with a smirk. Rose never takes time for herself.

I sit up and curiously look at Rose who turns red.

“You know... Originally I thought it would never happen, but with us becoming gods and the much longer lifespan there were suddenly so many new options!” Rose tries to explain. “It kinda happened before I knew it.”

Oh, no! It can't happen! I whisper, “You have found yourself a guy!”

“I have a date!” she corrects me. “Whether that will turn into something permanent stands in the stars.”

“Who!? What!?” Angrod drops his book into the water, clearly surprised. He nonetheless takes a sip from his juice, just as curious as myself.

“Drem, the captain of the guard.” Rose smiles at us and Angrod spits his juice into the lake.

When he wants to say something, I throw him a glare strong enough that it could evaporate him and the lake together. Instead of saying something stupid, he shuts his mouth.

“The bear!?” Ireth shouts out, just as surprised as Angrod himself.

“I am just trying to imagine Rose's fragile slender elf-body next to that muscle-monster Snowden, but the picture is just too hilarious,” Angrod mutters.

“It's the first date?” I clap my hands together, happy for Rose... and the fact that there is one less of Angrod's minions single. Despite Angrod's asseverations that there was no romantic relationship between Ascathon and Willow, I am quite sure that they did the tumble once in a while. There is just no way that a man and a woman stay together for centuries without something happening, even if they claim to be just ‘friends’.

“Um, yes?” Rose frowns.

I get to my feet and take Rose's hand. “If that's the case, then we have to work on your appearance!”

“My what?” Rose asks with a curious voice.

“Just a little help. You don't intend to go in your uniform, do you?” I urge her towards the log-house.

Ireth and I, assisted by Seria, spend the better part of half an hour to bring Rose into shape until we have no other choice but to let her go with ten minutes delay to her meeting.

Having done everything we could, we return to the garden. Angrod got out of the lake and is crouching next to Aengus, poking him with a stick.

There is nothing I can say to that. At some point, I really have to explain to him that poking people isn't a valid method to test whether they are alive or not.

“What was inside the box you gave her?” Ireth asks me.

“Nothing, just a little chocolate,” I reply with a wide grin on my face. Admittedly, I pepped it up with a little bit of love and encouragement.

Angrod's expression changes when he hears that. His face takes on a faraway look and there is a faint trace of mana around his head, a clear sign that he is trying to use telepathy.

I dash over and slap him on the back of his head to keep him from spilling the beans. He clearly deduced something from the way I mentioned the chocolate.

'SMACK!'

“Ow!” He rubs the back of his head.

“You tried to tell him, didn't you?” I loom over him, placing my hands on my hips. It was so obvious that he tried to contact Drem.

He blinks, his expression so guilty that I don't need to be a mind-reader to know what he is thinking. Without a doubt, thoughts like 'How did she know?' and 'Did Drem get the important part?' are going through his head.

“Did Papa do something bad?” Seria hops up and down next to me.

“Yes, he tried to tell on a woman's secret plans.” I pat Seria's head. “He was a veeery bad Papa and Mom will have to punish him!”

“How can you punish daddy? I need to know too!”

Seria is such a smart child! She knows what's really important in life. The sooner you learn the secrets of a man, the easier it is to get what you want.

“That's not for children to see!” I smirk “Stay here and keep watch over your brother.”

I grab Angrod's hand and drag him to the house, intending to occupy his thoughts with something else than to mess with my plan.

“That's the same thing you always tell me, Sandra! I am sure you will just drag him to the bedroom and do... this... and that...” Seria slowly turns silent because both Angrod and I stopped in our tracks to look at her. She starts fidgeting and looks behind herself to check if there is something or someone of interest there.

Not finding anything, she turns back. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I drop Angrod and kneel down in front of Seria. “You just called me Sandra.”

“I did?” Seria smiles at me, trying to look innocent.

But I know exactly when she is lying. Those little dimples always betray her when she is trying to hide something.

“You totally did! What else do you remember!?” I grab Seria’s cheeks and start twisting. Just a little at first, but when she refuses to answer I add tension.

“Owowowo!”

“I said many times that if you remember something you have to tell us! How much did you hide!” Using my tail, I tie her up and get to my feet while pulling her cheeks apart until she is a little comical version of a frog.

“Do you remember how to travel the Void, Seria?” Angrod asks her while standing next to me, sounding curious.

“Neh? I teught wee elreadi cenfirmed that I enly heve memeries ef mere receent eveents?” She continues to deny any new knowledge that might have returned to her.

“You just called your Mom Sandra. That memory should be quite an old one and we never told you about it,” Angrod points out her mistake.

I let go of her cheeks and turn her around while she is rubbing the rosy marks which my little encouragement left behind. “Do you see your brother lying there?” I ask her with a sweet voice, bringing her in close.

Seria looks at her brother’s sleeping face and nods her head.

“Right now, he is granted the merciful bliss of unconsciousness. But if you don't spit it out, I will see to it that you are awake and aware the entire time when it's your turn. You won't even have the mercy to faint from exhaustion! I will personally see to it,” I explain, trying to sound nice while I run my fingers through my daughter’s hair.

Seria turns as pale as the moon, then starts crying, “Uwaaah! I just didn't want to tell that I remembered more, because… because you and Papa will go off to war if you know how to travel the Void. I didn't want that! I want things to stay like they are forever!”

Angrod nods, looking proud of his daughter. “Wow! Seria, you are good. You have that fluttering chin down to the point!”

I sigh and decide to hug the child for comfort. Unlike Angrod, I do not believe that her reason for holding back information was a lie. She is a different person, after all. The old Seria’s grand schemes assuredly are not the new child-Seria’s short-term goals.