.^^ More Seth ^^

— Seth —

I began Warding my basement immediately, against any and all outside forces, especially the Realm of Dreams. I wanted to be able to sleep without any further interruptions.

'Why make the Boy the Leader?' Briar asked.

"He's young. Leading will shape him... either into a Man, or a Monster. I'm hoping a Man, and that way he can lead the Sorcerers of that city to a future that doesn't involve utter annihilation. I told you I didn't want to cause a Genocide, but these murdering fucks need to either get in line, be good little boys and girls, or get cut off." I growled.

He hummed. 'It sounds not unlike an autocracy.'

"If that's the way it's gotta be, to keep the Balance, and to keep these fuckers from murdering babies in their cribs, I can handle being an Autocrat or a Dictator, or even an Implacable, Iron-Fisted Emperor, if I must." I nodded, and continued the warding.

'I see... interesting... your morals are more strongly rooted than I thought.'

"I have a very clear concept of right, wrong, and questionable, yes. Black,white, and grey... but I also understand the concept that the Blue-Orange morality exists, and you are one of the beings who subscribes to it, which is why I haven't really had any issues with you, and your constant whispering in my ears, with all the 'murder them' nonsense." I chuckled.

I added another layer to the spells in the warding, providing clarity of mind, and freedom from interfering thoughts. Instantly, the Briar's voice disappeared.

"An Interesting warding, but it also silenced ME."

"Then it worked." I nodded, and stepped back, finishing. The warding pulsed twice, first red, then Gold, and Adelaide rushed down the stairs, a fireball raised above her head.

I blinked at her slowly. "What are you doing?"

The fireball dwindled and fizzled out. "Oh... sorry... I felt someone doing magic. You need any help?" She asked, recovering some dignity.

"No... all good-oh! Hey, actually, how would I go about using those portals of yours to make a permanent connection that only I could use? Like, magical biometrics, or something?" I asked.

She hummed, coming fully into the room. I blinked, seeing her soul as a eggshell white, with small whispers of grey around the edges. "What?" She asked, glancing down at herself.

"I can see your soul. I'm just surprised it's so pure... impressive." I shrugged.

"Oh...Kay? Where'd you learn that?"

"The Archangel Michael showed me, earlier." I shrugged, and slowly began building a door, with a keypad, that would lead into nothing.

She hummed. "Okay, Fine, keep your secrets. Don't worry about me."

"The day I am tempted to lie to you, I will simply not answer your question. When I say something to an ally, it's the truth." I looked at her sternly.

She blinked. "You're serious, then? You met an Archangel?"

"And tried to fight him... got my ass handed to me! It was quite comical." I chuckled.

"I was not amused."

"Nope, you were scared shitless, the moment he showed up!" I smirked.

She laughed. "Well, we're lucky he didn't kill you. What was he here for?"

"Apparently, some council or other was congratulating me for destroying the Thorn, and promised not to try to kill me, for now." I shrugged. "Anyway! Magic door? Magic lock on magic door? How?"

She nodded, focusing. "Alright... it's rather simple. The portal is attached to the doorframe. When the door is closed, there's no sign of the portal, on either side, as the door fills the frame entirely. When it opens, the portal is clear to be traveled."

"And the Lock? Something only the Order can travel through?" I asked.

She nodded. "You want a direct line? We can do that, and yes, the Sanctum has its own Arcane Protections, but more never hurt anyone, Yeah? Here." She opened her Grimoire, and showed me a Sigil to summon a Talkative One. "This, upside down..." she flipped it, and the Sigil was a very basic,-and very powerful,- Druid's Lock.

"Oh!... now that is nifty... hidden knowledge in the little hidden book. I like it. Many layers of secrecy." I nodded, and began branding the doorframe and door of the portal I was building out of Black Iron, filling the engravings with silver.

The doorframe was covered in a long, continuous form of the Portal Sigil, almost like a Celtic knot pattern, while the door was covered in one giant version of the Druid's Lock, as well as the rim was covered in hundreds of tiny hexagons, the warding from the Summoning room, connected to the frame by unbreakable Bonds, which only opened for Solomon's Key.

"Nice work! I'll head over to the Sanctum, to place it properly, and see if it functions properly." Adelaide grinned, and waved her hand, stepping through her own.

The last piece, once she was gone, was the one that would feed me, so I didn't have to worry about being enticed by the Veil again. The part that would be perpetually submerged in the Veil was covered in a different Sigil, the same type of Sigil from the Circle, which drained power and gave it to the owner. I made it the weakest possible version, that way, each would only drain a little bit, and the collective 2000 of them would constantly feed me a decent amount of Veil Energy.

The doorframe shivered, and I closed it, then opened it again, coming face-to-face with Adelaide. "Huh. Hullo. Welcome back." I opened the door, and she smiled, stepping through... or attempting to. She was bounced back, and I hummed. "Maybe I made it too powerful... here." I reached a hand through, and pulled her in, which worked, as it opened to allow me through.

