Eden's divination ended up being more precise than expected as he arrived above the Domain of Delight, also known as Prismeer, after flying for 10 hours. He had appeared quite far from it, but not as far as he could have.
The whole domain was not in a pocket dimension, unlike what Eden had suspected, but it was surrounded by giant walls of mist. The domain itself was quite large, and split in three vastly different areas, with one palace standing at the very center.
There was a swamp, a forest and mountains. Three very different terrains, all separated from each other by more walls of mist, and meeting at the very center at a large castle.
The mist walls were not just mist, as they actually offered resistance when Eden tried to fly inside, and while it could not stop him, it put up quite the resistance. And once he was inside, Eden understood why it was called a domain.
It was perhaps closer to a Divine Realm than a domain proper, as Eden could feel that this land was subjected to a number of rules. These rules were enforced through magic though, not intent as domain were. He could not decipher them all from a mere look, but he recognized a few elements.
There was some anti-aging elements, as well as some measures surrounding death, but that was about all he could say.
Eden could feel the presence of quite a few beings spread through the three sub-domains, as they could only be called that. While each had the semblance of rules, they were fleeting and unable to affect living creatures. They had modeled reality to a point, but even a child could break the rules set inside these sub-domains and get away unharmed.
The example of children was not picked randomly either as among the many beings present, Eden spotted several children, mostly human or at least humanoid, which was not a surprise considering Feys loved children.
It was not uncommon for them to claim the first born child of people in deals.
Although curious, Eden still went directly for the castle, and as he did, he noticed something strange. The domain was changing wherever he flew by.
It was as if Eden's domain was bleeding into this one, the swamp turning to blood, the mountains' stone into corpses, the trees dying. It was not that he was doing so on purpose, but rather that the surrounding space reacted to his presence strongly.
Eden frowned, and the sky clouded over, thunder brewing. Feywild, because of how pervasive its mana was, could be directly affected by emotions. That was especially the case in a domain, since it was inexorably tied to its owner.
In this one, because its true owner had been sealed, it was much more open to modification, so much so that Eden's mere presence bled into it.
Ignoring that as well, Eden still headed for the castle, which he discovered was warped in a sort of time bubble, freezing it and everyone inside in time.
Stopping next to it, Eden poked his finger inside, and while it tried to affect him, it failed. It was potent, but Mystra herself had not managed to freeze him in time.
The castle itself was made almost entirely of marble, and felt like a Disney castle, something Cinderella would live in. Or was it Sleeping Beauty? Eden would have to watch some of these Disney movies when he returned to Dreamland.
The only difference was that this one looked like it had been overtaken by nature. Eden was sure it once had formed a sort of symbiosis with it, but with no one left to tend for them, they had taken over everything. Or did they represent the stagnant state of the domain's owner?
Speaking of this stagnant state, the spell was quite powerful, and although the simple solution to it would be to deploy his own domain, Eden would also kill everything inside. Maybe he could find a way to deploy his domain without Cleaving and Dismantling everything inside, but there was a much simpler way to deal with this.
To be maintained for so long, the spell had to have a power source it was running on, and it was inside the bubble, so Eden landed in front of the castle's gate, right above the gardens.
The gates in front were covered in runes, and closed. But Eden's attention was not on them, but directed at the small badger looking up to him. Tilting his head, Eden established a telepathic link with it, and asked, "Do you know how to get in there?"
Telepathy allowed Eden to speak with anything sentient, but most beings with small to no intelligence were not worth the trouble since even if they could understand him, they could not give information.
This badger, however, appeared to be looking at him with what he felt were intelligent eyes.
And sure enough, it replied, "Angels should not be here. The hags will not be happy."
Eden looked over his shoulder, peering through an invisible veil, behind which an old crone with a crooked back, withered and sickly green skin, filled with moles and warts , stared at him.
"I cast Telekinesis."
Clenching his fist, Eden grabbed onto her with his magic, forcefully dragging her over. Telekinesis could be easily resisted by strong opponents, but this Hag was only a Tier I, with her Strength and Physique in the 20s.
Seeing her getting dragged out of seemingly thin air, the badger jumped, but still warned, "The hags are daughters of Baba Yaga. Beware her retribution."
Eden hummed softly, and fired a Dismantle at the hag, splitting her half vertically. Hags were naturally hard to kill, depositing some of their life force into magic mushrooms to automatically revive whenever they were killed, but there would be no reviving with no souls.
