Millennial Mage

Tala laid on her back on the slope, tears streaming from her eyes, across her jaw, and down her neck.

Tali’s memories… now her memories, were fresh in her mind.

She could feel the bones broken under Tali’s fists. She could see the hurt her words had brought as she lorded her position over the lessers of the House of Blood.

If the Eskau were the siege engines of a major House, the candidates were the street level enforcers. Tala had done her best to not dwell on those parts of Tali’s time, but they were there.

Tala had undoubtedly killed far more than Tali had, but Tali was responsible for more direct suffering.

She found herself huffing a laugh. What sort of justification is that? ‘I may have killed people, but she made them cry!’

-A self-defensive one.- Alat’s tone was soft.

Yeah… Tala knew what she’d done. She’d killed dozens, maybe hundreds directly. Probably dozens.

-Do you want me to count?-

Absolutely not.

It was nearly sunset, and even though it had taken but a moment to relive Tali’s memories—integrating them into herself and dissolving that personality forever—it had taken hours to work through the emotional fallout.

It was obvious why Tali had been so devoted to Be-thric.

He’d been good to her.

Tala had known that, but there was a difference between knowing a thing and experiencing it herself.

Still, that obviously didn’t offset what he had done, not even a little.

There was a certain sadness, however, in seeing what might have been, even if there was no realistic way it could have come to pass.

I need to get out of my own head.

-Yeah. That would be good.-

Tala really wanted to spar, but she couldn’t.

Huh… would that work?

-Oh, you think a lot of me, don’t you… yeah, I think I can make it work.-

Tala felt herself grin with hope in the possible distraction. With a simple mental flex, she was sitting just to the side of her training circle, beside her sanctum home.

She relaxed her control over her aura, letting it extend to fill the whole surrounding area.

She was now of a power density that simply being within her aura would be incredibly uncomfortable for a mundane. It might even be damaging to them, if they lingered, though Tala still wasn’t clear exactly how it would be damaging.

Within her extended aura, she moved two bloodstars to hover within the sparring ring, as if they were in the place of the heads of two combatants.

-Who do you want to fight?-

Who would be easiest for you? This is a new thing.

-Only slightly new. I’ve been doing similar things for a while.-

Tala scoffed. Only in the loosest of senses. Who would be the easiest?

-You.-

Alright, then. She smiled. Let’s do that.

To Tala’s eyes, two identical women appeared, encompassing the bloodstars.

Tala mirrored her perspective onto each bloodstar, passing one set to Alat and keeping the other.

She then closed her eyes, even as Alat slowly cut her off from her own senses.

It was slightly panic inducing, because even while she could see and hear through the bloodstar as if she were now standing in the ring, she couldn’t feel anything.

Moreover, it felt like she was floating, weightless and untethered.

-One moment… There.-

Tala suddenly had the phantom sensations of a body once again, she felt her feet on the ground and gravity pulling her downward.

But she couldn’t move.

With practiced mastery of self, Tala kept herself from panicking.

­-Gah… this is… This is not easy. One moment.-

Tala felt something click into place, and she lifted an illusory hand to examine it.

In every way that she could sense, it was her own hand and her own eyes that she used to examine it.

“This is amazing.”

“Thank you.” The other Tala smiled, tilting her head experimentally. “This is… interesting.” Then, the woman grinned and placed her hand over her heart. “In fact, this is a lot.”

Tala grinned in return. “You’re ridiculous. But in all seriousness, are you going to be alright, Alat?”

Alat shrugged. “I think so. There’s an odd positive resonance, once everything is established. It’s easier to maintain a full immersion—a full body and suite of senses—than just a part. There’s a nice harmony that helps keep it working. I also don’t think I could do this without the bloodstar anchors.”

“I suppose I can see that.”

“Even so”—Alat looked a bit abashed—“if you were any less magically dense, I wouldn’t be able to do this… And you were right. I couldn’t do this with anyone else, not yet.”

