Daniel

“I’m stuffed,” Wendi said with a contented smile.

“That good?” Daniel asked.

She hesitated, then shrugged. “It wasn’t pizza, but I’m full, and that’s what counts.”

They strolled down a wood-floored veranda facing an enclosed rock garden. A tranquil spot, lit by soft lantern light and bestrewn with manicured sand paths around islands of colorful rock. An ancient rake-man with a slim wooden body drew spirals in the sand.

The old man gave them a friendly wave with his clawed metal hand.

From the line of paper screens, or shōji, on their left and all around, Daniel felt thousands of eyes. Once, he thought he saw one of the warriors inside a wall painting move.

Hanmā, in his humanoid rubber mallet form, followed at a distance, twin crossbows holstered, saying nothing. Glancing behind, Daniel noticed a pair of soft fuzzy slipper girls trailing them, holding hands, curious.

As Wendi walked, something bumped into her hooves. “Oh!” she said. A tatami mat wiggled under her as she lifted one foot and then the other. “Okay.” She let it happen.

The straw mat proceeded to carry them along the way they’d intended to go. A streamer of cloth flew by, flitting daintily above their heads, dipping down with trepidation until, at last, it poured itself onto Wendi’s neck and became a patterned blue scarf that complemented her red skin. By this time, the slippers had gathered their courage. They shivered and shifted into a pair of fuzzy hoof warmers and strapped themselves onto Wendi’s legs.

He saw how readily Wendi accepted all of this and guessed at some private conversation he couldn’t hear. She’d had an open stance on personal space since he’d met her. Meanwhile, the Tsukumogami sensed Daniel’s deadly aura from afar and gave him a wide berth.

They reached the rock quarry with the help of their tatami guide, and Wendi set Daniel on the bare rock. “I’m planning on staying here a few hours,” Daniel said.

She nodded, distracted by the voices in her head. “I think I’ll wander about a while. Meet you back here!”

Hanmā left his crossbows with Wendi as they parted ways. One crossbow shifted into a straw-sandaled scarecrow and equipped the other, following the Caprid girl wherever she went.

Daniel and Hanmā traveled deeper into the quarry. Pillars and valleys cast soft shadows throughout the wide enclosure. Periodic installments of stone lanterns, ishi-dōrō, lit the area.

The Rosetta Stone did wonders in bridging the language gap, but some things didn’t translate well or had special meanings. If Daniel concentrated on a concept and who he wanted to communicate with, he got a sense of the proper word in their culture.

A spade man worked with a shovel in both hands while a hoe stood close by. He plunged his shovel down to split stone, then levered a boulder the size of a truck from the ground. Balancing the massive weight on the shovel head no more than a few hands spans wide, he tossed the boulder over his shoulder with casual disregard to crash into a pile of rock so large Daniel hadn’t registered it as something artificial.

The hoe, perhaps his own age, waved at him. He waved back.

Daniel found a comfortable rock to lean on and turned to face the House. It looked much livelier than when they’d first approached now its inhabitants weren’t planning an ambush. Hundreds of streamers in every color fluttered and flew above the rooftops as Tsukumogami commuted to work or visited other sections of their home.

Figures of many sizes and shapes flickered across the veranda’s paper walls in silhouette. The mansion’s enormous wings extended room upon room into the mountain, boxing off a score more rock gardens of varying sizes, eternally illuminated by dozens of strung red, yellow, and blue paper lanterns in the endless darkness of the cavern.

:It’s just a colony, but it really is something special—isn’t it?: Rana sent from beside him on the rock. Daniel didn’t flinch, having grown accustomed to her slipping in and out of Camouflage. It felt like she’d been beside him for hours, and he’d gradually become aware of her presence.

They weren’t alone, so he replied in kind, :There are more places like this?—Other Tsukumogami colonies?:

:Big universe…: He supposed that answer enough. Akachochin the inebriated red paper lantern stumbled over to join Hanmā nearby, a step behind the elusive frog girl. :Imagine, somewhere out there is your people’s homeland.:

Though he should’ve guessed as much, the thought struck him as somehow ridiculous. :You mean, there’s a place with nothing but kids like me?:

A corner of her mouth quirked. :That’s what it means to have a homeland.:

:But how would that work?: Daniel sent. :I can’t see it. Things humans take for granted would be challenging or next to impossible for a society of people like me. There would be no meals, so no family table. We can’t build, so there would be no houses. We can’t handle tools, so we can’t paint or write or keep personal possessions—What kind of culture would we have?:

Rana, on the other hand, kept an open mind. :You might be surprised.:

Something did occur to him, though. :Do your people have colonies in the Wilderness too?:

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

After a moment of silence, she changed the subject. :You wanted to see me?: The frog girl projected an illusory image showing the written request he’d submitted to her Shew Stone during dinner, then dismissed it.

:Yes,: he allowed her to steer the conversation. :I’d like your help.:

:Sure. What with?:

He forced himself to be as straightforward with her as possible. :I want to explore my abilities and how they work. What I’m supposed to be doing.:

Rana tilted her head to the side. :Why didn’t you ask me for help months ago?:

He’d asked himself that question. :It was never the right time. We’ve been hiding in the Wilderness for a year, with who knows what watching, and there was never a safe time or place. No, it’s not just that. I’ve been afraid. Of Perses, sure, but also of myself and what I’m capable of. Afraid of the damage I could do. That’s part of why I didn’t even want to think about it.:

:What changed?: Two simple words, but Rana was right. Something had changed.

Daniel sighed. :It’s been a rough couple of days, hasn’t it? More like, everything’s changed. Seeing Lea and Paul and Cassie trying hard, pulling through on their own—I guess it made me feel like I wasn’t giving it my all. I want to work harder. Be better. Be a leader. Protect them.:

She nodded. :Sit down.: He did, and she joined him.

