The Quantum Wanderer

The group of people around the table and chair grows very quickly. I do a quick scan, most of the city’s residents are on the square. There are children and elderly left behind, of course, but most of the citizens are around.

The square, a big one, is taken over by people. They are talking to one another. Fear is spread wide. Besides my vision, I am controlling the vision of several birds on some roofs. They are keeping tabs of the guilty adventurers that did not participate in the coup d’etat.

“GOOD EVENING, CHILDREN.”

I give them a moment to take in the information that I am the one talking, that they should shut up for a minute. One of the is looking at me.

“A crow is talking?”

He gets slapped on the head by some people around him. Everyone here is already triggered.

“What kind of messenger would I be if I couldn’t talk?” I ask him.

The adventurers, specially the higher level ones, look at me with some fear and reverence. The commoners look at me more neutrally.

“Very well. I come to you with some messages. First, I see some very naughty children in the group.”

I cast a wide sanctuary spell. That is going to make any other casting a lot harder.  I cast anti-gravity spell on the guilty guys. I make them float 10 feet above the group.

Some of them try to use ropes or whips to grab at something to not float away, but that is easily cut with a wind cutting spell.

Without anything solid to hold, they are floating in the air, shaking frenetically. Once they realize they are powerless, they start begging. How original.

I make them catch on fire, starting with their lower legs. They scream. It takes a couple of minutes for them to finally shut up, dead.

I call in around a dozen small birds from the forest. They are small. They would generally be prey to something else, they answer the call pretty eager.

Each of them land on the shoulder of an adventurer. They are the guilty ones that worked for the revolution.

“There are also children that were naughty, but worked on their mistakes. You are being given a second chance, don’t make me regret it. Take care of the birds on your shoulders as if your life depended on it. Because it does. Fuck up again, and even your soul will be forfeit.”

They all bow their heads down, their hands over their hearts.

I jump in front of the improvised stage. I slowly enlarge, assuming my normal shape. As intended, the populace in front of the stage starts pushing back, clearing a space.

I open a portal to the place the bishop’s group is. I get them floating the same way I did with the others, I push them back through the portal.

Now the population is just slack jawed. The woman on top of the chair grabs at the arms of the chair with all her strength. She really hates these guys. That works.

“As for these uncorrectable children… Andrey!” Andrey is one of the front liners, now with a bird on his shoulder.

“Yes, my mistress?” He answers, hand on his heart, bowing.

I smile. The child knows what is good for him.

“Pay attention to your battle experience.”

I read the floating soldiers minds a little bit. I cast the experience tunelling spell papa has used to mama, to grant her most of the experience.

In a single instant, I kill all of them, while passing some of their memories to the woman. She gains a lot of levels immediately. She had already gained a couple yesterday, she had reached level 14 from the initial 12. But now… A dozen soldiers, around level 25, a lieutenant level 36 and a captain level 47.

She falls on the ground, shaking. I turn off her pain. It is way too much on one take. She snoozes under the strain.

Andrey is looking from one to the other. He is trying to understand how something impossible happened. He then looks at his hands.

“Mistress, what did you do? The battle experience…”

“SHE WAS FED THEIR SOUL!” The druid in the back shouts out.

I cast a regeneration spell on the woman, I need her recovered quickly. She starts to stand up. She has a really bad hangover.

I open a portal, one of the crows from the tree at home comes through. He does an elaborate flight, and lands on the chair’s back. The woman sits on it. I move to her left. I clear my throat, preparing the mana for a war cry.

“ALL HAIL THE CROW QUEEN!”

The people are a little stupefied with the demonstration. After some very solid silence, Andrey smiles.

“ALL HAIL THE CROW QUEEN!”

He kneels down. People around him shout the sentence, and follow-up with the kneeling. All of a sudden, I am looking at a sea of people on their knees. I smile. I am satisfied with this. Let’s see if they turn out to be a better people after the lesson.

“BEFORE I LEAVE, ONE LAST TASK FOR THE CHILDREN UNDER MY WATCH. SPREAD THE WORD! AND NEVER FORGET, I WILL BE WATCHING!”

I take off. I go to my smaller shape, and accelerate too fast for anyone to see. I arrive at papa’s group.

I float close to mama Cecilia.

