It was a mere fifteen years that the other gods spent in MR-10’s clockwork universe. Which was enough time for me to meditate on some things, but not nearly enough time for me to fully internalize what I’d been learning. I had to stop myself from falling into a deep state of enlightenment on more than one occasion just so I didn’t miss out on any of the other universes I could go to. In the end, Yueya saved me by being unable to suppress her desire to talk any more.

  Which ended up bringing us to what we were doing now.

  “…and I win once again.” She declared, moving her piece in place and taking my King. I sighed and shook my head, glaring at the game-board she had laid out before us. It was kind of like 4-D chess, but with far more moving parts, and in the shape of a glowing golden globe. Not all of the pieces moved in the way you wanted them to, indicating mortals, while others could only counter specific things, like the elements. The learning curve had been steep, but once I got the hang of it, it was fairly fun. Though there was just one issue with it…

  It was hilariously difficult to defeat Yueya.

  “I admit, you are a far better strategist than I,” I told her. Her armies had strategically positioned themselves around the defensive formation I’d made – even the mortals had somehow come into line to assist in the assault, and I’d been completely and hilariously annihilated. She crossed her arms and tilted her head up, looking down at me smugly.

  “You’re getting better,” she told me, words completely at odds with how smug she looked. I just chuckled and shook my head, dusting my robes off as I stood. The game before us vanished, the four-foot globe it had been encased in shrinking down to palm size and coming to rest on a ring on Yueya’s finger. She smiled at it, then beamed back at me. To the side, her plus one, Astraea, rolled her eyes and resumed her conversation with Shin’s plus one, the samurai-looking girl sans armor named Ze.

  And just like that, the portal to MR-10’s world opened. Through it I could hear the ticking of clocks, my eyes catching sight of a giant clockwork mechanism in the center of a string of code – flowing through all reality in ordered rows – and then it was closed, and everyone was back in the meeting room. The Emperor muttered something to himself and sat heavily in his throne-like chair, while Nyxteria clacked its beak a few times, observing a tiny crystal that held what looked like a tiny clock within as it floated before it.

  Nyxteria and souvenirs. I thought, folding my hands into the sleeves of my robes – only to stiffen as Yueya linked her arm in mine.

  “Judging by your reactions to MR-10’s clockwork universe, I believe it would be wise to enter my universe next,” Shin said, nodding to the Progenitor, who pulsed once. “Am I wrong, Statera?” he asked. I blinked, looking down at Yueya, who was already tugging me forward toward Shin, then at the assembled deities, who were all watching me closely.

  I narrowed my eyes at them. They wanted me to confirm? Or were they testing me? I focused on Shin as the portal to his universe opened behind him, allowing me more information, and nodded.

  “Yes. For most of us. I would say MR-10, Emperor, and Reilly shouldn’t go. But myself, Yueya, and the Progenitor should all absolutely go. The others have free choices, it would be beneficial for each of you, but equally beneficial to stay here.” I explained.

  “Not going to include me?” The Primeval Dragon yawned, startling me with the fact that she was, in fact, awake.

  “I wouldn’t dream of telling a dragon what to do,” I said dryly, earning myself a genuine chuckle from the Dragon. The sound set the hairs on the back of my neck to standing on end, and a shot of adrenaline to pumping through my veins, my shoulders squaring.

  “Then you begin to understand me.” She said, huffing smoke out of her nose.

  “I have one amendment to that statement.” Mr. Boxes suddenly said. “As impressive as Statera Luotian’s eyes are, things can be missed. There is no ill-gain for Reilly if he doesn’t go, and Sylphina should likewise refrain from entering the Wheel Realm.” I blinked and nodded my appreciation to Mr. Boxes. Now that I was looking again, he was right. Sylphina, the chaos butterfly, flapped its wings once.

  “Worry not. I had no intentions to enter Shin’s realm. I am enjoying conversing with those here for the moment.” Her piece said, she turned to resume her meditation on the back of her chair. I could see a hint of frustration swirling about her like an orange cloud – wait, no, that was actually an orange cloud that had been produced by her wingbeat. I furrowed my brows. Huh. I actually couldn’t tell what she was feeling. Who woulda figured a god of chaos would be hard to get a handle on?

  “Then let us go,” Shin said, and vanished into the portal. I hesitated for only a moment, stopping Yueya from pulling me along. The Cycle. That was what Shin and, by extension, his Wheel Realm represented. The Progenitor followed Shin into his portal, and I closed my eyes for a moment.

