Rose brushed herself off as she arrived at Kali’s planes once again, accompanied by Amelia, Lia, and Jerry. They had, of course, invited Connie, but she had been busy tending to matters at home, so she had declined.

“Oh?” Lilith said, raising an eyebrow. “Lia and Rose? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We were hoping to talk with you after the lesson.” Rose said. “It was simply more economical to bring everyone here at once, so Lia and I brought a couple of books that we can use to pass the time whilst we wait.”

“Well, if you don’t want to talk with this me specifically, Eve would be happy to talk with you.” Lilith suggested. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s basically the same thing.”

“Oh, right, I forgot about your whole…alternate personality thing.” Lia said, looking up at Rose. “Well, that suits us just fine, I think.”

“Yeah, that works, thank you.” Rose said. “We appreciate you giving us some of your time.”

“Don’t even mention it.” Lilith said, waving a hand dismissively. “I like to socialize, and Eve’s just watching the kids today, so she has time to chat. You two just chill here and she’ll come pick you up in a minute, okay? I’m gonna go take these two to our lesson room.”

“Thanks again.” Lia said. “What should we do when we’re done talking?”

“Assuming you’re heading back together with Amelia and Jerry, you can go explore the place or do basically whatever you want in the dungeon, so long as you don’t cause any trouble. When it looks like it’s time to wrap things up, Nuwa will get a hold of you. You can talk more about it with Eve when she gets here.”

With that, Lilith took Amelia and Jerry away, leaving Rose and Lia on their own in the empty room they had appeared in. They weren’t alone for long, though, as only half a minute later an angel girl walked in through the door Lilith had left through. “‘Sup.”  She said.

“‘Sup?” Rose asked. “What does that mean?”

Eve blinked. “Right, I forgot, sorry. It’s slang here, it stands for ‘what’s up’, it’s just an informal greeting, kind of like updog.”

Lia frowned. “Updog? What’s updog m –?”

“Nothing much, how about you?” Eve said, shooting Lia a pair of finger guns. “Classic joke from here.”

“I don’t…oh, it’s ‘what’s up’ with dog at the end.” Lia said. “What do dogs have to do with this?”

“Dawg, d-a-w-g, is just another way of referring to someone informally here.” Eve explained. “Don’t know where it started, but hey, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Rose asked, chuckling.

“Yeah, I sure am, figured it’d help break the ice since Lia seemed a little nervous.”

“I-I did?” Lia asked.

“Yeah, you hid it before I got here but I saw it through Lilith before you did.” Eve said. “Got all jumpy when I was mentioned. I…didn’t do something to offend you, right?”

“No, s-sorry.” Lia replied. “I’m just a bit nervous around the Lord of Monsters still. I know it’s a bit silly since we’ve already dealt with one and have rather good relationships with them now, but you grow up your whole life fearing something and it just sort of…sticks.”

“If it helps, don’t think of me as one.” Eve suggested. “Because I’m really not, not in the same way that you’re thinking. I was born and grew up as a normal person just like everyone else, and just took this up as a side gig for convenience’s sake. I spend ninety-nine-point nine percent of my time as an adventurer and a mother.”

Lia paused, looking Eve up and down. In response, Eve aged up suddenly, going from a childlike appearance to a fully adult one in a matter of moments. “I know, I’m not very motherly like that.” She said, her voice a touch deeper than it had been before. “I use this when I take them out or when I do anything…adult.”

She returned back to her normal age, flashing Lia a smile. “This is for confusing my enemies and everyday use. I find being really distinct from Lilith to be easier on everyone involved.”

“I…see.” Lia said.

“We should probably take this talk somewhere comfier.” Eve suggested. “This place is way too…bare.”

“What is this place, by the way?” Rose asked curiously.

Eve turned and motioned for them to follow. “It used to be Kali’s old residence. The equivalent of whatever Connie lived on. Then she moved into the dungeon, and it became unused. We haven’t moved the default plane entry point yet, and I’m not sure we will until after the war, so it might be good to get familiar with how to get to the dungeon from here.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, but followed Eve anyway. “You say that as if we can just come in uninvited.” She said. “I’m sure you or Kali would be there to escort us most any time we come here.”

“I mean, yeah, there’s that, but consider this my formal permission to come over whenever you want, whether or not you check with us beforehand. One of us will have to let you in, yes, but one of us is awake at any given moment and it doesn’t take more than half a second to let you in.” Eve said, leading them down a hall as she talked.

