“Hello Alecto, is this the friend you were talking about?” Van asked as he greeted her.

Alecto gave a warm smile and introduced her friend. “Yes it is, Van meet Pepper, Pepper meet Van.”

Van gave a nod and stretched out his hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Pepper, I heard you might help me with my soul realm problem.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” said the demure middle-aged-looking fairy, a rare feat by fae standards, taking Van’s hand the best her own tiny hands could. “And how could I not come and help out a friend of a friend,” she said kindly. “Besides…” now giving Van a scholarly smile. “Who could resist coming to your aid when there is so much to learn from your predicament! If you don’t mind me saying so of course…”

“Not at all, I'm just happy to have another experienced individual give me their aid,” Van replied, for some reason feeling like he was talking to someone within the same Vein of Lore.

“Right then,” Alecto said, clapping her hands together. “Let's get started,” she said after the two finished talking.

She then looked towards Van. “Van, Pepper here says she has an idea to help gain access to your soul realm using runecraft. A very old method before the more common methods of today. Way back when people had difficulty accessing their soul realm, putting things in and out as it were. During those times, they would add a special rune that represented themselves to some of the items they owned. It was time-consuming, but they were able to manage to store a few prized possessions of theirs, and constant use allowed people to discover the more common form of just absorbing their things instead.”

“Of course, using the more common method of today damages the soul realm just a tiny bit… not by much, just a prickle, something that can be easily healed within a day, and go completely unnoticed. But your problem is, even if your soul realm is far stronger, for some reason, it doesn't seem to be able to handle the pressure or the small little pinpricks you give it. It could be that the sheer amount of stuff you put in a take-out is too much, or that your soul realm is still unstable, for numerous reasons. Maybe even both. With the attack of those trolls, exasperating the issue rather than actually causing it.”

“If you are willing… we wish to try a few tests on you, as well as have you try a few things using runecraft. We believe we can create something like an access portal. The old methods had people use a bag or backpack that connected to their soul realm, allowing them to store a lot more things inside than it would appear. The downside was that if someone stole it, and had access to someone who was a soul seer, it could turn bad… but we really don’t have a choice right now, as we need access to your soul realm to figure out how to complete the last stages of it’s healing. With your help… maybe with some inside help...” she said with a wink. “We may be able to fix you up better than new!”

“So… why don’t you ask your little friend, and see if we can’t get started!” Alecto said excitedly.

Pepper didn’t seem to know what Alecto was talking about, but she was all for moving things along. She already had gotten her notes out and was prepared to write everything of interest down.

Van didn’t like the knowing grin Alecto gave him, but he decided to roll with it anyway, not waiting to push this off any longer than necessary. He wanted access to his soul realm and he wanted it now. So with that, he closed his eyes and tried to connect with Ren to see what he had to say about this.

(“ya ya I heard them. And yes, I can help.”) Ren said. (“I have to admit though, I never have thought of using runecraft to help fix our problem. It was such an old way of doing things that it completely slipped my mind… anyway… Relay what I say to the other two, things are about to get… interesting…” )

And with that, Van started talking on behalf of Ren, discussing methods and debating on the nuances of which actions they should take. In the end, it was Van that gave the idea of using the magic circle they already had and converting it into an access point, using the focal core as a bridge.

(“that's… actually ingenious!”) Ren said, surprised by Van’s proposition. (“it would be a complete waste of a focal core… but it would not only allow you access to your soul realm effectively and safely but with far greater control and maybe even allowing you to do a number of other things…”) he mused.

(“all we need now… is a symbol of your authority… or a sign of ownership… something that represents you. Does anything come to mind?”) Ren asked, wondering what Van would come up with.

Van thought about it for a while, before realizing he always had a special symbol close to his heart. A black sun, wreathed in gold, on a black field. Though, perhaps, just a black sun to start with. When he said so to Ren, he chuckled.

(“Ha! What else should I have expected? In the end… you all… we all… are the same aren’t we?”) he then laughed some more, refusing to explain.

Van wanted to know but knew that Ren would never tell, so decided to ignore him and continue on with talking to Allecto and Pepper about what they should do next. Both of them were surprised, to say the least when he first proposed the idea, but when he told them he had something that could make it work, they decided to try it out and see what happens.

Once at the magic circle, Van, with the help of Ren guiding him, started to expand the runic craft that made up the circle. With the help of Alecto and Pepper, the circle slowly grew to almost double the size it was before. They also had to redo and change whole sections of the circle in some places, forcing them to spend hours making sure everything was perfect. Once done, the group took a step back to appreciate their work.

