073, 1/2

This hospital room was a lot nicer than the one that Poi and Kiri had used. This one was meant for long term care.

In a tower of the hospital, in a room half made of windows overlooking the western ocean, because Jane had chosen the ocean view, Jane laid in her bed, against the wall, watching the blue waters roll into the crescent, deep harbor of Oceanside. Her eyes blinked small, and inconsistently, as a metal rune in the headboard of her bed glowed dimly. It was the [Sleep] spell, inscribed by a Mind Mage and activated by that same Mind Mage; a doctor at the hospital, a human woman named Alibeth. That rune was the only thing that was able to stop Jane from needing to puke over the side of her bed every two seconds.

It had taken them some effort and a lot of [Cleanse]ing to get Jane to that bed, but she was there, now, and it made Erick feel some kind of better. Not wholly good, but good enough for now. There was still a lot of work left to be done, now that Messalina’s parasitizing of Spur had been revealed and her Flare Couatl had attacked.

But for now, Erick watched over Jane from the side of the room.

Rats had come and gone; he was still busy with his hospital work. He had offered to move to this long term unit to help with Jane’s recovery, but Jane had insisted that he not worry about her. He had his [Greater Treat Wounds] quest to complete, and Jane wasn’t about to take him away from that. She had said this over several broken, sobbing, disgorging sentences, but she had said it just the same.

Teressa was meditating in the corner of the room, working on her Mana Sense. This long term care unit was apparently stocked full of doctors and nurses that were more than capable of defending their weakened patients, some of whom were foreign princes or the daughters of warlords, but most were just fishmonger’s wives, or other sick loved ones. Oceanside took in all kinds, regardless of their ability to pay, and protected them all the same, but Erick still felt safer knowing that Teressa was here and personally looking over his daughter.

Poi and Kiri were out of the room, filling out paperwork; Erick had already filled out most of it, but apparently there were subsequent pages that dealt with other things.

Oceanside took in and treated all kinds of sick people, regardless of their ability to pay, but that did not mean they helped for free. Jane, being a soldier of Spur’s Army, meant that she was here, officially, as a member of that Army, meaning that Spur would get the ‘bill’. But it wasn’t really a ‘bill’. As Erick understood it, there would be a heavy favor owed someday, maybe. Months in the future, weeks, years… Who knew? Whenever the Headmaster decided to call in that bargain of trade, he would call it in, personally. At least that’s what the admitting doctor said.

It all sounded rather sinister to Erick, but the doctor listed off several usual bargains, like putting up some Elites in the area for a month, or procuring supplies from the area like shadow essences, or coming to Oceanside to teach a class… They were all normal things, according to the admitting doctor, but as they listed those possibilities, they also looked at Erick with a bit of a stronger concern in their eyes. Erick had little doubt that whatever Jane and Spur were on the hook for, he was on the hook for, too.

And so Erick sat in a chair beside his daughter, watching over Jane, while she struggled to accept the [Sleep] washing over her. Ophiel watched from Erick’s shoulder. The little [Familiar] had tried to comfort Jane; to sit on her bed and gently nestle up against her leg, but she thrashed and puked, so Ophiel had to watch from Erick’s shoulder.

So Erick waited, watching his daughter the whole time. She was still in pain. If he could take this pain from her, he would, but the doctors and Alibeth all said that healing from Disintegrated Dragon Essence took time. It was a soul sickness; a corruption that told the body it was wrong. Right now, a battle raged between Jane’s body and her own ‘essence’, which was another name for ‘soul’.

And no, according to the doctors, ‘souls’ were not ‘essences’, just how all four-sided objects were not all squares. But it was a useful terminology for treating DDE, since dragon essences were more akin to souls than all the other essences. It was Alibeth who cleared up the confusion left for Erick by the other doctors. The Mind Mage had said that Jane’s own soul had started to change, and the removal of the dragon essence had halted that change.

The desert of her soul had tried to grow a tree. And though the tree had been killed, there were still a lot of roots in the ground, and leaves scattered on the dirt, and a whole trunk and lots of branches all just sitting around; dead. It would take time for the desert to reclaim what had tried to exist.

And so Erick sat beside Jane, watching her try to breathe calmly and fail, watching her struggle to sleep.

An old voice whispered from the open doorway, “Pardon my intrusion.”

Erick looked up. The Headmaster stood in the doorway, the same regal old man with white hair, wearing the same yellow and white emperor’s clothes as always. Kiri and Poi stood behind him. Erick nodded, gesturing for him to come in, but he said nothing. The Headmaster nodded back, and walked into the room. Kiri and Poi followed, then shut the door behind them. Poi looked perfectly at ease, but Kiri looked paler than normal, as she tried not to look at the Headmaster. She was not nearly as pale as Jane, right now, but there was a similarity.

Erick asked, “Have you heard about Spur, yet?”

