PART 27
In the following days, life returned to some semblance of normal.
The Forty-Four spent much of their time training, most of the rest with their parents in the Volunteers, and less with Mark and Talia and Alilia. This had little to do with the latter’s new divinity and much to do with the children’s need to make things up to their mortal parents, especially their co-fathers. Who they were physically with at any given time made no difference to their activities anyway, since they spent much of the time Linked with each other and with all of their parents. There love grew ever deeper and more profound because of this. Their parents took over their training and conducted most of it by direct psionic learning along with simultaneous physical drills.
The progress of the Forty-Four accelerated even more than it had under the Governors’ tutelage. It was not fast enough for them to catch up with the development of the Governors, since those four were still working hard and advancing quickly, but they were no longer falling behind.
The New Gods didn’t urinate or defecate, and they only slept if one or more of their children wanted to sleep with them, but beyond that their behavior was not that much different.
Making love was just as enjoyable, and often far more so. This was also true of eating, playing, and all the other pleasures of life.
Mark, Talia, and Alilia found that the sexual aspect of the curse were still with them, though they could eliminate it if they wanted to. They realized that they didn’t want to.
Sometimes they just played with their new powers. They found that if they wanted to, they could be anything they wanted to be at the moment, whether it was dragons or gargoyles or any other life form. Unlike when using Simulacrums or even Shapeshifting, they could now find out what it was like to truly be a member of any other race, to feel like them and think like them in their own language, and they tried many of them. Being Kag was especially entertaining due to their attitude that everything in life was an act of artistry, including their many acts of violence and warfare.
On the third day after the great Ascension the call came for teams to register for the Tournament of Governors at The Hall of The Just Alliance, and be vetted by the old gods who were the tournament’s organizers. Mark and his family duly attended and registered as two teams; one under his leadership, and one co-led by the Governors.
used to working with on Hiliani. All of the prominent citizens of Homestead, the elders and most talented youth of the Hiliani
and only a handful were judged by the gods to be unqualified to
commented as they went over the list at supper that night. “Father, your team
was on my team, I didn’t ask them to keep it secret, and
So who’s on
us of the Six, Alilia,
“What others?” Fire pressed.
not say.” he told her
she laughed as she reached over and gave him a slap on his shoulder.
agreed, and she wasn’t sure if he was being
the tournament, Mark and his team also prepared. But the fact was that he spent no time or effort at all on preparing for the tournament specifically. He judged that leading his nations and commanding them in
they no longer needed Quewanak’s assistance to complete the training they wanted to do, so they attended to it themselves. They spent five long days investigating the military capabilities of Kellaran and The Triax, including the specifics of every fighting unit and their equipment, the records and abilities of thousands of key personnel, the state of readiness of every civilian population and their infrastructures, and all the
they gathered supplies in their bedroom on Hilia, then spent twelve subjective weeks there in Reverse-Stasis fields. They familiarized themselves with as much of the information at their disposal as was practical. They gamed through hundreds of scenarios, and
tournament on the day before it was due to be held. They felt
convinced the rest of their family to join them, which was as easy as asking. It no longer seemed strange to spend a day traveling the world and enjoying meals and activities on a Hilian schedule, regardless of what time of
the afternoon they went swimming with the Selkies of Loch Crotia in Xervia, then went flying again, this time with the