132, 2/2

Three mountains over from their first of many destinations on this small part of their larger path, Erick gave a few final warnings to his daughter and his people.

Don’t piss off Tenebrae. Be as nice as possible. Follow Rocky’s lead when it comes to being polite, but do not ever be alone with Rocky, ever. Don’t be alone with Tenebrae, either. Erick had learned that the man responded almost disarmingly so when confronted with niceties, but don’t let him trample over you, of course—

“So Shade-interaction rules, then?” Jane said.

“Sounds like,” Teressa said, “Poi?”

“That’s the right of it,” Poi said.

Erick said, “We’ll do our best. I hope he won’t be as bad as he had been… We’ll do our best.”

A short lightstep later and the four of them stood upon illumination, not ten meters from the castle.

A Rocky stepped out from a protected part of the wall, saying, “Welcome back, Archmage Flatt and guests! Please follow me, and we can get you situated in the guest house.”

Erick kept his eyes open and his Ophiel alert, and while Poi knew what to do, Teressa and Jane were having much different reactions. Teressa was subdued, so that was fine. But Jane…

– – – –

Jane stepped down from the light and into a fairy tale land of enchantment. A flying castle! Stone people! A trip into the Forest, with archmages at her back, and the promise of high adventure awaiting! She could not keep the smile from her face. This! This was what she had wanted when she decided to become an adventurer! And yet, it was also so much more! Could she ever have imagined such an event, two years ago?

Well. When she dropped to Veird, and after finding her feet and knowing that there was a chance for survival, she had imagined scenarios exactly like this. Surely flying castles must exist! This was a land of magic, after all. And here was one!

She had lost some of that wonder in the following months. But…

Jane almost laughed for the sheer joy of it all, and sure, there might be death-defying acts of heroism waiting for her, alongside monsters that wanted to eat her still-beating heart, or whatever, but that was life for you! Monsters and magic, and everything else!

She was taking this seriously. Let no one say that she was not taking this seriously. Her father’s words had not washed in one ear and out the other. But so what? Life was dangerous, and life was awesome.

The ‘Rocky’ brought them past a tree that Jane was sure was absolutely not the lynch-pin of how this flying castle flew. Who would put such an obviously magical weakness out in the open? No, it probably had other functions. Hiding functions? General protection functions? Utility functions?

… Jane would have to find out!

“And these are your rooms,” Rocky said, gesturing toward an archway in a house.

Erick said, “Thank you,” as he sent an Ophiel in, probably to scout the place, seconds before he followed.

Her father was like that a lot, these days. Second guessing people. Checking before he moved. Keeping his defenses on high alert almost all the time— and yup. There was that familiar spell. The house filled with dense air; [Prismatic Ward]. Jane enjoyed the spell. It made her feel safer when she slept, especially since that time with the Moon Reachers reaching into her underground room all those months ago, back when she was going after [Fire Body].

But they had killed every Moon Reacher in the Forest!

And how awesome was that!

Jane followed her father into their room.

… It was not as nice as the Holy O’kabil’s hotel. It was just a stone box… With stairs. Two boxes, then; one on top of the other. A half box for the kitchen. A separate box for the bathroom. Multiple boxes, none of them stylish.

No furniture.

Tenebrae obviously didn’t want people spending too much time in his abode.

This was perfectly great, though. This is what [Conjure Item] was for! For beds on the go; exactly what any enterprising adventurer used in these sort of situations. The kitchen was as bare as anyone would expect, with just a stove and some pots and pans and a small water basin. Jane headed upstairs, while Rocky and the others spoke of whatever; standard ‘don’t do this’ stuff.

She listened! She just didn’t listen that closely.

The second floor was a bit nicer. It had some windows, at least. Jane conjured a bed in a corner of the room and plopped her stuff onto the stone floor beside it, then she went back downstairs.

Rocky had left.

Her father said, “The castle will begin moving in a few minutes. But first: some rules…”

He listed some rules. Jane paid attention; she did! But they were normal rules, and she had been through this sort of thing before. He was speaking as though she had never dealt with people way out of her weight class, that she knew she could not offend. It was grating to be treated like such a child, and though she knew that her father did what he did out of love and worry, it was still grating. And then he surprised her.

“And we’ll…” He paused. He said, “We’ll be going into a Twisted Vision. We will likely meet dragons. Tenebrae will say more, I’m sure.”