“After Refining?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“Fascinating.” Just to be safe, Tala started funneling more power to Alat’s scripts, and those that enhanced Tala’s own mind, giving Alat more to work with across the board.

“Retson says that this should be beyond us right now.”

Tala hesitated. “You’re talking with Master Nadro’s alternate interface?”

“Off and on. It’s odd to convey what it’s like for me.” Alat shrugged. “He’s always there, open to instant communication. It makes it so I can talk with him if I have a question. Interestingly, he says that after you Refine, we can work together to let you and Master Nadro speak as if you are in person, no matter where either of you are, so long as you are both within Archive range. It’s similar to this actually.” She gestured at herself. “But with only one body, and I have someone else helping me.

“We still need to enhance our Archive access range.” Tala bit her lip. “It’s a bit silly that we haven’t done so already.”

“Shall I ask Mistress Ingrit to make the arrangements? I assume you’d prefer to leverage some of that collateral, than be limited to our gold?”

Tala quirked a smile. “Only the best for you.”

Alat grinned. “Why thank you, Mistress Tala.”

“Now.” Tala fell into a fighting stance. “Are we going to just stand here all night, or will we fight?”

Alat hesitated. “Do you want your full capacities, or a subset? I can try to mimic the iron manipulation, but I don’t know that we understand it well enough to guarantee accuracy. I’d hate to misrepresent it and train us in something that isn’t true or accurate. That’s a good way to die.”

Tala nodded. “Very well, everything but that.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

Tala glanced towards where she was actually sitting off to one side, across the slowly flowing water that surrounded the training arena. Her body rested there, eyes closed, body relaxed in a simple seated position, hands relaxing on her own knees.

I look peaceful.

Alat lunged forward, and Tala was drawn into the fight.

* * *

After about an hour of sparring, they had to stop for a break.

Tala was using as many void-channels as she could maintain to dump power into Alat’s scripts as well as her mental enhancements, and even so, the whole thing was straining Tala’s mind along with Alat’s core magics.

She was sore. She knew that the feeling was entirely fake, but Alat had been giving Tala a good beating. Since Alat knew her fighting style and matched her in capacity, Tala found herself on the losing end more often than not.

The alternate interface swore that she wasn’t cheating. It was just that Tala had never fought anyone who matched her so perfectly, and Alat had spent months trying to find holes in Tala’s fighting style to help her fill them.

Most were, indeed, now mitigated, but Alat was left with an incredible understanding of Tala’s knee-jerk reactions, instincts, and tendencies.

Tala, on the other hand, had no idea how Alat fought, because Alat never had.

The results had been educational.

That said, Alat admitted that she would probably do worse than Tala against almost anyone other than her. Well, she would do worse unless she pulled from Tala’s own experience more heavily, which meant the same thing.

But she couldn’t do that now. Now, Alat was exhausted, or whatever the equivalent was for an alternate interface.

-Can I send the diagnostics to Mistress Holly?-

She’ll get them next time we visit, right?

-Of course, but if she has any easy updates or enhancements, I want them sooner rather than later.-

Tala laughed. Sure.

She opened her eyes—her real eyes—and stood.

There was no unsteadiness, nor disorientation. It simply felt as if she’d been fighting, sat down, and then stood up once more.

The soreness faded as if it were being healed away, Alat mirroring the feeling perfectly.

That really is incredible, Alat. Will it train my muscle memory as well?

-Oh, absolutely. I don’t have the power to process every signal coming from your brain, parse it, and enact it at the speed of thought.-

So… what do you do?

-I catch the nerve signals when they try to leave your neural network, which is my domain by the way, and based on where they are, the intention is clear. Muscle memory is a misnomer anyways, it’s really training your nervous system, and that fires just fine through this training.-

Tala grunted. “Amazing.”

-I am, aren’t I?- There was only a moment’s pause. -Now, please sleep? That was… unusually straining on that very system. I expect we’ll sleep longer than usual.-

It’s about six hours until dawn. Is that enough time?