"No such thing as too powerful." She grinned, and nodded. "But there you go! Anything else?"

"No, nothing I can think of." I shook my head.

She nodded. "Then I'll be upstairs, with Gale... call if you need anything!" She jogged upstairs happily.

I nodded and created another door, this one keyed into the Office, under the tattoo Parlor, and then went through Paulie's papers, in the safe, and found the deeds and such. I grabbed them all, and walked through, up to the Clerk, the little Wraith, while Tempest, (who had been napping nearby, watching me work,) went to inspect the Tattoo Artists.

"Have these transferred over to my name immediately. Seth Risorto, should do. The name of my Meatsuit... hm." I handed them over, and write the name down, then my signature. "Handle it immediately, or find the lawyer who can. I'm sure we have a few." I smiled, and looked outside, at the sun. "The sun isn't burning me... polarized glass?"

"Of course, Lord Briar..." she nodded quickly.

"Have the Hyde Park address measured for new glass, as well, all polarized... I'll have it inscribed and installed myself... and lastly, send someone over to the Hyde Park address, a Sorcerer, so I don't have to speak to you about these matters..." I nodded, and walked back into the house, through the four layers of security.

Once inside, I sat back down, in front of the fire, and hummed. "How would I make sunlight no longer harm me?"

"It is impossible. You would have to either become less powerful, or make your Soul align with the Realm of Light, both impossible tasks."

"And what if I changed it so I wasn't aligned with anyone? A neutral party, per se?" I asked.

He was silent for a moment, then he hummed. "Such a thing... would technically be possible... but only if you could find a Neutral Entity to align yourself to, that's how it works."

"So aligning myself with Michael, in theory, would make me no long a Creature Of Darkness, and therefore no longer capable of declaring war."

"Correct... also, aligning yourself with neither would exclude you from the protections of the Treaty entirely."

"So making myself seem less powerful... and doing it well enough to trick Michael, is the better option... what if I stuffed you into a box, in my head, in another Realm, like with your power, that you didn't bring through? I would feel like a normal Sorcerer, wouldn't I?"

"A Lich... but yes... but that would also mean that my power would be nearly inaccessible to you, in a different realm. Only so much power can cross the realms at a time."

"Right, but what if I only had enough power to hold off whatever was powerful enough to make me need your power for a few moments, and then I summon your power through a physical connection, not an Ethereal one, the source of the limitation? That would work, yeah?"

He chuckled. "You mean to create another Realm, and place me inside it, then give yourself access to my Raw Power? Like an enchanted-... sword... ah, I see your plan. Yes, such a thing would be possible... also, the amount of power you would have would be enough for most anything you would find in this realm. Also, Tempest's contract would give you more, without drawing upon mine."

"And if I did that... would I be able to eat again? Normal food? Not... people food?" I asked.

"Your Body does not require nutrition. It would be pointless... but you can eat food, it just won't do anything for you, and it will result in pointless bodily functions." He seemed disgusted by the notion.

"You're an Extradimensional tentacle Monster, Who eats people, and shit disgusts you?" I snorted.

"Does it not disgust you?" He shivered.

I chuckled, and shook my head. "Moving on... lets do this. Leave me the body and armor, though. I like the strength." I began focusing on the gem in the hilt of my sword, creating a Diamond, with an obsidian center, coated in white film, then turning the obsidian sphere into its own tiny, tiny realm.

Then, once the borders of said Realm were defined, I laced them with layers of magic, in the shape of the Solomon's Gate, as well as the Druid's Lock, and the Energy Drain Sigils, and the Hexagonal panels of Solomon's Cage, on both sides of the layer of protections, leaving a tiny sliver of space, so that I would still have some power.

The last step was to make it Symbiotic Magic, which would make my body and the Gem synchronize, and therefore seal away most of my 'Presence', making me a normal Sorcerer, with something of a Massive Trump Card.

It began to synchronize, and I nodded, then slowly stabbed the sword into my chest, grimacing at the twinge of Pain, like a needle. As I pulled it out, the obsidian pulsed, and the diamond turned silver, as I felt the connection finalize, the little realm almost instantly filling with the Briar's true body.

"Interesting concept... he's still connected to you, but he has no more control over your body or mind, and has no way to gain said control... impressive strategy." Michael was sitting in the fireplace again, suddenly, or perhaps he'd been there all along. He didn't have a scent, oddly enough, so it was hard to know.

I chuckled, as the wound slowly healed. "You have a flair for the dramatic, you know that? I almost don't hate it... also, how in the fuck did you get-... you're not actually here, are you? That's why you don't have a scent."

He winked. "I noticed the warding, and while I could've busted through, that felt rude. I'm on the roof, actually."

I nodded, and pressed a hand to the wall, opening a single hexagon. "Come on in."

The image disappeared, replaced by the actual thing, and he grinned. "Interesting spell! I like it... and I see that you took advantage of my spell! Good! All good things!"

"And you have bad news." I nodded, taking a seat on the high-backed chair.

He nodded. "I do... the Council doesn't want to help you."

