The Outlands

Tess entered the room apprehensively, a somewhat worried Fortune seeing her off.

“Hey there, Tess.” Amy said, straightening up and setting down a tool. She had been hunched over a desk of some sort, working on some piece of machinery that Tess couldn’t figure out the purpose of. “Glad you’re feeling comfortable enough to come talk to me.”

Tess blinked in surprise. “Really? You’re not mad that I’m bothering you?”

“Of course not.” Amy laughed. “I wouldn’t get mad at any of the gods, and the Appointed are essentially the same in my eyes. You guys handle the physical work, they handle the spiritual. Neither of you would be as effective without the other, so it wouldn’t do to treat you differently. Actually…I should give you my contact details. Here, hand me your phone.”

Tess walked over to Amy and hesitantly handed her phone over. “Um, do you need the password?”

Amy held the phone in her hand for a moment, then handed it back, having not even turned the screen on. “No need, I’m done.”

Tess took the phone back, slightly relieved to find that none of Amy’s slime had stayed on the phone. “Really?”

“Please, if I couldn’t do this sort of thing, I wouldn’t be in charge.” Amy said. “When you get back, will you give the number to Ellie and Maven, too? And make sure to let them know that I’m open to talk any time.”

“Actually, that was one of the things I was gonna ask about.” Tess said. “I, um, actually have three requests, if that’s okay.”

Amy chuckled. “I’m not some fairytale wish granter.” She said, a mischievous look on her face. “You can ask me for more than three.”

“I can only really think of three.” Tess admitted. “But, um, I was wondering if maybe we could expand the group chat thing you have for my group to everyone? Not like, everyone in one room all the time, but like…multiple little rooms? It would be nice to have an easy way to contact everyone.”

“Already on it.” Amy grinned. “I’m making sure it scales up correctly, but I think I should have it rolled out in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh.” Tess said. “For, uh, my second, can you promise not to tell Fortune about it?”

Amy raised a brow. “No.” She said. “I won’t tell her if it’s something minor, but if it’s important, then she deserves to know.”

Tess scratched the back of her neck nervously. “Well, you see, the thing is she kiiiiind of told me not to ask you this, but I think it’s important anyway.”

Amy paused for a moment, studying Tess’s face. “Let me guess, there’s something she wants, and she’s too shy or embarrassed to ask me herself and she doesn’t want you to bother me with it.”

“Um, yeah.” Tess said.

“Then it’s probably fine, I won’t tell her for…quite some time, anyway.”

Tess nodded. “The thing is…well, Fortune’s lonely.” She said. “Not just socially, but romantically. She feels that none of the gods really mesh with her in that way, and she doesn’t want to make any demands or anything. She says she’s content, but I’m not sure she is. I was thinking that…maybe next time a new god is introduced, we might be able to set things up for her?”

Amy drummed her fingers on the desk, the noise far quieter than one that would be made by fingers of flesh. “Yeah.” She said. “I see where you’re coming from with this. Unfortunately, making a new god isn’t exactly something that happens often. Let me do some asking around, get a sense of how people are feeling; I might need to consider relaxing the rules on contact with mortals. Maybe if we started by letting them video chat and allowing long-distance relationships…”

She trailed off, then shook her head. “No, I can think about that later. You said you had three requests?”

Tess blushed. “Well, um, the last one is the weird one.” She said. “I don’t know if this will even work, but I thought I’d bring it up with you just in case.”

“I’ve probably heard weirder.” Amy said, giving Tess a comforting smile. “Go ahead.”

“Well, the main problem with my Descent is potentially enforcing loyalty to me that shouldn’t be there, right?” Tess asked.

“That’s the main one, yes.” Amy said curiously. “Why?”

“Well, I was thinking…what if we tweaked how that loyalty manifests?” Tess said. “Is that a thing we can do?”

“I suppose it is.” Amy said. “It would require some work, yes, but we could do it. I assume you mean for only the slot we have reserved for Fortune, right?”