Jane’s excitement vibrated from 8, to 11, then down to 4, and then all the way back up to 10.

“Visions and dragons!” Jane gasped.

Teressa whispered, “Shit. Visions and dragons.”

Jane zeroed in on Teressa. “How do you deal with those?”

“You run away when you see the Forest turning odd around you, and if you ever meet a known dragon, you never, ever speak of it, ever.” Teressa turned to Erick. “I wish you wouldn’t have told us. It’s easier to look the other way and pretend you don’t see what you see when something like that happens.”

“Impossible.” Erick said, “Something would have happened with regard to the dragon-thing anyway, and I will not be some fool who doesn’t let you know crucial information.”

Jane added, “And running away is not an option, right, dad? So how do you deal with a Twisted Vision?”

Erick and Jane waited for Teressa.

Teressa said, “Uh… To kill a—”

“We’re not killing it.” Erick said, “Investigation only.”

Jane stared at her father. “We’re not killing it?”

“We’re not killing it?” Teressa asked, at almost the same time.

“I don’t know why, either, but that’s what I promised.”

“Then…” Teressa smirked, as though a problem vanished, and a path became clear. “Okay. That makes it easier. A lot more fun and a lot less dangerous. Still dangerous, though. But not Shade-dangerous. I think, when it comes to Visions, you just don’t do anything. Don’t kill monsters. Avoid all interesting phenomena, like glowing lights or stuff like that. Don’t investigate noises. But obviously… I think you’re saying that we have to actually explore the thing. So I think I recall— The elders used to say that if there was no way to avoid a Twisted Vision, say if you were walking and found yourself trapped between a closing valley of twisted Forest, then you just had to follow the mana. I was really bad at it, back then, but now? It’d be easy enough to escape one, or to go deeper. Following the flow of mana will drag you deeper into the Vision. Going against the current would lead you out. Simple.” She paused. “… Except when it’s not.”

“Stealth mission.” Jane said, “Sounds like fun!”

“Ah. Yeah. Stealth Mission.” Erick said, “I hear this particular Vision likes to suppress everyone with its Domain. So no [Lodestar] for me, with minimal ability to [Lightwalk], since it suppresses those, too. It also notices the casting of spells, so all spells need to be cast outside of the place, and then walked in.”

Teressa scrunched her face. “I’ve never heard of a Vision capable of that. But everyone I knew tried to stay away from them, and I have not been near the Forest in years. Maybe I would have heard of such things had I not stayed away for so long.”

Jane heard the sudden hurt in the woman’s voice, and pretended she did not; it’s what Jane would have wanted anyone to do for her.

Erick went right for that hurt, though, saying, “Don’t worry about it, Teressa. I’m sure Tenebrae will tell us more.”

Jane jumped in. “So I heard that we’re free to go anywhere we want, just to stay behind the black lines, right?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were paying attention—” Erick zeroed in on Jane, his eyes going hard. “Do not test this limit. Please.”

Ophiel squawked, echoing her father’s words.

Jane had to say something against that. “Dad. I hear you and understand. Don’t worry so much. I am not a child.”

“I… I know.” Erick softened. He spoke to all of them. “Let’s just be on our best behavior.”

“Is there any other type?” Jane teased, then, not waiting for an answer, she hopped around her father and went out the door. “I’ll just explore a little bit!”

Erick cursed, saying small words about ‘not wandering off on your own’.

Jane smiled as a tiny Ophiel sat down on her shoulder, glaring at her.

She ran almost into a pair of ‘Rockys’, coming down the stairs leading to the curtain wall. She twisted out of their way and stepped onto the shadows, off the side of the staircase, avoiding them.

“Whoops! Sorry! Hello there!”

Rocky One just nodded, and continued down the staircase.

Rocky Two said, “No problem, Miss Flatt. Do you require guidance anywhere?”

“I’m just exploring a bit, and not going beyond any black lines!” Jane asked, “I’m allowed to do that, right? The one guy said we could… But?”

Rocky Two nodded, saying, “That is correct. Do you wish for a guide?”

“I would not want to impose since you have places to be and I don’t want to take up your time— But. Maybe tomorrow. What’s up with the tree in the center of the courtyard?”