“So, mama, what do you think?”

“Hummmm… I don’t know what to think yet.”

“What about you, papa?”

“I liked the parole concept. Thank you.”

“Thank you, papa.”

I open a portal home, our work is done for the day. We all go home.

***

Marcelo’s POV

Seeing the whole thing from up above was kind of fun. Huginn played the part of a goddess perfectly. I giggle imagining the kind of stories that are going to be spread after this.

We go home. The amount of time being spent on each city is getting smaller. According to the position of the moon, I estimate we can have another 3 hours of sleep before sunrise. We have a little nap.

We wake up and get dressed for breakfast. I still yawning.

As always, the food smells delicious. We sit around the table and start eating. As always, we eat our fill. Roberta’s food is delicious, as always. After everyone finishes eating, Aquamarine turns to Huginn.

“Daughter, why did you do those things yesterday?”

“Which part are you talking about, mama?”

“Everything. Showing yourself. Are we not avoiding that?” Aquamarine asks, towards Opal and me.

I tilt my head.

“I am more concerned on something that can be tied to me. As long as it can’t be traced, I don’t really care. We did do the flight, right? There is nothing more public than that. But no one is going to tie that to us, it is going to be some other person, or being.”

“And the killing of the bishop in front of the people? Wasn’t it just additional work?”

“No, mama. They had realized already that the bishop and some few others had escaped in a secret way. By bringing the bishop there, I proved them that we know magic they don’t, and our knowledge expands beyond theirs.

“Remember this, mama. Humans attribute everything they don’t know to gods. Before they understood and dominated the lightening, it was attributed to a god. The creation of the world, a god. The creation of the universe, a god. They fill their gaps in knowledge with that. So I used that to my favor.”

Aquamarine tilts her head. She is thinking about what Huginn just said. Huginn is correct for more than one world. Not saying gods don’t exist, but I am pretty sure that the shape they presented themselves in were just shapes that I could understand. I try to remember if Andrew mentioned to me what shape the gods presented themselves in when he came to this world.

It feels like Aquamarine was going to ask additional stuff, but she gives up. We stay a little bit around the dining table, digesting the excellent food.

Rudolph comes close, he has a letter on a tray. It is from Edward, inviting us to spend the afternoon there.

“Girls, Edward is inviting us to spend the afternoon there. How about it?”

“Sure.” Cecilia answers.

The other girls shrug. Rudolph is standing, waiting for an answer.

“We can go there today, Rudolph. Thank you.”

Rudolph bows and leaves for the kitchen. Cecilia looks at me.

“What do you think about visiting Rajesh as well? It has been some time we don’t go there. And Akiko, for that matter. It is in good taste to give a present for a newborn.”

“What do you suggest?” I ask her.

“You could get some cloth with the elves, and get some diapers made. With that quality of cotton, it is going to be very comfortable for the baby.”

“How do you guys make diapers here?”

“Just a rectangle of cloth. Have you never seen a baby?”

I give her a yellow smile.

“Lucille, can I ask your help with this? Do we have to get a seamstress?”

“Pffft… Daughter you should treat your husband better… Anyway, you already have people that made you clothes, a maid should also be able to do it. As for you, daughter, he should not have to think about this kind of stuff…”

Ruby snorts on how awkward Cecilia felt being corrected by her mom like a toddler. Lucille continues.

“That is the job of a proper wife. ALL wives should be solving this kind of thing.”

“Humm…” Ruby loses her laugh.

We go to the living room. I go summon Rudolph.

“Yes, lord?”

“Rudolph, do we still have cotton from the elves, or did we use the whole batch?”

“We still have some, lord.”

“How can we make, say, a dozen diapers with it?”

“Diapers? With elven cotton, lord?” Rudolph sighs. He shakes his head. Then he continues. “We can have them by tomorrow, lord. It is but trivial.”

“Thank you, Rudolph.”

“Of course, lord.”

Rudolph leaves. I grab Rajesh’s Comm Gem and inject some mana into it. There is just so much happening right now, that it feels like there is a year since I last spoke with Rajesh.

“Hello, friend! How are you?”

“I am well. How are you?”

“Are you kidding? I am in a bliss! Things couldn’t be better.”

