202, 2/2

Poi informed Erick that Treehome was ready to talk.

On the north side of House Benevolence, atop the large roof of the ‘sheet cake’ part of the building, Erick had built a small gazebo out of eternal stonewood, near the northeast lookout tower. It was there that Erick sat waiting for his appointment to show.

And show she did.

Syllea Wyrmrest, archmage of Treehome and expert in Mana Altering, appeared in a flash of clear light to the north, about a hundred meters away. She stood upon a [Force Platform] alongside Bayth, her childhood friend. Both women looked the same as the last time Erick had seen them; Syllea had green skin, with blonde hair and eyes like ice, while Bayth was brown with black hair and even more muscular than Teressa. A few weeks ago, Bayth had been the one to tell Erick not to contact Treehome for a while, opting to deliver that message in person.

That had been the last contact that he had had with that ancient home of Arbors and orcols in the Forest of Glaquin.

It probably would have been a good idea to have Teressa here with them for this meeting, but Teressa was still sitting at home, forced to rest. She had an Ophiel to keep her company, so it was just Erick and Poi here in the gazebo. They had only needed to wait about five minutes; just long enough for Syllea’s long range [Scry] to inform her that yes, Erick was waiting for her.

Erick stood up and stepped to the side of the shaded space, happily saying, “Hello again, Syllea! Bayth!”

In a professional tone, yet with underlying happiness, Syllea floated their platform forward, saying, “A pleasure to meet you again, Erick. We have had the most difficulty getting our Arbors and leaders to agree on our stance with you, but your recent request has finally tipped the scales in your direction.” She stepped down onto the ground. Bayth followed at her side. “I have been wanting to have any sort of conversation at all with you for the last two months! Thank you for the invitation.”

Erick smiled brightly at that, for she was telling the truth. Bayth looked happy to be here, too, but she was rather adept at playing the part of bodyguard, so she kept silent and stayed in the back. Erick offered, “Tea? Cookies? Or would you like to get down to business?”

“I’d love to have some tea,” Syllea said, returning Erick’s smile as she and Bayth stepped into the gazebo with him and Poi. “I’d also like a deep conversation about what you think a connection to Treehome looks like.”

Poi began making the tea, as Erick and Syllea took their seat in the gazebo.

Erick said, “A connection to Treehome could look like any number of things. It could be a full Gate Set, on Gate Road, along with a 500 meter by 500 meter plot of land that would be Treehome’s. I would ask for a Gate Tax for goods moved through the [Gate]s, or something like that. Perhaps a flat rate per tonnage moved? That particular question is still up in the air right now and getting rather complicated though, politically and numerically, so I’m not sure about that.

“Or, there could be a smaller connection of one single Gate that goes from Treehome to the financial district here in the Gate District, though that financial district hasn’t yet been built. That would be a Gate for personal, individual travel. I’m rather sure that I’ve figured out that cost at 1 gold per person, per trip through a Gate. Simple, easy to enforce, and not too large of a problem if people skip through without paying.

“Trade will not go through those Gates, aside from personal effects. You can already see how that could get into a grey sort of area, though, so that policy is still up for debate, too.

“Most places are going to be offered the single Gate option, but certain places that are large enough will qualify for the full 4 Gate Set and a plot of land on Gate Road. The plots of land are embassies and are required to do their own bookkeeping, but my castellan will be checking up on those sorts of numbers, and discrepancies will be frowned upon.

“But for Treehome, specifically:” Erick said, “I might want to plant Yggdrasil there, because he is asking questions and growing up fast, and I want him to be around trustworthy Arbors to grow up well. This sort of arrangement will be massively different from the other, normal options, and I might want to open up more Gate Networks using Treehome’s Yggdrasil; turning his new planting spot into another node of the Network, sort of thing. Local areas only, of course; individual Gates to— Well. The orcols don’t have any other cities aside from Treehome, so maybe just some Gates open between the Arbors? Or somewhere close? Allowing for easy travel between all your Arbor lands.

“Major Network traffic will still come through Candlepoint. I don’t expect that to ever change. When Songli finally stops being scared of me I plan to do a ‘local Network’ option for them, too, along with an embassy and 4 Gate Set here in Candlepoint.” Erick shrugged, adding, “Unless they decide they want something different. I suspect I will be doing a ‘Local Area Network’ for Stratagold in the next month or two.”

