Chapter 63, 1/2

‘It’s easier to see at night, anyway,’ Ramizi sent.

Erick had left the Courthouse and arrived at home half an hour ago. The Mage Trio showed up at his house ten minutes after that. They had found the Toxic Hydra. The four of them repositioned to an empty room in Erick’s house, where chairs were conjured and Poi stood in attendance, providing a telepathic network so that they could communicate while they were riding their [Familiar]s. Erick transitioned his senses to Ophiel, and they did the same for their own [Familiar]s.

Eduard sent, ‘You’ll have three seconds once it notices your Ophiel.’

‘Likely less,’ sent Maia.

- - - -

Ophiel flew high in the sky, racing across the dark vault of the empty heavens. Twinkling stars and the slim crescents of the three moons were the only light up here, though Ophiel himself gave off a tiny, almost imperceptible glow. His companion was similarly dark. A blue streak of a fox flew next to Ophiel, completely at ease flying this high up, his icicle fangs glittering in the dim, cold light.

A tiny blip of red bloomed beside the pair of [Familiar]s, scattering yellow and orange light into the dark; Maia’s firebird, [Teleport]ing in for duty. She was two meters from wingtip to wingtip; still smaller than Ophiel, but more than large enough to carry another [Familiar] in her claws. Ramizi’s slick weasel, clear with a touch of white, flopped between both of the bird’s eagle-like claws, but the weasel gave no complaints as he stared forward, at the clouds ahead. The only clouds in the sky.

The fluffy upper reaches of that singular cloud were pristine white, but down below, the cloud was green, and glowing, and touching the ground. An arcane sickness laid heavy in that strange air.

Erick sent, ‘It’s a cloud in the desert. Just like in the reports.’

Ramizi sent, ‘It noticed our scouting and sent up that cloud, but it should still be in there.’

‘It monsterified, so it can’t [Teleport],’ sent Eduard.

Maia sent, ‘Your magic will be greatly diminished, too. You’re going to want to start off strong.’

Erick sent, ‘I read the report, but I want to see what all those words actually mean.’

‘Fair enough,’ Eduard sent.

The ice fox and the firebird slowed to a hover. The weasel in the bird’s claws slinked onto a suddenly materialized [Force Platform]; now they weren’t moving so fast, he could fly around on his own. The Trio’s [Familiar]s remained where they were, as Ophiel flew forward; this was his show, now.

Seven Ophiel blipped into existence in the sky around the hovering group. They turned small, and silent. Three of them stayed behind, while the other four spread out, up and down, left and right, as they flew closer to the cloud. Four kilometers away, then three. Then two. The wind was calm tonight; the grounded cloud was wispy at the edges, but mostly solid. As the three Ophiel neared, the cloud’s green glow turned brighter. A putrid light illuminated the cloud from the inside. Brighter, and brighter still.

Ophiel dodged, rapidly, each a different direction, each of them [Blink]ing again and again.

Seven beams of green brilliance carved out of the cloud, like searchlights, trailing after each of Ophiel’s four bodies. The beams did not hit; Ophiel was fast and quick with the [Blink]s. But the beams didn’t have to hit. The very air around each beam, for dozens of meters in every direction, was laced with green. This secondary effect was practically invisible to the Ophiel trying, and failing, to evade completely. Four Ophiel disintegrated under the onslaught of barely-there danger, while three Ophiel watched.

The beams arced a kilometer or two through the air, before they lost cohesion, turning into so much green liquid. That liquid fell to the ground where it started to smoke and gather in puddles.

There were no agave down there. There were no mimics, either. The Toxic Hydra had killed everything for dozens of kilometers around. That was okay. The hydra was an ecological disaster, but not an impossible one to fix, apparently. If no one attacked the hydra, the crystal mimics of the Crystal Forest could heal all this damage over the course of a day, or at least that’s what Mog’s report said.

But seeing the beast in action, and seeing what surrounded it, Erick wasn’t sure if Mog’s assessment was entirely true.

Two more Ophiel [Teleport]ed in, bringing the count back up to five. One of the five split from the pack, going right, as a white orb materialized around his body, spilling thick air into the night, down to the ground. The sands below crawled with rushing, charging pseudopods made of thick air that raced to the green cloud, crashing against the windwall like so much splattering gel. But some of it snaked below the cloud; some of it got through, and probed deep.

A brilliant shock of green light tore through the cloud, shredding it from the inside out, cascading green fog across the dark Crystal Forest. A roar shook the land. A monster stood among the mist; revealed to the night.

Erick felt his heart beat hard, even though he was nowhere near his body.

The front halves of seven wyrms had been artfully attached to the body of a massively oversized Tyrannosaurus Rex, but there was nothing rotten about this beast. Pristine black scales covered the entire monster, while brilliant green eyes drank in the night. Pristine black spikes jutted all along the back of its seven heads and necks, trailing down to a thick tail, large enough to counterbalance the whole heavy front of the monster. But where the dinosaur would have had tiny front arms, this Toxic Hydra had dragonkin arms, each as large as one of the wyrm bodies on top. Its legs were similarly huge; the Toxic Hydra looked like it could stand, and race, and move, if it wanted, but right now, it laid in a sea of green light, flicking its tail back and forth in the green glow, looking around with seven heads, screaming from each one, searching for its attacker.

Its head pitched back, opening wide, green light pouring from every mouth to slice the fog in every direction, spilling more green liquid everywhere, spilling more clouds into the sky.

Ophiel’s Domain snaked through that green sea, thick air breaking apart atop the glowing waters, but there was more than enough of the spell to reach the hydra. Withering wrapped tight around the monster, and the beast howled. Green fissures appeared between the perfect, black scales. Dark green blood poured to join the glowing sea already under the hydra.