Tess nodded, and Amy continued. “Then, yeah, as long as it doesn’t stray too far from the original intent of reinforcing some sort of loyal relationship, it should be doable. What did you have in mind?”

Tess blushed, kicking a foot apprehensively. “Well, Fortune mentioned again today how she feels like a mother to me and Ellie, and how it feels like she’s watching her kids grow up, and I couldn’t help but think…well, why not make it official? If we change that reinforcement to be a mother-daughter bond it would solve that loyalty issue, and Fortune would be that much less lonely.”

Amy tapped her chin thoughtfully, then smiled. “You know what, I like it.” She said. “But only if both you and Fortune agree to it. Obviously, you’re fine with it, since you’re asking, but I need her permission too. Go call her in, I’ll start preparing things now.”

“We’re doing it now?” Tess asked, taken aback.

“Why not? I know exactly what modifications I need to make and it’s a relatively short process, so there’s no reason to put it off if you both agree. It’ll be an unconventional Appointed-god relationship, but not a bad one. You may not technically be treating each other as equals, but you’re following the spirit of the rule. That rule is to prevent gods from treating their Appointed as “mere mortals”, not to stymie any other sort of relationship, especially if both of you agree to it.”

“Oh, that makes sense, I was figuring it would take a lot longer.” Tess admitted.

“I made a point of refamiliarizing myself with that Class after the first incident, figuring something like this would happen.” Amy replied.

“I see. I’ll go get Fortune, then, she’s probably waiting outside.” Tess said, walking back over to the door and opening it. “Um, Fortune, can you come in for a second?”

“Absolutely.” Fortune replied immediately. “Is everything okay? You’re being awfully nervous about this.”

Tess was silent for a moment, unsure of how to begin, but Amy came to her rescue. “Tess, this was your idea, you should just tell her.” Amy said gently. “But if you need to, I can.”

“No.” Tess said, shaking her head. “Um, Fortune, I have a…proposal.” Tess said. “You know how our Descent is super risky because of my Class?”

“We don’t need to get rid of the Class if you don’t want to, and we don’t need to stop Descending.” Fortune said. “I can handle this, and I’m not going to cripple you because you’re worried about me.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Tess said quickly. “I just had an idea about how to fix it, but it’s a bit…um, embarrassing.”

“Tess, you can tell me anything.” Fortune said solemnly. “I may joke around a lot, but I’m not going to make fun of you for something you’re obviously taking seriously. And if I ever do step out of line with jokes, tell me, okay?”

Tess’s face began heating up, and she wished she had some way of hiding the blush. “Well, I talked with Amy, and the issue with our Descent is that long-term it could impose unacceptable levels of loyalty and subordination in you. So, um, I was thinking that maybe, if we could redirect that loyalty into something healthier, we wouldn’t have an issue anymore, and Amy agreed.”

Fortune nodded. “And this relationship is embarrassing?” She said softly. “Why’s that?”

Tess kicked a foot nervously, looking away slightly. “Well, we were just talking, and I thought, maybe, we could make a mother-daughter thing? Like, officially enforce it, and I know it’s a big ask because that would be changing both of our minds, and it’s kind of like I’m asking you to adopt me and…” She trailed off as she looked back at Fortune’s face. “Are you crying? I…I hope those are happy tears, but if I overstepped my bounds, I’m sorry, I –”

Fortune rushed over and caught Tess in a huge hug, lifting her off of the ground. “Tess, I don’t think you could possibly have made me happier in this moment.” She said. “This isn’t much of a change for me, but I know it’s big for you. The fact that you’re willing to do this for my sake is…I don’t have words. Thank you.”

Tess returned the hug, and they stayed like that for a while. As they finally broke apart, Amy spoke up, a smile on her face. “I was thinking we’d make the modifications now.” She said. “It’ll take an hour or two, and I’ll have both of you be asleep for it. If you want, I’ll let everyone know what’s going on, too.”

Fortune nodded. “Thank you, Amy.” She whispered. “I…thank you. Let’s do it now, and you can tell them if you need.”

Tess nodded, thankful that she wouldn’t have to go through that slightly awkward conversation. “Please do, thanks.”

