Nym sat at the table with Kazie while Analia fended off the Earth Shapers’ combined affection. “So, do you like this kind of work?” he asked.

“It’s alright. I don’t have the passion for it that Nomick does, but I’m capable, and it lets me contribute. How about you?”

“I did it for a little while, but earth magic was never my specialty. Sort of the opposite, actually. I started as an air mage.”

“Oh yeah? My first element was water.”

“That’s a good one too. Lots of utility out on the coast.”

“That’s where I was when I met Nomick. That smooth talker charmed me right out of my job, and I don’t even think he was trying to.”

“Heh. Good for him though. You seem like a nice person.”

“I like to think so.” Kazie leaned forward. “I hope you won’t think me too rude for asking this, but who are you? Obviously you know Nomick and the others, but they’ve never said a word about you.”

“Smart of them. I am… how to put this… there are some people who are interested in me, in knowing where I am and what I’m doing, and who my friends are. Not mentioning me is a good way for them to not get caught up in my problems.”

It was clear Kazie didn’t really believe him, and he didn’t blame her. He didn’t look like much, just an eighteen-year-old kid with a basket full of sugary treats who’d popped up out of nowhere. That didn’t stop her from saying, “If it’s that dangerous to be around you, if your mere presence puts everyone around you at risk, then tell me this. Why are you here?”

“Because I need their help,” Nym said simply. “Because she needs their help. Because I’m insensitive and oblivious and don’t realize what had happened until it was far, far too late. I’ve done everything I can to help her, but what she needs now is friends and family, people she trusts.”

He was using family loosely there, since he wouldn’t trust her brother with her care and he was still actively considering murdering her father. Idly, he wondered if Hozim would be upset about him disrupting the Collective again, and so soon after he’d gone out of his way to get them back on the right track with Analia’s great grandfather.

“So you’d risk their lives because you need something from them,” Kazie said. “I can’t imagine why they’re excited to see you. Do they not know?”

“They know. I don’t think they understand the full extent of the risk, but… they know. I spent years trying to figure out a safe way to contact them. At this point, I’ve got so much magic hiding me that unless someone who knows me by sight happens to walk by, I’m safe. No divination or scrying should be able to track me.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“As sure as I can be,” he said.

Kazie leaned back and crossed her arms. “No offense, but if you bring half as much trouble with you as you seem to think, maybe it’s best to keep this visit short and not come back.”

That stung, but mostly because Nym knew it was true. According to everything he knew, he should be safe. But there were so many ascendants, all stronger than him, and he couldn’t honestly say he knew what they were capable of. Eriam’s assurances that he had the spell he needed was the basis for Nym’s confidence, but then, that only really extended as far as helping Analia.

It might be best to cut short his little vacation. As much as he still wanted to visit Ciana and Cold Paw, it could be better for them if he didn’t. He’d considered tracking Risa down, though he had to admit that in that case, their relationship had been far too new to withstand him disappearing for years. That conversation would be more of an apology than an attempt to rekindle anything.

“You might be right,” he said. “I won’t be staying long, either way. Excuse me, would you?”

Without waiting for an answer, Nym teleported the fifteen feet or so over to where his friends were sitting in a circle on the grass. “Hey guys, I need to go soon. It was really good seeing you all again, but the longer I stay here, the more of a risk it is for you all. Analia, I’m sorry for pushing this decision on you, but I need to know if you’re going to stay here or go somewhere else?”

“Stay,” Ophelia said immediately. “You should be with us right now.”

“Stay,” the others echoed, one after another.

Analia looked around the circle and huffed out a laugh. “I think I’m staying,” she said.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Alright. Let me just help ease that transition.”

Gold crests appeared out of thin air and piled up into a neat stack twenty high in front of Analia. Next to them was an earring made out of obsidian with veins of white gold in it. On the other side of the gold was a small hair pin, jade with ivory filigree. Nym pointed to the gold and said, “That should be more than enough to live off of for a little bit.” His finger moved to the earring and he added, “As an emergency defense, if you channel arcana into this, it will teleport you to a location you’ve set ahead of time. It’s vulnerable to teleportation wards, and it can’t bring anyone else with you.”

Her eyes wide, Analia picked the earring up and fastened it to her ear. Then she held up the hair pin and gave him a questioning look. “Only once, this will protect your mind from being ensnared by a geas,” he explained. “I hope you are never in a situation where you need it. But I wanted you to have some peace of mind to know that you have a defense.”