“I was thinking that we might as well make this place a hub for those of us that have been touched by the eldritch.” Eve continued. “I think building close bonds between us is the way to go, and the dungeon has basically anything you could ever want with the added benefit of being extremely private. This invitation extends to your family and close friends too, but if they’re not Higher Beings it’ll probably be a bit tricky.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I’m not sure we can afford the Worship costs to just…come over whenever we want.” Lia said.

“Based on my studies, I’m pretty sure there are ways around that.” Eve said, opening a door and gesturing for them to step inside. “This is a teleporter room, it’ll take us to near one of the living rooms.” She explained. “The dungeon is too big to walk everywhere all the time.”

Once everyone was inside, she pressed a button on the wall, then opened the door to reveal an entirely different room, decorated much like the “modern” rooms Rose had seen after the swarm invaded other planes. The flooring was a plush carpet, and much of the room was occupied by several couches centered around tables or stands upon which large and thin black boxes rested. Eve walked over to one of the couches and collapsed into it, waiting for the others to do the same.

Once Rose and Lia sat, she continued. “Anyway, as I was saying, I think there’s a way to pay a lump sum so you can travel to a set of planes whenever you want, perhaps even a way to allow us to mark you as an ‘auto-accept’ so you can just come in without our having to give the okay.

“Though, I’d have to make sure we could revoke those privileges, since if your powers are any indication, there are some potential mind-control shenanigans going on and we’d want to make sure you couldn’t just come in if you were compromised. But…I’ve been talking for too long, you two came to talk about something, right?”

“Well, yeah.” Lia said awkwardly. “We, um, wanted to check in on how Amelia is doing, make sure she’s not being too much of a bother. And, uh, to thank Lilith for her efforts in getting along with Amelia.”

Eve nodded, crossing her legs. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Amelia’s been a bit of a pill.” She said, then raised a hand to forestall further comment. “If you don’t have that saying, it means that she’s been grumpy and irritable. But, as much as she’s been a pill, me, Lilith, and the rest of the Parallels sympathize; much of what our lessons are about currently is stuff she already knows. It’s kind of hard to expect anyone to be excited to review this sort of thing for hours every day.

“We also understand that she’s in a unique situation due to her position as a Hero on your planes, and that she’s still not quite fully developed emotionally. Given the circumstances, we think she’s been relatively well-behaved. Really, all it boils down to is her making some snide comments at times, but if we couldn’t handle snide comments then we wouldn’t be cut out for the position we’re in.

“That all being said, Lilith’s been paying a bit of attention to this conversation in the back of her mind, and she wants to say that she appreciates that you notice her efforts. She also wants to know if either of you have any advice on how to help keep things going smoothly.”

“Talking about Lia, Connie, or I is a good start.” Rose said. “As self-centered as it may sound, her world essentially revolves around the three of us. I don’t know if she told you all the details, but she’s magically enhanced her feelings towards the three of us as a way to combat some of what being a Hero did, and even now that she’s feeling again, we remain her number one priority.”

“And, um, you might have to talk us up a bit more than you actually think of us, like you did with me.” Lia added. “I –”

Eve rolled her eyes, holding up a hand. “Let me stop you right there.” She said. “I don’t know what exactly Amelia told you, but unless she dramatically misrepresented the conversation, we didn’t talk you up at all, Lilith truly meant what she said. Look, Lia, it’s nice that you don’t have a big ego when you literally rule multiple planes, but that doesn’t do you good if you underestimate yourself.

“I’m not one to give false complements, and I think that there is a lot to you that you simply aren’t giving yourself credit for. Combat power isn’t everything, and you’ve done an admirable job for someone who was thrust into things with little warning. And even if power was everything, I have absolutely no doubts that you’ll be able to catch up to the rest of us quickly. So just…listen to others when they give you a compliment, okay?”

“See?” Rose said, giving Lia a smirk. “We told you it’s not just us.”

“I…guess.” Lia said. “I’ll try.”

“Good.” Eve replied. “But I did rather rudely cut you off, so please continue what you were saying.”

“Oh, right, um, basically, I’ve found that people other than us have a lot more success talking to Amelia when they don’t tell her ‘no’. You have to sort of…it’s hard to describe, but basically subtly disagree instead of outright saying she’s wrong. It’s something we’re still trying to work on, but she’s stubborn and doesn’t like to admit when she’s wrong, so telling her that she is will often turn the conversation into an argument.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Eve said. “Anything else?”