:Shouldn’t I be running around, throwing magic at rocks?: Daniel asked.

Rana snorted. :That comes later. You need to talk it out first. Explain your magic to me and how it makes you feel.:

:Is that actually important?:

:It’s the most important part.: That got his attention. :Your magic and your mental state are fundamentally linked.:

:One influences the other,: he guessed.

:No. They are the same. This is the secret, Daniel—ideas are magic. A new ability changes how you think and perceive the world and vice versa. If you want to understand your magic, you must change your mind.: Rana went straight for the heart of it. :Tell me about the time you spoke with Perses.:

That was a tall order if Daniel ever heard one. In the year since, he’d done his best not to touch the series of events that led to his possession and narrowly avoided omnicidal rampage. He thought of Paul’s growth to inspire himself to do the same.

Daniel began, :Mary asked me to break the barrier on UE000, and I wanted to make her proud. I went about it like solving a puzzle, experimenting to see what worked as if playing a game. At one point, I thought I’d succeeded—but the ship changed the rules on me, and the puzzle became impossible. I got frustrated because it hadn’t played fair, and then Perses came.

:The ship started shooting, but he—we—grabbed and crushed it until it broke. In that moment, when it was done, it felt good. Not like the smell of pizza or a smile. It wasn’t the kind of good you soak up and hold inside. It was a release. It was the good where you hold a breath until it turns stale and starts to burn, and then you let go.

:I released all my anger and frustration, and it felt good. All the power I’d spent came rushing back, and I was restored. The only reason I stopped was that I thought Perses would try to hurt Mary.: Weirdly, after talking about it and telling Rana what he’d bottled inside for a year, he felt better even though nothing had changed.

She let that settle a moment before asking, :What was it like going through the facility, breaking kids out of prison?:

:More of the same, really. Whenever I had to bust through a door or open a cell, once I got through the resistance, there was a release of energy that replenished me. I found I could manipulate objects at a distance to break them and have super strength against physical barriers blocking my way, but I haven’t found any useful applications. I’ve also got my dust defense, an automatic passive shield.:

:Do you have a plan for tonight?: she asked.

Daniel did. :I’m learning how to throw a curveball, but this talk has given me some other ideas too.:

:Good. I have something else I need to do tonight. I’ll be back to work on this with you later, okay?:

:Thanks.: He smiled at a new thought and sent, :By the way, how much do I owe you now?: It’d been over a year since he’d surrendered his struggle to track the accumulated cost of all the questions he’d asked her and the times she’d saved his life. The fact he’d eventually need to square things had been a niggling worry in the back of his mind. When she hesitated, he pressed, :Should I be worried?:

:No.: The free and open stance she’d taken during their conversation closed like a door in Daniel’s face. She turned her eyes away and interposed her shoulder. :You shouldn’t have to concern yourself with debts under these circumstances. If your approach to curing Cassie succeeds, I’ll be satisfied. When this is over, we’re even.:

With that, she stood. She slipped into Camouflage as she strode away. Daniel didn’t forget her so quickly this time, though. Their words replayed over and over in his mind.

He hadn’t meant it like that. He was an idiot.

Daniel began his first practice session on a sour note. He had a lot of ideas, starting with shaping his magic into a projectile.

However, a string always connected the Ruin to his physical body, no matter how he spun or compressed it. He threw his makeshift curveball without success. The thread link between the ball and his hand kept it from proper rotation.

Having a cathartic talk didn’t translate to instant results.

The failure frustrated Daniel. He obsessed over minor details he felt sure were responsible and nearly exhausted his reserves for the day without realizing. Nursing a headache, he restricted himself to his physical abilities at that point. He approached a boulder, squatted, and tried to lift the rock. Nothing happened, except he may have gone blue in the face.

Seeing the futility, he tried punching the boulder next. He’d torn steel with his bare hands; it stood to reason he’d break a rock into pieces. Daniel cocked an arm and put his whole weight into the blow. He screamed as he bloodied his knuckles on the stone’s rough surface, his power too drained for his passive shield to protect him.

The caustic spilled blood scored rivulets in the solid rock of the quarry floor. His abilities were working; he simply didn’t understand their nature or limits. He turned away in defeat with a heavy sigh. Vexed and irritated, he kicked a pebble in his way.

The little stone shot like a bullet, flew a hundred yards, and shattered into dust against a sheer wall. Disgusted with the unfairness of it all, he called it a night. Hanmā showed mercy by not commenting on Daniel’s display of immaturity.

After repairing his hand with the Healing Coin, he returned to the meeting spot. It was late, and draining his magic left him with a migraine. Daniel couldn’t wait for the day to end.

Wendi dozed at the edge of the veranda, lounging on a pile of cushions atop a tatami. She’d been buried in Tsukumogami. There were six or eight layers of scarves and blankets, two gigantic mittens on her enormous hands, two horn sleeves like curvy striped socks, hoof warmers, a tail warmer, and a parasol. She looked comfy; showered in affection.

Daniel’s heart thawed with gladness as he smiled to himself at the sight.

Half the pile departed as he approached, a few others taking their leave as Wendi stood, and yet the devil girl maintained a complete wardrobe.

“Hey Danny, how’d it go?” she asked, extending her bare hand.

“Fine,” Daniel lied as the red devil girl lifted him. The sentinel straw-sandaled scarecrow saluted and returned with their pair to Hanmā’s grasp as his crossbows. “Did you have fun on your walkabout?”

She grinned wide. “Sure did.”

“Good, let’s find someplace to settle in for the night.”