Theoretically, there is little that is actually troublesome about the enablement of sorcery within a person. Whereas neither myself nor Anassa existed during the time of the late Paramethus, of Spirit, and even though most of his knowledge only survived in oral tradition so we can only draw upon conjecture and what Divines wish to tell us. Yet it is simple enough to work out that the man could tap into the same spark within humanity that when in the mass subconscious manifests into Divinity and draws it out of a single being. In this fashion, all aspects of Divinity, whether it be strength or life or magic manifest within being to make the classical "Hero".

One interesting thing to note, which I learned from a conversation with God Arascus, of Pride, is that not a single of the souls chosen by Paramethus died or where even hurt during the process of becoming "heroic". Most described it as a pleasurable feeling, although apparently the ritual to create just one "Hero" could last for upwards of twelve hours during which Paramethus had to keep in physical contact with the human.

From these pieces of knowledge, I can cast a learned assumption upon Anassa. What the Goddess of Sorcery does must be something similar, yet whereas Paramethus would most likely guide or support one to awaken, Anassa simply sets souls onto the first step of the path. A moment's touch and a man collapses and is, to put it in the way sorcerers themselves describe it, left to the wolves. Whether one finds their way to whatever they need to find, and then comes back out relies entirely on one's own abilities.

Still though, I am pestered by the answer. Anassa is unique but that is the issue. Maybe she was not the first 'Of Sorcery' but she is so tremendously powerful there would no doubt exist a record of her somewhere in history or in the memories of fellow Divines. The place she found within herself is something I have to question.

Where and what is it?

- Excerpt from "The World Immaterial, an analysis of Sorcery and Magic." Written by Goddess Elassa, of Magic.

Arascus had no damn clue what he expected. Certainly a great many deal of things. He would have accepted Baalka's conscious being one filled with disease, he would have expected the ideal desert devoid of life as some subconscious dream of hers, he would have accepted paradise. He even would have been fine with sewers underneath the most filthy and oppressive medieval megalopolis he had ever seen. But he had not expected this.

He was in a room. A wooden one. There was no door nor any windows but it was perfectly sized for Divines. There were two fireplaces. Then three. Then one. There were carpets of thick fur and then there were planks of patterned woods. There was a table. There were two tables. It was stout wood. Healthy wood too. Not diseased whatsoever. Was this actually Baalka's mind? A chair flickered into existence by that wooden. An old man appeared on it. A Divine. Aged and in a grey robe. Then another. Five chairs. Four men. One women. The empty room stopped shifting and settled into being a sparse, undecorated copy of the inside of a wooden box.

It would be arrogance to claim that Arascus knew each and every little thing about his daughters. But there were times when humility cast such a veil of darkness it made men lose even the sights of their thoughts. He didn't have to know Baalka perfectly to know that she didn't have Divines within her mind.

Where had Anassa sent him?

One of the men turned to Arascus and looked at him. Aged was correct, haggard would not be. They weren't husks of humans but rather weathered oaks that stood grand over the rest of the trees. With brights eyes that could not hide the wisdom within them no matter how much they tried and with bodies that were muscled yet tired. Four men, one woman, she was just as old as the rest. All of them sat in long garbs of grey and white. Should he introduce himself? Arascus didn't exactly know how to answer that question. But then wherever Anassa had sent him to, he was a guest. And it was usually guests who spoke first. "I am Arascus, God of Pride." Arascus declared. Should he add more? None of them looked impressed. But then did he want to impress them? Anassa had said not to take anything with him. He made a mental note to reject accepting even something as small as a cup of water.

The first man responded. His hair had once been gold, it still had that trace within it, but it had been weathered down to the shade of pale straw. "Adam."

So did the second fellow. Dark haired and with a beard over wrinkly skin that could have passed for leather. "Joshua."

The tallest amongst them answered. A man with dark hair and a great beard. His clothes were unique, they were lined with red and the buttons were very obviously gold. "Solomon."

Next to him was the last man. Not as tall but heavily muscled. Another beard but of brown this time, more aged skin, more eyes that were dreadfully aware of everything around them. "John."

And then the woman. Her hair brown, her eyes blue, her skin pulled tight across her face. Her fingers could have been nothing but bone and her cheeks were hollow, but all that damage of age did nothing to break her perfect, straight-backed posture. And it certainly did nothing to hide Arascus from those blue eyes. The God of Pride felt as if she could see right through him. "Mary."

Arascus stood there for a moment. Adam spoke up. "He can see us."

John replied. "Aye, he is not a man."

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Adam leaned back and made a show of pulling out of the conversation. Solomon leaned in. "It is a Godling." Arascus stood there, not very certain of what to say whatsoever. He wanted to ask what that term of 'Godling' meant, but what could he do exactly? Just ask? Would he answer such as an obvious attempt at information extraction? The answer was no. Why would it be any different for them. "What now?"

"What is happening?" Arascus asked. Frankly, he wouldn't care if it was the worst lie imaginable or if it was the honest truth. He would not believe it either way.

"That is the question, is it not?" Adam was very obviously replying to Solomon and not to Arascus. "What does happen now?"

"Follow things as they should be followed." Joshua suggested, spreading his arms out across the table. "There are procedures. He is not the first. He can join us for a talk."

"I can hear your words already." Arascus said, he was promptly ignored. Were they not listening to him? Or was it that they simply did not care?