I give a heartfelt giggle. Of course, everyone in this land has blood in their hands, with very few exceptions. I am not naïve that this is not the case with Rajesh, but he always seemed like a nice person. Of course, it is always hard to say what is in the heart of men, but I enjoy his company.

“I am glad to hear it. I was talking to the girls, we were thinking of visiting you.”

“Of course. When do you want to come? Today?”

“What about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow it is, friend. How about 10 o’clock?”

“That sounds good. We will be there.” I like the suggestion. Enough time to finish breakfast leisurely, prepare and go, while not staying too long doing nothing.

“Can I invite Sidhu as well?” Rajesh asks.

“Of course. It is a given. Unless I tell you otherwise, Sidhu is always invited in my opinion. He was the priest that officiated our wedding, even!”

“Hohoho… He doesn’t let us or anyone forget that, my friend. You would think that a former army commander would gloat on battles won and honor, but alas…”

We both laugh. We disconnect. As I am thinking about this, the following day we can visit Akiko. The diapers are going to be ready by then. Cecilia apparently thinks the same as me.

“We can visit Akiko and Hikari next day, my villain…”

“Yes, I was thinking about that right now. It works.”

“I am super excited to see the baby. There is a lot of time that I haven’t seen one.”

The dragonesses are nodding. Shandon murmurs something.

“What is it, love?” I ask her.

“Oh, I just blabbed, my lord. Nothing important.”

“No, it’s ok. What is it?”

“I was just thinking how weird it is, having to wait all that time with the baby inside… Eggs are so more practical.”

“Really? I never asked how it is for dragons…” I throw in. “How is your procreation?”

Ruby snorts. Opal sighs, and starts explaining.

“Sister, he doesn’t have an obligation to know how it is for us. He is just used to those… beings…” She says to Ruby. The way she talks about beings sound like something you scrape off the sole of your boot. She continues. “First a dragon acquires a dragoness. After he recovers from battle, he plants his seed in her, and… Half an year…? later we lay down the eggs.” Opal looks at the other dragonesses, inquisitively. “We are not good counting days, it doesn’t make much sense.

“The cave must be kept hot after that, so the eggs are placed in a nest close to rocks, and we keep the rocks hot through fire breath.

“The male is responsible for making sure the females don’t starve, but females can generally hunt as well. When there is an egg hatching, however, the male is responsible for bringing all the prey by himself, as well as sharing the load of keeping the nest warm. And then, 50 years later, the hatchling leaves the shell.”

“50 years?” Cecilia asks with an inquisitive look.

“Give or take. We don’t really count it. We kind of count the seasons… Much like you see hours around the day by the suns position, we feel the seasons in our bones, so it is easier to count.”

“What does a dragon egg looks like?” I ask.

Ruby bites her lower lip.

“If you stop shooting blanks I might be able to show you…”

“Are you sure there would be an egg? You might just get a big belly, like Hikari.” Cecilia mentions.

I could see the confusion in the Ruby’s face. The other dragonesses also start thinking about the whole thing, they tilt their heads. Shandon turns to Opal.

“Mother, have you ever heard of a dragoness mixing the blood?”

“I haven’t ever heard of something like this. Well, we will discover what happens when time comes.”

“Discover what happens when time comes? Aren’t you scared? I would be terrified…” Cecilia says.

Opal shrugs.

“We have seen so many firsts. The time where I could use memories and information from others to navigate our situation is long gone, sister. As the people in Shoria say, the ship has sailed and tide has changed.”

After that we stay in silence, I relax a little bit on  the couch. Opal stands behind me, and massages my shoulders. I relax even more. I am getting way too spoiled. Pile of gorgeous women around, being treated like this.

Sooner than I hoped, the time to go upstairs and get ready to visit Edward approaches. We dress not too formally, we prefer our casual tone.

As always, we walk to the mansion in front, right by the emperor’s palace. We are well received and taken to the study.

The sweets are on the table already.

“Good afternoon, friend! Ladies…” Edward says as he enters the room. “How have you been?”

“Good afternoon. We are well. How are you?”

“Busy, busy, busy. School starts next week, so in a few days. But I imagine you girls already have the calendar, correct?”

“Yes. We got it when we signed up.”

“Great.” He gestures us to sit down.

We sit and have some juice.

“So… I have received some information from a city in the Holy Kingdom… About a crow queen?”