“I’m amazed…” Pepper said in awe… “this must be the closest thing to the mythical omni circle one could get…” She then turned to Van with wide eyes. “How in the world did you come up with this? Did someone teach you? If so, who? What made you think of using the rune for invocation instead of change? What does that rune mean? How-” and it went on for about another two dozen questions before Alecto was able to rein her friend in, much to Van’s relief since he himself did not know everything about what he just did.

“Let’s leave it at that, for now, Pepper, we are nowhere near done yet with our task after all,” Alecto said, taking one last look at the impressive magic circle with all its new bells and whistles and designs before turning back to Van. “Van why don’t you get in the center and start trying to access your soul realm like you would do if you were meditating. Once you're in, do what you have to connect your soul realm to this magic circle.”

Van nodded and walked over to the center of the circle. Taking one last look at the emblazoned black sun that was now added to it. Sitting down cross-legged, he closed his eyes and prepared to enter his soul realm for the first time in over a month. For every time he tried to enter his soul realm before, he was kicked out by Ren before he could even come close to getting in. Ren saying something along the lines that it wasn’t safe yet for him to do it.

So with some nervousness, Van started allowing himself to sink into himself, and this time Ren wasn’t there to prevent him from doing so. Slowly he fell and entered his soul realm, and what he saw… took his breath away…

The soul realm had completely changed, it was like instead of a little over two months being passed, it had been two years if not more. More to the point, the previous diameter of his soul realm was about three hundred miles around. Now it felt more like two hundred and fifty, but far more stable because of that.

A third of his soul realm was his island, plus whatever other islands his soul bonded had. Now though, they were all squished together into one giant island.

His castle town looked even more imposing. High walls and buildings with sharp edges and gothic architecture made from black material and glowing lines of energy, looking like it was built on a tall hill with several layers or rings of the city going down its slight slope. There were large lanterns with blue fire, or perhaps simply glowed blue, that hung over the city to help illuminate it, casting a strange light over everything.

Luna’s black tree with silver leaves looked like it grew into the city and now held a special position in the center of town, both within walls of the town and right outside his castle gates. It had also seemed to have spread out and run rampant, creating offshoots of itself throughout the city, giving it a splash of silver-white color here and there and runic symbols that glowed in and out as it followed the coiling path of the roots that now led everywhere.

Lyn’s forest also seemed to have grown out of control. Spreading out and taking up most of the green open area outside the walls. One giant tree with blue lightning leaves seemed to dominate the surrounding forest, so large it must have been more than two miles tall and changed the forest landscape, causing it to glow in and out with eerie blue light.

Anna’s place turned into some sort of temple, almost in dedication to his soul realm. It seemed to have taken a unique place, somewhere in between his walls and outside it, effectively extending the influence of the city outward by just a little and forcing a new set of walls to protect it. It was tall with many layers that shrunk as it grew higher making it look like a pyramid of sorts with domes and spires, and water that flowed from the top downward into canals that split the city in two, with aqueducts going into some buildings and out others, helping power water mills. It was oddly the brightest part of the city.

And then finally, was his castle. Everything the city was, the castle was more. With large towers and windows, grand domes, and prominent buttresses. It was elevated and loomed over everything else, like a titan, casting a shadow on the already dark landscape below it, no matter what angle you came at it, or time of day…

Van could only stare in awe… the thriving ecosystem, the magnificent architecture, the layout of the city that drew the eye. Everything seemed just so… alive…

“Pretty amazing, right?” Ren all of a sudden said next to Van, giving him a jump scare.

“It was a lot of work to get everything together, and while everything did shrink down a bit, sadly, it became more stable because of that. Not to mention stronger, but that doesn’t mean it’s still perfect.”

Van wanted to question that but sensed that Ren was right. Instead, he asked how all this came about. “How did this happen? Why did it happen this way? What does this mean for me?” he asked, wondering what effects this would all have on his soul realm.

“Well… first things first, I guess… due to the damages you received, I was forced to kick you out and speed up the soul realm’s time. Using this opportunity, I also worked to properly fuse the soul realms your soul bonded with so as to do the minimum damage, while at the same time using them to help fill in the cracks and stabilize your soul. It had the added bonus of also stabilizing theirs, and making all of you stronger for it. Though it did take a bit longer than expected...” he said with a shrug.

“Come on, let’s go to your throne room, you’ll see for yourself.” and with that, Ren led the way towards the castle. Going just slow enough for Van to watch the city below him and let it really sink in how different everything was.

But with everything he learned, he had to ask Ren a question. “Ren… What happens to those who have a soul realm, like some of the goblins and others, who reside in my own soul realm? Is that soul realm inception?”