"You suggest we let him sit?" Solomon asked?

"There is no immediate harm in it." Joshua said.

"I am for a talk." Mary suggested and Arascus realised he needed to force himself into their attention else they would never talk to him.

"I am not." He declared. That did not get any attention from them.

Mary looked at him. Those blue eyes felt as if they were staring through his soul and down into the centre of his body. "Truth." She said and returned to looking at the people on the table. And that meant what exactly?

"There is no harm in it." Joshua agreed with Mary.

"Then he sits and he talks." Solomon declared like some ancient ruler. His beard swayed with him as he leaned back and crossed his arms. A chair appeared by Mary's side. Arascus needed to hurry this up.

"I have no time to talk." Arascus said. "How do I leave this place?"

Joshua sighed as if needing to explain some self-evident concept. "You are incapable of leaving. We are the gatekeepers here, not you."

Threats of direct violence were always weaker than simple questions. And Arascus did not know who or what these people were, being too aggressive would be a mistake yet weakness relied on pity and none of these elders looked like they were too prone to pity. "And who are to decide that?" Arascus was just about to call upon his Divine Armoury and draw a sword from thin air when Solomon called him out on the threat.

"Do you think you terrify us?" The tall man replied, his beard moving from side to side with each word said. "Do you think your kind has not been bound before?" They definitely were not Divines then if they called Arascus 'your kind'. Did everyone Anassa send into their soul go through this room? But why did only humans go through?

"Then the feeling is mutual." Arascus said. Mary once patted the chair by her side, indicating for him to sit. The God of Pride kept standing.

"I don't have time."

"And we have eternity." Adam replied.

"Then we have a problem." Arascus said.

"Lie." Mary said. What was the lie? Arascus needed to get through. If these old demons did not want to help him, then he would help himself. His eyes started to run through

"It seems the problem is yours." Solomon said. Joshua pulled out a piece of paper from his coat and put it on the table.

"Why do you wish to travel to another?" Adam spoke up. The others fell silent for a moment. What was this interrogation?

"Why do you ask?" Arascus said.

"Why is anything said?" Adam replied harshly. "Now answer the original question. Why travel to another? Is your own mind not good enough?"

"Can I not?" Arascus asked.

Solomon joined into the conversation. "The King's Pact forbids it." And Arascus just stood there. What King? What Pact? What were they talking about?

"What is that?"

"It is the curse cast upon beings that think they can outgrow their world. Certain realms are not to be explored Arascus. Certain realms are not to be explored." For once, Arascus was taken aback. This was out of his area of expertise to such a level that he could not even pretend to understand what they were talking about. Anassa better have answers. Anassa or Elassa. Him questioning these people would be like Kassandora questioning matters of Love.

But as stunned as he was, Arascus had come here with a purpose and that purpose did not include questioning whatever these beings were. This tactic obviously would not work, they had higher ups and he had nothing to threaten them with. So pity it would need to be then. "I have a daughter."

"Truth." Mary affirmed immediately.

"Your kind is neutered by conception." Joshua said. "How have you produced flesh and blood?"

"Not of my blood but daughter nonetheless."

"Impossible." Adam declared, he spoke to the other elders on the table again, not to Arascus. "They are incapable of family."

Mary stepped in, those oceans for eyes never left Arascus, but she shook her head at Adam's words. "Incapable it may be yet he speaks the truth none the less." That shut the rest of them up. There was a whole host of reactions, Adam gawked at Mary's words. Joshua looked at Arascus with fresh respect over his face. John had the eyes of a man who had just seen his world turn upside down. Solomon crossed his arms and leaned back, his smile satisfied.

"Impressive." He said. "Truly little Godling, truly impressive. You have my congratulations on doing something we all thought impossible." As much as Arascus wanted to stay and inquire about these people and what they knew or wanted, he needed to get to Baalka too.

"What you wish to tell me, then tell me, else send me to her." When Arascus saw the considering gazes, he thought he had won. When he heard Solomon's reply, he felt the walls close around him.

"Bring out the King's Pact." The walls of the room disappeared with the snap of Solomon's fingers, so did the ceiling. Arascus was left alone on a platform of wood as in an ocean of darkness. He turned instinctively, as he would turn anywhere to inspect the land around him. And he saw a stone monolith. It stretched on infinitely high. It was filled with runes and lines, with letters Arascus did not recognise and letters he did, although that revealed little. What he could translate was simply a list of names. Of those, he recognised only the last three. A fellow God Arascus had once considered a brother, Paramethus. Then Aggriyana, the human woman who had ascended to become Anassa. Why had she never talked about this? And then, at the bottom, was an even more surprising name: Allasaria.

"What is this?"

"Just your name will do. Don't bother with the titles your people love so much." Solomon's voice echoed through the darkness. Arascus felt his hands wrap around something by themselves. He looked down to see a chisel and a hammer, both fashioned out of some pure-white rock.

"WHAT IS THIS?" He roared again.

"A contract that should you ever step out of line again, your warning will be a horse-hair and nothing else. We will do you the mercy of sending you to your destination once you agree. If not, you can be sent away to wander the realms of your own creation."

"What is stepping out of line?"

"Do not try to leave your world again. That is stepping out of line."

As much as he wanted to stay and talk and find out as much as possible, time was of the essence. Arascus looked down at the tools in his hands. He put chisel to stone. He started hammering.

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