Letting the two bloody halves of the hag fall to the ground, Eden asked again, "Do you know of a way to enter?"
The badger skittered around him, its thoughts being translated rapidly, "Three challenges of the hags. Wisdom, game and trap. One must-"
"Never mind. I'll just make my way in."
Although the whole thing might as well be a game to Eden, and he was in a good mood, it was not to the point he would willingly play those games of the hags, which were probably rigged anyway, so he simply cleaved the castle's gate apart. He was sure Iggwilv would forgive him.
The castle's entrance gave in to a short hallway that looked like a sea of stars. It was only paint, but the surrounding magic gave it a realistic feeling.
At the end of that hallway was a grand courtyard, made of marble as well, filled with statues and frozen servants. Above, several circular platforms floated in the air, surrounding a floating throne. The throne was empty.
This was the very center of the castle, and led to everywhere. However, Eden could feel a potent source of mana coming from the back, so he headed there, and quickly arrived in what appeared to be a ballroom.
It was empty of guests, half-overtaken by nature, though in the very center was a small cauldron, over which a woman was leaning.
The cauldron was made of iron, and was embossed with images of a variety of small animals. They were of five variants: bats, toads, lizards, cats and snakes. It was held on eight iron feet, holding it firmly and stably. It was also the source of the time bubble.
[Iggwilv's Iron Cauldron]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Magical Attack: +100%]
[Wisdom: +10]
[Intelligence: +9]
[Transmutation Cauldron: Transmutation Rituals can be cast in a variety of ways through this cauldron, and all their effects are increased by 100%.]
[Time Bubble: Freeze spacetime within 300 meters for all creatures, protecting them from any harm, stopping their aging, halting any effects on them. Can only be activated through a special ritual.]
[Iggwilv's Cauldron: Morph the cauldron into Iggwilv's Golden Cauldron.]
As for the woman, she had a striking appearance, with raven dark hair, a soft-golden crown inserted with a ruby, which appeared to form a set with her pair of red eyes. She was staring intensely at the cauldron, frozen in time.
She was dressed in casual robes, and had clearly not expected to be frozen in time. According to Graz'zt, the three hags were her adoptive sisters, and betrayed her, explaining the outfit.
[Name: Natasha]
[Title: The Witch Queen, The Witch of Perrenland, Dream Witch, Natasha the Dark]
[Talent: ?]
[Perks: Tier II, Magic Resistance II, Fey Step, Truesight, Planar Spirit II, Archfey's Will II, Domain of Innocence]
[HP: 440/440]
[MP: 2040/2040]
[Strength: 18]
[Agility: 44]
[Physique: 44]
[Intelligence: 85]
[Wisdom: 65]
[Resistances: None]
[Weaknesses: None]
The easiest way to dispel the spell would be to destroy the cauldron, but while Iggwilv, or rather Natasha, would probably not mind her front gate getting destroyed, the same probably did not hold true for her personal cauldron. Besides, there was a much easier way to do this.
"I wish for Natasha to be freed from the Time Bubble."
Reality undulated under the effects of Eden's six-layered spell circle, and the river of time, which had been avoiding her like water around a rock, focused on her, forcing her to move along.
One moment she was frozen, and the next she stumbled forward, barely catching herself on her cauldron with a gasp. A spell started forming in her hand, but she stopped as she took in her surroundings.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at Eden warily, asking, "Why would a Solar help me? Which deity sent you?" She was clearly prepared to defend herself, or flee.
Eden leaned over to better observe her cauldron, trying to peer into its secrets, while he replied, "I serve no god, I came here out of my own volition. Well, I suppose you could say Graz'zt steered me in this direction."
Curiosity gave way to intrigue as she remarked, "A Solar and a Demon Lord working together? Am I looking at the birth of another Zariel? I would love to observe your transformation."
Smiling, Eden corrected, "Not exactly. He has sworn fealty to me, as Demon King. That's why I am here, actually. The remaining Demon Lords and deities who challenge my claim have all formed a temporary alliance to fight me, so I am gathering my own forces."
She raised an eyebrow, rubbing the sides of her cauldron as she said, "You certainly got me out of a… precarious situation, but I don't know if that's enough to have me face gods. And since when is there a Demon King? And why would you be eligible, you are a Solar."
"I was human when I first made my claim, and still am. I was just metamorphosed into a Solar, just as you became an Archfey. And I'll be handling the gods."