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye bounced on Erick’s shoulder as Erick spoke of a new planting by Treehome, and all the rest. The big guy wanted to be in Treehome, to be near other Arbors, even if he didn’t really know what that meant besides the fact that he was an Arbor, and maybe other Arbors would like fish as much as he did. Or maybe they would like different things! Yggdrasil was eager to find out. He wasn’t exactly cognizant of the world the first time Erick swung through Treehome, after all.

The tea was ready by the time Erick finished speaking, so he sipped his tea, and Syllea sipped hers.

After that calm moment, Syllea looked to Yggdrasil on Erick’s shoulder and brightened, asking, “So this is Yggdrasil, correct?”

“Oh! Yes.” Erick gestured to the eye, saying, “Yggdrasil, meet Syllea Wyrmrest, of the Wyrmrest Tribes of Treehome, the land of the orcols to the north of the Wyrmridge Mountains, in the Forest of Glaquin. Syllea, meet Yggdrasil, World Tree and my very good big boy.”

Syllea smiled brightly again as she bowed in her seat, saying, “A pleasure to meet you, Yggdrasil.”

Yggdrasil’s iridescent white [Scry] eye hopped off of Erick’s shoulder and then bounced up and down once, copying Syllea’s gesture. And then he returned to Erick’s shoulder.

Syllea turned her focus back to Erick, turning back to professionalism, as she said, “We are more interested in raising Yggdrasil correctly, through the planting of Yggdrasil close by Treehome, than at any possible expansion of the Gate Network. Perhaps, in the future, we will ask for a local area system, or some smaller application of your Network, but for now, Yggdrasil will be our priority. To determine how urgent this need is, I would like you to answer some personal questions, and we can go from there.”

“I can work with that.”

Syllea nodded. “What sort of questions is Yggdrasil asking you? Explain some of the situation, please.”

“Questions about sex and relationships and what it means to feel things as we ‘small people’ feel. What does food taste like. How can he taste food. I can’t really answer those questions, but I know Treehome can, for I have seen O’kabil’s and Nosier’s avatar forms. I know that at least O’kabil enjoyed a smoke with me that one time. If Treehome is willing to tell me what sort of spellwork allows your Arbors to achieve this sort of magic, then perhaps I could just pay for that spellwork and continue to raise Yggdrasil on my own and leave all of you out of this whole Gate Network thing.” Erick said, “That seems like an improper way to raise Yggdrasil, though, for I want him to talk to other people. He’s already making friends with people outside of my purview, which is fine, but I want to ensure that he is making the right kind of friends.”

Syllea relaxed as Erick spoke. She hadn’t been too tense, but there was some tension, and Syllea was not anywhere near as friendly as she had been when Erick had left Treehome behind. Erick suspected they were back to an even starting point, for the whole Wizardry thing still freaked her out.

It was fine.

They’d get back to that friendly sort of situation eventually.

Syllea said, “This is not nearly as bad as we feared. We have time to do this properly.”

That worried Erick a bit, so he asked, “What would a ‘bad situation’ look like?”

“If he was plucking things up from the world and ripping them apart to see how they functioned.”

Yggdrasil instantly cringed away from Erick’s shoulder, retreating behind him for a moment, before coming back out.

Erick said, “He has plucked fishes out of the water to show me, but he has not taken them apart. He is a good boy who knows that other things can feel pain, and he wants to lessen the pain in the world.”

Yggdrasil bounced up and down a fraction, though his enthusiasm for this conversation had been diminished.

Syllea nodded again, then looked to Yggdrasil as she asked Erick, “What actually prompted this contact?”

“I taught him how to send [Telepathy] message packets this morning and ended up experiencing about a half a million words worth of questions and concerns.”

Syllea’s eyebrows went up. “Ah.”

“We’ve talked all the time, but this was an order of magnitude more words than he has ever shared with me.” Erick said, “Mostly stream of consciousness stuff, but there were a lot of questions in there about small people, and how to act around small people, that require answers that I simply cannot give him, for I have no basis to draw upon besides my own.”

Syllea said, “Yggdrasil needs some experience with other Arbors.” She said to Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye, “Arbor Holy O’kabil, Arbor Wyrmrest, Arbor Nosier, and Arbor Home, will be your primary guides on how to be an Arbor, but all of our Arbors also wish to share in your presence. All of Treehome wishes to get to know you, Yggdrasil, and to help you grow strong.”

