The Court of Souls?

“The Ancient Egyptians believed that, the journey into the afterlife required a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulas of the Book of the Dead.

The beliefs were that the deceased appears before a panel of 14 judges to make an accounting for his deeds during his life. Anubis (who is depicted with the head of a jackal) who represents the underworld and mummification leads the deceased before the scale. Anubis then weighs the heart of the deceased against the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth and justice).”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Draconis***

***Shade***

We are back at the crystal city and it has been a few days since Doreen was badly burned. In order to treat her properly, we had to cook up a believable story about an almost unbeatable curse which was caused by Moonray's fire. And at last, we are able to see the fruits of our labour.

Elona slowly removes the bandages from Doreen's head. The whole family is gathered to witness the event. Of course Doreen is the only one who doesn't have a clue why Elona and Titho are making such a big deal out of it. According to Doreen she had been on the brink of death countless times already, and had always stood up again. When Elona is done, we say nothing for a long moment and simply stare at Doreen's revealed face.

“What!? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?” Doreen touches her face and trails her fingers across the smooth, perfect skin. “I was always scarred. Don't tell me that a few fresh burns look even worse.”

“Ahem.” I clear my throat. “It's more that you look unbelievably beautiful,” I explain with a low voice. It's true, her face is top notch. High cheekbones and slender, with perfect symmetry. The pale hair colour only adds to her cold, Scandinavian beauty. I wonder how she looks in the nude... she never had a bad figure and if all those scars are really gone, then-

“Hngh!”

I cough. Elona jabbed her fist into my side with enough force to crack a rib. Ok, I didn't hear it cracking, but it was certainly close. “Why?” I stagger to the nearby wall in order to steady myself. At least I didn't double over. Whatever I did this time to antagonize my wife, I got away with a loving poke. Upon remembering what she did to that dragon I have to admit that she could probably turn a human-sized target into a red smear on the wall.

My wife snorts and straightens her posture to enforce her statement. “I don't even need the wedding ring to know what you were thinking; it was written all over your face. Just remember that she is my grandmother.”

“Let it go, Darling. Men will always be men.” Chloe pats her daughter's shoulder and smiles, then she returns her attention to Doreen. “Oh, you are so beautiful, Mom.” Chloe slaps her hands to her cheeks and blushes. “Moonray, that asshole of a father didn't even know what he was talking about when he said that my looks came from him. I've obviously inherited more from your side of the family.”

“Yes!” Titho, our dryad healer, bends down and produces a hand-held mirror from somewhere under her leafy dress. “You are gorgeous, Doreen! I always wanted to see the real you.”

Doreen gapes at the mirror, then her mouth snaps shut and her eyes ignite with that terrifying blue fire. Her fingernails lengthen and turn into sharp claws, tearing into the bedsheets. Titho recoils from the cold, furious beauty in front of her. Doreen is visibly trying to keep her calm. “Who? Why? And what was hard to understand about me keeping my scars for a reason?”

Elona raises a guilty hand, palm outwards. “I did. Since your skin was gone anyway, together with your beloved scars I might add, I thought that I should restore it without any ghastly burn marks. I wanted Moonray to know who he threw away since he is all about outwards appearances. And you have already proven that you are a wonderful person on the inside, so why not show it on the outside too?”

Then Elona lowers her voice and mutters, “And besides, I always thought that you should get over that bastard and find yourself a new guy. Have a little romance and a good boning to forget about the past.”

Chloe claps her hands together. “Yes! Your new looks will make that much easier, though you probably should do without your nail-thing,” she points at the torn bedsheets, “that's a serious mood-killer for any guy who might show interest in taking you on. We are immortals with eternal youth, so why not live life to its fullest? Moonray will pay for what he did to us soon enough. I can't even regard him as a father any more and neither should you, Mom.”

Shawn pats his wife's back. “Love, you probably shouldn't antagonize the fury any further. You know how she can be.”

