“You’re not going to leave any [Fairy Rings] in the Flaming Chasm?” Tia wondered.

“Too risky. And it would be harder to protect them if I tried,” I explained.

“Protect them from the fire?” She asked.

“No. The [Fire Tulips] would do well if planted here. It isn’t the heat that I would need to protect them from; the Gods would be drawn to this area if I formed a [Fairy Ring]. The [Divine] energies of the Tuatha de Danann and [Fairy] would serve as a beacon, announcing to the realm at large what was done.”

“Why aren’t the [Fairy Rings] you’ve left in the [Forest of Nightmare Plants] attracting attention then? They should radiate the same type of energy. How were you able to hide whatever beacon they might be broadcasting?” Tia asked.

Her uncertainty was understandable. Technically, she was older than I was, if you didn’t count my memories from my first life. But I had a host of experiences as King and Spell Caster to draw upon. I had experience tracking down even the most esoteric of energy fluctuations, and I had learned techniques to hide them.

“The [Forest of Nightmare Plants] projects an aura that warns as well as shields the area. Anyone searching in that area would have to know the [Fairy Rings] existed even to have a chance,” I said.

“The Fey and the [Fairy Ring] have borrowed the forest’s aura to cloak and conceal where they are and what they are. There will be no ripple that can be traced, no beacon of disparate energy to serve as a warning. [Fairy] is elemental, primal, and resonates with the Laws of nature that the [Forest of Nightmare Plants] follows.

“The forest, as strange as it is, is part of nature. A Divine reflection of plants that harmonizes well with [Fairy]. It has accepted the [Fairy Rings] as part of itself. The roots from the flowers have burrowed into the soil that the single entity that each plant, bush, and tree have formed.”

“[Fairy] will act as a parasite, a heartworm that will slowly grow until it has consumed whatever it is that controls the forest,” Tia realized.

I found it funny that Tia compared the [Fairy] expansion to heartworms. I didn’t think Cait Sith had to worry about that type of parasite. Their healing ability shouldn’t allow the worms to gain purchase. But her people did interact with common feline species, enough that the Cait Sith would be aware that parasites existed and could overwhelm a host, killing it in the process.

“Even an entity as powerful as a God will find it impossible to distinguish between [Fairy] and the forest soon,” I agreed.

“Time isn’t really a concern in Asgard. It flows. Not even Odin can ignore such a fundamental truth of the Universe, but what [Fairy] and the Teigh-Fey are doing requires a delicate balance that is related to shaping what the forest is.”

“The Flaming Chasm doesn’t have the same kind of protection the forest can offer? There is no way to use the fire and heat from the zone to shield and protect [Fairy] as it acclimates?”

“There might be,” I admitted, “but I would have to experiment and test different configurations to find a solution.

“Fire is anathema to much of nature. It is needed at times. It is Nature’s way of clearing and renewing the land. It is the aftermath of a fire that revitalizes the land. Once it has been extinguished, only then can Nature renew the land and gives rise to a new cycle of plants and animals.”

“Your connection to Beleros won’t help you use fire to shield [Fairy]?” Tia wondered.

“I’m not sure. It might. But I think it is more likely that any area tied and shrouded using my blood’s connection to Beleros would serve as a signal. It might go unnoticed, but Loki has enough affinity with fire that he would almost certainly detect any tinkering I might do.”

“That might not be a bad thing,” Tia mused. “He’s as likely to help you as to fight against you. He would do almost anything to oust Odin and take on the mantel of the ruler of Asgard.”

She wasn’t wrong. Loki was part of the reason I was risking this mad gambit. His partnership with Athena, Coyote, and Set was one of the reasons he was so hard to understand.

His actions suggested altruism that one would never associate with him. Even if he acted to protect his fellow Gods in this instance, there was undoubtedly some self-serving influence in his decision to act. He would act, but he would also exploit and take advantage of the repercussions that reverberated across the multiverse from my actions.

Odin and Zeus would be weakened, and that weakening would bleed through. The newly reestablished Summerlands in this Universe would make sure of that. Loki would have his chance to usurp Odin, and he would take it. I was confident of that.

It was part of his nature, the part that he allowed others to understand. Even if he hadn’t been bound by [Oath] to overthrow Odin and take the throne of Asgard, he would have made an attempt.

His knowledge of what I was attempting would give him the slightest edge when the repercussions of stealing Odin’s eye were felt. He would have prepared, moved people into position to hold off any who would defend the throne until it was too late, and he had claimed the [Divine Mantle] as Asgardian’s King and forced Odin into Odin-sleep.

“And honestly, I’m not trying to take over Asgard. The forest will give the Tuatha de Danann a foothold when they wake. That is enough. I think they will be able to siphon some of the energies from this realm into their own.

“It has been long since the deep thrumming of the [Wild Magic] have been summoned. The Tuatha de Danann have been in [Sleep] for so long that the ties that bind [Fairy] and the [Wild Magic] are fraying,” I explained.

“If Danu can use the energies siphoned from this realm to repair those connections, all the better. Let the Tuatha de Danann empower a [Revel] with the energies from Asgard.”

“What would happen if the connection broke,” Tia asked, her worry easy to read. The balance between [Fairy] and [Wild Magic] made [Cait Sith] possible. Without the confluence between the tamed and untamed energies, the ability to open the pocket dimensions that formed Underhill, [Cait Sith], and Sithern pocket dimensions might be in jeopardy.

“I don’t think a complete break is possible,” I answered, trying to assuage her concerns. “[Fairy] and [Wild Magic] have existed in balance since the inception of the Tuatha de Danann.

“That balance might be fractured, the [Wild Magic] injecting [Fairy] with more elemental uncertainty, or [Fairy] adding structure and conformity to the [Wild Magic], but a complete break would require a fundamental change to Universal Concepts and Laws.”

“And if there is an imbalance?”

“I believe that has already happened,” I responded honestly.

“This world should never have lost the connection to the Summerlands. The Demi-Fey and [Fairy] faded because of that imbalance. That the Sidhe could forget the [Rituals] to bless the fields and make the crops grow. The [Revels] that connect the people with the Tuatha de Danann could only have happened because of that imbalance.”

“Will the changes you made hold? We will have to return at some point?” Tia wondered.

“I will do everything possible to repair the weakening connections before leaving. But not all of us will be returning, Tia.

“You are Queen of Cait Sith. [Cait Sith] was modeled on your personality. You are Cait Sith, and [Cait Sith] to abandon your responsibilities, to divest yourself of the ties between you and [Cait Sith] would be abhorrent.

“I believe the [Oracle] knew who and what you would become and that I would recognize your importance in the weft and weave of this Universe. [Paradox] must be defeated, and [Cait Sith] here and now is too new, too freshly established to fulfill its function without you here to lead.”

“What of Caraid and Ag?”

“Time will tell,” I answered uncertainly.

“I believe Ag will return with me, but if she finds a function as vital as yours or decides she would stay, I won’t enforce my will or override that decision.

“I hope Caraid can remain. He has sacrificed much, and only in this Universe can he claim a Sidhe body and raise a child of his bloodline.

“But Caraid is a Huntsman. Beholden to Gwyn ap Nudd. What I hope and what Gwyn ap Nudd will allow may well conflict.”

“Do you want to return?” Tia asked the question that I had ignored since I’d restored the [World Tree] to Urt.

“I have duties and responsibilities that demand I return,” I answered, ignoring the real question.

What did I want?