Chapter 44 - 7

 7

200cp

Commissioned by asdo21

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 34.

Simulation of Apocrypha.

Elsewhere in the vast multiverse, the Black Books are known to be tomes of esoteric knowledge found in the world of the Elder Scrolls that will transport the reader to the dangerous realm of Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Knowledge.

There are seven different Black Books; while my versions were copies and thus not connected to any of the Daedric Princes, they were still tomes of great power and it would wise of me to ensure that no other used them.

Like with the real thing, opening one of my Black Books transports the reader into a region in the realm of Apocrypha, or rather a recreation of it. Once this region has been traversed, a book awaits on a pedestal. Reading that book will grant someone a unique power or ability.

I planned to read from each of the seven books I'd been granted by the Grimore as they would make me much more powerful and I figured that the title of Sorcerer Supreme would seem much less hollow if I obtained many new abilities.

Before I could read one of those books that handed out power, I had to traverse a simulation of Apocrypha, to overcome dangers and not get distracted by the realm which might as well be an endless library.

This realm contained a great deal of what I would consider forbidden knowledge, lore that I wished to keep out of the DC universe. As the Sorcerer Supreme it was partly my task to protect that dimension from such mystical threats.

Not that I was thinking much about that right now as I was taking in the view. The horizon was filled with stacks of books that reached up into the glowing green sky I thought would be unwise to fly up there.

Even if the stormy nature of the sky hadn't put me off I could see tentacles coming out of some of the storm clouds and while I knew that I could not be killed in this realm it might be possible for me to become stuck.

In the distance, I could see more tentacles breaching the dark waters of an ocean that I just knew to be acidic. Yet these were the least of the many dangers to be found in this recreation of a Daedric Realm.

There were Seekers, Daedra that guard the forbidden knowledge kept here. They were capable of attacking foes with sound attacks. Other creatures called Lurkers were known to dwell within the waters and would arise from the depths to attack.

Another factor was the cold. There was a chilling breeze coming in from the ocean, and it made me glad for my new robes. They were all dark blue, which is Raven's favourite colour, so I assumed she was the one to fill my wardrobe.

None of these were the true threat of this simulation. While I could not die here and I was unlikely to be driven mad by anything I saw, as the grimoire would not supply me with something which would harm me in such a way, the temptation to wander this realm and to learn all it had to offer, would be something I needed to resist.

Since I am immortal and this realm could have some funky rules about life it might be possible for me to spend entire lifetimes looking through the vast stacks of books that this place was made from. I had to remain focused and not get distracted.

Due to being on an island, there were only so many distractions and this place was meant to serve as a trial of sorts not as a prison, so I should be able to traverse this place without too much trouble, or so I hoped.

Despite my concerns, I did allow my attention to wander for a moment or two when moving through a series of corridors, if only because there were lesser prizes to be taken and I would not be happy with myself if I didn't attempt to claim a few treasures.

Besides, not all of the books found here would be a threat. Some would simply tell part of the history of a magical fantasy land or maybe there would be cookbooks or knowledge of mostly harmless magic. I would have to find out.

In time, I would go through any books I found and perhaps add a few to the library of the Mystic Masters or give them to Raven as gifts.

I found the Spell Tome: Conjure Seeker, resting on what could be some sort of altar, along with a collection of rolled-up papers. They turned out to be two Scrolls of Frenzy and two Scrolls of Fear.

Since I already knew all the Conjuration spells, having been granted by the Grimore while visiting the plane that was based upon the world of Minecraft, I had no use for the spell tome, other than to see if someone else could learn to cast that spell.

The scrolls should be useable by anyone and it would be interesting to see if they could be used in other realms. That was something to experiment with later.

I finished pocketing the loot just in time to raise a shield as a Seeker appeared behind me.

By taking the loot, I'd triggered some sort of trap and a part of what should be a wall sunk into the ground to show the Deadra. It might be the real thing or just a harmless copy meant to test me, it didn't matter, its fate would be the same.

With a wave of my staff, I slammed the creature back into the cell it had been hiding in and then I used my knowledge of conjuration magic to banish it. Only that didn't work so I figured it must either be a part of this place or just a simulation rather than a real Daedra.

No matter, it vanished soon after I unleashed lightning upon it, and oddly it left behind a few coins. They were unlike any I'd seen before, or so I thought until I picked one up and inspected the currency.

There was a dragon on one side of the coin and upon the other side, the image of some important man. There was also what seemed to be some writing.

"The Empire Is Law" I read out "The Law Is Sacred".

These coins were Septims, the currency used in the Elder Scrolls game. You can obtain them in many ways when playing the games and they looked to be made of gold or at least they contained enough gold to look as if they had value.

Thanks to Kent Nelson's investments, which he had generously left to me, I did not need to work to make money and if I'd ever been interested in acquiring wealth I could have from the Minecraft realm without too much effort.

Yet despite this, I took the coins as I knew that there were plenty of realms out there and beings who would find no value in paper money.

That sort of cash only had value because governments backed it and those authorities had no influence in other realms so I might need currency with some inherent value during my travels.

I couldn't help wondering what Jessica, who had travelled with me when I explored the Minecraft realm, would think of all this. Maybe she'd put on her golden bikini armour and treat this like an adventure.

With some effort, I did my best to push thoughts of Jess aside. This was good as the corridors of this place were now stretching and contracting, forcing me to sometimes double back so I could find different routes.

While I didn't find any more spell tomes, I did find scrolls, a complete set of the Lusty Argonian Maid, which were examples of forbidden knowledge I wanted to remain here, some minor souls gems, and some more coins.

Quickly, I took it all other than the porn and was not surprised when two Seekers turned up, each blocking one end of the corridor.

I tilted my staff to blast one with lightning while I sent out a stream of magical power at the other with a gesture of my free hand.

The magical attacks were potent as these low-level bad guys were no real threat as long as I kept my wits about me.

After some time I managed to stumble my way out of the maze to find that the way I needed to go had a river of something acidic looking between me and the next part of the island.

I assumed that the platforms floating above the water were meant to be used as stepping stones and that they would begin to sink into the river should I linger too long on one of them.

Since I'd played many video games during my life I knew enough to know that I'd fall into the river a couple of times and end up having to come back here after re-entering the level.

I decided to avoid all of this by freezing the river. I had great power when it came to making use of the elements, so it didn't take much effort or time to freeze the liquid.

Before taking a step onto the frozen river, I used my staff to make sure that the ice would hold my weight, and then I started making my way across.

Of course, something bad happened when I was halfway across. It always does in this sort of situation. I should have known better than to think my simple solution would be all that was needed.

Something broke through the ice, and it was good that the cracking sound I'd just heard had given me some warning, as it meant I was able to start running soon enough to escape.

Massive tentacles breached the surface of the frozen river, but I never saw much of them as I was already legging it over the ice and even when I fell over I didn't stay down long for anything to grab me.

I'd never been a fan of Japanese cartoons, ones meant for adults or children but I'd picked up enough on the Internet to know what tentacle monsters liked to do when they weren't just eating people.

I didn't stop running until I was at the base of a platform that looked as if it was part of a series of them that I was meant to use to get up to an elevated area. No doubt the book I desired would be found there.

Rather than make use of my limited acrobatic skills, which were greater than they used to be as I had been training with the Mystic Masters, I used telekinesis to lift myself directly.

This took effort and focus, but it was worth it to get up there and to avoid falling just because I misjudged a leap. I'm a sorcerer, not a ninja.

As it turned out I needed to cross a bridge before reaching the part of the island that must contain the book I needed, and to my complete lack of surprise the bridge began to retract as I crossed causing me to need to run some more.

I entered a new bit of the library realm, this section was more organised than the other parts of the island and had a map theme going for it, and it held some dangers.

One of which came in the form of flying pages which distracted me as something came out of a pool of water in the centre of the structure.

"Avast matey," said the creature "I be Captain Velehk Sain".

A pirate Daedra? Odd choice for a boss fight. Not that I had any time to think much on that as the Daedra came at me with a scimitar.

I was forced to defend myself. Thanks to my training I was able to use my staff to protect myself from the blade of my enemy.

No doubt from a distance our fight looked rather cool, but when you are the one fighting, you don't get the chance to ponder how awesome it is to fight a daedric pirate.

I doubted that Sain enjoyed it much when I channelled my power through my staff and whacked him hard. This forced the pirate to back off.

"You've no hope of defeating me, pup. Don't bother. Why not broker a bargain, instead?" he offered.

Was that even an option? It wasn't as if anyone had given me any detailed rules about how these testing grounds worked.

I'm listening" I said.