Thick air pulled poison out of the monster, as dark green eyes searched for its attacker, and found nothing, because its attacker was seven kilometers away, and hidden. Ophiel had moved into a divot in the sands Erick had made with [Stoneshape].

The monster dipped two heads into the sea at its feet, drinking down the poison. It bled, a lot. It kept bleeding, as it kept drinking. Dark blood flowed, forming dim swirls in the glowing sea. The hydra drank it all down, in a visceral, bloody cycle.

The hydra stopped howling. And it drank.

A minute passed. Five minutes. Eight. The hydra had long since stopped roaring green magic into the sky; now it just guzzled poison with two heads, as the other five scanned the sky to see what was hurting it. It either didn’t recognize that the thick air around it was a danger, or it couldn’t track the visual distortion to its source, or the very clouds of its own toxic sea served to disguise Erick’s attack.

But it wasn’t enough.

Erick sent, ‘So… I guess I have to try this, then.’

The other three mages just watched, silently agreeing with him that another tactic was required.

An Ophiel rapidly blipped right above the hydra, his body already disintegrating, but not fast enough. He released a glow of blue that crashed down onto the hydra, and blipped away.

The hydra groaned as the blue glow crawled over its body, eliciting green icicles from the seeping green blood here and there. The hydra didn’t seem to care much. After thirty seconds, the blue glow was half of what it had been before. After a minute, it was gone.

- - - -

Erick sat up, saying, “Huh.”

Poi stood to the side of the room, looking on, while Rats stood at the archway, eating from a bowl of potato chips. Jane sat on a couch, also eating from her own bowl of potato chips. Maia, Eduard, and Ramizi, gradually came to; sitting up in their chairs.

Jane saw Erick come back to himself, and munched on another chip.

“Is that a [Dispel] Aura?” Erick asked the mages.

Ramizi said, “No. Spells just don’t last long against him. A lot of toxic monsters are like that.”

Jane frowned, but kept eating chips.

Eduard said, “You can tell which monsters are strong against constant effects based on the glow. A strong green glow like that usually means spells do a lot less damage.”

“Your [Withering] seems to do well, though. Or at least it’s powerful enough to make it to him.” Maia said, “He actually had to start drinking his own poison.”

“A ten-kilometer area of effect can do that,” Ramizi said, smirking.

“It was still breaking apart, though,” Eduard said.

“[Cleansing Fire] on the pool?” Erick asked, “Ever tried that?”

Ramizi laughed. “If you can set water on fire, please tell me how.”

Erick said, “Let me guess. This is one of those monsters that you have to approach with a full-time [Cleanse Aura] active, but unlike other aura spells, like say [Force Shrapnel Aura], [Cleanse Aura] doesn’t suffer from this weakening effect, whereas [Force Shrapnel Aura] does.”

Maia said, “Yup. Common knowledge— Wait.” Her eyes went wide. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

Eduard went deep in thought.

Erick thought, while everyone else went quiet; they were likely thinking their own thoughts on the subject, either regarding the hydra, or Erick.

Ramizi blurted out, “Do not create a way to set water on fire, please.”

Maia glared at Ramizi, saying, “Why in Celes not!”

“I wouldn’t be setting the water on fire, anyway.” Erick said, “Just the radiation.”

“Radiation?” Eduard asked, using the English word Erick had just used.

Erick said, “I don’t think you have a word for it. What do you call a… an energy in the air that harms living things, and that sticks around.”

Eduard said, “Decay.”

“I think we’re talking about different things.” Erick offered, “What about the [Familiar]s, then? Why do they Decay when exposed to the hydra’s glow? They’re not organic. Right?”

Eduard frowned, slightly. Maia thought.

Ramizi said, “[Familiar]s are Force constructs, so you’re right that they’re not subject to Decay.” Ramizi added, “But there are different types of Decay. This hydra’s Decay is also Natural Decay, and everything is subject to that, even Force.”

Maia elaborated, “Decay is Decay. Natural Decay is a form of Fire… Uh. Wait.” She frowned. She said, “Fire... is not actually an element. According to Particle magic. So maybe Natural Decay isn’t Fire at all?”

Jane asked, “Where does Decay fall on the elemental spectrum? That always confused me about Mana Altering.”

Eduard answered, “The pieces to Mana Altering were decided in the early years of the Script, to add back several things that the Script blocked. In particular, fire and lightning magic.” Eduard elaborated, “A lot of ancient history is being dredged up around the world, because of the invention of new magics and Rozeta taking no steps to hide that she is banning several of them and taking away others. Like [Gold Grab]. This tidbit about Mana Altering is one of those facts that a lot of people just forgot about from the early days of the Script, but it was right there in the older books.”

Erick pulled out Mana Altering because he suddenly saw the skill in a new light, and this Toxic Hydra’s Natural Decay seemed very similar to another lesson from Jane’s High School physics background. Or maybe Erick had heard about radiation from somewhere else. The fact was, was that Natural Decay, or radiation, as Erick thought of it, ate away at magic, and that was really weird.

Mana Altering X

Bludgeon, Slash, of Piercing Damage

Force to Light, Blinding, Variable Cost

Invisible Force, Variable Cost

Force to Thunder, Disorient, Variable Cost

Force to Fire, Burn, Variable Cost

Force to Ice, Slow, Variable Cost

Force to Lightning, Paralyze, Variable Cost

Force to Decay, organic damage, Variable Cost x1.5

Chain, Variable Cost x2

Combine Effects, Variable Cost x3

Generate new effects. Variable Cost

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Nothing stood out in particular, at least not right now. That ‘Generate New Effects’ was highly suspect, but Erick would have to play around with that later.

