Transcendence?

***Norfolk, Sarn***

***Ascathon***

“So? Everyone ready to be introduced to the upper pantheon of gods?” Lidith grins while she looks over Celestial, Jazira and me.

Jazira is the only one who seems to be excited about the whole event. She is actually clapping her hands while hopping up and down.

“The reaction is much weaker than I expected.” Lidith sighs and pulls a grimace.

“What do you expect? I am managing a country. It was very hard to create enough free time to visit this party of yours. Are you sure that it's really necessary to stay for the whole duration of one week?” Celestial grumbles.

I nod. “I have some very important experiments on my schedule. To be honest, I am not that eager either.”

“Jeez. You guys are boring. Don't you know there are other things in life besides work?” Jazira points up to the sky. “Come on Lidith! Show us the way! Let's go!”

“Alright, alright. Everyone, hold onto me. I'll take you there. Just remember the pathway I use, so that you can go back on your own if the need arises.” Lidith signals for us to come closer and we form a circle around her.

I press my lips together and hold onto Lidith's shoulder. As soon as everyone is ready she pulls us onto a pathway and the world around us disappears. I am still not used to the pathways. They defy my understanding of reality.

But I have no time to ponder over the strange behaviour of this phenomenon. The world around us reforms almost instantly and we are standing on a big plaza with hundreds of people. There is a single huge pyramidal building in front of us.

Most of the people are headed for the entrance to the pyramid. When I take a look around I immediately realize that there is no horizon in this world! Instead the ground curves upwards as it increases in the distance.

Where I would expect the sky, I find oceans and continents instead! A single star is lighting the sky. “Holy shit! A Dyson Sphere!” The words escape my mouth.

“Ha! I knew that you would be surprised, that's why I didn't warn you. The host of this party is Sous. He invited us into his home. Sous is a very lazy character.” Lidith explains happily.

“How many people are living in this place? Isn't a Dyson Sphere big enough to take in thousands or millions of worlds?” Celestial gasps.

I shake my head. “You may be right for the theoretical construct, but this one has to be a miniature version. And I think that the light in the sky isn't a real star either. If this were a real Dyson Sphere, we wouldn't be able to see the continents on the other side. It's still huge nonetheless.”

Lidith snorts. “You take the fun away from it. It's just big enough for a few hundred worlds. The star is an artificial construct. And for your question. Sous lives and works alone. He doesn't like mortals or anyone else.”

My gaze wanders to Lidith. “He built his own Dyson Sphere for himself? Just how powerful is this guy?”

Lidith smirks. “He is a little more powerful than the average god, but he isn't in a whole other dimension. His home may be impressive, but he accomplished it by investing a huge amount of time and resources. And he employed other gods too. It's not like he did everything on his own.”

“You can employ other gods?” Jazira looks at Lidith with newly sparked interest.

“Of course. I already mentioned that you can trade valuables with other gods. Who says that you can't buy their working force? Many gods don't have much else to offer. Not everyone is a talented artificer or a great artist.” Lidith walks off and heads for the pyramid.

The three of us follow her and we row up with the other gods. It's a very boring display. Even the gods didn't get rid of bureaucracy.

When we finally reach the reception, Lidith places both hands at the edge of the receptionists writing table and smiles at the goddess who notes down the guests. Her childlike body is a hindrance in some aspects.

The goddess who is playing the receptionist takes a bored look at Lidith. She looks human, but her hair is shining and changing its colour like a rainbow. “Name?”

“Lidith the Red!”

The receptionist types the name into a computer terminal and takes a closer look at Lidith. “I thought you were bigger. The stories don't give a proper impression of you.”

“Why 'the Red'?” Celestial looks confused at Lidith, who starts to smile and waves her hand. “Forget it, just old stories. A stupid nickname which stuck to me.”

“Next!” The receptionist looks annoyed at us.

“Ah, I forgot! These three are new. They need an ID!” Lidith gestures at us.

“All three of them!?” The receptionist gasps.

We all nod and the receptionist waves us behind the counter into a small room. “You need your divinities checked and then my colleague will give you a proper analysis of your potential.”

I grumble. “That sounds time consuming and boring. Why do we need an ID in the first place? I thought there are no big political groups within the ranks of gods?”

“There are still some groups which concentrate on trade and prefer to talk to someone with an identification.” She turns to the table with the couch within the room. An elderly guy with wrinkles and grey hair is lying on the couch. He is snoring and has his eyes closed.