Since he was backing away it would be easier to blast him with a spell should he turn hostile again.

"Release me and I'll share a bit of my wealth with you" the pirate proposed.

Mere money was of little interest to me as I already had more riches than I required. Also, his accent was getting on my nerves.

"Blizzaja"

I focused all the power of an impressive ice spell on the Daedra so that he shattered after freezing. He left behind his sword which had some sort of enhancement on it, a small pouch of gold coins, and a book.

The gold I would keep, and it might be wise for me to create a secure vault somewhere if I was going to keep acquiring such riches.

As for the sword, it would become one of the many magical relics that the Masters of the Mystic Arts would guard as part of their duties.

The book was called 'The Pirate King of the Abecean' I assumed it to be an account of the Daedra pirate that I had just defeated. Not something which would interest me, but I was hardly lacking in bookshelves in my new home.

I found the real treasure when I finally reached the book that would give me my reward before letting me leave this realm. While this trial hadn't been much work I would wait a while before starting the next one as this could be the easiest of the books to finish.

Like in the game, I was offered a choice of three rewards and this book offered upgrades to my staff. Not what I'd been hoping for, but certainly worth the effort to obtain an upgrade.

True to its owner Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness, this staff seemingly embodies chaos. The Wabajack has the effect of transforming a target into something random.

Since you don't truly know what you will get with the Wabbajack this could put the wielder into danger. I might blast a mugger and end up having a rampaging T-Rex to deal with.

Miraak's staff was another option. This upgrade would allow me to summon tentacles that would restrain an enemy and poison them if I wished. Could be useful if I was more into stopping crooks.

The one I chose was the Staff of Magnus as it was a superior version of my existing staff with the bonus of being able to drain someone or something of its magical power.

While it wasn't the real thing, it would be close enough and it was a big improvement over my existing staff as that one only absorbed magical energy slowly.

After selecting the staff and watching as my existing one transformed as it was upgraded I was spat out of this realm and back into the pocket dimension.

300cp

Commissioned by asdo21

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 35.

Simulation of Apocrypha.

Given that the only building on this island that didn't look like a ruin, was a massive fortress, which I assumed would be defended by Lurkers and Seekers at the very least, it hadn't taken long for me to figure out where I should be going if I wanted to find the special book I desired.

While that part had been easy to figure out, it wouldn't be so easy to get into the fortress, as it was guarded and there only seemed to be a single entrance into the huge structure.

I'd considered using stealth, but that had never been my strength, and I lacked any means of sieging the fortress, so a direct assault with a small team was my only course of action.

If that failed, I would try looking for a hidden passage into the fortress, as there is always one of those, and since I was only going up against what seemed to be simulated Daedra I wasn't too worried about clearing the place after breaking down the defences of the fort.

It wasn't as if I could die while trying to break into the fortress so I didn't see much point trying to find a hidden passage unless I had to. It could take a while and be way less fun than what I had planned.

When preparing my strike force, I laid down the little stone figurines that I'd gotten what felt like a lifetime ago and they soon became huge stone golems that I felt sure could break down any door.

I then channelled my growing powers and summoned two Daedra of my own. I'd not known I could summon two Daedra at once until recently and it was something I was very grateful for.

They were a pair of Dark Seducers, female humanoids with armour that didn't cover up enough to be practical, and bows, which they began to use their weapons to fire at targets up on the battlements of the fort.

As it turned out the fortress had humanoid Daedra of its own, the mage kind as they returned fire with ranged attacks of their own. Not arrows, instead they used magic against us.

Fireballs struck the shield I raised around my forces. Luckily I was very good with magical barriers and the shields were one-way so the Dark Seducers could keep firing their arrows.

"Stay close" I ordered.

A rather pointless thing for me to say since the creatures responded to my will rather than my words.

"For the Madgod!" one of the Daedra yelled.

We marched under the umbrella of magic that I kept up to protect us from the odd fireball the enemy sent our way.

Those bits of magic were soon joined by the odd bolt of lightning and shards of ice. None of which did more than draw attention to the caster of the spell.

"Bring down the door!" I yelled.

As it turned out there was some sort of magical barrier protecting the double doors that led into the internal part of the fortress, and given how sturdy the rest of this place looked I didn't think we'd be able to breach the walls.

I'd also ruled out levitating myself onto the battlements as I'd have to do so while keeping up a barrier to shield myself against hostile ranged attacks. I might be able to do that, but I wouldn't be able to bring my assault force with me.

So instead I took out my version of the Staff of Magnus, which while a potent weapon was not the genuine article so to speak, not that I minded at all as it was much more powerful than my old staff and it had a nifty feature that was about to come in very handy.

I drained the magic, taking the energy of the spell that guarded the double set of doors, and this power was now stored in my staff. I could unleash that power in an attack or draw upon it to fuel my spells.

My shield did not falter while I used my staff. Not that we needed it much as the defending Daedra seemed to have abandoned the battlements all of a sudden.

I suspected that they would be guarding the main hall of this fortification by the time my forces got into the stronghold.

"Break it down!" I ordered.

My golems did just. I was reminded of the scene at the end of season 2 of The Mandalorian when those dark troopers try to get onto the bridge of the Moff's light cruiser. The double doors were soon buckling as the stone golems brought them down.

"Get in there" I commanded.

The golems kept going and the Daedra that tried to stop them didn't do very well. The Lurkers, ended up in wrestling matches with the golems, at least as far as I could see, and they didn't win.

Before too long, the stone creatures moved inside the fortress, when I followed I was able to enter, to see more of what was going on.

Both of the Dark Seducers had dropped their bows and were now wielding axes into battle, going up against the Seekers who were not quick enough with their attacks to stop the warrior women.

This cleared the way, allowing me to move into the great hall and see the throne that some Daedra sat upon.

"I am Kathutet," stated the warrior.

He must be the boss for this level of the strange sort of game that I was playing.

"And I don't care" I replied.

I blasted the Daedra with a lance of golden-coloured Order power. It destroyed his throne too, exposing the fact that the book I sought had been behind the big fancy chair.

Once everything had settled down and all the enemies were gone, I returned the golems to their smaller state and collected them. No doubt I would require them again.

I kept the Dark Seducers around just in case any more enemies were lying in wait to ambush me when I went over to the book.

Nothing happened when I reached the book other than me getting presented with some options. The least of what was on offer turned out to be the Skyforge from Skyrim.

An ancient, mysterious, eagle-themed forge added to your home or pocket dimension. Any metal items crafted at the forge will be significantly harder and stronger for it. Something about the fires.

I did like the idea of having that addition to my pocket dimension. I could see how the Mystic Masters would benefit from having tougher weapons.

Still, it seemed rather a weak thing to offer when compared to other things I'd gotten from the Grimore, perhaps it was meant for loners who were interested in working alone or with a small group of people.

Why would you have an ordinary house when you could have a castle instead?

Judging by the rest of the text if I selected the castle it would keep itself for me and remain supplied. It would even be guarded by a faction depending on what castle from the Elder Scrolls world.

So if I selected this option and asked for Castle Dawnguard it would be protected by vampire hunters who might be able to leave the pocket dimension and join me in a fight. Had I gone to the world of BTVS that would have been my choice.

Before making up my mind I looked over the last option.

Why would you be limited to a single home, when you could own an entire city? You may take any city, from Windlem to Mournhold to the Imperial City to Falinesti.

It will have access to everything you'd expect from your average city, like shops and inns, All of which will find their stocks replenishing weekly. You will also see a sizable and steady stream of money going directly towards your coffers.

All of the citizens within will see you as their ruler and will act as followers.

Selecting that option would elevate me from the leader of the Mystic Masters who simply named himself Socerer Surpeme to the ruler of an entire realm, as such it was very tempting.

Becoming the ruler of a city wouldn't prevent me from doing hero work on Earth as Wonder Woman had responsibilities to her island home and Aquaman was the King of Atlantis.

Not that I intended to let most people on Earth know that I had my little empire in a pocket dimension.

If I picked a big city and it was able to keep itself supplied while paying taxes to me, then I might be able to raise an army. I would need one to defend my realm and to exert power in others.

Truthfully, I'd always wanted power and I wasn't the kind of person who would abuse their subjects, and while ruling a city.

I chose that option and decided to go with The Imperial City, the capital of the Tamrielic Empire, and the centre of power for the entire empire.

The Imperial City should come with the White-Gold Tower, originally the seat of power during the Ayleid rule of Cyrodiil, and then later the human Emperors who had ruled over Tamriel.

Once I was done with my selection I was spat out of the book and into what I knew right away to be my throne room.