“But… Natural Decay?” Jane asked.

Eduard said, “Ah. Right. In the Early Script, it used to be called ‘Extreme Light’, but it got shortened to ‘Natural Decay’, and then, since the part that got put in the Script wasn’t natural at all, it became just ‘Decay’.”

Maia asked, “Is light not a variation of fire and wind?” Maia added, “It has long been suspected that shadow is actually the joining of stone and water...” She frowned, saying to herself, “But that’s not true at all, is it.”

Erick put on his best bewildered face, and shrugged like he wasn’t suddenly tiptoeing around another very dangerous part of the natural world.

Jane ate a chip, saying, “I wouldn’t know.”

Eduard, Maia, and Ramizi, each glanced from Erick to Jane, and then at each other.

Rats ate a potato chip, crunching it with all the enthusiasm of a man watching a drama.

“Back to killing the Hydra!” Erick said, eagerly, hoping to deflect the topic of the nature of light and radiation to another day. “Just so I’m understanding this correctly, these types of glowing Decay monsters feed off of their own Decay. Yes?”

Eduard remained silent; thinking. Maia mimicked her brother, but with a frown.

Ramizi said, “Yes. Broadly.”

So that meant some creatures used radiation as a form of magical healing, but radiation also disrupted magic. Lead also completely disrupted magic, but none of the heavier metals disrupted magic, when they all blocked radiation just as well as lead, if not better.

Well wasn’t all of that mightily interesting.

- - - -

The [Familiar]s had moved little while Erick and everyone talked.

Four Ophiel still flew by the firebird, the weasel on his platform, and the floating blue fox. The fifth Ophiel, the one anchoring the Withering Slime to the world, was several kilometers away from the others, to the far right of the Toxic Hydra, still layering thick, desiccating air, over the monster; still hiding against the ground.

That Ophiel stayed there, continuing to provide an anchor for Erick’s [Domain of the Withering Slime].

One of the Ophiel in the group of four, peeled off, casting a [Personal Special Ward], masking out all light except cyan. The Ophiel turned from white, to a bright Focus-Cyan, and with a blip of cyan light, appeared far behind the Toxic Hydra, but close enough to hover over the Hydra’s glowing green sea.

Ophiel did not disintegrate, at all. The maskward had successfully blocked out the most damaging wavelengths of the Toxic Hydra’s radiation. Ophiel trilled in happiness, mirroring Erick’s.

And then a hydra head turned around and blasted Ophiel with its radiation breath. The [Familiar] survived long enough to blip away, back to the group, but Decay glows clung to gaps in his [Personal Special Ward], like pockets of poison. The other [Familiar]s screeched, flying away from the toxic Ophiel.

- - - -

Erick dismissed that one, as soon as he realized what had happened, saying, “Ah. So it clings.”

Eduard frowned a little.

Maia said, “Yes, it clings! But our [Familiar]s always die before it even gets a chance to cling. Your [Familiar] lasted through a blast.” She demanded, “What was that weird cyan [Ward]?”

Eduard watched Erick, but said nothing.

Ramizi said, “Just blast it with lightning.”

Erick looked away from Maia, saying, “No more experimenting. Kill the monster. Right.”

- - - -

Cyan [Ward] masks covered each of four hovering Ophiel. In the distance, glowed a sea of green, under a dark monster. The monster roared out into the sky with five heads. It was racing back and forth in its own glowing filth, while thick air clawed into its body, pulling out green blood. Two heads greedily drank from the pool as it searched, futilely, for its attacker.

Erick felt a profound stab of sadness for the creature. The Toxic Hydra had been a person, placed into a beast’s body by a necromancer of the highest order, but then left to its own devices. This former person fell to the magic, to insanity, to becoming a monster, for whatever reason. Maybe it was made improperly, and it couldn’t expel the naturally condensing rads in its body. Maybe Messalina made it this way, desiring a true monster, to hunt down the monsters that had killed her village. Erick didn’t know, and he didn’t want to ask the Life Binder about her choices; he just needed this monster dead.

The Flare Couatl had it right; the Toxic Hydra was a Scion of Destruction, irradiating the land, killing everything in sight. It needed to die.

The actual process of killing took little more than Erick deciding to end its life. After Erick made peace with himself for needing to put down a person, four Cyan maskwarded Ophiel blipped around the green sea, each approaching the hydra from a different direction. [Call Lightning] went up, blanketing the sky in actual, non-poisonous clouds. The radiation of the green sea heavily damaged the spell; crackling clouds were more like crackling wisps. But it was enough, for a start.

Lightning ripped across a green sea, tearing through bleeding black scales. The hydra retaliated, roaring beams of green light across the offending lightning clouds, disintegrating the spell.

The Ophiel simply recast the magic, multiple times, evading blasts from the hydra as needed; with their cyan maskwards, collateral radiation was not enough to harm them. Soon, rain fell, heavy and wet, pushing down poisonous green mist, dimming the green sea, diluting whatever power laid there.

Lightning blasted through and across the roaring hydra. One head and neck laid limp, half gone, while five heads tried to drink from the sea. The seventh head, still standing up, still roaring out green light, was the tallest object in the area. Lighting struck that tower of flesh, exploding the head and crashing through the body, killing three more heads and buckling the hydra’s legs. The monster crashed to the green sea, twitching.

Each Ophiel surrounded itself with a white orb, pulling thick air from the sky and the land, as they moved in, closer.

In bloody, quiet moments, under the power of four domains, the Toxic Hydra dried out, among a sea of its own making, gently roaring a plaintive gasp. The murmurs went quiet. The beast lay still. And then every single remaining head looked to the sky, all at once, and spoke a string of foreign words.