Yggdrasil bounced a bit, ready to make new friends.

Syllea smiled a little, then said to Erick, “But as for our relationship with you… I have a few more questions to establish how our nations will interact, since you are a nation now. I also have a few demands of your person, to ensure that Yggdrasil is raised as well as any ‘small person’ can raise an Arbor.”

Erick nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll go over the demands first.” Syllea said, “You will be granted the space directly above Yggdrasil roots and below his boughs as your own lands, but in reality, they will be Yggdrasil’s lands. You will not build anything upon that land that Yggdrasil does not approve of, and it has to be actual approval, written down for long term recall. You will not build in Yggdrasil’s boughs, though this is less of a long term concern for Yggdrasil than it is for the other Arbors, for Yggdrasil is World-Tree-large. Even so, Arbors sometimes like to change things about themselves, and having buildings on their boughs is not good for easy change. For the Yggdrasil at Treehome, we ask you to follow this rule.”

Yggdrasil sunk down on Erick’s shoulder.

Erick said, “I can work with that. I can put a house down on his roots.”

Syllea nodded. “That is the common way to do it.” She asked Yggdrasil, “Do you like living in water? Or would you prefer something different?”

Yggdrasil went still, in thought.

And then a tendril of thought came out of the air and connected to Syllea.

Syllea perked up, listened for several moments, then said, “The Restful River flows out of the Wyrmridge, beginning as a hundred smaller streams before it turns into the actual river, which then runs through the center of Treehome from east to west. There are some really nice fisheries located downstream, and some really dangerous fisheries located even further inside the Forest itself. We would like to grant you a space inside the Forest, near the river. The specific land we have in mind is a hundred kilometers north from Holy O’kabil, on the western edge of Treehome. It will be your job to transform that land from dangerous Forest into a solid expansion for Treehome, into which we people of Treehome will be able to expand into, with your approval. If you wish to make that river into a lake, then that is something we ask you to do yourself, with assistance and guidance from the Arbors, and from the people of Treehome. Working with people who are not your creator in order to provide bounty, probably in the form of fisheries and otherwise, will be the primary learning experience that we wish to impart to you, Yggdrasil.”

Yggdrasil was a bit excited, at first. But then Syllea kept talking. Yggdrasil had heard of the Forest from Erick, and that it was a dangerous place, and now Syllea was telling him that he couldn’t have his father there with him to help him along. Yggdrasil rapidly realized that maybe he didn’t like this whole idea of meeting other Arbors at all.

Erick spoke up, “You’ll be able to see other types of fish, and make a lake all to your liking. There’s this one fish called the Scarlet King that is really delicious, but also dangerous. We don’t have it here at Candlepoint, or over at Holorulo or down at Stratagold. Syllea and I shared a plate of that at a restaurant called Overloot one time. I’m sure it’s just one type of fish, too. There have to be hundreds of different fish in the lakes and rivers of the Forest.”

Yggdrasil was interested in seeing more fish, but he was not fully convinced that this was a good idea.

Syllea nodded at Erick’s words, adding, “The Restful River serves as the basin for about 30% of the Forest, which means there are thousands of types of fish which only live in our part of the world. Most of them are monsters. Many of them turn out to be unique species that we only ever see once or twice before they vanish back into the depths of the Forest. Some of them even through the Forest itself.”

Yggdrasil’s enthusiasm returned, but it was a brief candle that guttered rather fast.

Erick realized what the problem was; Yggdrasil was worried about leaving Erick behind. He told Syllea, “We would wish to be able to farm those waters, too. Maybe not through a permanent Gate between our lands, or at least not right away, but at least through shadelings and otherwise coming to Yggdrasil to fish. I will be coming there too, occasionally, both to be with Yggdrasil, and to help him when he wants.”

Yggdrasil perked up.

Syllea said, “We ask that you not actually assist him with clearing his land, securing it from threats, or doing much at all for him, physically or magically. He needs to be on his own at least a little. Having a house atop one of his roots is fine, though.”

Yggdrasil was back to not wanting to do this anymore.