“That’s an interesting question to ask…” Ren replied, thinking about it. “And I honestly don’t think I can properly answer that. Except to tell you don’t worry about it. Your soul realm is so big, it can handle the souls realms of others. More to the point, your soul realm is unique, and it can easily handle things like that compared to others. Finally, most people haven’t awakened their soul realms, so it’s mostly a none-issue. I’ll explain more if I have the chance, but for now… we're here…”

Van and Ren landed on the balcony that led into the throne room. Van was a bit annoyed at Ren for not answering but decided to save his ire for later. The two then walked into the even grander throne room. With arched columns and ornate designs that led to an imposing throne at the back.

As Van got closer, he noticed that there were a few levels or stairs that led up the throne. With a level below his throne having three sets of chairs, or co thrones, as it were. Each one was unique in design, one made with black branches and silver leaves, one with dark blue branches and electric blue leaves, and one that seemed to somehow be made with stone and water with strange designs.

But what was even stranger, was the angel that seemed to be standing next to the thrones and looking at a floating panel. Tapping away at it and opening and closing others as she went.

It took him a moment, but when he realized who it was, as he walked forward to get a better look, he couldn’t help but ask. “Kassandra? Is that you?”

The angel looked up from her panels, and upon seeing Van gave a warm smile.

“Why hello there Van! I guess you being here means that we are close to completing the last finishing touches on your soul realm. Just give me a few more minutes and I'll be done.”

Leaving Van still confused, but Ren was quick to answer.

“When you were badly damaged, I kicked you out to help heal the place faster. But I found out quickly that for all my skills, I still couldn’t do everything alone. So using a loophole, I used the angel guardian that was badly damaged from the soul seer, and fused Kassandra with it. Allowing her to not only repair the guardian but allow her access to some of the controls of your soul realm. This allowed me to have a helper, and with the two of us working together, we were able to heal the place up a bit faster, or at least, faster than how things were going...” Ren said.

Van wanted to complain about letting someone have access to his information and parts of his soul realm without his permission. And was about to say something to that effect when Ren beat him to the punch.

“And before you say anything! I already asked her to swear an oath of servitude, it was actually kinda mandatory for her to do so anyway if she wanted to help.” Ren said.

Van still wanted to say something, but before he could he was given a big hug by Kassandra, who used this opportunity to get close to the two. “Oh, it’s so good to see you! It’s been so long! Things got a little scary and lonely without you and the others. But now with you here, things could maybe go back to normal, along with everyone else!” she said joyfully.

Van was a little annoyed at being constantly interrupted, but he could feel the genuine joy that Kassandra was putting out, and decided to leave it be. Now, however, he had another question to ask, and was just about to ask it when Ren started to explain. Earning a glare from Van, since all these interruptions seemed now to be a little on purpose, and Ren’s knowing smirk didn’t help either.

“Since you’ve been gone… and the connection between the soul realm and reality damaged… things have taken a turn for… the bad… people, including the Anna's, what few that we're here other than her. Have all become very lethargic and slow. But now that you are here, it’s time to fix all that and get this ball rolling!” Ren said, happy that finally, all his hard work would pay out.

“Now if you would please. Take your place on your throne and choose a designated place for the access portal. It will cost you one focal point, and you would have to officially choose a symbol, which will become permanent once you set it in the system. After that… well… we're in business!” Ren said, with a smile.

It was only then that Van realized how haggard Ren was, and how many lines were under his eyes. He must have worked very hard these past two months to help with healing his soul realm. So with a sigh, he gave a hug back to Kassandra, said his thanks to the both of them and moved on towards the throne.

Van then sat down, and with it, came a great sense of power and control. He could feel almost everything in his soul realm. And upon seeing the multiple panels that popped up, he started reading through them, realizing that they were changes that Kassandra and Ren tried to make that required executive signing in order for them to pass. Reading through them as fast as he could, he signed off on them one after the other to bring all the changes that were waiting in queue to take effect.

After what felt like a few hours, he finally got started on figuring out where he could place the magic circle with the focal core. After some time thinking, he placed it on the other side of the town but close to the castle. Cordoned off with its own set of small walls and connected to the castle directly. And with another press of a button, everything started to move, and the soul realm felt like it finally started to set in motion.

Waves of energy were unleashed from the focal core, and soon a portal was opened. With ornate pillars and a giant magic circle surrounding it.

Ren nodded with some relief that his work was finally done, and began to wonder… if it was finally time for him to tell Van about his godling hood and everything that entailed...