As impressive as it was, what drew my eye was the view from up here. Thanks to the Triforce of Courage I no longer let my fear of heights keep me from enjoying such things.

It was tempting to go and sit on my throne, but I just had to see what had happened to my pocket dimension.

By stepping out of the tower I was able to walk around it and check out the city. I was standing on some sort of battlement and the view from here was incredible.

I knew that the city was divided into ten districts, the Imperial District located around the White-Gold Tower itself, and nine others that were grouped around it. These comprise the temples, markets, arena, docks, and the residential districts of the city.

The Market District as the name suggests contains various Merchant shops selling everything from weapons and armour to potion ingredients.

Then there was the Arena District, the location of the Imperial City Arena where people bet on fights or participate in them. Did they battle to the death here or was it just acting?

I knew that a person could walk through the Arboretum, the part of the city that contained various statues and gardens, or wander through the Temple district and I wondered who or what the people in my new city would worship.

From my hours spent playing the game, I can remember walking around the Talos Plaza District, which was home to the most wealthy inhabitants of the city.

I also recalled many locations that I couldn't see, such as the prison you are in when you start the game, no doubt other important locations were hidden from my eyes.

The Arcane University, which was located southeast of the Arboretum, was one of the more important sights I needed to see, and it made me wonder where around here I could find Kamar-Taj. Was it somewhere remote or just not visible to my eyes?

In the distance, there was the Waterfront. This part houses the poorer people of the city and the Thieves Guild. It is also the location of many warehouses.

Out on the water were two ships that I could see. I had no idea what I would do with them since there was nowhere to sail them, but that was something to think about later.

Below the city, there is a complex sewer system, seemingly designed by the Ayleids for the subterranean movement of goods as well as the disposal of sewage.

In the game, it was infested with goblins. I would need to go and find out if this version of the city was also plagued by those pests.

I didn't dwell on such things for long as I had to take in more of the view. The horizon seemed to end beyond woods, fields and mountains, and I wondered how much of it was real.

If much of it existed as it appeared to be then I had a deal of land that could be used to create farms and trees for lumber, if I ever needed any.

Perhaps there were mines out there as well. If so I should have the population to exploit them. Although the Minecraft dimension could more easily supply any material needs I had.

I only stopped staring when someone made a coughing noise to get my attention and I figured that there would be matters of state for me to deal with.

No doubt they would be annoying, but they were the price for being king, and my face broke out into a smile as I thought about the adventure to come.

Commissioned by asdo21

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 36.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

"Sire, are you well?" someone asked.

As soon as I looked at the speaker I knew who he was. This was High Chancellor Ocato, he was a Master Wizard and a member of the Mages Guild, as well as a male Altmer.

I knew him to be perhaps the single most important member of the Elder Council as he acts as a stand-in ruler of Cyrodiil while there is no one to serve as Emperor.

To put it in other terms he was the Hand of the King. The Chancellor was the man who advised the ruler of the realm and he made sure things got done.

He didn't work alone, he had a whole staff beneath him and the rest of the council to aid in his work. A few of which he'd brought with him.

If not for the fact that he was a follower of mine and a product of the Grimiore I might worry that he planned to overthrow me and take the throne for himself as many in his position do in fictional settings.

"Yes, I'm fine" I said "Just getting used to my new situation".

The Chancellor nodded to signal his understanding.

"I imagine this is rather overwhelming for you, Archon Gothic," said the elf.

Archon was a Greek word for ruler. It did sound better than King Gothic.

"I would like to give you time to adjust, but I do have some important news," said the Chancellor.

It was time to get on with the business of ruling. I would just have to do my best to learn about my new role as I fulfilled it.

To that end, I went and sat on the Ruby Throne. I hoped that by sitting on it then I would feel more like a king.

"Sire, the fire in the Temple of the One has been lit by a phoenix" I was told as I took my seat, "A golden flame now protects us".

I knew that in the world of Elder Scrolls, The Dragonfires in the Temple of the One go out upon the death of each Emperor, and must be lit anew by each new Emperor upon their coronation. If not the realm can be invaded by the forces of Oblivion as I'd seen in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

This is because the Dragonfires themselves are the ward against the planes of Oblivion. While they are lit portals to Oblivion are not possible and the Daedra can not invade in any meaningful way. Although they can be summoned and bound to a place.

"Because of this, the realm has been named Pholubalm and the phoenix chick has been transported to your private quarters" High Chancellor Ocato let me know.

That was very good news as the fire should prevent an invasion of my realm by another. Add to that my followers can't be subverted against me, at least not of their own free will, and the pathways aren't well suited for moving large groups of people.

We might still need to worry about smaller groups entering the realm on raids, but we aren't going to have to prepare for our own Oblivion Crisis. Still, it would be wise to make sure the realm had other defences just in case.

My thinking was that while my familiar had ignited himself and been reborn in the flames to give the realm its protection, he'd jump-started the whole process rather than be the being who was powering up the whole thing.

A symbolic act like that can have a lot of power when dealing with the mystical. The source of the projection would be the realm itself and have something to do with me being its ruler.

"I suggest changing the banners," advised Ocato.

This didn't require much thought.

"I want a golden phoenix on a black background," I ordered.

The High Elf nodded in agreement.

"A fine choice, sire" he said "The golden phoenix will be the symbol of our proud nation. Black and gold will become the royal colours".

The dragon banners didn't work since I wasn't a Dragonborn and I didn't have a dragon familiar, or any dragon-based powers.

"High Chancellor, what other protections do we have?" I asked.

One of the elf's assistants came forward with a large book the Chancellor opened before reading from.

"Our census puts the population at more than one million citizens, and aside from the guard force that keeps order in the city, we have an entire Imperial Legion garrisoned here in the city and the surrounding area" I was told, "Most citizens have some training in combat and carry a weapon for self-defence".

I understood that the Legion served primarily as a garrison force, they would be busy manning forts, patrolling roads, and so on. The Legion wouldn't just be made up of soldiers, there would be healers, cooks, paymasters, scouts, foresters, armourers, and so on.

Unlike the the Roman Legions I'd read about in history books this Legion would have battle mages and healers who could cast spells, as such they should be more effective than their Roman counterparts. The officers might even have enchanted weapons.

In the game, every guard and member of the Legion has steel armour, and while I am not an expert on warfare, I knew that armouring every single soldier like that would be incredibly expensive for a medieval kingdom.

"Is the Legion large enough to keep every fort defended and all the roads patrolled?" I asked.

It was clear that the High Chancellor didn't know.

"I'll have to speak to the Grand Marshal about that," he said "I will have a report prepared for you, Sire".

Having access to an army could be very useful and allow me to

"In the future, I might require some troops for an expedition," I told the High Chancellor.

Given that the shops of my city got their inventories refilled at no expense then there would be little need for any resource gathering.

Which might cause something of an unemployment problem. Having a large army could fix that, and it would not only give people jobs but also a purpose in life.

While many of my citizens would buy materials and finished products, from the refilling shops, they would still need to cook and clean, and some people would buy fabrics to make their clothes rather than purchase them directly, yet a lot of people could have little to do in their daily lives.

This might mean that there were a lot of folks devoting their time to creating art, music and other things that would enrich the local culture. With no need to farm, mine and so on, that would allow more effort to be put into the study of magic as well.

Having a well-educated population with little need for any hard labour could lead to a decadent society, so it would be a good idea to find ways to keep people busy and to be on the lookout for corruption.

As much fun as it might be to go off to conquer foreign lands to bring back slaves, who would be barbarian babes in skimpy outfits by preference, I could easily see that devolving into the kind of decadence that ruined Rome.

Overall it seemed best to keep slavery illegal and if I wanted to take some of my Legion to another realm to do some conquering to acquire treasure, I had the Minecraft realm for that sort of thing.

"Archon, there are some positions which need filling" mentioned the High Chancellor.

He had my attention.

"You have no wife," said the high elf "And thus no heirs, this must be rectified".

He must be worried about the phoenix fire in the Temple of the One going out if I didn't have a successor of my bloodline to relight it as the Septim Emperors had done. Not a big concern in the short time, given that I had a form of immortality, but I could be killed so it was something to address.

"Who would make a suitable wife" I wondered.

I was willing to marry to secure my realm and safeguard a million citizens even if it would be awkward to have an arranged marriage.

"You will need to find a suitable princess" answered the High Chancellor.

Princesses were not exactly common and I'd rather not let people outside of this realm even know it exists. There were other kingdoms, outside of Earth, both in that dimension and outside of it, that I could investigate.

I would need something to offer this other kingdom, and this made me even more glad that I had access to the Minecraft dimension. I could fill an entire treasury with what could be found in that strange realm and offer the riches in exchange for a suitable bride.

