The Court of Souls?

“Dualism (from the Latin word duo meaning "two") denotes the state of two parts. The term dualism was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been more generalized in other usages to indicate a system which contains two essential parts.

Moral dualism is the belief of the great complement or conflict between the benevolent and the malevolent. It simply implies that there are two moral opposites at work, independent of any interpretation of what might be "moral" and independent of how these may be represented. The moral opposites might, for example, exist in a world view which has one god, more than one god, or none.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Clan: Carissimi***

***Elona, 9 years old***

I watch the endless dunes with the sun high in the sky. It is in the middle of the day, so there is nobody outside.

Grandma relocated her entire household to ours in Yggdrasil. Apparently the wide halls were hers all along. She is just allowing Mom and Dad to live here and while we are travelling she gave up her self-imposed isolation.

The whole clan packed up and moved into Yggdrasil, abandoning the nice city which developed around the tree. Maybe we will return one day, but Doreen made it very clear that our way of life isn't about staying in one place. We go where we have to go in order to survive.

The houses and sheds which are dug into Yggdrasil's bark form a cylindrical, vertical city. Though the ones which were built in the treetop hold most of the population. It's strange to live inside a city which is connected by suspension bridges.

During the day Yggdrasil doesn't move and rests. It's only at night that the huge roots suddenly start snaking their way across the ground, sliding the entire tree forward without so much as a swaying.

According to Doreen we cover a good distance with about eighty miles per hour during the nights.

My flashbacks also increased in frequency. I remember some names and skills, basic knowledge, but no identity. Compared to my little sister that's a huge disadvantage and lowers my status. Quianna started talking right away when her body allowed for it. She remembers her complete previous life. Apparently she was a Siren and got quite old until she was done in by a sea-god whom she had a quarrel with.

What's up with this household? We have a fury, a succubus and now a siren. I bet if Mom gets a third child it will be a banshee! I refuse to call myself a succubus until I know for sure what I am.

At least now I've Doreen all day for myself to ask questions. I turn away and head back to the study where the whole family is normally wasting time to deal with the hot days. As expected I find them there, busily doing nothing. Quianna is reading a book while sitting on the ground. A baby reading a book is a strange sight. The others busy themselves in a similar manner.

It may look like we are lazy, but doing something in this heat is a waste of water. It's only in the nights, when Yggdrasil lights up like a Christmas tree, that everyone hurries to work.

A Christmas tree... I wonder where I got that one from. I head for Doreen and sit down cross-legged in front of her. “Doreen, what are pathways?”

Doreen's book slips out of her hand and then she looks at me with a strange expression. The book is completely forgotten. “Where did you hear that expression?”

“I had another flashback. There I used a pathway to get from one place to another. It was in a crystal city and I had horns and a tail. I think I chased some children whom I thought of as uneducated brats.” I recall the dream I had tonight.

“The multiverse has what gods call pathways. They are streams of energy which connect the entire multiverse. Gods can use those streams to travel instantly from one point to another. They can turn to pure energy and hijack those energy highways and slip along them. Maybe we weren't so wrong when we thought that you might be a god. You also remembered about the sea of souls when you had your ritual.” Doreen licks over her lips and looks at me as if I am a precious acquirement.

I blink. “Okay. Then I am not a god. I can't see any pathways here. In my memory the world was full of them and my other self somehow knew where each and every one of them led.”

“Dedessia has no pathways,” Grandma answers matter-of-factly.

“No pathways? Then what's the point of being a god!?” I shout out.

Doreen shakes her head. “For that you have to know what separates a higher immortal, a god, or a mythical beast, from everyone else...”

She tilts her head in thought and is silent for a few more moments. “A higher immortal found his inner centre and gained full access to his mana resources. Call it a spark of inspiration. It is a state of the mind which grants immense power. It also enables you to use the pathways. Though I already said that Dedessia has none. That's why we can't escape this place so easily. In the multiverse you could simply use the pathways to skip from one reality to the next.”