A forty meter [Cleanse] pulsed from the creature, ripping across the dim green sea. Turning green light into thick air, and the night back to dark.

- - - -

Erick came back to himself. His face was wet. He sniffled, asking, “It spoke?”

Maia’s voice was a heavy thing, “It… He. He said, he was sorry.”

Erick sighed a stuttering breath.

Ramizi spoke up, “They do that, sometimes. At the end. The last flare of a soul, clawing to the surface as the body and rads that trapped it are dying.” He added, “It happens a lot when you’re purifying the demonic taint from undead.”

Erick wiped his face, and put on a stronger persona. He said, “Thank you for coming over, and assisting in the location and destruction of the Hydra. Feel free to scour the body for whatever clues you need.” He added, “But while the Toxic Hydra has killed people and destroyed the land, the Flare Couatl has killed killers, and saved adventurers. Now that the balance is toward the Couatl, I cannot participate in hunting down Messalina.”

Ramizi just nodded, while Maia frowned, but quickly wiped away her visible displeasure.

Eduard kept his voice level, as he said, “If this is the extent of her actions here… If she doesn’t start assaulting towns and cities herself… I can see why you would choose this stance. I’m not happy about it, and I think you are being shortsighted. But...” He spoke without rancor, “But we have a duty toward the dead, and to the greater good. The last time the Life Binder left her jungle she left for smaller reasons, and ended up destroying twelve arcanaeums and two nations before the Headmaster pushed her back to her jungle. We cannot allow this pattern to repeat in any shape or form.”

“Thank you for putting the hydra to rest, Archmage.” Ramizi stood, saying, “We have clues to gather, as you say.”

Eduard said, “Quite true.”

Everyone stood up from their chairs.

Erick said, “Before you go...” He said, “The thing is, I was thinking of taking the Headmaster up on his offer of schooling, or whatever it was he offered.”

The three mages each switched from cold acceptance of the facts of the day, to sudden interest.

Erick continued, “I’m not sure what he offered, or the terms of any of it, but I have been informed that, as an archmage, I should have seen those hunters well before they attacked, and I should have been able to… I don’t want to say ‘kill’, but I would have preferred to subdue them, somehow, before they could have attacked.” Erick turned to Ramizi, and said, “And I would like to know, from someone who is in the know, if this is good. Perhaps you and I can trade for something, like how I traded with Eduard and Maia.”

Erick took out the box for [Pure Force Beam Bolt], and handed it over to the suddenly interested Force Mage. Ramizi’s eyebrows went up as he read the box. Maia peeked over his shoulders, while Eduard looked on from outside of the pair. The Ice Mage was obviously happy, but he was unwilling to show it beyond a tiny smile, for whatever reason.

Ramizi said, “Thi—” His voice cracked. He soldiered on, “This is a very good base! Uh.” He asked, “How? Uh. How did you? Uh. So?”

Erick said, “Take your mana and push it through your spell, like this. This is [Force Bolt].” An even, tiny hum of energy and white light surrounded Erick’s right hand. “And this is [Force Beam].” A similar hum, but brighter and sharper, focused into the air in front of his fingers. “Find the harmony between the two, and push that harmony high as you combine them.”

Ramizi’s face went blank, looking at the blue box for [Pure Force Beam Bolt]. Maia and Eduard each frowned, in their own unique way. Eduard was vastly more disbelieving, while Maia seemed more self-reflective in her expression.

Erick said, “I wanted to show you this, because Maia and Eduard got their spells and it felt rude to leave you out.” Erick decided, right then, to go contrary to what he had planned, “Actually. I changed my mind. I don’t want anything in exchange, but I want things to be balanced.” He nodded. “Yes. This is better. Balance.”

Ramizi instantly shook his head, saying, “Nonsense! Uh! Archmage, sir. Uh.” He said, “What sort of high tier force magic are you interested in? I can. Uh. Trade?”

The man seemed to stumble over himself, trying to find an answer that wasn’t there.

“I have no idea what any Force Magic leads to.” Erick added, “Or what it is, really.”

Ramizi smiled wide, saying, “Force is the basis of all magic! It is the canvas upon which everything is painted. The ground below the ground. The sky above the sky. The medium through which all intent touches all else.” Ramizi said, “You know what? If you’re going to Oceanside, I have contacts— I was already thinking of pointing you toward them, but some of them are right assholes who wouldn’t give Rozeta the time of day. But if you come at them with this, and demand a trade from them, they will open their libraries to you.” He amended, “Well. Some of their libraries.” He added, “They’ll still be assholes, though. So. You know.”

Erick almost begged Ramizi off, to ask him to forget the whole thing. But this was better. Erick smiled. “I can guess.”

Eduard said, “You’re going to need to have certain spells and Stats and Skills before you go to Oceanside. Uh. You probably already have most of them.” He looked to the air, and then back, saying, “I forget the whole list.”

Erick said, “I’m not going right now, anyway.” He added, “Still a lot to get done here, and then we all have to prepare. And I still need to know exactly what the Headmaster wants from me for such an opportunity.”

Eduard smiled, saying, “I’ll get you the requirements list and talk to the Headmaster about what he is expecting; he’s indisposed right now but he should be able to talk soon enough.”

Maia asked, “Are you actually wanting to take classes? If not, then the enrollment requirements aren’t that important.”

“I’d like to take a few classes. Yes. Depending on how this plays out.”

Ramizi said, “You’ll definitely want to fulfill those requirements, either way. Some of the professors would love to call on an archmage in their midst. If not for an answer to a question, then to make you look foolish and them better.” He took one final look at the blue box for [Pure Force Beam Bolt], then dismissed it, saying, “But we have to harvest that corpse before it rots too much. I’ll get that list of contacts for you by tomorrow. Thank you, Archmage.”