"You also require a royal mistress," I was informed "Perhaps a few would be best given your high position".

I wasn't against the idea, but it wasn't as if it would be easy to find a suitable woman who would agree to be my consort.

"Give me some time to look into that," I said.

This was when Raven came flying into the throne room and the guards were rather shocked by her sudden appearance. They withdrew their swords and I had to wave them back.

"There you are," she said "I've been flying around trying to find you. No one in Kamar-Taj knows what is happening".

She seemed unconcerned by the guards. Not that they were much of a threat to her.

"It's okay she's with me," I told them.

The guards relaxed somewhat.

"Sire, is this young lady one of the Royal Mistresses?" asked the High Chancellor.

Raven stopped in her tracks and even with the great acoustics we had here I couldn't hear what she muttered.

"This is Rachel Roth, also known as Raven," I told the High Elf "She's my ward".

It wasn't odd for kings and such to have important people as wards.

"Welcome to the White-Gold Tower, Lady Roth" greeted the Altmer "I am High Chancellor Ocato".

That meant nothing to Raven.

"He's the Hand of the King," I told her.

She'd read Game of Thrones, so she knew what the title meant.

"And you're now the king of an entire country," she stated.

Given that she'd been flying around while looking for me, she'd have a better idea of the scale of my new realm than I would. This was something to be discussed later.

"Raven, what happened to Kamar-Taj?" I wished to know.

If all was well with Kamar-Taj then I should add a member of the Mystic Masters to the Elder Council since that Order would no doubt play a big role in the future of this realm.

"We suddenly found ourselves in a spot between some woodlands and the mountains that seem to be a border for this place," reported Raven "People are a bit freaked out, but no one got hurt".

The High Chancellor coughed to get my attention.

"Sire, Arch-Mage Hannibal Traven wishes to meet with you to discuss something of importance before the meeting of the Elder Council," I was informed.

Raven picked up the part of that which mattered to hear.

"Arch-Mage?" she asked.

"The city contains a magical university," I told her "Think of it as a more academic version of Kamar-Taj. Less combat training and more lectures".

They offered the kind of college experience I'd wanted rather than going to Metropolis Uni. Not that I was going to keep attending that college. I had way too much to do in this realm.

"Yes, you can attend as long as you make time for some combat training at Kamar-Taj," I told her.

Raven wasn't the most expressive person yet that didn't stop her from squealing in excitement. When we all ignored the noise I felt sure she was grateful.

"Sire, shall we head for the meeting of the council?" suggested the High Chancellor.

I could feel the grimoire calling for my attention. I'd learned to ignore the feeling but I did want to check out how many points I'd earned.

"Give me a few moments and I'll join you," I said.

Raven stuck around, assuming that I wanted a private word with her and she was right.

"Use your Sling Ring and go find one of the Mystic Masters" I instructed "I want one of them to join the council".

She'd had to fly here since she hadn't known where I was. Now that she did she'd be able to open up a portal between here and Kamar-Taj. Once she was gone I opened up my special book, which I noticed now had a golden phoenix symbol on its back.

400cp

Bank or Roll?

I might as well roll.

-100cp

300cp

Multilingual

Supernatural

Like all stereotypical magic systems, this one too runs on old dead languages. I mean come on why can't it just be English, French, German etc why Latin or Enochian or something else that is ancient? But, to do magic you are going to have to have this.

What this does is make you fluent in all forms of human language (Enochian is not a human language that is just an example of a language that can be used) that exists or has existed in this world.

Having hundreds of languages suddenly rammed into your head was not a pleasant experience and it made me late for my meeting.

Commissioned by asdo21

One hundred thousand words and still going. Suck it people who say I don't commit to writing my stories.

There is sex in this part of the story.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 37.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

Before the end of the day, after I'd met with all the members of the Elder Council, I discovered that they were quite capable of running things smoothly with little input from me.

Once the meeting was done, I'd decided to retreat to my quarters to see what kind of luxury the Archon of this city got to enjoy as ruler of a million people.

Despite being a rather large collection of people the council seemed to work together rather well and it had been clear to me from the start that they were the ones who would be running this small nation.

That was fine with me as I had plenty of other things I wanted to do with my time, and trying to manage a city of a million people was a task best left to people who knew how to run the city.

The High Chancellor was the one keeping things coordinated overall while advising me on those matters I would need to deal with personally.

Everyone else on the council had a more specific role such as running the Merchant's Guild, the Arena and other entertainments, as well as managing the guard force that protected the city.

An important person on the council was the Arch-Mage, who looked after the Arcane University and had some authority over all of the magic-users in this realm, enough to ban the practice of Necromancy with nothing more than a little support from me.

They did need me for certain things despite my position seeming to be one of a figurehead for the most part.

I would be required to appear at certain important social events and to hand out certain honours, but other than that my role had more to do with keeping the realm safe via the phoenix flame than them needing a ruler.

The High Chancellor had told me that I needed to be seen as a visible figure of authority and it was important that I be seen as a warrior as well as a powerful mage.

This was because Pholubalm wasn't the only magical realm to exist outside of the dimension in which Earth existed, and I would need to appear to be a strong leader if we ever dealt with those other nations.

Should the realm ever go to war I would be expected to serve as a leader and a symbol for the Legion to rally around. I could take command of the Legion as a whole or make use of part of it even if I didn't run the organisation.

I'd also been quietly informed that the Thieves Guild was allowed to exist by royal approval as long as everyone could pretend that they didn't exist and the thieves didn't go about murdering people.

There would always be crime so it was best to make sure it was managed. As long as the thieves stole from the rich and got some of that money into the hands of the poor then the Guild could be a good thing.

Since my citizens were loyal followers and because the realm didn't need to worry about supplies I didn't need to do much right now even if my role did require to me get more involved.

So I was free to study more magic, develop my combat skills and have adventures.

I was not all disappointed to find that my phoenix had a new home here, the magical bird was resting and had already been set up with some food and water, set out on an elaborate perch.

There was nothing I could do to aid the creature's recovery, only time would see the wonderful bird return to his former glory.

"Thank you" I whispered.

Upon entering my new bedroom, which was the size of an apartment on its own, I got changed into some casual clothing.

I was planning to spend my evening doing some research when Raven made an appearance. She seemed to be able to find me whenever she wanted and given that she didn't knock I figured she must have something important on her mind.

"How was the Arcane University?" I questioned.

Rather than sit through the whole meeting with me, which had mostly been people introducing themselves and explaining what they did, my ward had been taken on a tour of The Arcane University.

"Oh it's wonderful," she said, showing more enthusiasm than was normal for her "They have this place called the Chironasium for enchanting items, and the Lustratorium, which turned out to be for making potions rather than something sexual".

Raven paused for a moment and I wondered if her mind had gone to a naughty place and she was imagining something that would inspire lust. If so it didn't last long, and she got back on track.

"I saw the Mystic Archives, that's their library and the Praxographical, that's where they create new spells," she told me with excitement in her voice, "They have lectures outside with group discussions, and it is the same in the classrooms, and they have training rooms. Some of the mages even do tutorials with gifted students. It's the higher education experience of my dreams".

She gave me a hopeful look.

"I want to attend full time" I was informed "I can work around anything you need me from and I will keep up with my combat training, but I want to study at the Arcane University as a student".

This seemed fine with me.

"You don't need my permission and you're more than qualified to study there," I said.

Raven smiled at me.

"I do need your permission I'm your ward" she reminded me "And it means I won't be studying as much with the Mystic Masters. That will make it a lot harder for me to take up a role of leadership with the Order".

Since the realm had an Arch-Mage then the Mystic Masters should fall under the Arch-Mage's purview. This could cause problems since the Mystic Masters have their way of doing things.

As such, I might need to keep the title of Sorcerer Supreme and make it more of an honorific, letting the Masters of the Mystic Arts manage themselves unless I needed them for something.

"I'll sort it out" I let Raven know "Your happiness is what matters".

To my surprise, she launched herself at me and hugged me. This was very unlike her it must be a very good university.

"I've been thinking about finding some way to thank you for everything you have done for me" Rachel said as she ended the hug and didn't move away from me

"Master, you're the one I want to give my virginity to".

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I didn't know how to reply to that.

"Gothic, I want my first time to be with someone who cares for me and that is you," Raven said "And my virginity is something I can never get back if I let someone take it, so it's the only thing I can gift to you and I think you'd enjoy taking it".

That was true. I'd certainly thought about it. I'd just never made a move since I hadn't been single when we'd met and taking advantage of Raven had seemed wrong. But here she was freely offering.