The Headmaster nodded, then said, “Since Spur stood aside from Oceanside’s goal of bringing Messalina to justice, I have given your city all the help I can give.”

Erick had hoped that Eduard was lying, or misrepresenting the truth, somehow, but that hope was a false hope. Erick asked, “Why? People are dying, now. Two soldiers stationed at my house were compromised by her Dream Worms; they [Defend]ed themselves to death, the second the Flare Couatl showed. The situation on the ground has changed, and Spur must now fully commit against Messalina.” Erick added, “I know you have the power to help. Please do so.”

The Headmaster turned his amber gaze toward the windows, briefly. He turned back to Erick, saying, “I have helped. My people gave warning, and Silverite chose to get in bed with the Life Binder instead of cutting off her head. I cannot work with Silverite any more than I already do. So, since Silverite still exists as the power in Spur, the Spur that spurned me still exists, and thus there is no option for me to help.”

Erick went silent.

Jane groaned a little.

The Headmaster frowned as he turned his gaze from Erick, to at the metal rune over Jane’s head. He stared at the rune. He said, “That rune is misaligned.” He looked to the air.

A quick knock came at door. The Mind Mage doctor, Alibeth, opened the door, saying, “Hello. Headmaster. Everyone.” She walked past Kiri and Poi, headed straight for Jane’s bed, saying, “So this rune is misaligned, I hear?”

The Headmaster said, “Not badly, but bad enough.” He looked to the rune. It shifted under his gaze, ever so slightly, barely at all. “It must have happened when she was thrashing around.”

Alibeth looked mollified, with her eyes down and holding a tiny bottle of glowing white oil, saying, “Terribly sorry,” half to Jane, but maybe half toward the Headmaster, too. She reached over Jane’s head, to above the rune—

Jane groaned, her eyes fluttering open, “Wha—”

Alibeth placed one hand on the rune as she upended the vial of white oil into a hole in the top of the headboard. Oil trickled into a reservoir inside the wood. Alibeth’s hand flickered white and the rune flickered back to life. White light glowed from the dark metal, for a brief moment. When the light died down, Jane was finally sleeping again. Really sleeping, this time. She breathed easy. Her eyes were closed for the first time.

Erick sighed out. He smiled, saying, “Thank you, Alibeth.”

Alibeth nodded fast, then watched the Headmaster. He nodded to her. She raced out of the room.

Erick said, “Thank you, Headmaster.”

The Headmaster said, “Helping people is what we do, here, but when people spurn my help I cannot help them later. I have rules. I follow these rules so that people don’t begin to think I am some unstable creature of chaos.”

A long moment passed in silence.

“Okay.” Erick said, not really understanding. But he wasn’t an immortal being, forced to watch the world change around him as he struggled to stay the same. Maybe that was the Headmaster’s deal? Maybe Erick was misunderstanding him; but that didn’t matter right now. Erick asked, “What if I offered something else?”

“Then I certainly would not be having this conversation here.” The Headmaster looked to Jane, saying, “And I am already providing you with a service unlike any other on Veird.”

Erick steeled himself. He said, “Which is why I am prepared to offer you something very large. It will be a lecture similar to the previous one, but much, much more detailed. And different.”

The Headmaster paused, gently looking down at Jane.

Erick waited. The line had been set. All he could do was hope it was enough to get a nibble.

The Headmaster turned to Erick, saying, “I am open to this sort of transaction.”

First hurdle passed! Good gods, maybe this was going to work after all!

The Headmaster continued, “I will meet you in the auditorium where you gave your previous lecture in two and a half hours. There is a class up there right now, but they will be gone after that. We will discuss whatever you want to discuss, and then I will decide how much help your information buys you.”

Erick barely contained his joy, as he said, “I already promised Kiri she could watch, if that’s okay with you.”

The Headmaster gave a tiny grin. He said, “Then I will also invite one other person.” He asked, “What is the nature of your trade? So that I might prepare a suitable second set of eyes and ears.”

Erick laid it out there, “The nature of light.”

Kiri winced. Poi looked away.

Erick glanced at both of them, uncertain of what that was all about, but he quickly refocused on the Headmaster. And now that he was looking at the Headmaster…

The Headmaster frowned a little. He said, “I might have to goad you into something larger, but we’ll see. I’ll be in the auditorium at the appropriate time, Archmage Flatt.”

Erick saw right through that bluff. The Headmaster was truly, very interested, but he had to save face. Right? Erick just hoped that he wouldn’t try to save face like this when the discussion turned to electromagnetism and waves. Erick would have never tried to talk about any of those things before now, before he had weeks of learning under his belt, and before he had a chance to really remember what he knew about the subject. For he had remembered a lot more about his daughter’s homework and what he had done to prepare for substituting as a science teacher, for the few times he had stepped in for a friend. There were videos and worksheets and way too much math, which he was never good at at all, but he certainly remembered all of the diagrams and colorful dioramas and picturesque examples of particles in motion.

