As befitting a goddess of Unity, Yoshika was something of an expert in the field of dual cultivation. It was how they’d begun, as just Lee Jia and An Eui, so many years ago—accidentally stumbling into a technique that allowed them to share their strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. Since then, they had borrowed and lent their strength to and from many of their friends and allies. Takeda Rika, Ja Yun, Heian, Lee Jung, Hayakawa Kaede, Seong Eunae—some more permanently others, but the list of people who’d been part of Yoshika was far longer than just those who were permanent aspects of her soul.

  It was a powerful technique for healing, coordination, and combination techniques far greater than anything that could be accomplished normally. It had its risks and downsides, of course. It was possible for one to take rather than borrow, and overreliance on the technique to advance one’s cultivation could lead to a dependence, as it had for Lee Jia, An Eui, Hayakawa Kaede, and Seong Eunae—all of whom were inexorably part of Yoshika. Li Meili was a special case, having been born of dual cultivation—unlike the rest, her soul had been part of Yoshika from the beginning.

  It also had something of a bad reputation on account of a rather narrow recreational use. It was human nature to gravitate towards the most basic and obvious use for sharing bodily sensations. Though according to Jia and Eui, the novelty wore off rather quickly.

  Yet, despite spending so much time with Yoshika and having Lin Xiun as a mentor—another expert in dual cultivation—Yue had never participated in it. It was a line that she’d drawn early on in their retionship, and Yoshika had never so much as suggested crossing it.

  Yue could admit that it was a slightly hypocritical hangup. In spite, or perhaps because of the way her specialty robbed people of their autonomy, it made her extremely uncomfortable to give up her own. Melody of the Dreaming Moon was a technique that some found distasteful, but it was hers, and it had served her well. It wasn’t as though she enjoyed puppeteering other people’s bodies around, and she was gd that it had been a long time since she’d had cause to use it in that way. One thing she’d always taken a small sense of soce in was the fact that while she robbed control of her victim’s senses, their minds always remained their own.

  Quite a few people had been quick to tell her that was worse, likening it to a kind of torture. Well, they were entitled to their opinions, but to Yue it had always been a meaningful distinction. That was why Seong Eunae’s power had once terrified her so—as had Yoshika’s.

  It still did. After all, it was never about the morality of it. As a young girl aware that techniques like her own existed, she could take a small comfort in the fact that her mind would always be hers—until she couldn’t. The power to change the soul was terrible enough in benevolent hands like Yoshika or Eunae, but to know that such power was wielded by Sovereign Shen Yu and the God-Emperor? Perhaps even her father, depending on what other secrets her mother had kept from her.

  It was enough to renew that fear all over again.

  “Are you alright, Yue? You don’t have to do this, you know.”

  She suppressed a grimace and gave her wife a reassuring smile.

  “I’m well aware! This was my idea. Just...give me a moment, would you?”

  Yoshika kindly did not remind Yue that they’d been meditating together for the better part of half an hour, wasting precious moments as she tried to synchronize her soul with Yoshika’s. It was harder than she expected. Physically, there was no problem—breathing, heartbeat, even the circution of their essence was perfectly matched. It was an entirely mental block.

  It felt stupid, after she’d been so confident about it moments earlier, to flounder at the st second. Yue took a deep breath to center herself and started over.

  She trusted Yoshika, and she knew that Yoshika trusted her. Yue would remain herself, and when the time came to separate again, nothing would be left behind. She knew that, as certainly as the beating of her own heart, and yet that tiny lingering shadow of doubt still refused to be silent. How had Jia and Eui done this as teenagers? They were either even more stupid and naive than she’d realized, or been truly desperate for any kind of support.

  “Hey! I felt that.”

  Yue winced.

  “Sorry. It seems I have a rather nasty heart demon that’s been hiding away in my soul for some time. Can I try something?”

  “Of course.”

  Such was Yoshika’s trust that even when Yue began to hum the Melody of the Dreaming Moon, she didn’t so much as flinch, calmly allowing the music to touch her soul as her technique settled over them without a hint of resistance.

  A phantom projection of Yue stepped out of her own body and into Yoshika, gently dispcing Yoshika’s mind with her own. Normally, she’d pce her victim’s mind into an illusory dream for the duration of the technique, but this time she instead pced Yoshika’s disembodied mind into her own body, effectively switching pces.

  She watched her own eyes blink back at her before cocking her head and smiling wryly.

  “I don’t think it works like this, Yue. Though, I didn’t even know you could do this with your technique.”

  “Neither did I. Now hush, it’s just an exercise.”

  Yue closed her eyes again and took another breath. Because of their meditation, there was no jarring sense of dissociation that usually accompanied the technique. Her heartbeat, breathing, and essence were all moving the same way they had been. Even as she flexed her tails, nothing felt strange or unsettling about the experience.

  She considered the image of Yoshika looking back at her through her own face. Another person behind her own eyes should have been the realization of her deepest nightmare, but Yue was at peace with it. She had given herself to Yoshika, and vice versa.

  Finally, she envisioned a scenario in which she became permanently joined to Yoshika, as Kaede and Eunae had. It was...odd. Yue didn’t desire such an outcome, but she didn’t fear it either. She intended to spend the rest of eternity with Yoshika one way or another—whether that was as a literal or figurative part of her made no difference.

  She let out another long, slow breath, then released her technique.

  “I think I’m ready now.”