He was already stretching the limits of mortal magic in making those trinkets for her. If he made them any stronger, it would be like handing her a sign for other ascendants to see, a bright, shining sign that would draw their attention. He could perhaps make one more small thing, but anything else he could do that was small enough not to be noticed was also magic that was well within her capabilities to do on her own.

Instead, he conjured up a small book, barely bigger than his hand and only twenty pages long. He held it out to her. “If you ever decide you need some help reaching the third layer, give this a read.”

Monick let out a low whistle. “I didn’t know you were bringing party favors.”

Nym considered that for a second and shrugged. A few small things wouldn’t be all that noticeable, and it was only a minor effort of will to force the trinkets into reality. With a thought, a diamond-tipped etcher appeared in front of Ophelia. “Enchanted to carve into any surface, and I do mean any surface. I trust you won’t misuse it on anything that’s still alive.”

For Monick, he created an automatic mortar and pestle. Some materials used by alchemists were notoriously difficult to break down, and could take hours upon hours of work. “Watch your fingers when you use this,” Nym warned. “It will grind up anything without you having to do any of the work. Anything. Even stone or steel.”

Bildar received a simple leather bag, but its inside held five times as much space as it should. “I couldn’t even tell you how much this is worth if you decide to sell it, but be careful who you let know about it.”

And for Nomick, a pair of rings made of braided gold and silver, with a carbuncle set into one and a sapphire into the other. “Messaging rings,” Nym said. “For you and your special friend. They’ve got a range of about twenty miles, which I would not advertise if I was you, since it takes a pinnacle spell to duplicate that.”

“You don’t have to do this. These are too much,” Ophelia said, only to be shushed by Bildar and Monick. Nomick just sat there, stunned, and stared at the matched rings.

“It’s fine,” Nym assured them. “Not to brag, but I’m kind of a magical powerhouse now. My only real concern is that these are valuable, too valuable for anyone who’s not at least a third circle mage. Be discreet with them, please. It would break my heart to find out any of you came to a bad end because someone decided they wanted the gifts I gave you.”

“We’ll be careful,” Ophelia promised. “Uh, when you say this can write on anything…”

“Stone. Wood. Gems. Metal. Flesh. Anything.”

Ophelia paled when he said flesh, and she nodded. “I’ll be responsible with it.”

As much as he wanted to stay longer, Nym needed to go. The core reality wasn’t his world anymore. His body wasn’t even real. It was just a construction of arcana that walked and talked and aged, a sad little meat puppet that held a fraction of his existence because that was all it could stand to take before it burst.

These connections, these people, they were important to the old Nym. But now, he watched them with their jaws hanging open as he casually handed out trinkets that took him mere seconds to conjure up, he could only feel out of place. He’d understood that there was a difference between himself and the humans who had been his friends, but this really drove it home.

They couldn’t understand his existence, not unless they ascended themselves. None of them but Analia had even the slightest chance. And that gap was only going to grow wider. He was going to return to the outer layers and years would go by, decades even. Maybe he’d return to this moment someday, maybe not.

It was another reason to make him hesitate to see Ciana. He didn’t want to feel that disconnected from her, even if it was true. His visit to the Earth Shapers drove that point home. He didn’t belong here anymore. Helping Analia had been something he’d thought about for years, and now that he’d done his part, it was up to her to heal with the people who were like her.

And it was up to him to return to where he’d come from, to people who could understand even the smallest fraction of what he was now. Trying to talk to them about magic was like holding a conversation with a toddler. They could understand the words, but they didn’t get the meaning behind them.

“It’s time,” he said sadly. “It was good to see you all again. I don’t know if I’ll ever be back.”

“Why not?”

Nym stopped and looked over at Analia. “Why not?” he repeated. He wasn’t even sure how to begin explaining everything to her.

“So you’re a full ascendant now, so what? Does that mean you can’t have friends? Just because we can’t do the things you can do doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy your company. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy ours.”

“I… maybe. There’s more to it than that. It’s… I can’t really live here anymore. The world is too small for me. I can visit, sometimes.”

“So visit then. Don’t disappear forever.”

Nym smiled. “Okay. I’ll do my best. I really do need to go now. Goodbye, everyone.”

Nym pulled back from reality prime and let his being snap back into place in the sixth layer. It had been good to take care of that piece of business, good to see some of his friends again. He wanted to see the rest of them, but there was more work to do.

He was worried that there would always be more work to do, that it would never end. What kind of existence would eternity be if he never took time for anything but work?