The receptionist shakes him. “Wake up! We need three IDs.”

The guy yawns and sits up. Then he focuses on us. “So much work! I thought I had signed up for the best job ever! How can there be three new gods at once!?”

Receptionist scowls and leaves the room. “Do your work, or we switch places.”

The old fart looks at us and waves his hand. Three stacks of paper pops up out of nowhere and he throws them at us. “Fill out the forms.”

I take a seat at the table and pick one of the pens which are lying on it. Then I start to answer the questions as fast as possible. Every new page of questions makes me increasingly annoyed. This feels like some kind of psychological test!

It takes us an hour to complete the forms. Afterwards the old guy takes his time with ticking off a list of his own while reading our papers.

“What's this for anyway?” Celestial starts to play with one of the pens.

Lidith coughs and starts her explanation. “It's a psychological test to identify your divinities. You already found out that your powers as a god have something to do with the state of your mind. Knowing your divinities helps you to increase your powers. Mine are peacefulness and madness for example. Most gods have two, but there are also cases with one or more. And they can change over time with the state of your mind. So don't take them to be set in stone.”

Jazira's expression becomes worried. “Madness? You never seemed like someone troublesome to me.”

“That's important information! Couldn't you have told us sooner?” Celestial snaps.

I nod with vigour. “That's very important. How could you forget about something like that.”

Lidith starts to scratch the back of her head and laughs insincerely. “You don't have to worry. My madness status isn't a hindrance to my interactions with other people. And I am sorry for not telling. It has been a long time since they took my profile. ~I kinda forgot, Tehehehe.~”

“I am done.” The old fart smiles at us with a troubled expression. “How about starting with the least troublesome person? Jazira?”

“~Yes!~” Jazira steps forward.

He hands a small card to the Immortal Empress. “Jazira the Eternal. Your divinities are a wish to control others and a very strong desire for safety. There is also a small potential to become a megalomaniac.”

“Th... that can't be! I desire peace over anything else!” Jazira stares at the card.

The old fart shrugs his shoulders. “That may be so, but I am good at my job. To create peace is just a pretence for you to exert your power over others. Creating a peaceful world assists your unconscious wish for safety. Probably some bad things happened to you in the past and now you prefer to hit others before they can do something to you.”

Jazira drops to the ground with a dead expression on her face. I swear that I could almost see her soul leave her body. The old fart is a dangerous one! He defeated Jazira with words alone!

“Now Celestial the Wilful.” He hands another card to my wife. “You are an -S- and a nymph! You have all the right characteristics for a dominatrix! Furthermore your sense for family is very...”

*swish*

A few pearls of sweat form on the old farts forehead. Celestial's pen passed right next to his ear and impacted the wall. I can feel a deadly killing intent right next to me.

Celestial reaches for the stack of paper in his hand and starts to rip it thoroughly. “~I think we all can live a happier life if we forget about this!~”

He nods and turns towards me with a third card. I glare at the old fart and he gulps. “Ascathon the Bright One!”

Now that doesn't sound so bad at least.

Then he starts to speak fast. “You are a very big -S-! On top you have great potential as a -M-! There is also a female side of yours which you are trying to deny with all your might. This gives you superior skills with the other gender, because you can actually imagine things from their point of v...”

…

I blink. The strange card is in my hand. “Ascathon the Bright One. That doesn't sound too bad.” Then my eyes wander to the old fart. He has his right arm bent the wrong way and his face looks beaten up. His nose is crooked and his upper lip is swollen. The left eye is rapidly changing colour to an unhealthy red.

There is a dent with the shape of the old fart's face in the wall right behind him.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Noth... Nothing! It w... was a pl... easure. Goodbye!”

I look around and find the three girls huddling in a corner of the room. “What's wrong? What are you doing there?”

Celestial takes a deep breath and gets up. Five big steps take her to my side and she grabs my hand to pull me up.

“~Nothing happened honey bear! Let's go and have some fun at the party!~”

“It's still strange. I think I had something like a blackout...” I don't remember that the old fart gave me the card. And what happened to him?

“~Aahaha! No need to worry.~” She gives me a kiss and smiles. “We'll simply forget what happened in this room.”

“But.”

“~I love you. Nothing else counts.~”

“But.”

“~Not. Important!~”

She pulls me out of the room while I look back at the old fart who waves at us with a relieved expression.

.