She might not have a proper mana sense, but her spider form had [Mana Sight], and with her Class Ability, Shifting Form, she had easily replaced her eyes with a spider’s for practically no mana at all. Almost no one could tell, either, unless they looked closely. If these Rockys could tell, then they hadn’t said. She hadn’t shown her father this Ability, yet, but she would, when they started talking tactics.

She looked to Ophiel on her shoulder. Ophiel’s eyes widened at her, as he scooched a tad away.

No need to tell her father, then!

Rocky Two said, “The Home Tree provides for minor defenses of the Estate, as well as plumbing and water functions. It was a gift from Arbor Home, and has been a part of the Estate for many, many years.”

Jane gazed at the small tree with a bit more reverence. “Ohhh!” And then she said, “That’s awesome! I love magic.”

Rocky Two smiled, then said, “It is my understanding that you and your father came from a world without mana. Do you prefer this world or your previous one?”

Jane’s temporary high came back down to a low joy.

Rocky One poked Two in the shoulder. “Impolite. You will never differentiate if you can only emulate Master.”

Rocky Two lost his smile. He looked lost. He turned to his companion. “How was that rude?”

Rocky One glanced to Jane, then turned to Two. “I will explain later. I do not wish to be further rude.”

Jane jumped in, saying, “It’s not a— I don’t feel wronged. My old world was a lot more technologically advanced, but you guys have magic, and that makes up for almost everything I miss from back home.”

She missed some of the shows she had been watching, but at least she had managed to see the Game of Thrones ending…

She could have done without that ending.

Rocky One’s eyebrows came together. “But… Surely you miss the people?”

“Eh. Well. That’s different. I try not to think about that. Besides. The only one I care about came with me. So it’s really not that big of a deal to lose everyone else.”

Rocky One looked unsure.

Rocky Two nodded, sagely, saying, “I can understand this sentiment.”

Rocky One chided his partner, “Still a rude question.”

Jane stepped across faint shadows, to stand on the stairs above the Rockys, saying, “I am not offended and we’re all learning about new people and how to get along all the time, aren’t we?”

Rocky One nodded, then said, “Thank you for your forgiveness.”

Rocky Two bowed to Jane, saying, “It was nice to meet you, Jane.”

“It was nice to meet you, too. Uh. Rocky? Right?”

“Correct. I have not differentiated. None of us Stone Men in the Estate have truly differentiated.” He added, “You might not want to be on the walls when we begin to move. People have fallen off before.”

Jane looked up, then turned back to Rocky Two, saying, “Thank you for your recommendation. I think I still want to go up there. But if you know: How would the Rockys or Archmage Tenebrae feel about me using my [Polymorph] forms around here? Shadow Spider and such? Not the Flame Ooze, of course.”

“You will have to ask him about that. We just grow up here and follow the rules.” Rocky Two turned and followed Rocky One down the stairs.

Jane watched for a moment. Then she continued upward, to the northern castle wall. As she crested the edge wind came on from all sides, whipping her hair back and forth, fluttering the Ophiel on her shoulder as she beheld a wonder that she had already seen. A green and pleasant valley stretched out below while blue skies held above, and the castle floated in the middle. The sight made her giddy. A giggle escaped her lips.

Ophiel twittered in happy violins.

And then…

Movement.

It started slowly, with crosswinds that buffeted from every side becoming something else; organizing. Soon, northern winds blew her hair straight back. Ophiel clutched tighter, turning himself more aerodynamic. Jane smiled as excited violins squeaked next to her ear, and the winds carried that sound away. She almost lost her balance; the wind was almost too much. But then, it wasn’t. She turned her body to stone and set herself in place upon that leading edge of the moving castle. Hurricanes were nothing compared to the might of the stone moving under her cemented feet, or the strength with which she gripped that castle wall.

For there was a hurricane. Perhaps this was why the castle was built so blocky; to minimize the damage done when it moved through the world. There were no fancy buttresses or wimpy glass windows to break in this place.

Jane was the only one on the walls. She laughed at the thrill of it all. A flying castle! Monsters waiting in the Forest! Her laugh caught on the wind as the castle rushed north, toward the green, passing mountains, flying over rivers, heedlessly advancing to a land covered with trees and danger.

The castle advanced. Faster.