“Other than that, just…don’t be rude, I guess.” Lia said. “She doesn’t have any sensitive topics other than badmouthing the people she loves, and once she likes you, she gets a lot easier to talk to. So…just keep at it and it’ll eventually become easier. Oh, and you and Lilith will probably have to ‘make progress’ separately. I don’t know how connected you two are, and Amelia probably doesn’t either unless it directly impacts her.”

“That’s a bit of a hard question, to be fair.” Eve said. “If you ask Lilith, she’ll tell you that we’re basically different people. If you ask the rest of us Parallels, we’ll tell you we’re more or less the same underneath it all. For your purposes, just know that anything you tell any one of us will be relayed to the others in real time. And, at the end of the day, we share our memories including how each of us felt in the moment, so…yeah, a lot more connected than any two normal people, but we’re not exactly the same, either.”

“I think I get it.” Rose said. “You get all the same stimuli, but react to them differently. I suppose if the topic comes up you can just tell her that you’re sort of like Ophelia or Nailah if their bodies had separate personalities. She’ll get the picture.”

“Good to know.” Eve replied. “Well…anything else?”

Rose shared a glance with Lia. “No, I don’t think so.” Rose said. “Not on the subject of Amelia, anyway. I was sort of wondering how Levia was doing, though.”

“Ah.” Eve said, face cramping slightly. “About that…”

“Sorry.” Lia said quickly. “I can tell her off for you, that’d probably make things easier for you.”

“No, no, no.” Eve said quickly, waving her hands in front of her. “She’s been a delight. It’s just that things have…changed since you last saw her.”

“Changed in what way?” Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean, the thing is, one thing sort of led to another and she sort of wanted us to adopt her and we said yes?” Eve ventured. “And in the process, we might have reduced her to a more childlike state? She did ask for it though, we wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t what she wanted.”

Rose and Lia stared at Eve for a few moments. “What?” Lia finally said. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

 “Yeah, it’s weird, I know.” Eve sighed. “How this even ended up being an option is a long story, but she said she had always wanted a family and we had been thinking about having a third kid for a while so everything just sort of lined up. But…I think it’d be easier to show you than to explain, do you want to see her?”

“Um, yeah, I guess?” Lia said.

“Alright, give me two minutes and I’ll be back with her, okay?” Eve said, standing up and hurrying over to the door they had come into the room from.

Once she was gone, Rose turned to Lia. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting that.” She said. “I can’t help but be curious what she’s like, though. You said she felt rather overwhelming when you converted her, so I’m having a hard time imagining what a childlike version of that is.”

“Me too.” Lia said. “But…I think she wasn’t trying to be overwhelming? She just sort of…was. She just had a presence about her, you know? Kind of like Matthew did when we fought him, but less controlled.”

“I see.” Rose said. “Though I suppose that Lilith and the Parallels would probably not be affected by something on that level; they’re clearly a few steps above Matthew as is.”

They chatted for a couple minutes more, and then the door to the teleporter room opened again. Eve stepped through, followed closely by a young girl who looked remarkably similar to the two children Rose had been introduced to during her first visit to this plane.

“This is Levia now.” Eve said, turning to Levia. “Levia, do you remember these people?”

Levia nodded shyly and approached Lia. “Um, Miss Queen, thank you.” She said. “I, um, I’m really happy now thanks to you.”

Lia stared at her in wonder for a few moments, then smiled. “You’re welcome, but I really didn’t do all that much.”

“No, it had to be you.” Eve said. “You’re the best our faction has at giving people souls, stop selling yourself short.”

“Yeah, what Mama said!” Levia added.

“See?” Eve said. “You’re not gonna argue with such a cute little girl, right?”

“Fine, fine.” Lia said. “Levia, how are you feeling?”

“Really, really, really good!” Levia said happily. “I always wanted a family and now I have one! I’m gonna grow up big and strong and be the best protector the world’s ever seen!”

“I’m sure you will.” Lia said, still smiling. “Just be a good girl and listen to your mothers and you’ll get there in no time, alright?”

Levia gave a nod, then turned to Rose. “Um, I don’t think I remember you, sorry.”

“That’s quite alright.” Rose replied, giving Levia an encouraging smile. “We never met, so I wouldn’t expect you to recognize me. I’m Rose, one of Lia’s wives.”

“Oh!” Levia said brightly. “I think I heard Mom mention you before! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, Levia. Lia and I are going to be staying until Amelia leaves, so if it’s alright with your mama, I think it might be fun if you showed the two of us around.”

Levia turned to Eve. “Can I, Mama?” She asked.

“Sure, but only if I come too.” Eve said. “So, where would you like to show us first?”

“Oh, there’s this really cool play place that Mai took me to…”