Erick said, “It’ll be fun, Yggdrasil. You’ve been seeing me make a kingdom, and now you get to try making one all on your own, with a bunch of other Arbors there to guide you along the way! Holy O’kabil is good people, and Nosier knows a bunch of magic, and Wyrmrest ties everyone together in the same land; I’ve met those three the most, but I’ve had talks with all the rest, and they’re good people. And besides that, I’ll still be here with you here at Candlepoint.”

Yggdrasil bounced slowly, still unsure.

Syllea watched, holding back her thoughts for the moment.

Erick waited for a few moments, too, then he said, “I’m sure that the other Arbors can help you learn how to taste food, too.”

That cinched it. Yggdrasil went back to Erick’s shoulder, and hung out there, waiting for the rest of the conversation. He was prepared to be planted at Treehome.

Erick smiled a little bit.

Syllea changed topics, saying, “As for you, Erick, we would ask that when you do come to see how Yggdrasil is getting along, that you remain with him and not venture into the city. Do not open public [Gate]s on our lands. Do not interfere with our governing, and we will not interfere with yours. These are our basic requests of you.”

Erick said, “Sure. Sounds fine to me.”

Syllea gave a half nod filled with relief, then said, “We would ask after the possibility that you can tell the Twisted Visions to go far from our borders. Can you make that happen?”

Erick had no idea if he could make that happen. “I can ask around. I know that one of the Visions belongs to Ar’Cosmos, but beyond that, I am unaware if they have control over all of them, or not. I doubt they do. But now that you bring that up, that reminds me—” Erick asked, “How much of the Twisted Visions and [Gate] did Treehome actually know, all the way there at the beginning of my Path?”

Syllea frowned a little bit, but Erick knew it wasn’t directed at him. She was mad at not being told certain things, too. “The Arbors knew some of the truth of what Ar’Cosmos actually was, but according to them, the one of us who actually knew the most was Tenebrae. I didn’t even know that he knew as much as he did until recently, until Ar’Cosmos’s appearances here at Candlepoint made us reevaluate everything we thought we knew. If you ever happen to discover how such a subterfuge could have happened, then I would count it as a personal favor owed if you could inform me.”

She was telling the truth, as far as she knew.

And so, Erick moved on. He already had a suspicion on how the truth of the Twisted Vision could have been suppressed, so he said, “It was probably a Fae Seal; the removal of memories that coincided with the Twisted Vision, or anyone who happened to step inside. It would have been easy for that truth to be concealed like that. This is how the dragons have been operating for a long time, to ensure that their lands remained untainted and unchallenged by outsiders, so they could have a land where they weren’t automatically at war with each other because of the intrusion of the Dragon Curse.” He shrugged. “They did it to survive. It is what it is.”

Syllea just sat there for a moment, digesting that new information. And then she nodded, accepting Erick’s answer as ‘true enough, for now’. Syllea moved on, asking what she felt was the largest question of the meeting, “What are your ultimate goals? Why are you doing all of this? The dynasty creation. Declaring yourself a king. Getting into alliances with Ar’Cosmos. Even making the Gate Network. It’s all very big, Erick. It’s all rather worrisome, too, to know that you are actually a Wizard.”

For a moment Erick was speechless. Erick had felt that his actions spoke rather loudly, but then again, Syllea’s question was a large question; one that not many people had directly asked. But Treehome was asking, so Erick would answer. “I am attempting to make the world a better place because I want a safe place for me and mine, and ‘mine’ can include the entire world on most days, if you look at it from my perspective; we’re all in this together.

“The only way to get to a better tomorrow is through ensuring that today is better for everyone than compared to how yesterday had been. I do this through talk, and work, and otherwise, and will continue to do this for as long as I am able. But of course, talk and small actions only work when one has the power to back up their desires, so while I have power, I will also use that power for the betterment of all.” He added, “And as long as everyone else at least tries to do the same, then that is how it will go. If civility breaks down, then the darker sides of power will come out, and I will use my power to end those threats before they can harm me or mine.”

Though some of Erick’s actions had and would continue to be radical, his purpose for doing it all was not very radical at all.

Syllea asked, “You do it for safety?”

“Peace, more realistically. But it’s more than that.” Erick spoke the refrain he had learned from Songi, “Peace and prosperity for all.” He shrugged. “If I have to force that peace and prosperity, then that’s fine. For instance, I know of a few longstanding threats and possible boons coming in the next several decades, and so I will be erasing those threats and supporting those boons as necessary. I don’t plan on using too much force to get the peace and prosperity I desire, though, for a world built upon too much blood can only ever get more bloody.”

