Moriko felt nervous as she stood o her husband and wife outside, well off to the side of the trading post area and near one of the pilrs of the Earth Zone. She could feel that their domain had fully enpassed the dungeon's territory and that meant it was time to step on through to the Other Side to deal with everything that came with it. The reason Mordecai could cross was the same reason Moriko could feel their domain so clearly: He and Kazue had been w to intermihe tects and weaken the barrier between the realms. So now their faerie domain leaked into the mortal realm just as the dungeon's territory leaked into the other side.

  Behind them stood their two princesses, Fuyuko and Carmil, and their knight, Bellona. All six of them were dressed up, with Kazue and Moriko wearing the battle-ready dresses that had been gifted to them and Mordecai in a fancier version of the militaresque uniform Kazue had designed for him in the spring.

  Carmil's normal attire only needed a little sprug up, but Fuyuko had a dress fahan she was used to wearing over her armor. It was a slightly simplified version of the dress the princesses had first gifted Moriko but in shades of dark blue. It was also crafted of dungeon mana and could o inside of their territory, so it was effectively disposable and there was o worry about damage.

  In trast, Bellona's armor was far from hidden, it had instead been polished until it gleamed and she wore a tabard over it that dispyed the Azeria Dungeo.

  Ating their striking appearances were the three dragon familiars; eliahunder and Lightning, and Udup. All told, their party looked rather dramatic despite being limited to those with direct es to the cores.

  Xarlug was not yet bound by any titles so he was staying behind with Kansif to help keep things in order on this side.

  Speaking of those not crossing with them, "Gan!" Moriko shouted at the b to skulk nearby, "You are not ing with us, I told you that already." He'd e in a few days after Kazue's parents, o expected caravan from Riverbridge. The shorter days and the extra time dealing with the effects of cold weather had already increased travel time to three days for most.

  "It's not fair," he replied with a pout, "I'm the same age as her and she gets to go." He didn't even have to gesture for Moriko to know he meant Fuyuko.

  Moriko scowled at her little brother "She has an obligation because she has a title. If we had a real choice, she'd be staying behind too. You are not duty-bound, so you are not going."

  Ga her, but there was little he could do except watch as a rabkin and buzzkin rushed toward him and were both now h in front of him to keep him fr to dash across. Reality rippled the group and they all faded from view.

  Oher Side of reality, Moriko stared up at an awe-inspiring sight. Where solid pilrs of earth stood in the mortal realm was now awiice of hard crystal and soft white mycelium. The ttice work covered the area that would be the Earth Zone, including the crystal tree that now looked precariously supported.

  As Moriko stared, her awareness was drawn to that sparkling, gleamiwork and she felt knowledge bloom in her mind, telling her how the living crystal and this mycelium extension of Saraag ied and supported each other. It held her for only a moment before she was able to refocus on her body.

  "That is so inve," she muttered as she felt her attention being tugged by everything she noticed around them. This was her domain; the living pulse of it was strohan ever, and with that e came a stant flow of information. "Is this really what you guys deal with all the time?"

  Kazue shook her head, "No, ly. It's distrag for me too, just not as bad because I'm used to something simir. But our cores are made for it. Having it happen directly through my avatar is different, and kinda... strange."

  "Fortunately, we have to choose to focus on such things, and never get as muformation as a King or Queen might get at a gnce," Carmil said. "Fuyuko, if you like, I train you how when we have more time."

  "Um, yes, that would be nice," Fuyuko replied, though she looked a little uain. As only a knight, Bellona was not granted susights, but she did not seem bothered by this ck.

  Moriko leaned uporaining to force discipline upon her mind so that she could ignore all the distras pulling at her focus. Once she was able to, she scraped together enough attention to observe and bee drawn into the strangeness of the world arouhe snow had that perfect texture that sparkled in a way snow rarely did in the mortal world; the cold, crisp air was just chill enough to invigorate without threatening to drain too much heat away; and every color was vibrant. Even the pine needles were all the same perfect shade of green, with no hint of other shades.

  Everything was so perfect that they were clearly not quite real. Yet they were not illusioher. In this pce, this was reality, and it was shaped in part by who its rulers were and how they lived. Kazue's love of life thrummed throughout the domain and as Moriko focused her new ability to gather information, she could feel how this would affect decay.

  Leaves would only turn color and fall when it was the perfect season for it, and they would be beautiful colors that carpeted the ground, and only fade when the snows came to cover them. There would be no mat of gray and brown uhe snow e spring, only fresh green grass, just as no one would find dead i bodies that had beeed from s littered about.

  It was beautiful and harmonious in a way that made it all deeply disturbing. This wasn't the way the world was supposed to work. Snow naturally melted into mush before turning into water and leaving mud behind. Here, it would simply fade as spring came around to reveal the fresh grass sproutih, and with that spring... Moriko blushed when she realized where her influence would show the most.