"I don't want a position as a mistress" she was now saying "I'm not interested in a romantic relationship. I want to focus on my studies so staying as your ward makes sense".

She'd given this more than a little thought. That much was clear.

"Is this going to be a one-time thing?" I asked.

Raven bit her lower lip.

"It doesn't have to be, but you'll have a wife and mistresses, so I don't expect you to want me for sex very often, and I don't want romantic attachments" she assured me "I just don't see the appeal, or feel the need for a partner, but I do feel aroused sometimes, and I care about you".

That seemed pretty straightforward to me and I believed her about not caring about romance as she'd grown up away from all the crap that tells people to pair up or be thought of as a weird loner.

Her passion was for knowledge even if she did care about me. As such she had no reason to get upset if I didn't date her.

"So can I give you my virginity?" she asked "You can have it whenever you want".

I decided to go for it. She'd made up her mind about this and I had no obligations to anyone.

"Strip," I ordered her.

I stood up and so did my ward. Without delay Raven took off her robe, one she'd picked up from the university and then she began to take off her leotard.

Only now she did act nervous and I figured that she might be more relaxed if I did the work.

"Here, let me help you with that," I offered.

She turned around and I could hear her breathing intensify as I touched her body. I made sure to take my time and to touch her body before undressing her.

"There's a zipper in the back" she muttered.

I unzipped her and removed the leotard that she sometimes wore. She trembled a bit but made no move to stop me as I picked her up and put her on the bed. She seemed to be grateful for my tender treatment and for the few kisses we exchanged.

She watched with great interest as I stripped down to my underpants and I knew that she was looking at the runes tattooed onto my body. She had them as well, they kept us hidden from all sorts of tracking and surveillance, both mystical and mundane.

Raven was wearing nothing other than her bra and panties. Raven's underwear was dark blue and she rarely wore anything that wasn't blue or black.

I got onto the bed and after some more kissing, I was about to attempt to remove her bra when my apprentice spoke. Saying something I didn't hear.

"What was that?" I inquired.

She took a moment to answer.

"You're huge" she commented.

Her eyes were focused on my crotch and my boxers did little to hide the fact that I had an erection. Having Raven lying on the bed in her underwear had me very aroused and I took the chance to examine her body as she looked at me.

Despite her pale complexion and demonic nature, she looked much like any other young woman other than the mystical symbols.

She had nice skin and curves in all the right places. If not for her odd colouring you wouldn't think she was anything other than a very attractive young woman.

"Will it even fit?" she asked.

It would despite appearances.

"I just need to get you warmed up," I told her "But first take off your bra".

Of course, she did as she was ordered. She'd accepted my authority over and she did not try to cover herself once the bra was gone.

"Do you like them?" she asked.

Rather than reply verbally I took one of her nipples into my mouth and I began to suck on it before switching the other one.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said.

While I kept one nipple in my mouth I was twisting the other my free hand or kneading the flesh that made up one of her boobs. Raven stopped taking and made other kinds of noises as I enjoyed her young, perky breasts.

After a while, I moved lower and removed her underwear. She closed her legs as soon as they came off. She didn't normally deny me anything, so she must be feeling very bashful.

"It's embarrassing," she said.

Her shyness was rather cute.

"It's mine now you can't hide it from me" I told her.

Raven blushed.

"If I am yours then you'll need to take care of me" she said "Promise you won't let me go".

That would never happen I was far too possessive of her.

"I'll keep you with me for as long as you want to be mine" I promised "But you have to be a good girl for Daddy".

She closed her eyes and opened her legs. I moved my mouth to her bare pussy as I began to make sure that she was more than wet enough for the main event. I repeatedly drove my tongue inside her little cunt an action that got her nice and wet.

This was something she soon learned to enjoy and she whined when I stopped like a puppy who had been denied a treat.

The sight was adorable and it made me want to fuck her even more, somehow that was possible. Yet somehow I held myself back long to ask her something very important.

"What about birth control?" I questioned.

Raven looked away from me as if ashamed and I was worried that this might be a mood killer.

"I'm like some hybrid animals" she told me "I'm sterile, so you don't need to worry".

That might be something we'd need to discuss in the future, but this was neither the time nor the place.

"This next part will hurt" I warned her.

She nodded her head.

"I know," Raven replied "Take what you want. I want you to have me".

With a little effort, I forced my dick into Raven's tight little pussy. She gasped in pain as I broke her maidenhead and spilt her virgin blood. I was fairly sure that things got knocked off the shelves despite me not even shaking the bed.

While I started slow at first, she quickly got used to having part of me inside her wet little fuck hole. Still, it took some time before all of my cock could fit.

As I filled her up, I could feel her holding onto me with her arms even if the rest of her had gone limp. If she was in pain she accepted it and made no fuss.

Once I'd filled her up It didn't take long for me to start thrusting in and out, making her grunt and moan like an animal.

When I stopped to see how she was reacting, I saw that Raven had a glazed look in her eyes and seemed very happy to lie there and get fucked.

When I got back to fucking even though she seemed to have shut down inside her head, her body moved, she was trying to get me deeper inside her

For what could have been moments or much longer, I was too lost in the pleasure to care, I just fucked her, using her for my pleasure, as she'd offered and she'd become too primal to care.

"Oh, fuck! That's it!" I called out.

When I was done I felt sure that I'd flooded her no longer virgin pussy with enough cum to impregnate a whole room full of women. As such, it was a good thing she couldn't get knocked up.

My grimoire called for my attention, but I ignored it in favour of making sure that Raven was okay. I had gotten rough with her body and she might need to get a healing potion.

She had a goofy grin on her face that I had never seen before, and I didn't think she was going to be moving for a while despite the need to get the sheets of the bed replaced.

Commissioned by asdo21

Author Note

Just a short interlude today so that I can finish my commission work.

A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

Wonder Woman

"Are you certain about this, Mother?" asked Diana, Princess of the Amazons.

Queen Hippolyta, the ruler of this island was not one to lie and the hero known as Wonder Woman didn't doubt the ruler's words she was just very surprised to hear them.

The fact that they were discussing this matter in private only added to the sense of worry now developing within Diana.

"Yes, my dear," said the queen "I received the word from a messenger of the gods just this morning while you were training with Jezebel".

Hippolyta like her own daughter was unsure of what to make of Jezebel. Power Girl or Jessica Kent as she was known in Man's World, also went by the name of Jez-El to honour the people of her father.

She was a binary clone of Superman and Wonder Woman who had been created without the consent of either Diana or Ka-El. An act that made them both feel violated.

As such neither of them had known exactly what to do with the genomorph. Having them join the covert team of sidekicks had made the most sense at the time.

Jezebel was not the most respected of names in Man's World, but it was a fine name for an Amazon warrior, and that part of the culture was something Jessica seemed happy to embrace, even if she didn't care for other aspects of being an Amazon.

Taking on the role of warrior was part of her heritage and something that allowed Diana a chance to bond with her sort of daughter, and slowly they were coming to understand each other.

This should have pleased Wonder Woman, but she still had her misgivings about Jezebel due to the unnatural way she had come into the world, and because like her brother, Superboy, she might have some piece of programming in her mind that would turn against the Justice League.

Upon discovering more about this programming both Connor and Jessica had been removed from The Team and taken to separate secure locations.

Jessica had been brought here, as there was nowhere safer for her, and despite her odd origins, she was fitting in well enough with the rest of the Amazons.

Jezebel had complained about leaving her team behind, and she hadn't wanted to be parted from her boyfriend either, but it had been necessary.

Out there in Man's World some organisation of supervillains out there pulling strings, and the clones created by CADMUS were part of those plans as been those giant hostile plants.

The villains who called themselves the Injustice League claim to be behind the attacks, but that simply didn't add up and it didn't explain the programming found within the minds of two clones.

Another matter was that Wonder Woman didn't trust the sorcerer known as Gothic. He had plans of his own and had cut himself off from the Justice League.

He might even be part of the villain organisation working behind the scenes. He was consorting with a part demon and his powers were not understood.

Although no one in the League had given much serious thought to the idea. Mostly because if he was trying to infiltrate the League he was doing a bad job of it. And it was Gothic who alerted the League to the existence of the clone of Speedy.

Despite this, he was not a suitable paramour for Jessica. He was no warrior and had devoted himself to becoming a hero. He was also secretive and knew far more than he should.

Diana pushed aside thoughts about her sort of daughter to focus on the news her mother was sharing. A minor magician was unimportant when compared to news sent by the gods.

"This is not the first time news of a strange new realm has reached our ears via the gods" pointed out Wonder Woman "What is different this time?".