As a test, Syllea asked, “But some blood is necessary.”

“Yes.” Erick said, “The Shades needed to die. Terror Peaks needed to die. Monsters that cannot suffer others to live free also need to die. These should not be surprising or even controversial statements.”

“And you determine who needs to die? Across the whole world? And the next and the next?”

Oh.

Erick realized what Syllea’s specific problem was.

He recalled a conversation he had had with Syllea about the responsibilities of the individual archmage, back when Syllea had been teaching him about Elemental Mercy and Air Magic in order for Erick to be able to operate incognito; so he could walk around places without being swamped by fans or assassins, or business requests. During that conversation, Erick had asked about large scale magics and how archmages could end monster threats the world over.

Eventually, Erick had done just that, helping to rid the Forest of deathsoul shrooms and moon reachers. That had only been a temporary measure, though, lasting maybe a century or two, since there were still moon reachers deep in the mountains and they moved around all the time. Deathsoul shrooms spat spores out, too, and the extermination efforts could not have possibly gotten rid of all of those.

Whatever the final outcome, that action was still a reprieve from the dangers of those two monsters.

But monsters still filled the Forest. Death and danger still came for Treehome and the migratory orcols all the time. Erick had not ‘solved’ anything, only delayed the problem for a few generations.

And that, specifically, was Syllea’s problem with progressive archmages.

If the archmages helped too much, then the next generation might not be able to weather the coming storm of new-to-them threats. Of course, this analogy broke down in the orcol’s specific case, for they had the immortal Arbors there to inform people of all sorts of monsters. Those immortal Arbors allowed information and tactics to be planned decades and centuries in advance, long past the short memories of mortals.

Syllea was terrified of the fallibility of people, and as far as she knew, Erick was just a person; he would be dead in any number of decades hence, and all that he built would come crumbling down.

She was wrong, Erick thought, but he let her finish what she was saying.

With a barely-hidden sadness in her voice, Syllea continued, “If you do too much for others then they won’t be able to stand on their own feet when the Darkness comes, and you’re not here to defend them.”

“The world is changing, Syllea.” Erick said, “And just like your Arbors, just like Yggdrasil, like Kirginatharp and King Alfonin, I’m going to try and stick around for as long as I can, to see these changes turn out well. Unlike them, I have the power to take everyone who wants to stick around with me into the far future, too. But I’m not morally better, or worse, than anyone else who tries to do good for others. Just different. Hopefully, even with these differences, what I build here will still be stable enough for others to build upon.”

And now Syllea was speechless. Behind her, Bayth’s eyes went wide as she looked across the table at Erick, and then she frantically averted her gaze. Syllea breathed deep, then said, “Then you’ve already crossed that expected threshold.”

“Back in the Core, actually. With Rozeta’s help. I’ve been functionally immortal for several months already.”

Syllea breathed again.

Erick waited.

Syllea collected herself, and said, “A place will be made for Yggdrasil by tomorrow. I look forward to a long and bountiful relationship between you, Erick, and Treehome. I hope that whatever you’re building here can be a good part of that relationship, too, but…” Her voice trailed off, as she had too much she needed to say, and not enough words that were good enough to fulfill that need.

“That’s good by me.” Erick decided to move the conversation to an old topic, saying, “When we first met, you expressed an interest in pushing back the Crystal Forest. My apprentice is starting that project either at the end of today, or tomorrow. We’ll begin with a hundred kilometer ring around the lake here, and expand from there. I expect it will take her and my Overseer of the Exterior about a week or maybe two, to get that far. If you’re still interested in helping with that project, we could use your expertise.”

“… Maybe later.” Syllea was ready to leave, but remembered something which she did not want to remember. She cringed a little, then said, “Tenebrae has asked me to ask you how much a [Reincarnation] would cost him.”

Instead of being surprised at the sudden change in topic, Erick simply felt calm. He had been waiting for some sort of communication from Tenebrae, through some sort of official or unofficial channel, or whatever, if only for [Gate]; for Tenebrae to demand that spellwork for himself. This was a variation on that demand that Erick was not exactly prepared for, but he had prepared for this sort of request anyway, for a lot of people were asking this same sort of question; sometimes subtly, sometimes openly and with great promises of gold attached.