“Shut up, Shawn. Or I'll hang you for a few days from one of Yggdrasil's branches, like in the good old days when you defiled my daughter. There is no blazing sun in this region, but I'll see to it that there is a nice, warm fire directly under your worthless scalp!” Doreen barks.

Shawn steps back, but Chloe is unfazed. “Oh, yes! That was so brave of him! I never would have imagined that he would dare to confess to you that he got me pregnant without proper marriage. I seriously thought that he would wriggle out of it when he went to your house. Those were the old days when we stuck to the letter of our traditions.”

Doreen draws in a deep breath and lets out a long sigh, retracting the claws and extinguishing the blue flames, though a blue shimmer remains in her eyes. “What did I do to deserve you lot? I swear, someday I will flip, and then nothing will help you. How do you think should I retain my authority, looking like this? The men will do nothing but drool when I talk to them. The clan won't even recognize me any more. This is more than a simple make-over.”

I raise a finger. “We can testify to your identity. And what's wrong with men drooling over you? A woman who doesn't use her female charm will always end up old and alone, just like-”

Doreen's eyes flash with blue fire and I raise both hands, palms outwards. “I understand! No violence! I'll shut up.”

The fury sighs and flexes her back. “At least the stiffness is gone.”

Elona crosses her arms in front of her chest and nods with a superior smile on her face. “Of course, what did you expect with all that scar tissue. As a higher immortal you should look after your body, especially if your natural healing ability isn't perfect and allows for scars. By the way, I took the freedom to use my mediocre skills to make you a little more resistant against fire. And to remove that scar-tendency of yours. From now on you will heal up perfectly fine, just like me and Shade.”

Doreen clenches her bedsheets once more. “Anything else I should know about?”

“No,” answers Elona.

I use our mind-link to inquire further. 'You aren't completely honest. Normally you would boast much more about your witchcraft. Tell me, what else did you put in her food?'

Elona looks away to avoid alarming Doreen. 'Just a few minor changes to her hormone levels. That's all, I promise. It should make finding a new beginning much easier. A little less inhibitions, a little stronger urges. It's nothing she will notice, I promise.'

Somehow I want to facepalm myself, but that would probably alarm the others that something is going on. Luckily it seems like Doreen didn't catch Elona's behaviour. Probably I notice it only because I've spent several lifetimes with her.

Doreen closes her eyes and I imagine her counting to ten like it is taught in some anger management courses. When she opens her eyes, the blue light is gone. “Well, that probably means that I can have a little fun before everyone else knows my new face!”

She stands up and starts ripping off her nightgown and bandages. The male side of our family manages just in time to turn around. I join Ishaan and Antonius in their endeavour to stare at the wall.

When Doreen is done with putting on a form-fitting combination of a robe and a leather outfit, she storms out of the room, swaying her ass in an enticing gait. I check her out unashamedly, following her departure with my eyes.

Three... two... one!

I raise my hand to stop Elona's fingers from poking out my eyes. Not a second too late I catch her index finger in my hand. “Hah! I knew it! It took me the experience of two multiverses, but finally I am a step ahead of-”

She kicks me in the shin.

It hurts! “Ow!”

Elona looks haughtily at me, though she seems a little tired. “You still need to learn a lot more about me, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So let's go to bed. It was a long day.”

I grin and play with the amulet around my neck. “Yes, right you are. If you are that insecure about my motives, then let me prove it to you in our bed.”

The superior expression is wiped from her face. “I need to see to Seria.” She turns and walks out of the room like a robot. When she enters the corridor, her measured steps quicken and turn to running.

Chloe pokes me from the side. “My daughter is so lucky to have you. I don't know many demons who can send a succubus running, but you should hurry to catch her. Otherwise you have to search for her the entire night.”

I grin and raise the hand with the wedding ring. “I am afraid that there is no hiding. She cut off that route herself.”

With that I leave Doreen's bedchamber and head towards where I feel Elona's presence. I guess we could have a lot of fun tonight. Tomorrow our scouts will return from the mana storm and we will finally learn more about Moonray's game. Then we have to face the cruel realities again.

.