If Jessica had ever mentioned what she got up to with her boyfriend or if Wonder Woman had ever bothered to ask, they'd know a lot more about one of the new realms that had appeared.

"That plane is not controlled by anyone and is too vast to conquer," said the queen "And we have no interest in conquest, let others fight over it if they wish, but this new realm is different, it could be a threat to us".

Diana felt her feelings of worry grow.

"The messenger of the gods informed me that the Realm of the Phoenix, as it is known, contains a great city of a million souls, and they have a Legion of warriors to fight for them. While their warriors would be no match for ours, they could overwhelm us with their sheer numbers" said the queen.

A city of a million even with an army would be no threat to Man's World unless it was as powerful as Atlantis, having both advanced technology and magic. Although it could tip the balance of power between rivals.

"The gods will protect us" insisted Diana "They always have".

Hippolyta nodded in agreement.

"I am not greatly concerned by an attempt to invade our home" said the monarch "It is the balance of power that does worry me".

There were many realms beyond this world and the stars in the sky. There was the Fair Lands, the home of the fairies and fays. Lord Morpheus ruled over The Dreaming and the gods of Olympus also have their realm.

These kingdoms could wage war on each other if their rulers wished and this could cause problems for those living in the mortal world.

"I've decided to send an ambassador" stated Hippolyta "The ruler of this new realm is a man known as the Archon so he can not come to us and if I went to him it might be seen as too much interest, but I must send someone important so as not be insulting to the ruler of this new realm".

Diana volunteered at once. Standing up to declare herself.

"No," her mother said, firmly "You have your duties in Man's World and you are our ambassador to them. I will send Jezebel, along with a group of more experienced women to advise her. They will learn about this new realm and propose a treaty of non-aggression between the Amazons and this realm of the phoenix".

Wonder Woman did not think this was a good idea.

"Jezebel is not truly one of us" she pointed out.

Hippolyta did not disagree.

"She never will be until we embrace her as an Amazon, and she wishes for a chance to prove herself, but what matters right now is that is my grandchild by blood if not law," said the ruler of the island nation "She is a member of the royal family and should be received as an honoured guest".

Diana retook her seat in her mother's private quarters.

"And if this new realm is hostile?" Wonder Woman asked.

Hippolyta had considered this already.

"Jezebel is a powerful warrior and I would not send her alone" said the queen "If this new realm does prove hostile then we have a nation of warriors ready to put them in their place".

"She is supposed to stay here for safety," Wonder Woman pointed out.

The Queen understood this.

"I agree that removing her from Man's World was wise," said the ruler of the Amazons, "But has done nothing wrong and this island is not a prison. If she wishes to go you will not stop her".

Hippolyta was giving Jezebel a chance to prove herself and if she could secure a treaty, and therefore serve the Amazons they would come to accept her as more than just a warrior.

She could become a Princess of the Amazons.

While I do have commissioned stories to work on, more than one reviewer has expressed concern about this story being abandoned. Be thankful that no one who has commissioned me to write has put any deadline on me, so I am free to return to this story.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 38.

The Tower of Fate. Salem.

High Chancellor Ocato had been quite insistent that my kingdom have a queen. So much so that I couldn't help wondering if there was more to it than a desire for political stability brought about me having a wife to provide some heirs.

Perhaps the magical fantasy realm needed a queen because magical fantasy realms are supposed to have both a king and a queen. I wasn't sure even he knew because he acted as if having a queen was simply something that was required of me.

More likely he was concerned about the phoenix fire going out if I died, assuming that it could, as my familiar was an immortal creature and while bound to me he didn't need to die with me.

It might be possible for Phosphor to bind with a child of mine if I ever had one. I didn't think Ocato knew this for certain, it just seemed important to him, and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

While marriage didn't interest me, I understood the need for a queen and some heirs, it was for the good of the kingdom, and if I had to get married then it would be to a princess of my choosing.

To that end, I had come to the Tower of Fate to make use of its many means of scrying to find a suitable princess. The Tower, which I still had access to thanks to my deal with Nabu (a deal that kept him supplied with a rotating number of willing hosts with magical powers) contained quite a few methods of divination.

As I worked to find some candidates a portal opened and Raven stepped into view. She came over to me and got down on one knee.

"Yes, Master?" she asked.

Rachel took this teacher/apprentice thing more

seriously than I did. It seemed to be important to her and while she could act relaxed around me when on our own, she liked to keep things more formal when other people were around.

"We're alone," I told her.

She stood up and visibly relaxed. Given that when she wasn't at my side attending to matters of my kingdom, or taking care of her needs, she was attending classes at the Arcane University, I did not call upon her on a whim.

Her education was very important to her and I had no doubt she'd rise high in the ranks of the Mages Guild and I could see that she'd already been successfully tasked with creating her staff.

My older plans for her had involved Rachel being my successor as leader of the Mystic Masters, but the expansion of my pocket dimension and its transformation into the magical realm of Pholubalm changed my plans.

Perhaps she would be better suited to the role of Arch-Mage or Court Magician. Something to decide later as she had time to grow into such a role.

"Raven, I was wondering if you'd like to see a practical application of divination," I said.

At its core divination is the attempt to gain information by way of occult methods, and that information doesn't need to be something about the future. Any magician with a deck of Tarot Cards or a crystal ball can catch glimpses of the future as long as they have a minor bit of talent for the craft.

I was scrying to look into the present to find the answer to a certain question and the powerful tools normally reversed for use of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme (a title I had claimed and surrendered again because I was now also the Sorcerer Supreme of Pholubalm) were invaluable in this search for knowledge.

"That might be interesting," Raven said.

Like many serious students of the mystical arts, she didn't have a lot of trust in divination as it wasn't the most dependable way of using magic.

"Each of these crystals is showing a live image of a princess or someone close enough to the title" I explained as I let my apprentice look around.

While I was no longer master of this tower I'd been so for long enough to figure out many of its secrets.

"Women who are suited to becoming the queen of Pholubalm," stated Raven.

A job she had no interest in due to her introverted nature and desire to study magic. Her status as the daughter of Trigon the Terrible could be used as justification to elevate her to the nobility, but given her age and lack of interest, the role of the queen wouldn't suit her.

"That lady is Princess Iolande of Betrassus," I told Raven "I ruled her out because she's a Green Lantern, and divided loyalties aside I'd rather avoid any contact with Green Lantern Core".

Raven needed no explanation for the image in the next crystal.

"That's your ex," she stated.

"Jessica is the daughter of Wonder Woman who is the Princess of the Amazons, even if Jessica is illegitimate she is a member of the royal family" I said "But given our history and that Wonder Woman doesn't seem to be a fan of mine I've ruled her out".

Raven inspected the next image.

"That's just a pod" she pointed out "At least I think it is".

It was more than that.

"The pod contains a Kryptonian called Kara Zor-El" I informed my student "She's one of the last of her kind and Superman's cousin. I found her in the Phantom Zone and I used my Sling Ring to move her to the White-Gold Tower".

Not directly. I'd brought her first and then transported her to my realm. I wasn't skilled enough to do it more directly.

"She's not a princess, however, the House of El were something of a noble family on Krypton so she qualifies," I said.

She was close enough to a noblewoman for my divination efforts to have located her.

"I've decided to keep her as a bartering tool with the Justice League," I said to Raven "They aren't going to like that I've gained a kingdom and suddenly quit The Team. Handing over Supergirl could smooth things over between us. She's safe in stasis and just cracking open the pod might be unwise".

Raven didn't express if she was bothered by the idea of me using a person as a chip at the bargaining table. Instead, she began inspecting the next image.

"Here we have Princess Amethyst, or Amy Winston as she is known here on Earth. As a small infant her parents, the rulers of the House of Amethyst on Gemworld, were both murdered by a villain called Dark Opal. She was rescued by a witch named Citrina who escaped with her to Earth" I told Raven "As you can see she's too young to be married and seems content living in this realm so I decided to leave her alone once I'd found out more about her".

We moved on.

"That's a big woman" Rachel commented.

Bit of an understatement.

"This is Queen Maxima, she's seeking a mate to father some children strong enough to rule her dominion, which makes her unsuited for my needs as she wants a prince-consort to live in her kingdom, as does the fact that she's seeking someone with physical power" I informed my student "Years ago she set out to make the Man of Steel her husband, but he was too busy simping for Lois Lane even back then".

As a sorcerer, I was far too squishy for her tastes.

"Of course, I ruled out Aquagirl, the daughter of Aquaman & Mera as she's only a baby," I said.

Not that this age difference would prevent a royal

match under other circumstances, but I needed a queen now not in twenty years.