Erick saw them out of the house, revoking their entrance permission as soon as they passed through the [Crystalline Air] across the front of the front door.

- - - -

An hour later, Maia showed up at Erick’s front door with eight green grand-rads floating on a [Force Platform], seven of them a foot across, while the eighth was almost a meter wide.

Erick looked at the rads, then turned on his [Cleanse Aura], saying, “You should keep the rads.”

Maia laughed as thick air spilled around her, and over the rads, doing nothing. “Nope.” She said, “You’re going to need them where you’re going. The main currency of Oceanside is grand-rads. You’re also going to need these.” She pulled out two envelopes, one thick, one thin, and handed them to Erick.

Erick took the envelopes and opened the thinner one, first. He pulled out a single sheet of Script-blue paper, with immaculate writing in white ink.

Dear Archmage Erick Flatt, Planar Human of Earth, Resident of Spur, of the Crystal Forest of continental Glaquin,

Thank you for your interest in Oceanside.

You have been approved for provisional enrollment of this Summer of 1436, meaning that you will not be allowed to attend classes for graduation credit, but you may audit classes at your leisure.

For the duration of your residency, the Guest House of Windy Manor has been opened for you. This premier location has room for 10 people, and will be completely yours for the duration of your stay. Windy Manor is the primary location for visiting heads of state, and other such dignitaries.

For these allowances, it is hoped that you will give 1 lecture shortly after you arrive, regarding your Particle Magic, to 10 of our interested professors. These professors will be coming from around the world, whenever you decide to give this lecture.

In exchange for this boon, these 10 professors have each promised favors for you, to be determined then, or later, or however you wish to enact such a process.

- Headmaster Kirginatharp of Oceanside Arcanaeum, Overseer of the Arcanaeum Consortium, Second to Rozeta

“Favors from professors, for a lecture. Okay.” Erick said, “That seems ominous.”

Maia’s eyes went a little wide. “That’s what that says?” She added, “Good luck. Those people are ruthless. Usually not violent, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility.”

Erick chuckled as he opened the second, thicker letter. He pulled out five sheets of folded up paper, and read the first one. He flipped through the other four. He lost his good humor.

… It was a good thing he saved up 17 points. It wouldn’t be enough, though.

But the fifth page detailed a way to make at least a dozen extra points, by throwing trash spells together to unlock the accomplishments, and the accompanying points, for breaking into the higher tiers of magic. There was also a heavy warning to not do this with any spell he thought he would want to use later. Recommendations included [Force Bolt] and Mana Alterings, or [Force Wall] and alterings. Erick didn’t want to do any of that, but there were points just sitting there, waiting for him to take, as soon as he actually created higher tier magic. Erick had yet to break into tier 4 or above. Which meant… 3, 4, 5… 12 extra points, just waiting for—

Maia cleared her throat.

Erick looked up from the paper. She had set down her [Force Platform] and dismissed it, depositing the Toxic Hydra’s grand-rads on the ground…

The ground outside of Erick’s front door. In the dark of the night. With only the lights outside of the house to see by. Where she stood, outside of the [Solid Ward] of [Crystalline Air] layered over the doorway, separating her from coming inside. Erick suddenly felt very rude.

Erick immediately said, “Sorry!” He moved aside, granting Maia permission to enter through the [Crystalline Air]. “Would you like to come inside? I think I have some lemon cake left, unless Jane has eaten it all. You guys got away without getting any.”

Maia smiled softly, remaining where she was, as she said, “It’s getting late. Thank you, though. I just need to know your answer.”

“Yes. Soon. The answer is yes, I want to attend.” Erick read the first paper again, looking for a date. “When am I expected?”

Maia smiled. “Whenever you decide to arrive. Though classes for the semester have just started.”

Erick laughed. “Okay. That works for me. I'll be along shortly, then.”

“Good night, archmage.”

“Good night, Maia.”

Maia walked away, back into the night, then turned right to walk across the flat land of the Human District, to her house. She waved. Erick waved back. She continued. Erick revoked her [Crystalline Air] permission again, then Handy Aura’d the Toxic Hydra’s grand-rads into the house.

Now that the plan was approved from the Headmaster’s side, it was time to really discuss a trip to Oceanside with everyone else.

- - - -

The air bit at Erick’s exposed fingers; cold one moment, freezing the next. White layered the ground. Flakes of snow drifted across the path, gently swirling on the chill wind.

Erick crunched forward, one heavy footfall, then the next—

He paused. He looked around. The trees were there, but also not. Snow layered the ground, but also… not. He had arms and legs, but they were wispy, insubstantial, dreamy things.

This was a dream. This was not a Rozeta dream. But it was something similar.

“Hello!” He called out, to the pale white land. “Who’s there?”

No response. The wind did not change. Snow continued to fall, uninterrupted, from an unseen sky.

Erick mumbled, “How the hell did I get here?” He looked around. “This is a dream, isn’t it?”

With nothing better to do, and nothing behind him except for trees and snow, Erick walked forward, down the path. He didn’t walk far. Five more steps took him to a different part of the forest, and a split in the path.

To the left, was a land of green. To the right, the forest became golden, with sparks and lights among the trees.

Erick said sarcastically, “This is a difficult decision.”

He looked left. The forest was vibrant and wild. Eyes hid among the trees, but they weren’t watching him; they were watching each other. Savagery and death prowled through the darker places, and in the light. A snake ate a bird. A badger ate a spider. A wolf ate a lion.

Erick looked right. The forest was gold and bright, with a rainbow fractured and scattered among the canopy. At this second look, Erick realized that this gold forest was perfectly ordered. Trees laid on lines. Leaves grew in patterns.

And none of it made any sense.