  I had not been wrong in leaving my children out of the meeting proper. But things had changed. I had been under the impression you could not swap them out until Reilly brought Steward back, and one of my children...I hesitated to say they would benefit from visiting the Wheel Realm. I could see it going both ways, and that made me nervous enough to almost toss away the idea then and there. But I couldn't. I needed to have faith in my children, and this had the potential to resolve some of my karma, thus making it easier to free myself from it.

  My other children, too, should speak to or visit - I mentally slapped myself. I needed to stop thinking about things from a cost/benefit point of view. There was really only one choice here. It was killing too many birds with one stone.

  “Mr. Boxes,” I said softly, opening my eyes and spotting Yueya watching me with furrowed brows. “If I may make a request…”

  It was noisy now, in Shin’s domain. So many had come. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves walked about in his inner sanctum, the great stag sniffing at the various blueprints and schematics that lined the workbenches. Nyxteria cocked its head at the gleaming white star that hung in the sky above, visible through a pane of black-tinted glass and illuminating his workspace. The Progenitor pulsed as he appeared above Shin’s desk, the ball of light simply floating there, observing the chaotic wall of storm-like wind that made up the walls of his home.

  He had made his place in the center of the Wheel, hidden by the great churning storm that formed as the Wheel turned. The perfect spot for him to manipulate from the shadows.

  Ze tried to corral their plus-ones, the great feathered beast that was the Progenitor’s creation seeming inherently intrigued by Shin’s desk.

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  “Is that everyone?” he asked, surprising himself with his disappointment at Statera’s absence. That disappointment was short-lived, however, as Yueya Oshun slipped through with a smile, still dragging Statera by the hand.

  “Easy now, Reika.” He said, voice strong and firm as he looked over his shoulder. “Watch your step here.” Through the portal behind him stepped a dark-skinned girl with green hair, flowers of multiple elemental essences glittering in the light. Her expression was one of bewilderment and confusion, though she still managed to maintain a sense of calm decorum. Yueya squealed in excitement and released Statera, immediately dashing over to the storm, the raging winds calming in her presence for just a moment before increasing in intensity.

  “You switched your plus one,” Shin noted dryly, meeting Statera’s eyes. He beamed.

  “I did. Shin, this is Reika. Reika, this is Shin, the Origin Deity of this Realm.” Statera said, introducing the two. Shin watched the girl as she approached, meeting his gaze fearlessly and bowing her head. He took note of her power, first and foremost. She was…powerful. An equal to Ze, his favored attendant, if not slightly lesser.

  “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I admit to being surprised to have been called. I was under the impression that it would be unwise for me to see certain things for this…meeting.” Reika said, curtseying formally. Shin drummed his skeletal fingers together. Statera was not wrong about many things, it was starting to seem, so long as he could see it. Which meant Reika was likely here to improve some aspect of herself…Life. Her godly domain was life. Yet it seemed in flux. Ah, he was starting to understand now.

  …then it was time for a carrot. A favor, for Statera. It was never bad to have favors owed. No, perhaps that was not quite right. Statera had done Reilly a favor with what they had discussed; it is perhaps better to call it an investment, in the hopes he can see something Shin has overlooked. The thing that made Statera’s progression higher than all others.

  “You’re overthinking it,” Shin deduced, staring directly at her. She blinked her eyes at him, and he noticed they were nearly as expressive, if not quite as piercing as, Statera’s own. “Your domain. You’re overthinking it. It is not so different as you imagine, life and death.” And with that, he turned away, meeting Ze’s eyes as his faithful warrior moved over to collect Reika. Said girl sighed behind him, and he felt a shift in her domain. Though it wasn’t complete, now she was on the right track again to achieving what he assumed she was going after. Good. He had not lost his touch, it seemed.

  A quick side-eye at Statera showed the god smiling at his…daughter, as he called her, the more complex karmic strings that bound him to her slowly untangling. He was inspired by Reilly. Shin realized.

  “Lord Shin,” the Progenitor began, pulsing with light. “I have many, questions about, the turning.”

  “So do I!” Yueya chirped, perking her head up from where she’d stuck her head into the storm-like wall. Her fiery red hair whipped about her head madly, yet still appearing immaculately beautiful. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves snorted in amusement and raised his head, his antlers somehow avoiding the myriad shelves that hovered in the air above him.

  “Follow me. We will ascend somewhere with a better view.” Shin said. Shadows swirled about his feet as he pushed upward, the glass ceiling opening up. The others all floated upward of their own power, save for the plus-ones, who respectively were protected by their deities. The storm outside was strong enough to destroy even them, after all – save for Reika and Ze, who ascended of their own power.