“Of course.” Amy said. “I can tell this will make you two happy, and I’m not about to keep that from you.” She waved a hand, and everything went black.

---

“So, what’s up?” Ellie asked. She and Maven had suddenly been called into the realm of the gods suddenly, which was a little concerning. “Is Tess okay?”

“We’re just as lost as you are.” Death said. “Amy called us here and didn’t tell us why.”

“It’s nothing bad.” Amy said, walking through the open doorway and into the room. “But there’s going to be a bit of a change going forward. Tess came to me with a proposal that would make her Descent safe for Fortune, and I agreed.

“As such, I am changing the way that the slot of Monster Breeder reserved for Fortune works. Instead of reinforcing absolute, unquestioning loyalty, it will be reinforcing a mother’s loyalty, and for Tess, she will be getting an equal sense of loyalty to a mother. In essence…Fortune will be adopting Tess.

“The effect is to be immediate, and so I found it prudent to come and answer any questions you may have. Oh, and I go their permission to tell you about it instead of them, so don’t worry about that.”

Ellie didn’t really know how to take that. It was so…sudden. “Um, is this going to affect our group dynamic at all? I like what we have going.”

“I couldn’t tell you.” Amy said. “At the very least, Fortune will likely act the same; she already viewed you and Tess as daughters of a sort, this only makes it official, so to speak. Tess is the big unknown here, but if Fortune stays relatively the same, she’ll probably return to some semblance of how she acted before. It won’t be exactly the same, but close enough, I think.”

“And…Tess suggested this?” Death asked. “Was there some sort of trigger? Her mission went fine, right?”

“No problems there, no.” Amy confirmed. “They were talking afterwards, and I think the conversation turned to personal matters, and…well, I won’t say more than that out of respect for their privacy, but this is definitely something Tess is doing more for Fortune than herself. In a way, it almost feels like fixing her Descent is an excuse, not the reason she’s asking for this.”

Maven nodded. “Well, I wish them the best.” She said. “How long will this modification take?”

“After I finish up here, probably an hour.” Amy said. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“That is…not as long as I thought it would be.” Maven said.

“Tess said the same thing.” Amy laughed. “And, like I told her, I made a point of getting familiar with Monster Breeder again. That Class is a mess, and I figured I would have to mess with it again in the future.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” Ellie said. “Do you mind if I hang out here with Death while I wait?”

“Ellie, you could live here, and I wouldn’t mind. Appointed are gods in everything but name and the level of Worship you have in you. You have all the same rights and privileges they do.”

“Told you so.” Death said smugly. “You don’t have to be a Higher Being to be a god, it’s the spirit of the thing.”

“I’m sure I’m missing some context here, but the idea of making Appointed Higher Beings has been on my mind lately.” Amy mused. “There are a lot of benefits that come with being a Higher Being, and we could leave the domains you’re in charge of blank. I’d have to retool Descent a bit, but if we leave you low on Worship most of the time it should be close enough to how things work now.”

“Amy, Death made some big statement about gods not losing to mortals, and Ellie reminded her about how she constantly loses in Tetris.” Life said flatly. “She was making excuses and stretching words to try and make Appointed gods so a mortal, however technical that status is, didn’t defeat her.”

“Hey!” Death said. “My points were valid! Amy agrees with me!”

“Sort of agree.” Amy corrected. “I’ll give the idea some more thought, though. I’m rethinking a lot of things right now, and this is a fairly opportune time to make changes.”

“I don’t have any questions.” Dungeons said. “I’m happy for them, and if any problems come up, we’ll deal with it then. But, until that time, I trust you one this.”

“I am of much the same opinion.” Life said. “And it would seem Ellie is eager to get the process started so she can see Tess again.”

“I’m all good, I’ll go hang out with Ellie now, and I will beat her in Tetris.” Death said, walking over and grabbing Ellie’s hand. “You’ve thrown down the gauntlet, and I’m not backing down.”

Ellie let herself be pulled along, waving at the others. “See you guys in a bit!”