  She opened her eyes and was met by the twinned visions of her own faces looking back at each other.

  “I should hope so, because we’ve already done it.”

  Yue had been told that the process was seamless. Rika described it as being both novel and familiar at the same time. It was as though she’d done this for the first time a thousand times before. On one level, nothing had changed—she was still Yue. Yet she was also more. Yue’s thoughts were part of a vast ocean of consciousness, but they didn’t get lost. Rather than a noisy cacophony, Yoshika’s thoughts flowed together harmoniously like a musical melody—each voice given pce and purpose to bring out the best in each other.

  “So we have! Then let’s not waste any more time. Jianmo!”

  The sword spirit materialized next to her in male form, and she gave him an appreciative once-over. It’s not like Yue was the only part of Yoshika attracted to men, but she was more fgrant about it, and Jianmo was very much her type. He noticed her looking and smirked.

  “Oh my! That’s a new look for you, darling. I don’t hate it when you look at me like that, but maybe this isn’t the best time for flirting.”

  Yoshika tossed her hair back and sighed.

  “As. How would you like to get a bit of revenge on Qin Yang for sealing you under a mountain?”

  “Oooh! You’re speaking my nguage, honey! But isn’t the overgrown lizard going to be there?”

  “Will that be a problem?”

  Jianmo shrugged.

  “Only if he makes it one.”

  “Then I’ll see to it he won’t.”

  He raised an eyebrow and chucked.

  “Well well, I guess married life agrees with you.”

  “I remind you that I was already married, but yes. I think I could rather get used to this, once we’ve cleared the vermin out of our house.”

  “Lead the way then, darling!”

  Jianmo transformed into his sword form, hovering by Yoshika’s side. She didn’t grasp the sword just yet—they’d be there when she needed them. Instead, she stepped out of her inner sanctum to join the researchers hard at work completing the final tests of the mana condensing formation. They started at her arrival, but did not pause for longer than it took to bow politely.

  “Dae, Misun, Iseul, how many anchor talismans does this grand formation need?”

  Misun grimaced at her, then did a double take.

  “You—woah, you’ve changed again.”

  Not much had changed about her physical appearance, so it must have been her aura.

  “Anchor talismans, Misun.”

  Iseul, unfppable as always, stepped in to save the flustered princess’ pride.

  “Impossible to calcute. We’re working at cosmic scales, here. The more the better, positioned throughout the world—physical, spiritual, and elemental—at pces of great power and significance.”

  Dae hurried over with a stack of prepared talismans, looking harried, but focused. In his element.

  “Here! These should cover the full dimensional range, but they’re based on the current prototype. If the tests fail—”

  “If the tests fail, then you’ll have to figure out a way to correct the anchors in pce. Emperor Qin is not going to sit around forever while we tinker with things now that he’s made his move.”

  He grimaced, but didn’t argue, as unreasonable as her demand was.

  “That’s still going to take some time.”

  “You have an hour, including the time it takes to finish the current tests.”

  Dae paled.

  “B-based on what, exactly?”

  She put a hand on her hip and smirked.

  “Based on the fact that your goddess told you so. If you need more time, don’t hesitate to ask, but right now an hour is the most I can promise. Understood?”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “Good! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a pointed conversation about proper wedding etiquette with a particurly rude guest.”

  With a single motion, Yoshika turned away and reappeared in flight over the peak of Mount Geumji. She’d barely crossed the border before Qin’s domain smashed into her like it was trying to swat a fly.

  She winced at the sheer force of it, but stayed strong. Yoshika had been frightened, but as Yue reminded her, Qin challenged her at the height of her strength. He had the advantage in raw power, but power wasn’t everything at their level.

  As she flew, she took hold of Jianmo and focused inward for a moment. Yoshika had many faces, and she wore them well, but she hadn’t often been creative in how she crafted them. Sometimes she would channel one of her aspects, or more than one, or even all of them at once, but that was a waste of her potential.

  Yue had been taking the lead so far, but she knew that her faith alone was not enough to overcome the challenges before her. Luckily, Yue was also well versed in the art of crafting a persona—and Yoshika had so much to work with!

  Jia’s focus and determination, Eui’s cold pragmatism, Kaede’s martial prowess and battle instinct, Eunae’s physical and social grace, Yue’s own unwavering faith and confidence—and always, Li Meili’s quiet humility to keep her grounded. She needed to be a Goddess right now, but it was important to leave a path for her to come back to humanity once the time for wrath and ruin had passed.

  Thus armed, Yoshika brandished her bde and prepared herself for her first—and hopefully st—csh with divinity.

  DarkTechnomancer

  RMullinsEtlyEmilinVictorMineOdunskiTodorNaimahDvorakQThomasRobinCogAlexis LionelAttheriskKitVailArusanSaganatsuStephaneCeldur Ey'linAlexandraIrateRapScallionFraxxThe Test SubjectYandronBerjSorcoroMax C.SoloMarkAvaAuribiaVietDomMeliMeliDHAndrew C.SeasparksJoseph H.ShadeByTheSeaBerynRanzbartConnor B.Taylor W.LuRayafaceZeodeicasiaJessj0ntsaJanLarryParrish6J0ker9GiantOrangeK Geagle0108thkiwFISHLADTatsu DThe HumanTarantismElisahRuRobisqueSalmunaJake T.EmanymTAFmrblueRhaidDamian Z.itbeme12321Joseph C.

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