“There will be some very pointed arguments that skill in Poison, Curses, and Undeath also means experience in drugs and pharmacology, treating spiritual ailments and inflictions, and expertise in souls,” Briggs warned me neutrally.

“Healing and Plant combine to greater expertise in such things than Poison. Curses fall to Silver Magic, which with Healing combines to treat the mind and soul if Psychic magic cannot do the job. The difference is that Silver Magic treats a soul, it does not bind them.”

“Souls and their energy are seen as a resource by a great many people,” Briggs pointed out pragmatically. “Indeed, it is the foundation of the Underworld!”

“They do not know proper Artifice or the fact that Blessings are not restricted to people,” I sniffed back. “The pragmatism of Neutrality regarding others is based on lack of empathy, greed, and ignorance. They have little alternative to the services the Undeath Element provides at this time, so they convince themselves it is someone else’s problem and indulge. It is time to provide them an alternative, so they can make a moral choice without being overridden by the pragmatic one that will cost them in reality.”

“Are you going to unveil the Silver Magic and Divination Elements?” Briggs winced theatrically. “Those will definitely set the world on its ear!”

“Silver Magic at some point, definitely. If we want a Church of Heaven, it’s the central rallying point. The Church of Light maintains its authority with a species imperative that it is failing at. A Church of Heaven is not automatically disposed for Human supremacy. It is, however, highly opposed to Dark Magic and the influence of the Underworld. I do not doubt that will undercut much of the Synod’s attraction to its Good followers. They don’t want to follow lifeless rules that in the end only benefit the Court. They want to do Good Things for Good Reasons.”

“Them dem heroic noble Paladin-types, I tell ya. Damn menaces they are, going around doing Good Deeds just because they can. And so hard to bribe!” Briggs said mock-woefully, but then his face turned grim. “Take the Good people out of the Church of Light and it’s really going to end up in a worse place, Fae,” he pointed out.

“As long as it comes with an accompanying loss in power, influence, and authority, I’m not actually all that worried about it,” I noted acidly.

“And oddly enough, the other reigning powers will naturally only be too happy to see them fall, although I have to say the fact that they have been able to enforce at least some level of international unity is impressive,” Briggs sighed.

“Intimidation is a wonderful tool for compliance. He who hath the most powerful Sages maketh the Rules.”

Briggs inhaled deeply. “I have to admit, I’ve only met one of the Archangels, and I’ve heard very few things about the others that can be verified. Their personal identities mean they can’t move around once they are exposed.” He shook his head. “I was not impressed with the man at all. He, in turn, didn’t like feeling threatened by someone with no magic, and had quite the attitude. Without the White Mana Zone, he definitely would have tried something.”

“An area where magic is not dominant and cannot reach is definitely a threat to the Synod. He probably ascertained that calling on Magical Beast allies would do the trick, but of course you have Babe’s approval...”

“I know at least three Emperor-Level Beasts who serve the Synod, although they are based in the City of Light.” I.e., Rome.

“So, bringing Babe up to strength is really about self-preservation,” I nodded at that deadly statement, and he just shrugged at the fact. “Any one of them could come in here, rampage down the Towers, and then eradicate the place after the White Mana Zone went away.”

“Exactly. Not much I could do to stop it. The biggest thing is getting something here big enough to do the job, and a hostile Emperor-Beast would draw every damn Sage and half-Sage in the state here to deal with it.” Briggs paused a moment. “Well, not all of them, but the ones who held back would be called cowards by the Wolverine Hunters for the rest of their lives, and basically get hounded out of the state. If a Ruling Beast turns up here, you damn well better fly your ass up there and join the fight, or you and your family will have to deal with it for the rest of their lives. Big precedents for that.”

“It is surprising the level of animosity that can be set aside so as not be shamed by some of the Families,” I agreed knowingly. After all, at that level, reputation and power were everything, and fighting powerful stuff was how you established both of those things. If you didn’t have a high degree of civic responsibility and weren’t there to fight the stuff lower mages could not... than why would anyone want you around at all?

Avoiding fights with Beasts and stuff was a good way to get all your property seized and be thrown out of a country. Humanity got where it was by sticking together and fighting. If you didn’t want to fight, why would anybody else want to fight and die for you?

Those were very, very strong underlying rules of magical society. It still didn’t stick as firmly as it did among the Beasts, but wars between different Human countries were actually rare. Sure, there’d be isolated fights over resources, but that was usually Families beating on one another and trying to drag others into them on either side, more so than the governments. Governments of smaller countries were usually just puppets to the strongest Families living there, after all.

Conflict within a country between Families was far more common than between nations, who had people to look after, and far too many Beasts around to want to create more fighting. That naturally didn’t stop criminals, raiders, and other types, of course, another problem Beasts didn’t have to put up with.

“Wellllll,” he sighed again, looking at me.

“Out with it. Make me eat the truth, it tastes better now than later.” Bitter now, or really bitter later. Ugh.

“We’re going to have to deal with the Acropolis at some point, if you want to actually bring in the gods.” My grimace was unfeigned. “Yeah, yeah, we can’t take in an organization with that much rot running through it. It just means we’re going to have to take the lead in carving it out.”