The ocean of air tried to brush Jane aside, to fling her like a little ball of lint, to break her, to see what her insides looked like as they painted the grey stone of Tenebrae’s Estate. But it could not. She held strong to the stone under her, one foot in front of the other, the wind tearing upon her with shrill whistles.

Or maybe those whistles were coming from Ophiel. It was hard to tell at this sort of speed.

And then the wind stopped. Abruptly. Jane almost went flying forward, into the still air and off of the castle, her back foot coming off of the stone wall, her arms wheeling. Ophiel fluttered away. She caught herself with her front foot, in a fashion, slapping down onto the stone wall and melding just a bit with the grey. She laughed as she righted herself.

Ophiel came back down to rest upon her shoulder. He squawked in angry flutes and unsure guitars.

The castle had not slowed, or altered trajectory. A shield had simply come up over the entire thing and blocked the wind.

Jane laughed at it all. And then she sat down on the wall and watched the world roll away, far below. Soon, she just smiled. Ophiel’s eyes scanned in every direction, but even he was mostly watching forward. He enjoyed the speed, too.

– – – –

Tenebrae watched the young girl through the windows of a middling tower in the center of the Estate. From the outside, this place was just one of a few such towers, it wasn’t even the highest, and yet, it provided a full surrounding view of the entire Estate, letting the archmage see through the stone, to see every single person in the place. He could also spot the enchantments both active and not, to see if any of them needed repairs. If needed, he could also scan for any potential enemies, from any direction. Half the floor and all of the ceiling was see-through. All of it was enchanted with variations of [Stone Sight] and [True Sight].

From the outside, this place was nothing special, but from the inside, the archmage appeared to be just off-center of what could have been a lighthouse, which was what he called it, since it provided a wonderful full view of the entire place, and more besides. Everyone else who knew of this place also called it the Lighthouse when talking to Tenebrae, but since ‘everyone else’ was almost entirely just the Stone Men, and they were different from him, they also called it another name: Operations.

Tenebrae took his hand off of the control crystals that glowed upon a pillar in the center of the Lighthouse, leaving the controls to Rocky.

The Rocky standing behind the controls said, “Shields holding. Minor damage is already being repaired. Speed increasing to 140 KPH.”

Tenebrae had delayed activating the wind shields to see if the young girl was going to fly off like so many other young idiots had. She would have survived…

Probably.

Either way, Erick would have vacated the Estate and Tenebrae would have left him behind, and damn the consequences. Once that uppity archmage was gone, there would be time to fill in some gaps in the Estate’s [Ward]s, and with a bit more discouragement, maybe Erick would simply never find him again.

But then again, neither would anyone else. And that was actually a problem.

If Tenebrae calibrated the [Ward]s to block Erick, then he would also block out others who could actually use his help, others that Tenebrae would actually consider, outside of a Headmaster-backed bargain of trade.

Why had he ever agreed to this? Particle magic was idiotic.

Erick was idiotic.

“Bah.” Tenebrae stepped away from the controls and spat, “This is going to end in disaster.” He glared down at the guest house. “Look at them! He brought two people without an Elemental Body! For almost any other mission they would have been fine! But for this one? How foolish! Nothing but a hindrance!”

The orcol woman and the Mind Mage dragonkin both crashed into a wall when they took off. They were not hurt, because of course they weren’t. At least Erick had the sense to bring along rods of [Greater Treat Wounds].

“But only Erick’s girl has [Stone Body], or any other Elemental Body. All Erick has is [Greater Lightwalk]. A Domain, sure, but… Bah. Domains are useless where we’re going.” Tenebrae frowned as he gazed upon Jane, sitting on the wall. “Even his Girl is going to be useless! Prismatic Polymage. Too specialized, by far…” He went silent. He asked, “When was the last time we saw one of those?”

Another Rocky, this one near a set of secondary controls, said, “Thirty nine years ago. He won your assistance and you put down a roil of Tangled Hydras for him and his team, in the Uncharted Beaches southwest of the Kingdoms.”

“Ah. That one. He was rather competent. When did his city die? It died, didn’t it? They always die.”

“Thrived for twenty two years. Population of 30,000, and then more Tangled Hydras washed ashore. They did not survive the second attack.”

“Of course.” Tenebrae scowled. “Damn blasted idiot adventurers, thinking they can sustain even the smallest of towns out there in the wild! That Prismatic Polymage killed all those people who believed in him. I don’t know why I help when they— Wait. Did he die before the hydras? Or during? Might not have been his fault. Rare, but it does happen.”

