Chapter: 503 – Something of a Contradiction

Tala tried to take Lisa’s refusal in stride, but it niggled at the back of her mind throughout the truly delicious—and otherwise pleasantly diverting—feast.

To her surprise, every dish contained magics seemingly tailored to each human who ate it, and watching carefully, she was able to see that those magics were introduced into the food as each person took the given portion.

Is… Is Vidarra adding magic to each at will?

-It looks like it, but… that shouldn’t be possible. Right?-

Well, it’s possible, we could do it, but it wouldn’t be meaningful.

-Yes, yes. That’s not what I meant.-

Then, precisely, yes. The whole idea is that the given working is in the natural magics of the food eaten, and that can be transferred, in part, to the consumer. Just putting magic in food doesn’t do anything good.

-I suppose… You know what? Now that I consider it, aren’t the Pack experts on creating and modifying natural magics?-

…Rust. I did not… I did not consider that connection or application, but yes.

With that mystery at least partly solved, she was able to focus back on the repast.

She might have been a bit concerned that either she or one of the others might offend Anatalis or one of the Pack, and make things worse for gated humanity, but Tala had been assured repeatedly that while Anatalis often killed those who offended him or the Pack—often on the scale of centuries—he never took the offensive action as indicating anything beyond a particular individual. Apparently, despite their highly collective and interconnected nature, Anatalis still considered beings as individuals in most cases.

Even considering that, Lisa’s absence still bothered her.

His response to the invitation hadn’t been panicked—nor had it implied that they needed to depart from the Lunar Hunt either rapidly or as soon as reasonable—but he’d also had no interest in coming out of Ironhold, or even his own home now that it was complete enough that he only continued working on it from the outside every third day or so.

Tala suspected he only did even that as much as he did because the children continued to be interested in coming by to watch, and he seemed unwilling to disappoint them so thoroughly as to cut off the spectacle completely.

-He did consent to a meeting with you in a couple of days. So, at least he isn’t just holing up in his home while we’re in the Lunar Hunt.-

Tala groused. I should hope so. I’m carrying him around in a space that is bound to my soul. The least he can do is agree to meet with me if I have things to ask.

Alat sighed dramatically. -You know that you don’t want people acting that way toward you. You’re just a bit on edge because of all that’s going on. Reasonable as it might have been for someone else in your position to expect such deferential treatment, you don’t want—and have never wanted—residence in Ironhold to come with any implicit or explicit requirement of deference or obedience toward you.-

…Yeah. But it would be nice if they did what I wanted… She fully understood the contradiction in that stated viewpoint. She didn’t want to have any authority over them, but she also wanted them to at least do as she said with regard to the space itself…

Something began swirling within herself, within her gate, within her soul.

My authority isn’t over anything as fleeting as the residents. She quite honestly didn’t care one way or another what they did, so long as it didn’t harm Kit or make her life harder.

My authority is over the fundamental parts that make up Ironhold. It’s all mine, and I don’t want it—or its future utility—lessened, harmed, or destroyed. I don’t want its fundamental nature distorted or disturbed… She felt herself slide a hair toward Paragon as she put her impressions and vague feelings into words, even if only in her own mind. Tala felt like she was so close to a truth that she needed.

It just wouldn’t fully form within her coherent thoughts.

I want what is mine to continue. I want it to improve or remain the same, but the specifics are mostly irrelevant to me… if it remains the same, I don’t want it to stagnate. I’m happy to help with any of the specifics, but I generally don’t want to pick them, nor do I feel I have—nor should have—the right to do so.

-That sounds like a landlord?-

A bit…but a landlord has control over many of the specifics—even if that control isn’t exercised—and in the end, he wants what is loaned or rented to be given back.

Rane bumped her with his shoulder. “You look really frustrated—or at least contemplative—is there anything that I can help you with?”

She shook her head, his question not hampering her thinking, even if she was trying to focus, and hearing him made that hard. She wanted to hear him and give him her attention when he was speaking to her, just as she knew he did for her when things were reversed.

“Alright, just let me know.”

She smiled at that, bumping her shoulder into him to give contact and show her thanks. “I will.”

After another minute or so, she sighed, and returned her attention to the feast.

This was a celebration of welcome for them. The least she could do is enjoy herself and the amazing food.

* * *

Anatalis made the rounds through the human guests, welcoming and chatting with each one in turn.

They all responded with gratitude and respect, relieving some of Tala’s stress.

It wasn’t that Tala had expected otherwise from those that Lyn had selected as ‘worthy’ of this honor, but there had been the tiny fear at the back of her mind that wouldn’t go away until those initial greetings had passed.

These were people of prominence within Ironhold, and they would have been missed if they had misstepped and had been… removed from the Lunar Hunt.

The god-beast ended his rounds near Tala and Rane once more, which actually gave Tala the opening to ask something that she’d been curious about. “Great Anatalis. A bit ago, you were involved in a cell. You and the Lord of the Southern Forest worked together to kick the prisoner back out of Zeme.”

The wolf grunted. “I thought that I had detected your magics there. What do you wish to ask? So far you have only made a statement.”

“My question is why? Why was she kicked out and kept away? Why did you work with the Forest Lord?”

“She was kicked out, because she is an abomination who would see Zeme as a whole destroyed. Her advancement is also such that your quaint ‘solution for all evils’ would be wholly ineffective.”

Tala blinked a few times in confusion. Then, she realized that he meant the cells and decided to ask for clarification on another point, “Is she an abomination because she doesn’t have a soul?”

“It is because her soul has already passed on, and her body—subconsciously—will always try to follow, even if it means dragging the rest of Zeme along for the ride.”

She felt a tightness of fearful anticipation as she asked, “Is that possible? To go physically to the next world?”

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“No.”

The categorical response surprised her even as it relieved some of the tension she’d been feeling. “Just ‘No’?”

“That which is ‘Real’—that which is physical—cannot enter into the world of Magic. Do not mistake me, it can dip in, if properly sheathed in the Void, but it cannot stay, and it cannot merge with anything that resides therein. It is the same for the Void.”

Tala frowned, considering the implication of what he’d said. “Then… is there a place where Reality is supreme, and the other pieces cannot endure?”

“That is a debated topic. Many say that such is what exists outside the radius of Zeme and the Doman-Imithe. Some say that that’s what Zeme was supposed to be—and was—until it was broken. I am not old enough to remember, nor have I ever encountered a being who was.”

“So, repairing Zeme, if it were possible, would require shutting out magic and the void?”

“I do not believe so. I think that this is a fundamental misunderstanding, no matter how widespread. Reality is what should be. It is that which is without sapient interference, and without anything breaking it apart. Void is simply emptiness or separation. It exists everywhere and must do so in any existence that is larger than a single infinitesimal speck. Magic is that which supersedes standard causality, that which changes what would have been, generally at the behest—and due to the willful choices of—sapient beings whether directly or indirectly. What we commonly refer to as magic is simply that potential and power of change and redirection distilled and wielded at a more fundamental level.”

Tala considered for a long moment. “So, a world of pure ‘Reality’ would be one without free will or volitional action?”