Erick spoke to whoever was doing this, “I feel that we are at a cultural misunderstanding. I have the vaguest idea of what options you’re giving me, but we lack a common language, here.” Erick sat down on the path, between where he came from, and where he could go. He said, “Obviously, I could hack down the forest between the paths, and create my own way through this world.” Snow flurried around him, piling up against his legs, against his back. “Or I could stay here and let the snow bury me.”

He grabbed a wooden ladder next to him, saying, “Or I could seek a different path, all together.” He looked up, and saw a platform above the ladder; a space to look out over the whole of creation, and see what lay ahead of all his possible choices. He let go of the ladder, and the platform; it vanished as soon as his hand left the hidden structure. “But that’s just a variation of path number 3.”

Erick sighed. He stood. Snow dusted from his insubstantial body.

He said, “So you want me to make this [Scan] spell, right, Messalina?” He added, “Or is this some deity? If you’re some deity, you’re not one that I know.” He postulated, “Or maybe this is the Headmaster? It’s all very peculiar.” He slapped his hands together, saying, “Ah! Either way. This is a trap. Well then—”

[Telepathy].

Several wrong things happened, all at once. Erick felt an emptiness where his mana lay. The Script was gone. Meditation revealed no manasphere. Status brought up no blue boxes.

“Huh.” Erick said, “Well that’s... ominous.”

Snow tickled his left ear, as cold bit his face and his extremities. Erick stared out at the falling white snow, and at the two paths in front of him; Green, or Gold.

He looked to where the ladder had been. It reappeared out of the corner of his eye, then turned solid as he looked directly at the wooden rungs, leading up. He turned away from the ladder, and considered his path.

Then he opened the door at his feet, and stepped out of the dream.

Laughter followed him out.

- - - -

Rats yelled, “He’s fine!” Rats amended, “Physically. The parasite is gone, but the connection was made, Poi. This is on you. Not me.”

Poi said, “Gods damn it! We have to take him to—”

Jane interrupted, “He’s back.”

“Oh thank the gods!” said Poi.

As Rats gutted out, “Fucking shit. Thank the gods.”

Erick opened his eyes and groaned out, “Hello?”

He was on the couch, in the sunroom. Sweat drenched his body. Everything felt sticky. He looked around. Poi and Rats stood where the coffee table had been, while Jane sat at the other end of the couch, sitting on the armrest. Erick sat up, and almost collapsed back down, but Jane slid off the armrest, to sit beside him. She held him upright, holding his arm, blinking out moisture. Not tears; not yet. But it had been close.

Everything felt blurry, indistinct, but as Erick returned to himself, in the moment, he realized: something bad had happened.

Jane held his hand, her fingers firm against his own, saying, “Hey, Dad.”

Erick blinked hard, asking, “What happened?”

Jane said, “You were parasitized.”

“We caught it, though,” Rats said.

“The corruption has been purged, too,” Poi added.

“Oh? Okay?” Erick felt woozy at that, but Jane’s hand glowed, and he felt better. “Okay?”

Rats said, “A Dream Worm. We’re still trying to figure out how, and who.” He asked, “What did you see? It’s very important to know what you saw, because you’re going to forget it all very fast.”

Jane pulled Erick’s hand into her own, asking, “What happened? In your dream? Don’t think too hard; it’ll go away as soon as you focus on it.”

Erick brought up his Status, to see if he was connected to the Script again. The blue box came up, and all the numbers were correct. The Toxic Hydra and all of those wyrms had barely put a dent in that level.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 63, Class: Particle Mage

Exp: 461,871,911,414,091/1,061,020,985,772,300

Class: 6/6

Points: 17

HP

51/1020

1020 per day

MP

4440/4440

17,760 per day

Strength

20

+14

[34]

Vitality

20

+14

[34]

Willpower

60

+14

[74]

Focus

60

+14

[74]

Favored Spell waiting!

Favored Ability waiting!

Favored Ability waiting!

Favored Ability waiting!

Favored Ability waiting!

Ah? That HP was rather low. Very low, in fact.

Jane pulled him back to the moment, squeezing his hand and his shoulder, saying, “Dad.”

Erick looked away from his Status, dismissing the box, saying, “I was in the woods. Snow. One path led to green where animals hunted and ate each other. The other path led to a forest of gold and rainbow lights. I think I made a ladder appear… And...” He frowned. “I did not take the ladder. I exited… some other way.”

Erick felt his memories of the dream fade into waking, like rain disappearing on an ocean’s surface.

“I’m not sure how I got out.” Erick looked to the darkened window; to the darkened garden just outside. He asked, “What happened?”

Rats frowned.

Poi said, “A Dream Worm. We’re not sure how it got to you, but we’ll find out.”

Erick said, “I didn’t do whatever they wanted. It seemed… Like a test?”

Poi said, “Dream Worms are meant to screw with you. They’re a… a vector for easy mental magic.” He quickly added, “It got implanted just today— I’m sure I would have found the worm if it had been implanted sooner. It must have happened in the last—” He asked, “What was the last thing you remember?”

Erick thought back. He said, “I got the acceptance letters from the Headmaster, from Maia.” He smiled, changing the subject by asking, “By the way: do you all want to go to Oceanside?”

Jane’s face dropped. She said, “You already asked us. Before you turned in early.”

Erick froze. He thawed, saying, “Oh. Okay. So I lost some time there… Fun.” He felt some kind of nervousness, but he forced a smile anyway, and asked, “What were the answers?”

Jane said, “You really should be more upset at this invasion, Dad.”

Erick said, “I am. But Poi is already freaking out enough for all of us, I think.” Erick looked to the man, whose face had been sky-blue this whole time; he was usually sapphire. “What’s your verdict?”