“Briggs, they are an extremely powerful magical organization, as you pointed out, with plenty of history and arrogance behind them. If we bring them in, they are going to want to take the lead in pretty much everything. I will not do that to our people, and I don’t really care if it hamstrings us at the top end for now.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put tools and a relationship into place in preparation for the time we are able to stand on our own feet,” Briggs pointed out grimly. “Fae, you’re putting operations into effect which are going to generate Archmages for us, and do so quickly, without all the massive investment and competition into Cultivation resources that all the other powers out there are engaging in.

“We’re not throwing around magical muscle and flexing about it, but at some point we’re going to have to make a show, and then suddenly people are going to find out we have some real power here. Then they are going to wonder how we got all those people to that level, because we certainly haven’t been scuffling or outbidding others for resources to raise them up.

“They’re going to guess the Towers are a part of it, and to a great extent they are right. But that guarantee to pass the Tribulation barriers? That’s all Wizardry, and that’s the real, defining power we have.

“When knowledge of Wizardry and Artificing and Typeless Casters and what they really can do gets out there, it’s going to change the world. We both know that. We have to have some allies in place for when that happens.”

I grit my teeth. That had been such a nasty Purple. “I think I’d walk into the place and puke, Briggs.”

“Sama’s totally capable of doing the negotiation on our behalf. And, as it happens, she’s over there right now,” he added leadingly, carefully not in a sing-song voice.

“Ugh.” Sneaky gits. “Right. You’ve got something in mind. I’d be a fool to step in front of it, and you know it, and you know I know it, so you’re going to go ahead and do it regardless of what I say, you’re just being nice about breaking it to me.”

That huge shit-eating grin spread wide again. “Damn, so nice to speak to someone who knows how the world REALLY works!” he chuckled at me, and Sama’s /laugh echoed in from across the ocean. “We’re going to be bit players in the voting for the Acropolis Divine Mother.”

“You’re choosing a Candidate?” I asked archly. I didn’t know much about the politics there, as the Acropolis was close-mouthed about it, and I didn’t have the resources to go beyond wildly speculative public gossip.

“It was decided when the Soul of the Acropolis made its choice. She’s a lovely White. The other Candidates are your Purple Pukemistress Zishia, and the Green adopted daughter of the former Great Elder.”

“That does make it pretty simple,” I agreed.

“It’s been made even more interesting in that our Candidate is the true daughter of that venerated Great Elder... and the Red Cardinal of the Black Curia, who it turns out was a high-ranking Muse at some point.”

I rolled my eyes up at the ceiling. “Oh, Sama’s laughing her ass off at that one. That have anything to do with that recent dust-up there?” The pundits had put it down to some incredible death-beast getting free, as the Acropolis had clamped down on the news.

“Yes. That also is the incident where Zishia ‘returned miraculously to life’, as it were.” He made the air quotes. “She nearly got the girl executed for somehow being the Red Cardinal, but then her actual mother showed up. Kinda hard to be killed for being your mom when she’s right there.”

“Huh. She made a deal with Dark Powers, Sir Hermes hinted at it. Zishia realized the girl had the Soul of the Acropolis and tried to take Hera out of play...”

“Permanently. They tried to send the girl directly to the Underworld, as they did her father. That would have taken the Soul with her,” Briggs confirmed. “They almost got Hera with her father, the Great Elder. He sent the Soul of Hera into her as a babe just before he was taken away.”

“Thus opening up the Acropolis to complete corruption by removing its spiritual and magical center, and delivering a fat prize to the Underworld. Ruthlessly played.” I had to nod at the move. “Sama should put the bitch on the short list for disappearing to gods and mortals.”

“After the election, it is going to be very easy to explain her abrupt vanishing as her ducks coming home to roost after her failure,” Briggs said placidly. “We’re not a vector she’s going to anticipate any threats from.”

Wasn’t that true, in more ways than one.

“We maaaay have to intervene to keep the girl Sakura alive, and have to show our sincerity in working with the Acropolis in the future,” Briggs added pointedly.

Wonderful. Asset exposure and a one-way knowledge exchange. “I imagine she might be a bit kerfluffled if she finds out there’s already someone else on the planet who can Resurrect...”

“Yeah, I don’t think Sama’s going to let them know that quite yet. I was thinking more of a training program for Typeless Healers in conjunction with the Acropolis?”

I considered that approach. It would give the Acropolis the earliest access to Typeless Magery of all the established powers, which was a huge recruitment tool...

I slowly shook my head, and sighed. “No. Unless the Divine Mother of the Acropolis has overwhelming ability in that field, there’s going to be a problem.” I grit my teeth. “You said she has the Soul of the Acropolis.”

Briggs nodded once. “All the stronger members of the Acropolis know it; it makes her untouchable now. Really, she’s a shoe-in for the role of Divine Mother, despite all the maneuverings of the others, as she just has to prove she can take on the role. She’s the only one who can Resurrect there, after all.”

“Elements?”

“Innate Healing, Psychic, Blessing.” The perfect Acropolis combination, as it were. “If she follows the classic model, Light and Water will follow.”