"That's bold. I suppose you'll get to prove yourself with Mama soon."
Eden could not help but laugh at her form of address, which clashed with her entire vibe. Natasha ignored him, reciting.
"Eight cats perch atop eight dead attending
Eight lizards flee from eight rats scavenging
Eight toads climbing meet eight dead and falling
Eight snakes sneak under eight bats screaming
Eight eyes open, always dreaming
All on the cauldron that is ever seeming."
The cauldron shrunk in size as it started getting smaller, the mana it was supplying the time bubble receding, causing the spell to falter, then crumble down.
With the time bubble disappearing, Natasha said, "My sisters could only wrestle my cauldron away from me by forming a coven, magically tethering to one another. That bond was broken, so I'm going to assume you killed one of them. Permanently. Our mother won't be happy."
Graz'zt had not mentioned anything about her mother. She was probably an Archfey, considering some of her daughters were hags, and some Archfeys had godly powers. Was that what she meant by proving himself?
The answer came fast as Eden felt space shift once more, and a presence locked onto them. They were not being subtle about it.
Natasha looked completely unbothered by it, merely proposing, "I can speak for you, if you want me to."
Eden gave her a look, and she shrugged, before snapping her fingers, teleporting the two of them outside.
The Domain of Delight, which had been split into three different zones, and then infected by Eden's presence, had turned back to its natural shape, that of woods, and in one piece.
A hut had also appeared in the middle of the gardens, where a small, gaunt woman was waiting for them. She looked just as ugly as a hag, but she appeared human. Her skeletal figure and white hair made her look like a sort of specter given human form, the witch to the Disney castle.
Most curiously, however, was that she was not standing. She was inside a large mortar, holding herself in place with an equally wrongly-sized pestle.
[Name: Baba Yaga]
[Title: Mother of All Witches, Bone Mother, Keeper of Secrets]
[Talent: ?]
[Perks: Tier III, Magic Resistance III, Fey Step, Cronesight, Withered Spirit III, Unbound Wisdom III, Domain of the Witch]
[HP: 800/800]
[MP: 2040/2040]
[Strength: 90]
[Agility: 70]
[Physique: 80]
[Intelligence: 110]
[Wisdom: 120]
[Resistances: None]
[Weaknesses: None]
The crone, Baba Yaga, cackled seeing them appear. Beside her were two hags, who pointed their finger at Eden, accusing, "That's him, Mama! He's the one who killed Skabatha!"
Baba Yaga leaned over, her cackling halting suddenly as she asked challengingly, "It looks like your trip to the Abyss did not curb your arrogance, Ozymandias. To kill one of my daughters?"
So she knew his identity. Eden supposed it should have been a shock, but he hardly cared about it. Eyeing Baba Yaga for a moment, he assessed her strength, before turning to Natasha and asking in all seriousness, "Do you care about them? Or would their disappearance cause a problem for our partnership?"
Baba Yaga cackled even louder than before at being ignored, while Natasha rolled her eyes, "You truly are one arrogant man. I suppose it comes with the title…"
Shaking her head, she floated forward, in Baba Yaga direction, and asked, her voice somewhere between helplessness, blame and sweetness, "Mama, a little help wouldn't have hurt."
Baba Yaga's laugh abruptly stopped, and her expression became gentler, though it was still stern, "I thought big girls didn't need their Mama's help no more. That they could handle themselves."
Natasha sighed, playing with her hair in a strangely innocent manner for a mage turned Archfey that was probably a few hundred years old, "I didn't mean to hurt you Mama, I just needed to see the world. And it helped, I got some Demon King wannabe coming to save me. If I had never gone to the Abyss, that wouldn't have happened."
Baba Yaga narrowed her eyes at Eden, watching him carefully as she warned, "Your Demon King wannabe has been killing deities left and right. He's got Greater Deities bolstering their defences, and Lesser ones going into hiding, or joining that silly alliance."
Eden floated up, speaking before Natasha could, "Seems like you have personal stuff to deal with. Iggwilv, even if you are not interesting in joining my forces, I would appreciate to discuss some magical matters with you. You can find me in the Abyss, just ask Graz'zt."
Natasha nodded, and as he was about to leave, Baba Yaga offered, "I can sell you a secret, Demon King. One that would certainly interest you. One that concerns you."
"And what would be the cost?"
"I'd like to have your true name."
Eden snorted, knowing better than to make a deal with a fey, and teleported out.