One of Madam Jelly’s tentacles rested lightly on Leo’s shoulder. He looked inquisitively at Ren, as if his eyes were opened to a truth which he found appalling. On reflex, he took a step back from Ren but as time passed, he calmed himself. “I see. Fascinating…” he muttered under his breath. He then cleared his throat, “I will now begin to relay mother’s replies.”
Leo came a bit closer to us, “There are many ways to die, and many paths to traverse after death. How you live and how you die will determine your path after death.”
“I seek,” the shadow magic I thought his entire arm was made of totally disappeared, “the human afterlife.” A jarring arm came into view, one not made of magic but made of flesh and bone.
A very recent memory began resurfacing. The magic-using demons had arms just like that. So, he’s a demon? I guess, just like the Virai, he surprised me with intelligence. Intriguing… I thought, rubbing my chin in hopes that I may learn more about demon society.
“You cannot enter the human afterlife,” Leo explained. “Your soul was torn and mended by a demon’s soul in order to form a full, but impure soul. Most of those who strike deals with demons do not realise that they bargain their souls.”
“Is there,” Ren seemed to breathe at a slower than usual rate, “a way to reverse this curse of undeath?”
“There is, in fact, a way. However, failure yields a fate worse than death, the unravelling of your very existence. Come back to me when you make a decision.”
“I’ve made, that decision, long ago. Reveal to me, what I must do.”
Madam Jelly stayed quiet for a while, as if taking her time to properly pity whatever existence Ren was. Leo was still, as if possessed, possibly doing the same thing that Madam Jelly was doing.
Shortly after, another tentacle wiggled its way past Leo and touched onto Ren’s forehead. In a few seconds, his eyes opened wide and he teleported backwards, drawing his sword and being on his extreme guard. Those ghostly eyes of his paced back and forth, going from Leo to Madam Jelly, and occasionally landing on August and I. He ran off, disappearing in but a second with those quint-enhanced movements. Ominous. What in Hydra’s magnificent ass did Madam Jelly do to him?
“What in Hydra’s loving ass did you do?” August asked. Honestly, sometimes I’d think we were conjoined at the brain.
Leo turned to us whilst the tentacle that was on him receded, a bit of irritation about him, “That man was the legendary ‘farmhand’ who rose to glory in Pargat. He was the hero who saved them from the Avatar of Chaos. He was the man whom Madam Jelly lent her heart to. Now he isn’t even a man…”
“Okay,” I squatted down and rubbed my temples, “sounds interesting and everything but there’s something else I have on my mind. Madam Jelly,” I called her and looked up, “why you? Why did Ren come to you? How’d he know you’d have the answers he wants?”
At that instant, I could almost feel like Madam Jelly’s and Leo’s eyes glanced at each other, then back to me; and mind you, Madam Jelly didn’t have eyes.
“Do you know about mana pathways?” Leo questioned.
I nodded, and gestured for him to continue. “Mother comes from a world where the beings are few and weak, but capable of endless potential. Her kind can bridge another’s consciousness, memories, feelings, and all things of the mind into one, amalgamating lifetimes of experience into one whole.”
As he spoke those words, my eyes widened at the word ‘one’ in particular. The One ritual. Holy shit… Could it be? I pondered. “Leo, did you join your consciousness through something called the One ritual?”
His brows furrowed, “Yes. I’m surprised you know. It’s not common knowledge, even amongst the mages of your world.”
Another curious thing he mentioned. I knew where I got my information from. Annie Kidman – dad’s research associate –, the Hivemind book in the Order of Mages’ library, and a little bit from the spirit lord of mind magic, Hethekk the Scryer. But Leo? Who knows how he, and in extension, Madam Jelly, knew that? How did she know that the One ritual was uncommon knowledge in Methelia? It could only mean that in her hodgepodge of shared experiences, there were a generous number of Methelian scholars or mages who lacked knowledge of the One ritual, and an even smaller number that had the knowledge.
“Madam Jelly,” I looked at her and asked whose experience she assimilated in Methelia. I heard a few names that surprised me.