Erick said, “[Reincarnation] rids the target person of every single spell they have, every single blessing, every single curse. Everything. It sets them to level 0. In return, I am able to give the recipient any sort of body they wish for, with any sort of predispositions for anything that they can think of and request. I can change a person’s race, gender, or predispositions toward being happy or being serious or being gloomy, or being smart, or being brave, or anything. Or, I can set you on a track to a far-off goal that aligns with your desires, and predispositions toward emotions will align with that far off goal.

“If a parameter is not specifically selected, they are filled in randomly. Such things include the sizes of feet, or eye color, or the color of your magic. The color of one’s magic tends to shift lighter, usually.

“What you keep, and what I cannot change, are your memories. I can alter biology so that you might view those memories differently, but I cannot change your memories themselves.

“I suggest a ‘less is more’ approach with your requests, where the thinner your requests, the easier it is to get what you want, and the less control I have over the final outcome.” Erick added, “In Tenebrae’s specific case, though, as is the case with everyone who has [Familiar]s… This kills the [Familiar] spell inside the soul. Any undifferentiated Rockys will simply cease to exist.”

Syllea asked, “But what would it cost him?”

For a brief moment, Erick was rather sure that Syllea had not heard his explanations of [Reincarnation]’s costs.

But then Erick realized that Syllea and other people from Treehome had likely talked with Tenebrae about all of this, at length— Well. Like. Duh. Yes. The Wyrmrest Enclave, which oversaw much of the beating back of dangers of the Wyrmridge Mountains, and of which Tenebrae and Syllea were both a part of, likely had a lot of discussions about all of this. They had probably spoken at length with all of his various former-Oceanside people about their own [Reincarnation]s, too. Nothing Erick had told Syllea had been new.

She truly was simply asking about costs. Monetary, or otherwise.

“Free.” Erick said, “For Tenebrae? Free. For anyone who has proven to be an asset to the world? Free.” Erick rapidly added, “But… I would hope that Tenebrae would request a new Familiar Form that allows his true, wonderful self to come out. I’d hope to see more of that version of Tenebrae that helped Jane and Teressa and I learn of gridwork, and gave me all that assistance with [Gate]. Less of the version of him that threatened Poi, and which dumped us unceremoniously off at Songli. I’d also like for his children, the Rockys, to be separated from him before I do this magic, for I won’t kill them myself… Though with what I know of how he made that spell, any separation will end up with some of the Rockys dying before they can be born.”

Syllea leaned back a bit, then asked, “Would you impose such soul changes upon him?”

At that moment, Erick saw where this line of questioning was going.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Tenebrae was probably watching right now.

Erick said, “No. I would not. I would ask him to consider the ultimate trajectory of his next life, though, in the hopes that he would choose the right path himself. But I would not force my own views upon him. And I also won’t kill the Rockys. Tenebrae would need to find a way to save them or kill them himself, for I won’t do it.”

“… Well.” Syllea resolved herself to what came next, as she said, “Tenebrae would come here, now, and have you do this for him while I watch the process. He would also have you perform a [Reincarnation] on his Cook, Palodia. Do you agree?”

“… Sure.” Erick ignored the fact that Syllea had ignored part of his own demands, and added another request of her own. Erick gestured to the flat, open space beyond the gazebo, in full light of the sun. “Over there? Or in the office space down below, if privacy is needed?”

Syllea did not answer—

For ten meters away, atop the flat white roof of House Benevolence, the air shimmered purple and opened, becoming a [Gate]. A courtyard full of people lay on the other side. It was night in that other part of the world, and Erick recognized the pillars and the people from a while ago. It was the same place which the original Rocky and a few others came from, when they visited his ailing, dying father, after Ophelia had differentiated from the spell inside Tenebrae’s soul, causing the older archmage some physical distress…

Tenebrae had almost died, actually. It wasn’t a simple ‘distress’.

Erick had imagined that Tenebrae had recovered, and that he would be walking through the [Gate] alongside Rock and a few others, but he had been misinformed about Tenebrae’s health.

Rock, the original differentiation of Tenebrae’s [Summon Rocky] spell, stood beside a bed that floated upon a purple Platform spell. The bed held a lot of pillows. So many pillows that it was hard to initially see the man upon those pillows.