  In all realms, spring brought about mating seasons, whi turn prompted mating rituals and dispys. In this realm, the mating drive would be amplified and the fighting dispys of some species were going to be spectacur and eie could expect spring to be a very noisy time in the Azeria Court.

  Which brought her attention to Mordecai's influeheir domain arsely poputed right now, it was mostly the lesser fairies that were already their inhabitants, but the fey creatures here were going to tend to be either draic creatures to begin with or bear signs of draifluence, especially those who would be born after the mating season.

  But there was only so much time to spend on uanding their new domain. With their borders stabilized it would be hard to keep them closed. She could feel that too, the mixture of will and magic creating a barrier to tell others to keep out. It was fading now, and they o be ready to deal with that.

  So the group made their way to where the normal entrao the lower yers of the dungeon would be, while the three young dragons flitted off to explore this new pyground. Udop was teically more of an adult, having been evolved from a mature lizard, but he was young and impressionable enough to be influenced by his younger 'siblings'. The entrance was still there, but instead of just doors, there was nopeared to be the front of a castle carved into the hillside, replete with art in the same style Kazue had created on the doors. A brief focus of her attention that way told her that while all the yers still existed with roughly simir theming, the yout of each yer was different, sometimes radically so.

  However, there was no sign of the trading post's buildings. They were not part of the dungeon's territory in the same way, they were ephemeral things of mortal make and were not reflected across to this side of reality.

  "So," Mordecai asked, "do we want to work on a grarance hall inside, or set up an outdoor structure?"

  Kazue replied, "Outdoors, I think. A magnifit pavilion where we all be seen, close enough to the entrao have a nice backdrop while being far enough away to not ence people to seek invitations inside."

  "I agree," Moriko said, "especially in case of a fight. I would prefer to have a more open space."

  "Excellent," Kazue said with a smile, "then why don't we begin by having you create our floor?"

  Moriko stared at her for a moment before asking, "What?"

  "This is your domain, my Queen," Mordecai said, "You should be able to shape it. Though, I would remind you that, unlike a dungeon, even Faerie Royalty ot directly create. They call, shape, and ge, but they ot create."

  They were serious. Which meant that she should be able to do it, she just didn't know how. Yet. But Mordecai had given her a clue. Called felt right. Moriko had already learned how to simply know what she wao about their domain, so first she o find solid stohere. Now she wao call a disk of it to the surface to act as their ptform. That took a few tries, it didn't respond the way wind and lightning did and she had to be far more patient with it. But eventually, she ma, even if the result left a mess of dirt around them.

  "Well done love," Kazue said happily, "and I think you could do the rest, but we are running low on time. Allow us."

  What followed was dungeon magid while Moriko couldn't touch that mana she could feel it rippling through their domain as the loose earth was cleared away and the rest of the pavilioed around the solid disk of stohat was sitting on top of the ground. In front of the disk were two pilrs of spiraling, gold-ce white marble which acted as the anchor point of a long drape of shimmering silk woven into a plicated pattern of gold, purple, ahe other end of the c led up and back to the castle-like facade of the hill behind.

  Two tiers were added to the disk as well, with the ter tier holding three thrones. Kazue sat in the middle, with Mordecai and Moriko oher side. A pair of smaller chairs were provided for Fuyuko and Carmil and were pced oher side of the thrones on the ier down and slightly behind them. Fuyuko was to sit near Moriko and Carmil would be on Mordecai's side, while the dragons were going to mostly drape themselves across the back of the thrones. Mostly; it would be impossible to keep them still for too long.

  Bellona was not going to get a seat, her position as knight pced her standing in front of the pavilion as the person that others must approach before being allowed to approach royalty.

  None of them wanted suality, but it seemed wisest to start their first public appearahis way.

  Ohe dais and pavilion were ready, feasting tables were . They were set in a series of small gdes oher side of a wide path of solid white stohat glittered and sparkled with tiny gems. This end of the path was a straight lio the pavilion, but as it grew away from them it split into smaller paths that wound through the forest nearby, brang and curving in a fractal-like pattern until their entire border was ected to the paths. The message was clear, visitors were to follow the path.

  With that dohey allowed their borders to open before the forbiddance colpsed on its own. That energy they diverted to creating a portal inside of the entrance behind them. It was attached to the entrance hall oher side, and now their various rabbit folk chefs and staff could start bringing food through to p the tables. Mortal food, especially dungeon-grown mortal food, would be far more of a reat for their visitors and guests than mana-created food.

  It created an impressive procession of bunkin, rabkin, and buzzkin carrying trays and pushing carts to p the tables, clearly visible behind the dais and traveling along a separate set of paths to take them to the 'back' of the gdes.

  Now they were ready to hold court. Fuyuko fidgeted in her seat near Moriko and cast hungry g the food being presented. Moriko stifled a grin at the sight; they had made sure to feed the ravenous teen before they left, but Fuyuko's appetite was rarely satiated for long. For now, she and the three young dragons would have to suffer with the rest of them. They o be focused on their visitors and guests.

  Zagaroth