Well… most of all of that.

… enough to matter, anyway!

Erick said, “I think you’ll be surprised.”

“… Maybe.” The Headmaster took one final look at sleeping Jane, then said, “See you soon. I hope you do not disappoint.” He vanished in a blip of gold light.

Poi instantly said, “The secret of blacklights will not convince him to come to Spur’s aid.”

Kiri added, “He’s a Light Mage, Erick. He already knows all there is to know about light!” She turned to Poi, “What’s a blacklight?”

Poi did not answer her; he just stared at Erick.

Teressa kept quiet, but she frowned, alongside the other two.

Erick felt suddenly and increasingly unsure about everything.

Erick asked, “Was he being serious about me needing to offer something larger? I thought that was just him saving face.” Erick added, “And yes. He’s a Light Mage. I know that. But that doesn’t mean he knows everything there is to know. I’m a Particle mage— Okay. Okay. I can already see your objections, Kiri. He’s been at this for a very long time and I have not.”

Kiri said, “At least since the Sundering and the start of the Script.”

Poi continued to frown at Erick.

Erick looked to the sapphire man, saying, “Not you, too?”

Poi ended his frown. He said, “I have to keep relearning that I shouldn’t doubt you, but every time it’s still hard.”

Erick blurted, “There’s four fundamental forces in the universe, and light is a part of one of them. I don’t think you two understand just how big that really is, and how disastrously wrong they teach the subject here.” He added, “Professor Stomp, bless her soul, is just so damn wrong about light— It’s incredible just how wrongly it’s taught.” He corrected himself, “Though for detecting invisible people, maybe there’s something there. I’m not sure.”

Kiri asked, “Really?” She scrunched her face, sarcastically adding, “You’re not sure, huh?”

Erick whispered to himself, “Oh my gods.”

– – – –

Erick stepped down the white stairs of an amphitheater. Up above, the sky was black, with white stars here and there. The three moons hung in the sky—

Erick paused. None of this felt real.

Something had shifted in Reality. Erick tried to access the Script, to bring up a blue box, any box at all. His Status came up, and all the numbers were correct. But the boxes came up slow, like there was a lag in the system. Erick tucked away the boxes, then looked around.

“What is this?” Erick said, “I was just talking to Kiri and Poi.”

“And now you are talking to me.”

Erick turned.

A mostly white wrought in the shape of a human woman sat neatly in a student’s chair, to the side of the stairs, beside Erick in the amphitheater. Her eyes were lined in gold, while her eyes were solid white. Erick’s first thought was that she was a Shade, but that was obviously not true.

Rozeta said, “Hey, Erick. Long time no talk. Impressive spells you made so far, but everything is starting to get way out of hand, and I’m gonna need you to reel it in, or help me limit this light stuff you’re talking about.” She added, “I’m getting in front of this one, this time.”

Erick took a short moment to put together what was happening.

He was speaking to Rozeta in a divine visitation. Sure. Why not?

When he got back, though, he was certainly going to get himself checked out for Dream Worms; if Poi and Kiri weren’t already panicking over his prone, thrashing body.

Rozeta said, “You are not in a dream worm dream. This is me, coming to you, for a talk.”

Erick rolled with it. Her answers would determine the rest of this conversation—

And that he was able to have that thought, at all, gave a little credence to the validity of this being a divine visitation. And if not that, then at least this was a really, really good facsimile.

“… Okay. How much do I need to explain to make sure we’re on the same page?”

“Nothing.” Rozeta said, “I’ve been watching you and your mind for some time now. So I know all about the wave-particle duality of light and how that is inadequate for explaining what light really is. I know all those dark thoughts you’ve had about gravity and how horrific the whole thing could get, and the half-thoughts about the ‘strong’ force and the ‘weak’ force.” She gestured to the seating on the other side of the stairs, saying, “Sit with me for a minute or twenty.”

That was a good answer. Erick willingly took a seat.

Rozeta said, “My main concern is with opening another can of beans when we haven’t nearly finished the last one.”

“… Cap the points people can get from new magic?”

Rozeta nodded, saying, “That is one possibility, but I want a scalpel, not a hammer.” She said, “That part you said to your guardsman about people not experimenting with the world really stuck with me. I’m not going to change higher tier magic… probably not ever. But lower tier magic is meant to be experimental. Tier 2 and 3 are there for that exact reason. Basic, tier 1, even more so. And people do experiment with it, all the time. The problem here, is that magic is partially based in culture. A communal influence on the world brings about the strongest magic, hence ‘all that math’ in the arcanaeums of the world. When you get a chance, you should look up ‘Ritual Casting’.

