Chapter 1433 (Patreon)

“Welcome, my friend,” Lady Hecate’s harmonic voice greeted me after I stepped into her realm. Amusement was thick in each of the three aspects that made up her voice, but something else was there, too. Something different for each of them. Glee and enthusiasm in the Maiden’s, exasperated fondness for the Crone’s, and strange curiosity in the Mother’s tone. 

“You are getting better at that,” The Mother complimented me, speaking without the other two aspects. “If we have time later, I would like to hear your thoughts and experiences; it can count as your payment for the lesson you will receive today.” 

“Not that it’s really a lesson for you. Well, it’s one you will be taught, but it won’t really benefit you, so do you owe us for it? Or do we owe you, because the lesson will ultimately benefit our dear Luna, our Chosen on the world of Terra?” the Maiden asked.

“Sometimes, Morgana, I envy you,” the Crone sighed, her tone exhausted. “Or rather, I envy the Mother you could, would, may be?” she tried to find the right word before shrugging. “Well, I envy that you aren’t constantly stuck with your other two aspects. You wouldn’t believe how exhausting it can be to always have that much childish glee and enthusiasm around. Sometimes, you just want to lie down and not think. Relax, let the world pass by and watch the clouds, or something like that.”

“Hey!” The Maiden complained, and now it was the Mother’s turn to sigh, chiding the other two aspects for their lack of decorum. I couldn’t help but giggle softly at their behaviour, wondering how Anise, or any of the various devotees of Lady Hecate, would react to this. To see their Goddess acting like a, well, like a human, or at least like a mortal.

To hide my giggles, I quickly took a sip of the tea Lady Hecate had prepared, marvelling at the complex scents filling my nose and the explosion of impossible flavours on my tongue. The tea was, as one would expect, quite literally out of this world; it was simply divine. It not only tasted exquisite, but it also gave me a sense of synaesthesia, making me taste colours, see fragrances and hear the magic surrounding us. 

I couldn’t help but feel a momentary flash of grief, knowing that it might be a unique experience. Or at the very least a rare one, but maybe that was for the best. I wasn’t sure I would want to have such a transcendent experience on the regular; it might dull the rest of the world, making me effectively addicted to this. The idea sent a very different emotion through me, and I closed my eyes, partly to enjoy the tea, partly so Lady Hecate wouldn’t see the panic in my gaze. 

Slowly, I let my breath flow out, searching for my mental and emotional centre to regain my equilibrium. Even if it was only Tea, it was the Tea a Goddess seemed to enjoy, and I was, at the end of the day, only mortal, so it took me a few moments to catch myself. 

“Thank you for the exquisite tea,” I complimented Lady Hecate, noticing that the Crone’s gaze was measuring, maybe a little judging, while Mother and Maiden had been arguing back and forth. Now their focus was back on me, and I thought I felt their approval, maybe even a little pride radiating from them. Or it might just be a figment of my tea-boosted imagination; I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Well, let us get back to the talk we were supposed to have,” Lady Hecate suggested, all three voices speaking together again. “The plan was to give you a lesson on the spellwork I prepared to let people travel from Anchor to Anchor. Or, in emergencies, directly to an anchor, but that will require a bit of extra power.”

“Indeed. I want to make sure my daughter is safe.” I paused for a moment, thinking of the various, rather dangerous situations my daughters had been in, largely because I wanted to travel and explore. “Well, I want them to be as safe as possible.”

“Good save there,” the Maiden giggled softly. “Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of teleportation, without having to travel through the literal plane of Darkness. Cause, you know, not everyone feels that ‘getting lost in the endless, ever-changing shadows’ is a risk you want to take just for a trip to the grocer.” 

“As if we would grant that miracle to make trips to the grocer,” the Crone grumbled immediately, her voice not terribly loud, but still very audible.

With that, a whiteboard, looking a little out of place in the otherwise empty desert of Lady Hecate’s realm, appeared, and the lesson was on.

It was a good thing that the passage of time within Lady Hecate’s realm was under the deity’s control. Otherwise, I would have been sitting in the shrine for a few days, motionless, likely with a few biological issues, or in a mess. First, I listened for days as Lady Hecate lectured me on the intricacies of her teleportation method and how it linked to the Anchors she had me prepare. Then, the Mother wanted to investigate my recent experiences with the Divine, especially my ability to knock on the doors of her realm. Apparently, I shouldn't be able to do that, so she wanted to know more. And when I invoked the Pale Lady within her Shrine- another thing I had done a while back- that caught her attention. Alongside a few other instances of magical, or maybe miraculous, weirdness around me, all of which she wanted ot hear about in detail. Exhausting, intricate detail. 

But then, I had no doubt that Lady Hecate’s lesson on spatial and inter-dimensional magic would benefit me greatly in the long run, so I couldn’t complain too much. Or, really, I couldn’t complain at all, as I had learned a lot from possibly the greatest spellcaster in existence, who had taken her time to teach me. Sure, I liked to figure things out myself, but her advice, especially a few somewhat casual comments Lady Hecate made ‘accidentally’ about the effects of certain materials for a few magical applications, would benefit me greatly. Those comments, while ostensibly about the anchors and why she didn’t use those materials, applied just as well to my work on the Soul Prisons, and they made me realise where one of my major issues came from. Sure, that could be a coincidence, but given that Lady Hecate knew far more about magic than I did, or likely anyone, I didn’t think so. 

“Only a short consultation?” Lia’s voice pulled me from my musings, and I blinked as I looked around. 

“I visited Lady Hecate’s realm,” I reminded her. “If she wants an hour there to be a minute here, well, that’s her prerogative. Let’s just say, I received a thorough lesson and was assured that Luna is allowed to teleport around casually. At least for now, I have a feeling that Lady Hecate will be rather stingy with those teleports, and I can understand why.”

“Oh?” Lia asked, likely noticing the faint grin on my face. “Care to share?” 

“You know how we step into the shadows and abuse their shifting, chaotic nature? That the shadows are basically everywhere, and that they are all connected?” I asked, and she nodded in reply. 

“Well, there are some risks with that, as I’ve told you before, so Lady Hecate doesn’t want her followers to traipse through them willy-nilly. At least that’s the impression I got from her; there might be more to it, who knows?” I shrugged, wondering how deeply the Gods could penetrate the shadows, and how easily. After all, the Shadows were part of Darkness, the element of, amongst other things, concealment. If people were using them to travel, maybe the Gods couldn’t track them. Or it might take more effort to track them, depending on the deity in question. I certainly didn’t think that Sunna could casually peek into the shadows, not without causing a major disturbance, simply because Sunna’s nature was fundamentally linked to the Sun. In some ways, she embodied it, and having the embodiment of the Sun pierce the Realm of Shadows seemed like a great way to disrupt it.

Shaking my head, I focused back on Lia. “Now, given that the Shadows are out, where do you think Lady Hecate directs traffic through?” I paused for a moment, my grin widening. “I’ll give you a hint: I’ve just visited there.” 

“Why don’t we go up, and I’ll give the two of you your assignments?” I suggested, watching Lia shake off the disbelief that followed. “We take the shadows, but use the Anchor down here as focus. That way, you can work to use the Anchor as guidance, not as your destination. Like a lighthouse, you don’t want to hit the lighthouse; you want to use it to know where you are going.”