“Here nothing like that is possible. We can teleport and have access to our powers, but we can't simply step out of this reality to flee to another one. The multiverse also has places which seem to be devoid of pathways, but they are actually not. The pathways are just very weak there. Dedessia simply has none. It's just one big ocean of diffused energy without the natural streams of the multiverse.”

Quianna looks up from her book and tries to reassure me. “You shouldn't wreck your brain too much over it, Sis. Maybe Dedessia is simply outside the multiverse? We have to accept that there are different rules in this place. Everything will be solved in the end.” I know that she is trying to be nice, but somehow it doesn't comfort me.

“It's just that I feel like I am missing a part of myself,” I answer.

Grandma grants me knowing smile. “You are missing a part of yourself. Don't you remember that I told you that you share a strong soulbond with another soul? You will never be complete until you find that other soul. I've never heard of gods sharing a soulbond, but you obviously do. Actually I wonder if you couldn't be one of those rare dual deities.”

Now it is Chloe's turn to listen up and stop her own studies. “I've never heard of a dual deity.”

“Normally gods are bound to be individualists. It's in the nature of their ascension. You don't get good enough at your talents to find your inner centre if you aren't highly independent of what others might think of you. Every god has a different source of power. One might gain his power from being worshipped, or from pursuing revenge like me.

But I know of some cases where two gods aren't complete without their counterpart. They are Ying and Yang, chaos and order, good and evil, body and mind, darkness and light. Alone they are nothing, but together they are a force of nature.”

“Hahahahaha!” Quianna starts laughing like mad, almost choking between breaths. “Does that mean that big Sis will get an asshole as a lover? She is so nice, if I switch all her remarkable points to their negative...”

I start gnawing on my fingernail. “That can't be. I would never want to be with an asshole!”

Doreen sighs. “That's not what I meant. Duality isn't about being a beast and a beauty. The two complement each other. You can't be without. Don't worry, I am sure that everything will fall into place at one point or the other.”

Never one, without the other.

A scene of me holding a man's hand flashes through my mind. “Then how should I find this other soul? What guarantee do I have that it is even somewhere nearby if this world is so vast?” I ask agitated.

Doreen shakes her head. “Your soulbond is your guarantee. Even if you don't know it, your decisions will cause you to cross paths at one point or the other. It's fate.”

I don't believe in fate.

Chloe stands up and claps her hands. “Alright, children! Playtime is over. There is much too much heavy air in here. Why don't we all go out to the balcony and teach Elona how to use her wings?”

She walks over and grabs my arm. “I know that you refuse being called a succubus, but you have all the required skills and features. As a mother I can't stand having winged offspring who can't fly.”

She pulls me towards the door, partly unfolding her own wings.

I try to resist, but she is much too strong for me. “Wait! What do you have in mind?” I don't want this! I am perfectly fine with dwelling on the ground. And I don't like heights!

Mom pulls me steadily forward. “What's there so hard to understand? We will have our first flying lesson!”

“Oh, I have to see that!” Doreen gets out of her chair and follows us, with Shawn on her heels, holding Quianna in his arms.

It's only when we arrive at the balcony that Chloe stops her march. She is still holding my arm in a firm grip and looking down Yggdrasil's trunk.

I follow her gaze and take a look over the balustrade. It is at least a three hundred metre drop down into the dunes. If I actually fall that far it will simply go *splat* and I am a thin layer of red goo.

“So how do you want to go about this?” I ask agitated.

“What a stupid question, haven't you trained moving your wings? Here. Spread them like I do and infuse your mana into them. It will automatically activate their latent levitation magic.” Chloe spreads her wings to their full span of seven metres.

I follow her example and feel myself getting a little lighter. I suppose this wingspan wouldn't be enough to allow a dense human being to fly without magic. The wings would have to be much bigger. Okay. I look up to her. “And now?”

“Now you fly.”

Chloe lifts me with one hand and throws me over the balustrade. For a moment my mind simply shorts out. Did she just literally throw me off the cliff like some birds do? For real?

I start falling and the air pressure causes one of my wings to bend away, sending me into a wild tumble.

Drawing a deep breath is all that comes to mind.

“KKYYYAAAAAAAAAA!”

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