"Next up we have Jennifer Morgan, the daughter of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Morgan, the man known in the realm of Skartaris as Warlord. Lady Jennifer is the Supreme Sorceress in Skartaris and she aids her father when he needs her talents, so she wouldn't pack up and move here" I told Raven "We will get to meet her as she's coming to the White-Gold Tower to talk about some sort of treaty".

I didn't even bother talking about Queen Bee, who was a petty tyrant ruling over some country I knew nothing about. If nothing else she already had a kingdom.

"Morgan La Fey also qualifies, as she is the sister of King Aruther, but I can't get a clear idea of her location" I mentioned.

Raven must have some idea of who that witch was as she didn't ask about her.

"So, Master, did you find any suitable candidates?" she inquired.

"I have, my student," I confirmed.

This time I showed her the image of Blackfire, who would be well-known to any fan of the Teen Titans.

"This is Princess Komand'r, the oldest child of the current Tamaranean royal family," I told Rachel "Like Kryptonians a Tamaranean can absorb energy from a sun to fuel their powers, but they don't have a weakness to magic, which will be important for my queen as pretty much everything in our realm is magical".

And I mean it that way as Raven was my ward and therefore part of the royal family of Pholubalm, or rather what would be the royal family.

"If she's the oldest won't she inherit her parent's throne?" wondered Raven "You need a princess who isn't the heir to a throne".

That should be the case.

"Normally you would be correct, however Komand'r, or Blackfire as her name translates, isn't the heir to the throne, she was passed over for her sister Koriand'r, known as Starfire, someone who alternate versions of you know quite well" I informed my student.

While she hid it well behind her stoic personality, I could tell that Raven wanted to hear more, and I was rather enjoying the chance to educate my student.

"In other versions of this world rather than have the team that I was part of there's a group called the Teen Titans," I mentioned "Alternate versions of you and Starfire are part of that group and they are how your father is defeated in most timelines, sometimes with help from other powerful figures".

Not this was important right now, and it was something I'd told her a bit about in the past.

"In this universe, Starfire is the crown princess and her parents are still ruling, so she's at home growing into her future role," I said "As for Blackfire she's a prisoner of the Citadel. I don't have a complete understanding of what happened, but it seems in this timeline King Myand'r sold his daughter to some alien invaders as part of a peace treaty. Keeping his favourite daughter as his heir. Not that Blackfire was an innocent soul in all of this. She did try to kill her sister when they were training as warriors".

Raven listened as I spoke further.

"I don't understand Tamaranean, as my powers only let me understand all human languages, however, I've learned enough to know that Blackfire, is a bit of a hedonist, an egotist and not as clever as she thinks she is. I think with a magical oath, a bit of bribery and a lot of flattery I can convince her to become my future queen".

She was certainly beautiful enough for the role and she was a princess who wasn't going to inherit anything so she had no reason to feel conflicted about ruling a realm not of her birth.

"Do you want someone who might be unstable?" wondered Raven.

I could understand her concern.

"She's not a Kryptonian, but Tamaraneans are powerful beings, and the realm needs a strong queen. One who I can exert some control over" I replied.

I figured that Blackfire would respond to attempts to flatter her ego. I could offer to have statues made in her honour, to gift her with treasure and to have people praise her name.

"As for alliances. I'll have chances to make alliances when the diplomats arrive" I said "Besides, freeing her from captivity ought to earn me some goodwill".

Raven studied the image of the alien princess who was in a cell within some sort of alien fortress that had been made from stone.

"She's pretty," she remarked.

I thought so too and felt it better not to comment.

"She's different than the rest of her people" I stated "And despite being an alien we should be able to make babies".

Such hybrids existed out in the multiverse, such as Mari Kara Grayson, the daughter of Richard Grayson (Nightwing) and his wife, Kori (Starfire).

"Since the two of us won't show up on any security systems I figure that we should go have a word with her and make the offer" I said.

Raven agreed to come along if only out of curiosity about the potential future queen, and before we left I decided to make use of my Grimore to see what it could offer.

500cp

+100cp

600cp

Bank or Roll?

I might as well roll

-0cp

Free

Telepathy

Lyrical Nanoha

You have a magical chat network! You can communicate mentally with a willing subject, even if they otherwise lack the capability and range of this particular magic. You can't force them to do anything except listen to you, but this mind-to-mind communication network has a range across dimensions. Note that your mental communication can be intercepted like radio transmissions would, and you can be shut out by someone unwilling to listen to you.

It didn't take long to figure out how to use this new talent. I had some experience with mental magics.

"Testing, testing 1,2,3"

Raven jumped as if I'd shocked her with a bit of electricity and rather than explain verbally or telepathically I let her read the entry.

"This can be very useful" she stated "But if people can intercept telepathic transmissions we should restrain use for when on missions or if someone is in danger".

Mostly what I'd been thinking.

"And for pranking people" I insisted "Megan in my old team can do something similar and I'd love to see her face when she discovers it's a trick you can replicate with magic".

Raven's slight smirk let me know she found the idea amusing.

"First we need to make sure my princess isn't in another castle," I said.

She didn't get that reference so I decided to simply get going.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 39.

Alien Fortress. Unknown Planet.

I felt sure that this xenos stronghold had all sorts of defences beyond merely having firm walls. Perhaps it was protected by automated weapons linked to sophisticated targeting sensors and there were sentries out there ever watchful for hostiles.

The internal parts of this fortress could be the same. For all I knew even with the warding magic that kept me hidden from electronic eyes, my motions or heat could have been detected and who knew what kind of booby traps the Citadel used.

Not that any of it mattered when you had Sling Rings and scrying crystals as you can decide exactly where you would appear. If done right you can use a Sling Ring to bypass all sorts of defences and combined with Enochian warding magic you can render most security useless.

Despite this, I'd been prepared for the alarms to go off as while Raven and I couldn't be seen on cameras, Enochian sigils FTW, they would be able to see the portal and perhaps detect that there were more people in the cell than there should be.

Had any alarms gone off we couldn't hear them and Blackfire seemed curious about our presence rather than concerned about anything, so I took it to mean she wasn't expecting the guards to pour in through the doors and kill us all.

Given that we had just appeared in her cell it was understandable for Blackfire to be curious about us and since she would no doubt want to hear what I had to say because it could lead to her being freed from this place I decided to kiss her once she wasn't gagged.

Had Komand'r been a female of a different race this would have been a very creepy thing for me to do as she was restrained, or kinky if she was into that sort of thing, but I had a very good reason for doing what I just did.

People from Tamaran could learn any language through lip contact. This is seen in the Teen Titan movie Trouble in Tokyo when Starfire kisses a Japanese boy to learn the language

"Why did you just kiss her?" Raven asked.

It wasn't me who answered her.

"My people can learn new languages using lip contact," Blackfire told Raven.

An ability to envy as learning languages is hard. I was just glad I got to cheat with magic.

"What do you do if they don't have lips?" Raven wondered.

An interesting question, just not important right now.

"Perhaps you ladies can discuss biological abilities another time," I stated before focusing my attention on the captive "Blackfire, I'm here to bargain".

The alien hottie moved enough to draw attention to her restraints.

"I'm in no position to refuse," she pointed out.

In my view, no one deserves to live like this. Killing

her would have been kinder than selling her into slavery. Granted her father might have given her over to end a war, I wasn't sure of the details, but still, it seemed wrong.

"Princess, I'll free you regardless of your choice" I promised "Just hear me out first".

Since she has nothing to lose by doing so the alien babe did her best to relax.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

Best get to the point.

"I've recently become the leader of a small nation" I answered "And I require a queen, someone to rule when I'm not around, and to provide me with heirs".

Blackfire looked me up and down.

"You look more like a mage to me" she commented.

Since they had Sorcerer-Priests on Mars it wasn't shocking to hear that they might have mages on Tamaranean or once had visited her world.

"I only recently became king and it was because of magic," I said "I am primarily a sorcerer, which is one of the reasons why I need a queen who was raised to rule".

The scrying crystals wouldn't have shown me her image if Blackfire didn't know how to be a queen, and it was at this point I realised that I had not made proper introductions. This was no way to treat a princess.

I gestured to my apprentice before speaking again.

"This is Raven, my student and ward," I told the alien hottie "I am Archon Gothic of Pholubalm. I am the King and Sorcerer Supreme of that realm".

If Blackfire was impressed she hid it well and she had no real to feel impressed as my titles meant nothing to her.

"And you want me to be your queen" she stated.

She paused for a moment.

"What's in it for me?" she asked "I get my freedom if I say no, so why should I care what you want?".

A good question.