  The materials of creation rushed by them in a howling rage, primordial chaos churning in an endless rage as they flew upward – finally bursting through the storm and into the empty sky above. Only when they reached the proper height, near the barrier that separated the Wheel Realm from the Void, created by the spinning of the Wheel itself, did he stop and look back down upon his Realm.

  From their position here they could see the true structure of it all, as opposed to the churning, chaotic mass that was the usual sight.

  The realm of life lay to the right, gleaming like a beam of white light. Worlds churned and spun, full of mortal lives that went about their days heedless of the truth of their lives. To the left lay the afterlife. To his eyes it appeared black, souls flowing about and mirroring the lives of the realm of life on their plane - albeit at a far slower pace. They rotated around each other, the great storm of primordial chaos in the middle fueling their growth, the great ball of light, that which he called the Guiding Light, floating above it guiding souls to and from their respective lives. And between the two lay a single line of grey; the space between the two, life and death, life and afterlife.

  “This is the wheel realm,” Shin said, linking his fingers together. Ze came to stand beside him, hands clasped before her and expression neutral. “Everything here moves in cycles. Powerful souls from the afterlife can become stronger in life, and vice versa.”

  Silence stretched for a brief moment as all the deities soaked in the structure of the Wheel Realm. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves lifted his head to fixate his gaze upon Shin, shattering the silence the moment he opened his mouth. “Is that it? All you have to say?” I forgot to keep talking. Shin realized with a start.

  “I apologize.” Shin bowed his head sheepishly. “I am usually the one being asked the question, not providing comprehensive, all-encompassing explanations. Perhaps if you have any questions, I might be able to provide better insights as to what you are looking at.”

  “So he’s an introvert.” Yueya said, smiling kindly at Shin. “I, for one, think your Realm is quite beautiful, Shin.” Shin nodded his thanks for the compliment, watching the turning of the Realm. It was quite beautiful, was it not?

  “How do, souls travel, from life to life?” The Progenitor asked.

  “Naturally. The spinning of the Realm sends souls from one to the other.” Shin supplied.

  “Some must fall through the cracks though, or get stuck. How do you deal with those?” Rising Wind, Crashing Waves mused, stomping one foot and flaring his nostrils. It was not an expression of frustration, but of interest, Shin noted.

  “That is where I and my subordinates come in,” Ze answered, stepping forward and giving Shin a polite nod. He gracefully stepped back and out of the spotlight, immediately feeling better now that not all the attention was placed upon him. “We keep an eye on those souls that slipped through the cracks, as you say, and bring them back into the cycle when they stray too far. The Grey area you see is the crack they fall into most often – Lord Shin has advised us to let it neither get too full nor too empty.”

  “And how to souls react to being there? I imagine it is like stagnation.” Statera asked.

  “Not too poorly. Many actually come to enjoy the space, and greatly resist being moved.” Ze said.

  And so the conversation went, with Shin taking a back seat for much of it, and Ze providing a more in-depth commentary. He only occasionally stepped in to add additional information, or gently correct some of Ze’s statements. There were surprisingly many of those – it seemed he had to get better at communicating, because a few things he felt certain Ze knew turned out to be wrong. Thankfully she took his corrections in stride – he may be the true mastermind behind the Wheel Realm, but he wouldn’t dream of undermining her authority in front of her subordinates. In this case, however, they were in front of beings that were his equal.

  He would not feed them misinformation.

  “…hearing all that, I have only one suggestion, really, concerning the expansion rate of the Wheel Realm. Right now it’s very stable, but it could be bolstered more.” Yueya said during a lull in conversation. Ze stiffened, clearly a little miffed at the insinuation anyone could improve upon Shin’s design, but he laid a skeletal hand on her shoulder to calm her. “The grey area. Make more of them; I can visualize three more, criss-crossing the structure. Like the spokes of a wheel. See the edges far away from the current grey area? Space is bending there, threatening to collapse. A few more structural supports between life and afterlife would stabilize the growth and rotation.” She explained.

  If Shin could feel embarrassed, he would have blushed as he looked down upon his realm. Such a simple solution. And she was, of course, correct. Now that he was looking, reality at the edges of his Realm, closest to the Void, was strongest near the grey line, and got weaker the further away one got. It was called the Wheel Realm. All it needed was a few more spokes.

  “I thank you for your input,” Shin said, bowing slightly to her. It seemed this would be a very productive session, indeed.