"Eh, too bad. I'll do it all myself." I shrugged.

He blinked slowly. "That's it?"

I gestured to my body, freshly exorcised by nine other than me. "Do I look like the type of guy who relies on others? I asked because I was impatient. I was pretty sure you guys could just rain down some fire on the Realms, snuff out the bigwigs. If you can't, or don't wanna, I'll just do it the hard way. No big deal, no hard feelings. The original deal stands, Yeah? I keep up my work, you eventually help me be free of the Briar, send him to the Realm of Dreams to rule there, and I become a normal Sorcerer?" I asked casually.

He chuckled. "You're my kind of guy. Direct, casual, hungry for action, impatient, and you don't rely on others... if you weren't a demon's host, I might even say we could be friends."

"If you weren't a constant reminder of my 16 years of desperate, fervent prayer to a false deity that you invented to make people feed you their psychic energy, like a giant coven of inter-dimensional vampires, I might say the same. As it is, you are that, so if we're done here?" I flicked my fingers, opening one of the Hexagons.

He sighed, and nodded. "You know the drawback of so many people believing in us? Lots of disappointment." He stepped back into the flame, and disappeared.

I closed the hexagon, and sighed. "Spy anything fun, Adelaide?"

"I wasn't spying!" She frowned at me as she rounded the chair.

"You didn't announce yourself. Regardless of whether or not I smelled you, that's spying. But I don't really care. What do you need?" I asked.

"I was just investigating the source of Divine Magic... you seem different." She hummed.

"I drew the Briar out of my body. He's still connected to me, but I'm just a Normal Lich, now, or as close as I can get, for now. Can you use this spell on me?" I held out the vellum with the Sight spell on it.

She took it easily, and hummed. "Hmm... this is an interesting spell... care if I share it?"

"Please do. Save me the trouble." I nodded.

She nodded, and pressed a hand to her forehead. A small symbol drew itself there, like a hollow sun, or a third eye with crazy eyelashes and no pupil, then she looked at me, and flinched.

"That Bad?" I chuckled.

"No... Not You, you're a weird Silver... but your sword... dear god..." She shivered, and looked away.

"Mm... give it a moment." I tapped the diamond pommel, and cast a powerful illusion on it, entirely making it invisible, using Tempest's abilities, with Briar's power to fuel it, and sliver of my own soul to add to the ruse. After a moments thought, I did the same to my Grimoire.

She glanced back at it, and blinked. "How did you... it's gone... a faint silver glow, but that's all I can see."

"Good. Is there anything else?" I asked, and retrieved the paper, sliding it into my Grimoire.

She sat down in the chair that Michael had summoned, and hummed. "We need to talk... about some reports I've been getting."

"If they're from the Bronx, they're probably true." I hummed.

"Oh... so you killed Lorenzo Faccit, as well as Helena Faccit, and placed Vincent Faccit in charge of all of your New York Sorcerers?" She asked slowly.

"Correct." I nodded. "The Boy will flourish, or fail... I'd like to know which. If he flourishes, we'll have a person with a soul as pure as yours in charge of New York's Sorcerers. That's important. I don't want to have to kill them all, so getting them morally respectable, on some level, is preferable to genocide, right?"

She nodded swiftly. "Absolutely! But... you can't really expect people to take you seriously about not killing people, when you kill people."

"I never said don't kill people. I ordered them to not kill Good people, and to no longer Corrupt the Uncorrupted. See, Briar is a LOT of Darkness. So, we need an equal amount of Light, or the balance goes wonky. The only way I can think of, is to make sure that the Sorcerers start feeding on evil people, and therefore no longer removing the Light, but the Dark. It's not much in the way of strategy, more of an amateur, impromptu balancing-act, but it's the best I could do in so short a time." I explained.

She blinked. "So... they're going to be making deals with already corrupt people? Towards what goal?"

"Whatever they want. I don't really care. As long as good people aren't getting hurt, my conscience is entirely clear." I shrugged.

She laughed. "The Grey Soul makes sense, now... Alright, well, that makes some sense... but the Order is still going to hunt them down, if they keep Summoning Eldritch Beasts, Demons, and Daemons into this realm."

"And I will be here, dealing with the Sorcerers who break the new rules. I might also go help you on Hunts. When this little Plan comes together, I won't be a Greater Lich anymore, just a normal Sorcerer, with a Lich Dragon as a Bonded Creature. Powerful, Sure, but not a Dark God. Sorry, I won't be the Big Gun anymore." I chuckled.

She blinked. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Michael promised to remove the Briar, and send him to the Realm of Dreams, to rule there, after I killed all 3 Greater Daemons." I nodded at the fire, where he'd disappeared.

She raised an eyebrow. "And he's just going to remove him? No charge, no catches, no loopholes?"

"Well, he's something of a Boy Scout, so when I do him this massive solid, and ask for something he already promised to do, Yeah, I think he will. I have plans for if he tries to do something else, but for now I'll try to... Have Faith." I laughed loudly at the absurd statement.