"You were born to be a queen," I answered "As for what you want, you just have to name it. I can offer you riches, servants, statues raised in your honour, I have a million subjects to rule over".

I let that sink in for a moment.

"What do you want?" I asked, "You'll find I am a very resourceful man".

She smiled at me.

"I'll be your queen if you help me get revenge" she offered "I want my father dead for what he did and these slavers too".

That was quite understandable.

"I have a big enough army to take on the slavers here, but I can't go to war with Tamaranean," I told her.

Not that I would attack a world full of people for the actions of one man.

"You got in here to reach me I'm sure you can get to my father" said Blackfire "I want him kneeling at my feet before he finds out what it is like to have a member of your family hurt you as I was hurt".

I considered my options.

"Why not let me exile him somewhere unpleasant" I offered "Let him lose everything as you have. Let him wander alone and broken".

If she killed her father it wouldn't go well for her. Vengeance is never satisfied so best to try for some kind of justice.

"The best revenge can be to live well" I was now saying "You can be a better queen than your sister and be the mother of a dynasty".

Blackfire mulled over my words.

"Fine, but these slavers need to die for what they have done" she insisted.

I had no problem with taking out some alien slavers.

"And I want the other stuff you mentioned" Blackfire went on to say "You know the statues, the jewels and so on. In return, I'll give you a few bumgorfs, and be the beautiful queen who people admire".

I hoped that meant children and didn't translate fully.

"You'll need to take a magical vow just to make sure you keep the interests of the kingdom's welfare in mind" I warned.

Best to make sure she was aware of that before we left.

"Why would I hurt the people who are going to make me their queen?" she asked.

A logical person wouldn't, but the desire for revenge, to free oneself from the shame of being so badly treated, can lead to people doing some very illogical things, and it rarely if ever ends well.

"Let's get out of here" I said "Once the army is ready you can come back and repay these slavers for their hospitality".

I had Minotaur shock troops at my command and battle mages so I wasn't worried about taking on some alien assholes. Taking on a planet full of advanced aliens was a different matter.

Using a powerful spell from the school of Alteration I freed Blackfire, and she took a little time to stretch her limbs.

Before anything else could happen, I held out the magical contract she needed to sign.

"It formalises what we discussed" I explained.

She didn't read English just because she could speak it and she didn't seem to care about that.

"You get to be the queen with all the privileges that are involved, in return, I agree to give you what you want" I explained "You can't be with any other men, but I don't care if you want to fool around with your handmaidens if that is to your taste".

Overall the contract was a bit vague, what mattered was that it would stop her from harming my people or allowing them to be harmed. It also required her to be loyal to me and to provide me with heirs.

"It won't stop me from hurting you if this is a trick" she stated.

No, it wouldn't, but I would not break my word and she couldn't go against me as long as I didn't.

"Signed" she said, "Now get me out of here".

Raven created a portal right into my throne room. A few members of the court were waiting for me to return. No doubt there were matters of state to attend to.

"Chancellor Ocato, this lady is Princess Blackfire of Tamaranean," I told the Altmer "She's agreed to a betrothal. I would like her to be settled here in the tower and I want a strike force prepared. Her former hosts need to be taught how to treat a princess".

The details of the attack could be hammered out later. Given the standard of most DC bad guys, I felt sure that Raven, Blackfire and I should have been able to handle them.

I wasn't going to miss the chance for my Legion to get some proper experience in combat, and it would have been foolish to assume we simply could destroy the slavers with ease despite how powerful I'd become.

"It will be done, sire" he promised.

The Chancellor signalled for a few serving girls to attend to Princess Blackfire before he addressed me. Soon after that Raven excused herself, wishing to go back to her studies now that her lesson with me was over.

"Sire, the first of the visiting diplomats will arrive at the White-Gold Tower in the morning" I was informed "We have three visitor ships docked at the Waterfront. One from the Amazons, one from Skartaris, and the last is from Atlantis".

I was not looking forward to meeting with any Amazons.

"What will the Amazons want?" I asked, "I know you mentioned this before, I just want to know if there are any changes".

The details of the non-aggression treaty would not be decided by me I just had to approve of them. This was for the best as I doubted the Amazons would respond well to me if Wonder Woman was anything to go by.

"I've assigned Councilor Itinia and Councilor Jirich to talk with the Amazon delegates" The Chancellor let me know "I felt it best for female members of the council to handle the talks. The Amazons are self-sufficient so they won't wish to trade with us, just some assurances that we will leave them alone. They'd be more trouble than it is worth to conquer".

I could agree with that.

"Once I've approved of the terms I just sign the treaty," I said.

The Chancellor nodded.

"Yes, Sire, but there will be a short introduction before the talks" I was reminded "They will offer some gifts from their homeland, locally made goods we assume. Since they are a warrior people our gift to them will be some weapons. We have more than enough for our needs".

The Amazon Nation was involved with the UN, I'd seen that on the news, but this wasn't Earth so they would handle us differently, and I was all for them staying out of my business.

"I'm surprised that Atlantis even cares we exist or has even noticed us," I admitted.

Or they that had any knowledge of realms outside of the main universe. Perhaps the Amazons had shared that information.

"From what their messenger told me the royal family of Atlantis is thinking along the same lines as the Amazons," Chancellor Ocato explained "They have enough to be getting on with on Earth and simply wish to know that we won't bother them".

Which we wouldn't because Atlantis was a nation that could threaten mine. They had sophisticated technology as well as magic. I'd be a fool to do anything other than accept a treaty of non-aggression.

Should the Justice League for some reason want to remove me from power, which was looking less likely the more I learned about politics, they would have to do without the aid of Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Doctor Fate would be unlikely to go against me either since we had a good arrangement going.

"So we exchange some gifts, I sign a treaty that can be best summed as 'you leave us alone and we'll do the same, and then we part ways" I summarised.

Chancellor Ocato seemed amused for a moment and then became much more serious.

"Yes Sire, that is the core of it" he said "Once you strip away all the ceremony and diplomatic talk. However, the Skartarians are going to be a bit more difficult to handle".

Skartaris is a land supposed to exist within the core of the Earth and is the setting of the adventures of Warlord. It is bowl-shaped, and the sun never sets but is always in the middle of the sky. The properties of time are slightly skewed in Skartaris, due to its unique properties.

Although it was originally believed that Skartaris existed within the Center of the Earth, Warlord would later discover that it exists within a separate dimension that is sometimes accessible from the rest of the world. Something I knew from my studies.

"The Warlord of Skartaris, who has sent the delegation, is currently at war with a wizard known as Deimos, who rules over the city-state of Thera, the Warlord is seeking allies and the Legion could tip the balance of power if it were deployed" Chancellor Ocato informed me "Deimos, who seeks to expand his rule to all of Skartaris, not just his city-state has not sent anyone to speak with us, but if he does it could cause problems with the Warlord".

I would not assume that Travis Morgan was the good guy. You don't get named Warlord by being nice to people. I knew a little about Deimos and Morgan in the DCAU, from the episode Chaos in Earth's Core, but just because Deimos was seen as an evil sorcerer in that timeline it didn't mean it was true here. I didn't even think he was a real mage in that timeline.

Even if Deimos was a dark wizard, so what? Was it my business to get involved?

"What do you think, Chancellor?" I questioned.

The Altmer must have given this some thought as he didn't need time to think.

"I'd suggest, sire, that you learn all you can," he advised "If this Deimos is some sort of Dark Lord and he conquerers Skartaris, he might not be content. Of course, the same might be true of this warlord".

Sound advice.

"Perhaps I should visit Skartaris" I mused.

I had been meaning to go there as the more dimensions I visited the more dimensions I could link people to when I wanted to make them into members of the Order of Mystic Masters.

"If this Warlord is seeking allies he would welcome a visit," said Chancellor Ocato "I'd normally advise against such a stay, but with your ability to create portals you'd be able to get there quickly and you'd be able to quickly retreat if the natives of that realm become hostile".

Upon giving it some thought I made a choice.

"Let's see how the talks with the delegates go first" I decided "And I'll need to formalise the arrangements with Blackfire before taking such a trip".

Ocato excused himself, pressing a need to be elsewhere, and I decided to go back to my studies before turning in for the night.

As I began to move my Grimoire appeared, wanting my attention.

600cp

+100cp

700cp

Bank or Roll?

I decided to roll.

-400cp

300cp

Seer

Harry Potter

You are a true seer. You occasionally make correct prophecies regarding those around you, although you do not remember them at first. You can also make correct, useful predictions in your day-to-day life through divination. Real seers are highly prized and celebrated.

Well, this was something that would make my divination efforts more successful and it was worth finding out what I could do as a Seer.