-Yeah, it should be.-

Tala wished to be in her bedroom, and she was. Less than a minute later, she was unclad and in her bed, luxuriating in the comfort even as Alat helped her fall nearly instantly asleep.

* * *

Tala woke as the sun rose, feeling both refreshed and a bit… hungover?

-Mentally sore.- Alat groaned. -The term you’re looking for is mentally sore. Ow…-

Are you alright?

-I think so. I believe we found a portion of our training that’s been lacking: Mainly, me. Up until now, we’ve only found things I could do, or things I couldn’t. I think this might be the first task we’ve come across that I think I can improve in over time, which isn’t simply a matter of figuring out a better way.- After a moment’s hesitation, Alat added, -Though, there will be some of that, too.-

Well. That’s good, right? Progress through effort?

-…Yeah… I’d just gotten used to you working hard and being sore for us to improve… I suppose I can start doing it again.- Alat sighed within Tala’s head.

Well, let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.

-Oh, I can assure you that I will.-

Tala laughed at that as she stood, her clothing growing over her in a wave.

Breakfast?

-Breakfast.- There was a pregnant pause before Alat added, -Coffee?-

Tala was sorely tempted, and Alat would know that, but she shook her head. No, Alat. Bad. Mistress Holly said we need to be done with that.

Alat groaned. -This is so much worse experiencing it firsthand…-

Well, let’s go get some good food, then. Simple, full breakfast?

-Tomatoes, fruit, and sausage? Plus a few layer-pastries?-

That sounds excellent.

* * *

The next few days passed as before, with the notable addition of Alat working heavily to improve her ability with the alternate experience simulations.

Before Tala really registered the passing of time, she was walking towards the home in which Mistress Aproa was looking after her great grandmother, Mistress Odera.

My former overseer on caravan trips… I still need to drop by the Caravaneer’s Guild.

-Yes. Yes you do.-

Tala found them both in the surprisingly large garden, behind the small house, which seemed to be composed of a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and small sitting area.

The garden was immaculately maintained, but in a way that made it feel more alive—more natural—rather than like something wholly artificial or sculpted.

When Tala arrived, the three of them walked to a cleverly designed seating area with three benches.

Tala sat on one, and the two women sat on another, leaving the third unoccupied.

The spot was shaped and situated such that nothing truly manmade could be seen, save the paths and the benches themselves.

Where houses rose over the garden walls, trees were situated and cultivated to hide them entirely even deep in winter, which was impressive in its own right.

Tala could sense magics that blocked outside sounds as well.

All together, the results gave the sense of being out in the wilds, even though they remained in the city.

“Thank you for coming to visit me, dear girl.” Mistress Odera was hunched in on herself, but she was smiling and her voice was strong, familiar.

“Of course. I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier.”

The older woman waved her away. “You’ve been through much, and you needed time to acclimate to your return.”

Tala smiled and nodded, letting the silence stand as she looked around, enjoying the winter plants. There were a few songbirds flitting around, and Tala saw magically heated birdhouses scattered around the garden.

They wouldn’t be warm by human standards, but it seemed that magics would keep their temperature from ever getting below freezing even without the nests situated within.

“Your garden is lovely, Mistress.”

“Thank you. My late husband was quite the gardener. It took him thirty years, but he finally got me to join him.” She smiled contentedly. “I don’t know why I fought him for so long. Those last thirty odd years, gardening together, were a joy.”

“I don’t believe you’ve ever said, when did he pass?”

“Oh, nearly forty years ago or so.”

So, she’s at least a hundred and twenty, give or take?

-Give or take, yeah.-

Tala paused, letting herself feel what the woman had said before she responded, “I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m glad you had so much time with him.”

“That’s kind of you, dear.” Mistress Odera smiled. “You’ve learned the value of silence and taking a moment to consider. You’ve paid heavily for it, but that is wisdom many never acquire.”