I laugh. Muninn as laughs as well. He turns to Huginn.

“This one is on you, wifey…”

Huginn sighs, in a very human way.

“She looked like a good choice.”

“She who?” Edward asks.

“It’s a commoner that participated on the coup d’etat. She really hated the priests… It was amazing. She also has some leadership talent. Let’s hope it comes to fruition. She doesn’t have much at home, but she shared her small breakfast with the crow today.” Huginn shrugs after this.

“So, you created a queen for the city, just because you… Felt like it?”

 “Yes, I think you could say that.”

Edward laughs while shaking his head.

“Your group is amazing, friend.”

“You have no idea…” I giggle, remembering Muninn’s sketch about Huginn’s breasts. “But yes, they are all wonderful…”

Edward looks at me with a smile. I am pretty sure he is thinking of some joke. He drinks some tea instead.

“That revolution was brutal. The guild master was the only loss I would regret, though. He probably didn’t deserve it.”

“Well, a mob is a mob.” Huginn says.

“Do you already know what is going on in other cities?” Edward asks.

“Yes.” Huginn answers.

I didn’t. I look at her. She understands what I am quietly asking, and shrugs.

“It is just the obvious, papa. The adventurers talk to people on the guild. Now they have details about Wrax’s messenger that descended from the skies and punished the wicked, and chose the crow queen to lead them. You know, same old, same old.”

I can’t help but giggle at way she is putting it. Same old, same old? On the other hand, she is taking care of it by herself.

“Are people going after the church?”

“Yes. The parties that have the birds are joining the fray. They are staying at a more conservative position this time around. They are really taking the instructions to heart.”

“Parties that have the birds?” Edward asks. “What does that mean?”

“Well…” Huginn starts answering. “That is something that we thought of doing. Since they are rebelling, doing the minimum expected to show how displeased they were in serving the attempted extinction, we decided to change the penalty. Instead of burned, I am placing them on probation. In order to do that, I placed a fragile bird as their companion.

“That way I can also check what they are doing anytime.”

“Do you see everything the birds see?”

“Yes.”

“Even…” Edward points to the side, to something inside the house.

“Yes, though I have reduced that recently.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I have a soft spot for the hatchling… But since now her… Prayers… Kind of come directly to me, she doesn’t need to use Rebirth so much.”

“I am sorry, what?”

Huginn tilts her head. She thinks a little before answering.

“How do you think she requested playing in the park, in the past?”

Edward stops to think for a minute. He probably hadn’t considered that. He would, every now and then, see Sophia praying. He hadn’t linked that to visits to the park with Rutra on the following day. He continues staring at Huginn.

“Did you mention that she doesn’t need it anymore…? Why?”

“She doesn’t. I don’t know why. The researcher in the group is papa. She does have a stronger connection than other humans, though.”

“That is so weird…” Edward mutters.

“I know, right?” Huginn answers.

Muninn and I laugh. Edward looks at me. I raise my two hands in surrender and answer the question in the air.

“I had no idea that this was happening. The two things I can think of are the time they spend together, or the incident… But then again, does it matter?”

“Not really, I guess.” Edward sighs.

“But back to the Holy Kingdom… What is going on there right now?”

“There is another rebellion, papa. It again started at the guild, but this time things are a lot more planned. That guy, Andrey, is really working hard on pleasing his bird. The way the story was told in the guild… This time the guild master is going to live through. He is directing the anger towards the priests. He is good. And don’t even get me started on the bard…”

Edward laughs.

“Do you want to watch, papa? Mamas?”

Edward tilts his head to the side.

“What do you mean, watch?”

“Do you have the time? I mean, we can stop at any point, but you are going to enjoy this…” I say to Edward. “Huginn, can you project, please?”

She sighs.

“Is there anything this papa asks that little me won’t do?”

I relax the protections in my mind, and the illusion screen comes up. We are looking towards the back. We are in the middle of a set of stairs. Below us there are tables by the walls, and a very large group of adventurers. They have all kinds of shapes, armors, clothing, weapons.

To our back, there is this better dressed very strong woman coming down the stairs. She is wearing pants and a shirt with a deep neckline that barely covers a couple of big breasts and a lot of muscle. She comes down the stairs.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?”