28 – A quest for truth

“Ask not about the nature of the black ruins.

Do not seek the truths that are buried there.

It’s a heavy burden, to ignore curiosity. We, too, wish we could explain.

But we cannot. We beg you to believe this. Ignore the ruins. You’ll discover nothing but lies there, you’ll find nothing but disaster.”

The Book of the Officers

With a frown of concentration, Daravoi raises a hand, and five apples rise in midair, wobbling and trailing sullen red sparks. It doesn’t look very impressive, but it’s more than I manage - I’m getting decent at Juggling single objects, but I suck when I try with multiple ones.

“Watch this,” Dara says with a small smile, and makes a slashing gesture with his free hand.

Glass-like blades appear in midair, slashing through the apples so quickly, at first I think Dara’s trick failed. But after a moment, each apple breaks apart, sliced cleanly in eight.

Daravoi tries to keep all the parts afloat, but he gives a strangled noise, and some fall, while others shoot across the room, so fast they splatter against the wall. He winces.

“Sorry,” he says. “You think they’re still good to eat?”

Iketek shrugs. “Boil them, we’ll make a pie. You’re getting good at Juggling, even if the Scientist knows why you feel the need to try Ruin at the same time. But enough practice for today. I’m afraid we need another serious talk.”

“Look, I’m trying to make the disguise work,” Daravoi says, looking guilty. “But I’m just shitty with the Path of Lies.”

“Because unlike me, you’re boring,” I say. “Who wants to slice apples with magic? I could… I don’t know, make you believe I had sliced apples. Maybe.”

“Why would…” Daravoi begins.

“Fortunately,” Iketek says, cutting him off, “we don’t need to hear Korentis’ insane answer to that question, because that’s not what I meant to talk about. It’s about the mage xe met at the University. And also the ThauCon agents.”

Daravoi’s eyes go wide. “Wait, ThauCon? And what mage? You mean a council mage?”

“Apparently, there are ThauCons providing security, a possibility we had considered,” Iketek explains, clearly unhappy. “But the mage is more worrying. He’s masquerading as a grad student. He could actually be a grad student, but I doubt a mage could reach so far in academia without being found out. So, either it’s a covert identity, or he’s impersonating the real grad student. He used a very sloppy mind-magic spell to rummage through Korentis mind, backed by a lot of power. Fortunately, Korentis’ Lies run deep, and xe managed to avoid reacting, so I think xe wasn’t found out.”

“What is a mage even doing at the University?” Daravoi asks, anxiety transpiring from his voice. “Could he be after our same relic?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t think he’s here for the Twisting Tetrahedron. I mean, his advisor is the chair of Artifact Studies. He could enter the Vault, grab as many relics as he wanted, and no one would bat an eye. So… maybe he can help us? Like, don’t rogue mages do each other favors?”

Daravoi groans. “Kore, for the last time, criminals aren’t a big happy family,” he says.

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“Moreover,” Iketek adds, “he could work for the Syndicates. Or he could be an undercover Council agent - that would be unusual, but not unheard of, and would explain his apparent lack of concern about revealing himself as a mage.”

“So, let’s assume he’s a bad guy,” I say, “which, in fairness, is very easy, he looked like a real asshole. How much should we worry? And why did he scan me? Like, does he check every new student?”

“We know he’s powerful,” Iketek says. “Possibly more than I am, and definitely more than you. He’s not a skilled mind-mage, but that’s all I know about his magic. As for why he scanned you, I’m not sure. I doubt he checks every new student. Maybe he was – rightly - suspicious of a transfer student wanting to work with relics. But once again, your Lies proved effective.”

“See?” I say, throwing myself on the couch - and ending up with some apple goo smeared on my cheek. “I’m just that good, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Iketek scowls at me. “I know it’s a feat for you,” she says, “but try to be serious for ten minutes, Kore. With a powerful mage roaming the University and a confirmed ThauCon presence, this operation is becoming riskier than we expected.”

“What choice do we have?” Daravoi shrugs. “We’re in too deep now. You think you can still do this, Kore?”

“I don’t know,” I say, doing my best to look thoughtful. “It’s very scary. But I think so - If only I could have some apple pie. And maybe the bed next to the window. And first pick on the character to play in Mega Brawl. And…”

“I’ll strangle xem,” Daravoi says, matter of fact, taking a step toward me.

“Wait, wait, I can be serious, I swear, I’ll be mega-serious,” I say, raising my hands in sign of surrender. I’m not sure why I’m behaving so stupidly. I should be serious, in this situation. But after so many hours in Tharvais’ boring mind, I feel the need to be myself at my worst.

“But for reals,” I go on, “I’m not super-worried. Blue-hair guy scanned me, and he didn’t see through my Lie, so he’s sure I’m mundane. My secret identity is still safe, and after talking with Professor Kairim, I think entering the relic vault will be easy-ish.”

Iketek nods, reluctant.

“As you say, there’s no immediate risk. But do you realize how quickly a job could turn deadly, with ThauCons inside the university?”

She makes a dramatic pause, then goes on. “I don’t like our odds anymore. So I consulted the Prop Master.”

I look at her, confused - she was with me all the way from the University, when could she…oh, right. She doesn’t need to be with someone, to talk to them. That’s how we met, after all.

“He’s concerned, too,” Iketek says. “He suggested that if we rate the job too risky, we should give it up. We’ll find something else to trade for the book - maybe several smaller jobs.”

“And so we slide more and more into his debt,” Daravoi points out, grim.

“He’s not like that,” Iketek says, firm. “If anything, he’s too generous, believe me or not. But I’m not convinced we should drop this job. The Prop Master would have to deal with the client, after all, and I get the feeling it’s… not a nice client.”

Which implies she knows at least something about the client, despite claiming total ignorance. But I’m in no mood to pry secrets.

“Let’s go on, then, so everyone is happy,” I say. “Well, except the people we’re robbing, the professor I’ll cheat, and the friendly students who will find out I was only using them.”

“They won’t suffer serious consequences,” Iketek says.

I wince. “It’s just that I don’t like deceiving people.”

They both look at me, incredulous. I shrug and smile, as if it had been a joke. I won’t try to explain. People don’t understand the difference between a lie, even assisted by magic, and the bad kind of lie. Even for me, it’s hard to put it into words.

When I first discovered my power, it seemed perfect - I could make people give me stuff, I could make people like me.

Except that’s not really how it works. I can force people to like me. I keep thinking about Daravoi’s words - how would I know if you’re going Else-mad? You’d just make me think everything is fine, and I don’t want to be like that.

Rule four, wasn’t it? Don’t become a mind-bending supervillain.

“Well, you two want to keep going, and I’m the one who isn’t doing anything anyway. So we’ll go on with the job, I guess,” Daravoi says. Some of his good mood seems to evaporate. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, Kore. But you always think the right thing to do is press on, to up the bet. You barely think about it. Some day you’ll bet too much and lose, you know that?”

I nod, making sure to keep a very serious tone and face.

“I know we’re taking real risks,” I say. “We might run out of luck at any time. And that’s the reason we should appreciate what we have, while we can. Like, say, apples. And an oven. Wanna make a pie?”

***