“But I digress.” Rozeta said, “I’m here to ask you how you think I should limit this light magic.”

Erick answered honestly, “I’ve just been using [Special Ward] to get the job done. Do you really need something else?”

A long moment passed, as Rozeta thought in silence.

Rozeta sighed. She said, “It’s probably the most elegant solution, but that blue box is way too big.” She said, “This method means zero new points, zero new basic spells. This is good.” She frowned. She steeled herself. She said, “I have to do it this way, don’t I?”

Erick said, “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think the Weak force or the Strong force would work through the Infinitesimal Ban.”

Rozeta smiled as she laughed.

Erick smiled with her.

She gazed out into the distant sky, saying, “The Ban is holding rather strong against individual-atom spells.” She smiled for a moment longer. Then she turned to Erick, saying, “So tell me where you’re going with this electrolysis spell.”

“Cast it on a Flare Couatl, and the water that comes out turns to hydrogen and oxygen that is kept separated until there is a critical mass, and then it explodes.”

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“I thought that’s where you were going.” She turned to gaze out at the dark sky again. She asked, “If you were designing for particle magic, how would you do it?”

Erick had thought about that question a lot before he tried to make his explosion spell. He answered, “Put the individual gathering spells, like [Condense Oxygen], at basic tier. And then you have the manipulation spells above that. Spells like Kiri’s [Hermetic Seal] would be some higher tier than basic. My [Call Lightning] would be tier 4, to make it fit with [Nature’s Fury]. Or maybe something higher because it is better in some ways. Whatever the case, you’d get there by starting from [Condense Hydrogen] and [Condense Oxygen]. You could also use this method to create an explosion spell, but for [Call Lightning], you would use this combination to get [Create Water]. Then you take [Create Water] with the 500 mana shaping option to make a cloud. And then you’d take that and [Battery] to make [Call Lightning].” He added, “Obviously, all of that doesn’t seem to fit with the current [Call Lightning]. There are some kinks to work out. In particular there’s the fact that [Call Lightning] creates a LOT of clouds out of nothing, and that doesn’t really fit with Particle magic at all. Maybe there’s a collapsing wave function or possibilty in there, somewhere, or maybe energy is just transformed into matter. Does the water come from somewhere, or is it generated by the magic?”

Rozeta just smiled, not answering, like she usually did not answer.

Erick said, “Whatever the case, this method would make [Call Lightning] much more than 500 mana.” He added, “And [Battery] is really strong. I did not expect it to be that strong.”

Rozeta laughed again. She said, “You invoked ‘A primal force, a titan touched, an ancient life carved from stardust’! What did you think would happen with that iron rod?”

Erick defended himself, “I thought I was being poetic. Stars produce iron in their cores through fusion, but that’s the last step before they die, and iron is a great conductor.” He said, “[Comet Swarm] is apparently a spell, too, and that one is definitely not what I think of when I think of ‘comets’.”

Rozeta smiled. She said, “Back before the Sundering, there was this phenomenon where rogue bits of broken stone floated through the mana ocean. They were maybe the size of a house, at the absolute largest. The ones larger than that would stabilize in the ocean and became homes for life, starting with slimes. If that life succeeded, then that Stone would grow, as the life there demanded more space to live. If life failed, then they broke apart, into smaller and smaller pieces, until eventually they rejoined the currents. ‘Comets’ were those broken hunks of dead rock, aiming themselves at the living, trying, in the worst, most violent way, to rejoin the living.” She said, “The physics of the Old Cosmology and this one are very different, Erick, but the names we have for certain phenomena are the same, even if they point at radically different things.”

“That is… rather different, alright.” Erick was lost in thought for a moment. Eventually, he asked, “How did light work in your Old Cosmology?”

Rozeta said, “It went slower, for one. You could watch the day-lights rise over the hills of any plane, and that light would fill the land with a gel, like a thin water.” She added, “It’s very similar to how the manasphere seems, right now. Imagine light moving like that; like a thin, thick, there and yet not, water.” She said, “Oh! Think of it like waves. Yes. Kirginatharp will love that double-slit experiment you’re planning. Now if you can figure out the rest of that experiment to prove light is also a particle, that superposition exists, and then prove it all to him, that would be something to see. For now, you can just try to convince him, but he is rather stubborn. He’s always been like that.”

Erick smiled to himself. He said, “I never expected to use all this knowledge. I just learned it all to help my daughter pass her classes, and substitute for a physics teacher friend. I’m glad my memory is doing okay. I expected to die of cancer well before now, you know.” He added, “I have literally no idea how my DNA describes how my future will turn out.”

“That’s a good segue.” Rozeta asked, “So what’s going on with this [Scan] spell they’re all talking about?”

“… I don’t think I should even try.”

“I think you should.” She added, “As soon as you make it, I’m going to lock it behind ‘Registrar Only’.”

“Really?!”