“That Prismatic Polymage fought the hydras as they appeared. From what we heard after the fact, he was killed by an antirhine dust attack in the middle of the battle. Weakened him enough for the hydras to eat him.”

Tenebrae’s scowl deepened. “I authorized a counter-assassination, didn’t I?”

“You did. We carried out your orders to satisfaction.”

“Good.” Tenebrae said, “Damn blasted idiots all over this world.” He thrust a hand forward, gesturing toward Erick and then Jane. “Idiots from every world! It never changes!” He looked to Erick, then to Ophiel, then said, “Damn idiot archmages, too.” He spat, “And no mana coming from him?”

“None that we can detect, Master. He is not one of them.”

Rocky did not say the W-word, and he didn’t have to.

Tenebrae eyed the control crystals in the Lighthouse. A few important ones were dark. “And we’re running all the detection magics?”

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“All the ones we think he is not able to see.”

“… Hmmm.” Tenebrae stared at those darkened control crystals, then sighed. He asked, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Baked Chicken. Steamed vegetables. Highland Wine. And for dessert, we have Chocolate Cake.”

“A humbling meal, for sure. But… Chocolate? That thing that Erick made?” Tenebrae scowled. “I don’t approve.”

“You will like it. It hits all of your desires in a dessert. Sweet, decadent, and it requires a lot of work to transform the cocoa beans into a proper food item.”

Tenebrae continued to scowl. He huffed. “But he made the base item. Beans, though?”

“This is a good way to show that you are willing to meet halfway.”

“… Fair. Then it will fall to him to be polite. I am already meeting him halfway.” He scowled a bit. “No… I will have to do something more. I have met more than halfway.”

“Of course, Master. Would you like to try some cake before dinner, in case you don’t get that far?”

“No.” Tenebrae said, “I can have it in private after they give me cause to storm off.”

– – – –

After a tumultuous upheaval of their new living quarters, whereupon everything Erick had thought to take with him was unceremoniously thrown to the southern side of the room, Erick set everything back to rights, and [Mend]ed whatever needed [Mend]ing.

And then Erick and his people were invited to dinner with their ‘illustrious benefactor’. Erick had not named Tenebrae that; Rocky had. Erick had quite a few other words to describe the man who had most assuredly moved the castle like he had, specifically to injure, or at least be as petty as possible.

Jane had been on the wall. Erick had told her not to go anywhere on her own, but she immediately ignored him. But he put an Ophiel on her shoulder, so she was never in any real danger. But…

Erick refused to make himself more angry than he already had been. Anger was not a fun emotion. It ate him up inside, and so, he made every effort to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Erick distracted himself with the smell of a nice, if plain, dinner.

Baked chicken, steamed vegetables mostly of the green variety, but also with some corn in there, and nice wine. It might not have been the most impressive meal, but there was no want for portions. At least three chickens were quartered and placed in a large bowl, beside another bowl full of vegetables. Tongs were provided for grabbing whatever one wanted to grab. It was all very informal. It meant sharing with others.

Erick’s estimation of Tenebrae rose several degrees for that.

And then promptly fell, because Tenebrae was seated upon a nice chair. Teressa and Poi and Jane all had nice chairs. Erick had a two-legged stool that only stayed upright when held upright. The legs were too short, too. Even if he did sit upon the ‘stool’, it would put him eye-level with the table. He, of course, did not sit in the chair and find out that it was too short for him; he eyed it, and found out that way.

Everyone else sat down, because Tenebrae was being very polite to them, and Erick had told them to be polite back. And yet… Tenebrae smiled at Erick. Erick was the only one still standing.

Tenebrae asked, “Why, Erick? Is there something wrong? It’s a good meal waiting for us, but we can’t partake unless you sit. Palodia worked hard on it.” He waved over to the kitchen, which was half visible, saying, “Thank you, Palodia! Smells wonderful.”

Palodia was an ornery old incani woman with red skin and horns who scowled out of the opening toward the kitchen. She disappeared back behind the divider and some metal thing slammed against some other metal thing, as she said, “I cooked for kings, and you ask me for baked chicken! Disgraceful.”

Tenebrae called to her, “Blame our guests!”

Palodia did not comment.