Poi breathed deep. He paused. He stood straight, and said, “My verdict is that I have failed you.” He looked straight ahead, standing at attention, saying, “I am sorry. I am unqualifi—”

“You stop that right now.” Erick said, “We are attacked. We defend. This is how it works, right?” He added, “This is what life is, isn’t it?” He stated, “I am not going to become a hermit. Neither are you. No one failed. We were tricked… or something.”

Poi frowned, staunch in his stature, color returning to his face. Rats grumbled, while Jane… Jane just held Erick’s hand, and his shoulder, her eyes downcast.

Erick asked, “Right?”

Poi kept frowning, silently.

Erick said, “Someone say something.” He looked to Poi, asking, “You’re not leaving, okay?” Halfway begging, “Please?”

Poi blinked slow, then breathed out, saying, “I apologize for missing this Dream Worm.” He added, “And for my outburst just now. I will not abandon my post.”

Erick smiled wide, saying, “Good! Don’t worry about it. Where was the worm anyway? How was it… Placed?” He winced, and because he didn’t really want to know whatever operations he had to go through, he changed the subject. “Where’s Kiri and Teressa? Are they okay?”

Rats said, “They’re out getting help.”

Poi said, “They’re back.”

Erick listened, trying out [Perfect Hearing]. Equilibrium vanished. He could have crashed left, if Jane hadn’t been holding him. Sound vanished from his left ear, while his right ear heard the telltale ‘blip’ of someone [Teleport]ing in, just outside of the sunroom.

“We’re back! With a surprise!” Kiri called out, from outside the room. Footsteps came down the hallway. Kiri appeared in the doorway. She instantly saw that Erick was awake. “Ah! Good! You got him back.”

Kiri walked into the room, along with Teressa, and an old silverscale woman; the High Priestess of the Interfaith Church, Darenka. The old woman followed the other two into the room, her white dress swishing around her legs. She eyed Erick, as Erick’s own eyes went wide. Erick almost asked what she was doing here, but that answer was pretty damn obvious; he was obviously not at a hundred percent. Darenka started off looking at him with a frown on her face, but she quickly turned that into a smile.

Rats stared at Darenka, but whispered to Kiri, “You got Darenka?”

Darenka said, “I got myself, young man. Atunir and a few others yelled at me. You know how it goes.” She strode over to Erick, her eyes suddenly squinting, as she half bent over and stared him straight in the eyes. Her own silvery eyes glowed with a faint divine fire. She stopped a meter from him, still staring. “Hmm.”

“Hello. Uh. Darenka.” Erick, still seated, and getting a bit nervous at her stare, said, “I think we have some lemon cake, if you’d like some.”

Darenka stopped squinting, and returned to a casual smile. “Yes; but later.” She stood up straight. “He’s fine!” She looked up at the ceiling, saying, “He’s fine.”

Erick looked to the ceiling, too.

She spoke to the ceiling, “Well of course he did!”

Rats, pointedly, did not look up. But Jane, Kiri, and Teressa, did. Erick did, too. The ceiling was orange stone, exactly the same as before. Poi glanced up, but did not stare like most of the rest of them.

Darenka dropped her gaze back to Erick, saying, “Someone would like you to know that it was Messalina who did this to you.”

Poi gritted his teeth, anger briefly showing.

Erick frowned. “As if I didn’t have enough reasons to get away from Spur for a little while.”

Darenka nodded. “Make me one of those lemon cakes before you go to Oceanside.” She held her hand out to Kiri. “Back to the Church, please. [Teleport], go go.”

Kiri instantly took her hand, then looked to Erick, full of relief, saying, “Be right back.” With a blip of green, both of them left.

Rats said, “I can’t believe Darenka— Whatever.” He clapped his hands together, saying, “Well! So we’re all off to Oceanside, then?”

“You changed your mind, Rats?” Jane asked.

“Changed his mind?” Erick asked.

Teressa looked down at him, asking, “You don’t remember, eh?”

“Of course he doesn’t.” Poi said, “It wasn’t really him that said any of those things.”

“Uh!” Erick asked, “What happened? While I was out?”

Teressa, Jane, Rats, and Poi, simultaneously said, “Nothing.”

Erick frowned, deeper. And then he looked around. “Where’s Ophiel?” Erick sent a tendril of thought out, and found Ophiel nowhere. “I dismissed him? What the fuck!”

Erick instantly summoned a tiny Ophiel. The little guy popped into the air, a hundred small eyes open all across his tiny, tiny body. Cellos and flutes filled the air, along with something darker, deeper, and stranger. And then, he shifted. The deeper song stopped. A quiet violin played.

Erick smiled at his feathered [Familiar], saying, “Hey there, little guy.”

Ophiel leapt at Erick, his small wings folding around Erick’s chest, hugging him, tickling his nose and his neck. Erick hugged back, giggling.

Erick looked up from the mess of feathers and eyes, asking, “Did I give a reason for dismissing him?”

Jane’s eyes were slightly narrowed. Rats scrunched his face.

Poi said, “You said he was bothering you.”

“Well that’s obviously some mind control there, Poi.” Erick asked, “So? What happened while I wasn’t me?”

A silence descended.

In a flash of green, Kiri blipped back into the room. She almost said something, but she saw the silence all around her, and joined in.

Erick asked, “Kiri? What did I do? Earlier?”

Kiri looked around at downcast faces, and said, “A whole lot of angry words. Small things became huge things. Stupid things were turned into serious things. In retrospect, obviously you were not you. And if we could all pretend it never happened, then that would be for the best.” She added, “I don’t even know what Messalina was going for with all of this, but I bet it was to get you to stay away from Oceanside.”