Erick did not expect Tenebrae to be this bad, but maybe he should have.

The old man was thin. He was barely awake, struggling to keep his eyes open, but then Rocky walked through the [Gate] and brought his father with him. Tenebrae recognized that he was moving. He saw night turn into bright day, as he passed under the purple arch of Rock’s [Gate], and his eyes opened fractionally wider. He looked around. It was easy to tell that Tenebrae was heavily drugged and in a lot of pain; he was barely himself.

But then Tenebrae saw Erick. Focus came to the aging Stone Archmage like the final flickering of a candle, turning into pyre. The old man stared with bright, grey eyes.

Two more people came through the [Gate].

Palodia, Tenebrae’s Cook, was an old incani woman with red skin and horns who scowled most of the time; now, she just prayed, silently, to whatever gods cared to hear. The only other person to come through the [Gate] was a dark black stone woman. She was Obsidia; one of the differentiated Rockys. The purple [Gate] closed behind them, shutting out the sights of over fifty other people, stone and otherwise, in a dark courtyard on the other side of the world.

Rock walked forward silently, barely willing to meet Erick’s eyes. He held some paperwork in his stone hands. Erick walked forward and met the man halfway, silently taking the paperwork. Rock kept his head bowed and stepped away.

Erick read over the paperwork in under four seconds, without even flipping through. His eyes briefly went wide. He had to confirm what he had read. “You got rid of the [Summon Rocky] spell?”

Tenebrae narrowed his eyes at Erick.

There was a lot to see in that small expression.

Tenebrae hated everything about this. He hated that Erick was a Wizard, and that he had gotten [Gate]. He hated his own mortality. He hated that Erick was young again, and Blessed by Rozeta. He was furious that Erick had gotten secrets out of Ar’Cosmos that he had been working at for decades. He was angry at the world, but mostly he was angry at needing to come here and beg like a dog. Mostly, though, he was furious that Erick would ever think that killing the [Summon Rocky] spell didn’t hurt him; that it wasn’t a massive emotional turmoil, and that he wasn’t devastated that it had to be done.

Palodia took a half-step forward, her voice was weak, but it was stronger than Tenebrae’s, for he could not speak at all. She said, “When we… When we divested Tenebrae of all his worldly assets and set to right his final papers… We did that two months ago, back when the doctors said that the next differentiation would kill him.”

“I apologize for my uncouth suggestion,” Erick said. “Please forgive my unkind words.”

Tenebrae relaxed a little, looking both vindicated and supremely tired.

The differentiation of a summon into a person was not an easy thing on the original creator. It was likened unto a birth, but the pain was less of the body, and more of the soul, as parts of the creator’s soul were ripped away as the new soul became their own person. Tasar had explained all of this to Erick, back when she spoke about what it meant to be an immortal and have [Familiar]s.

Ophiel’s eventual differentiation would hurt Erick a lot, in all the unintentional ways a person can hurt another. Yggdrasil’s differentiation would have probably been easier, since Arbors were generally in the original caster for such a short amount of time, but then again, Yggdrasil had that seal on him, and he would be with Erick for a hundred years. Maybe Yggdrasil’s cognizance would make that separation easier; Tasar didn’t know, for sure. Usually, as soon as [Familiar]s became cognizant, they separated, and that process was exactly as bad as souls splitting.

Tenebrae had taken a different route with his [Summon Rocky] spell, and the eventuality of differentiation. His soul would slowly bleed off new people every few years. Tasar didn’t quite approve of that, nor did she disapprove. It was simply an option, one that ensured that the people created by the [Familiar] spell would be able to be their own species, and that the creator got to keep their [Familiar] spell.

Of course, such a decision led to this outcome right here. The [Reincarnation] option was a twist, but even still, Tenebrae’s [Familiar] spell would die with his current form.

Erick had no idea what to think about everything that was happening in front of him. He was thankful, though, that Tenebrae had removed that thorny ethical problem before coming here.

There was one thing about all of this that Erick was sure about, though.

Erick said to Rock, “Rock. If your people ever desire to leave behind your stone bodies and become fleshy sorts, then I could probably [Strike] that mark. I plan to do the same for Ophiel when that inevitability happens, if Ophiel should choose that path.”