Tala felt herself smile as well. “Thank you.”

They chatted off and on about nothing in particular, simply enjoying the time and garden.

Mistress Odera had her legs wrapped in a thick blanket, and Tala could see magical warming stones sewn into the inner lining in a few places, helping to keep the older woman comfortable despite the snow and chill.

They spent a couple of hours together. Mistress Aproa participated occasionally, but not very often.

She was mostly there to be with her great grandmother.

Apparently, other family members dropped by occasionally, but none did so while Tala was there.

Tala finally took a deep breath and asked the critical question, “How are you? Really?”

Mistress Odera gave a sad smile. “I am… fading, my dear girl. I long to be done with this world and join my Torbin, and my little ones.”

Through their conversation, Tala had learned that most of Mistress Odera’s family had not been Mages. Only one of her children still lived, and while she had many grandchildren, not many were in better shape than she, herself.

Tala had known the gist of most of it, but it was good to get the details all together like this. It was good to actually ask and hear the answer.

Mistress Aproa’s generation had a larger number of Mages, as well as many, many children, though Mistress Aproa was an exception in that regard. Even so, those little ones were simply too far removed from their great, great grandmother.

Mistress Odera missed her family, those who had passed many decades earlier.

“It is the curse upon humanity that they don’t warn you of. There are only two options, Mistress Tala. Either you die, leaving loved ones to grieve over your passing, or you live long enough to grieve over their passing instead.”

-That’s a dark way of looking at it.-

True, though.

-Unless you all die together? Score one for ritual, group suicide?-

No. Don’t even joke about that.

-Fine… What about this? You could slowly lose the ability to care and to love before anyone dies?-

That is death of another kind, is it not?

Alat didn’t have a quick response for that.

“Mistress Odera. While I was gone, I came across artificially created consciousnesses, integrated in and around founts.”

The Mage grunted. “I had heard something of that, yes.”

“We can also make a copy of your mind. If you hold on, we could bind your mind, as it is now, to your own fount, and you could live on. You could help others and see the next age, whatever it may bring.”

The Mage shook her head. “Why would I want that, child? I no longer even wish to claim a portion of this world. I see the folly in that now, bless my earlier foolishness. I have already jumped through the bureaucratic hoops…”—she glanced down at her own legs and gave a mirthful smile—“metaphorically of course. I have gone through the process to ensure that my fount will be freed from Zeme. I will pass on and be with those I have lost. They have been patient enough, my dear. My time has been long, and full, and good. I am ready when it ends.”

Tala shifted a bit uncomfortably. “What medium will your Archon Star be?”

Mistress Odera perked up at that. “Now, that is something interesting. Apparently, when it reaches the point of spontaneous creation, I will form it in the water within my own body.”

“Like I did with my blood?”

“Very similarly, yes. It was long theorized, but until you proved a liquid medium actually worked, it was believed that even close observation was missing some critical part. Now, since you proved it so blatantly, all the data they’ve collected over the years makes much more sense, and many theories are clicking into place.”

“Wait… They knew, but they didn’t know?”

“If you saw a stone change into a puppy, would you believe it to be natural? Or would you assume you missed some act of magic.”

“Ahh, I see. So, by proving that anyone can use a liquid medium, I showed that there doesn’t have to be ‘other magics at play.’”

“Precisely.”

“If I may ask… why wait? Why wait for the Star? Why not find an alternate method and leave at a time of your own choosing?”

The old Mage huffed a laugh. “Because life is precious. I’ve no desire to die, but I’ve no desire to forcefully extend my days. My time will come soon enough. There’s no reason to hasten its coming.”

Tala nodded slowly. She didn’t really understand the sentiment, but she could see that it made sense to Mistress Odera.

“Now, back to happier things. Tell me, what sort of mischief are you getting up to these days?”

That brought a smile to Tala’s lips, and she leaned in to chat with her former mentor.