Ophiel trilled while he pushed against Erick’s petting hands. Erick scritched him harder. That seemed to be what Ophiel wanted because he curled up on Erick’s lap, turning even smaller; perfect lap-dog size.

Poi spoke out, “I think you need some extra mental resistance training, sir.”

Erick said, “Add it to the list!” Erick picked up the trilling Ophiel, and moved him to his shoulder. Ophiel held on as Erick stood. Erick instantly fell back to the couch. His head spun. “Whoa.”

Jane held him with a dark blue, glowing hand, asking, “We had to… to remove your left ear to remove the worm. It’ll take some time for your equilibrium to come back to full working order.”

Erick ignored the sudden surge of body horror coursing through his body. He said, “Help me back up.” With his daughter’s help, Erick slowly got to his feet, steadier this time. He smiled, saying, “From the ear? Like an earworm that keeps you awake at night with a… dream? Hmm. No. That joke doesn’t fly.”

Jane smiled.

Erick said, “I’ll have to work on that one.” He stepped toward the door, and grasped Poi’s shoulder on the way, saying, “If it wasn’t for you, we all would have died today. You do really good work, Poi. I’m sorry I didn’t understand how you fight.” Erick patted his shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry too much about this.” He looked around to everyone, and said, “This is just how life is, now.” He paused. He asked, “So. Uh. Are we all going to Oceanside?”

Rats said, “Yes.”

Poi breathed in, then said, “Yes.”

Teressa said, “Of course!”

Kiri’s eyes sparkled. “Yes.”

Jane said, “No.”

Everyone winced, except Erick, who just looked at his daughter, holding his hand, helping him keep steady as the world seemed to slip this way and that.

Erick said, “I understand. You got your own ways, and your own necessities.” He looked around, adding, “I take it, that this is not how the original conversation went?”

Jane’s eyes brightened as she looked down and away. She smiled softly, and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Then—” Erick pointed onward, and upward, saying, “Back to bed, please!” But he stopped stepping forward. He turned and glanced at the darkened window of the sunroom, asking, “This [Solid Ward] does nothing against people teleporting in, does it?”

Rats said, “Nope. But. Like you said. We get attacked, and we defend.”

Kiri asked, “Do you want me to look into anti-teleportation arrays?”

Erick shook his head, saying, “Yes. But that’s a solution with problems all its own. So yes, but just to know what it would cost and require. We won’t put it up. Probably.”

Kiri nodded, saying, “Yes, sir.”

Erick left the sunroom and walked upstairs, with Jane to help him and Ophiel a tiny weight on his shoulders. He considered all the myriad of conundrums popping up all around him. If there was a teleport lock, Darenka would have been locked outside until they got the barrier down. Erick had no doubt that someone could break the [Solid Ward], if the need arose, but the reality of a [Solid Ward] was the same as a lock on the door; a deterrent, and nothing more. Shadowspiders shadowalked. Mind control and assorted magics could make Erick just walk outside, or take down the spell himself. Or worse, turn him against his people; which, from the sounds of it, was almost what had happened.

If someone wanted him harmed, they could do it, even with whatever measures of protection Guardmaster Merit had going on out there, and whatever protections Erick came up with, on his own.

Erick was weak, and he needed to be stronger.

He asked Jane, as they neared his room, “What sort of spells would they use in those games you played, to stop all of these horrific events?”

Jane helped him into his room, saying, “I’m thinking [Dispel] and [Ward] and whatever spell you want to stop. It’d be temporary, but it might work.” She added, “No fricken’ clue how to deal with parasites, though.”

Erick crawled back into bed, saying, “Yeah… The parasites… Me either. No idea.”

Jane leaned down and kissed Erick on the forehead, while Ophiel purred in violins as he turned around atop his own pillow, then plopped down, his wings curled up around his body.

Jane stood back up, saying, “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, Jane.”

- - - -

Jane put her father to bed.

She walked downstairs.

She got to the bottom of the stairs before she collapsed onto her ass on the final step, and broke down in quiet, sobbing tears. The next thing she knew, Kiri was there, sitting beside her on the staircase. The tears rolled down Jane’s face, but Kiri remained seated, silent, waiting.

Eventually, Jane controlled herself. She said, “Someone is going to kill him, Kiri, and I can’t do shit to stop it. I don’t think anyone can.”

Kiri slowly breathed out, nodding. She said, “This is why archmages tend to hide. But I’m thinking he will learn a lot about how to stay alive from Oceanside, and from the Headmaster.” She added, “We need to get gone from this vulnerable location. The sooner, the better.”

Jane sniffled. She said, “I know.”

“Life is going to be extremely difficult for him because of what he has already done.” Kiri added, “It will also make your life more difficult.”

Jane waved her off. “I’m fine. Or at least I will be. Soon enough.”

“… I’m sorry I came at your father like some child itching to steal knowledge.” Kiri said, “I realize now, that he’s… a really good person.” She joked, “Barring when mind control is involved.”

Jane laughed, a sad sound. A pulse of sadness threatened to force another cry, but she locked that down. When she was ready to speak, she joked, “I’m not sorry how I came at you.”

Kiri laughed. “Here I was, trying to be nice. Serves me right.”

Jane agreed, “Serves you right.”

- - - -

Erick stared at the dark ceiling, listening to Kiri and Jane talk. He didn’t mean to listen in, but he heard Jane cry, and that meant he had to use [Perfect Hearing]. Somewhere in the middle of listening, but only being able to hear with his right ear, his left ear cleared. Full hearing returned.

Eventually, after Jane and Kiri stopped talking, and after another twenty minutes of worry, Erick’s eyes finally closed. When he turned off [Perfect Hearing], his left ear remained healed.

This time, there was no dream.