There were three names she called. The first was Sven, which really wasn’t a surprise at all. It made me even more wary of him. In fact, I mentally noted that if I saw him, I should run. Dealing with someone who had access to the wealth of knowledge that a being like Madam Jelly possessed was stupidity in its finest.
The second one, going from the least surprising to the most, was Aldis. Aldis, that old coot! That slimy little geezer had his retirement planned, didn’t he?! For one as weary as him to submit his entire life’s experiences like that… Maybe it’s safe to do it? Naw, fuck that. Something’s amiss here. If it was as easy as that, everyone would do it in pursuit of power. Maybe there’s some limitation to Madam Jelly’s power? Or to the ritual in itself? I pondered, squatting down. Maybe it’s the subjects’ fault. Dunno wassup with this thing, but there’s a reason it ain’t popular. Otherwise everyone and their grandma would do it, right? What ain’t ya tellin’ me, Madam Jelly? For one as experienced as you, you’d know very well I’d be attracted to the promise of knowledge, yet you never tempted me. I rubbed my hairless chin. There’s gotta be something wrong with this, man…
Finally, the third, and most exciting, yet most laughable one, was a name I knew all too well, Donna Maxwell. I palmed my face immediately. But it got me to thinking… what does Sven and Donna have in common? Hmm, both Apostles, one had to kill the other; master’s wish. Now, you died beca–
The thought almost smacked me out of my thoughts. Donna was searching for immortality! And what better way to find the answer than a creature with thousands of lives’ memories and knowledge under her belt ready for distribution?
“It, kinda makes sense…” Donna admitted.
And just when I thought I was done with your story you pop back up like a bad case of mead addiction. Something smelled stinky here, and I knew it wasn’t me. You wanted power, you found Madam Jelly somehow or the other and did the One ritual.
“And I must’ve gotten the knowledge too. But it doesn’t make sense. I already had the know-how, so why would Emily want me dead?”
Hmm, if I remember correctly, it was something about discovering some dark and uncontrollable power?
“Yeah, but what power?”
Beats me… But it was enough to have the witch put a hit on you because of it. So, my question is, if Madam Jelly has this information that can imbalance the entire world, why did Emily not kill Madam Jelly? I’m sure the witch also perfected manipulation for every magic type available, and that means she could kinda see into the future like Hethekk the Scryer can. Does that mean Madam Jelly can be trusted with such knowledge? Or does it mean that whatever being Madam Jelly is, is unable to use the magic type needed that would trigger this scary power?
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Well, she’s right there, dumbass! Just ask…”
“Hey, Madam Jelly, do you know of a power so great that even the witch feared it enough to kill one of her own Apostles?”
Her tentacle touched onto Leo’s shoulder again. “You speak of Donna Maxwell. That power,” Leo scratched his beard, “not even mother has any records of it. Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “to bypass conflict of interest, mother has chosen not to help you, and not to help Sven. Neither of you will receive any more information from mother until you settle your differences.”
Settle our differences? Hmm? Why Sven? Sven, Sven… my thoughts began retracing all my encounters with him, until I began putting two and two together. First, dad was acting strange and before his death he said something about ‘behind the eyes of many’. I’m betting Hydra’s sexy ass that that’s about the One ritual. Behind the eyes of many is just a fancy way to say ‘Madam Jelly’. She is ‘the eyes of many’. And a pair of those eyes belong to Sven. So, Sven had a hand in killing dad? But why? What’s his motive? Wait…
I palmed my face. Of course! Dad was investigating the One ritual. He didn’t want dad, and by extension, the Order, finding out about it and subsequently, Madam Jelly. And that means, there’s something in Madam Jelly’s database that he doesn’t want random strangers to know, or at least he doesn’t want the Order to know. But does that make any sense? Aldis underwent Madam’s Jelly’s One ritual as well, which means Aldis has the information I’m looking for. My body stiffened when I realised that Sven might very well have killed Aldis. I sent a few clones to look for the old mage immediately.
“Your deductive skills are getting good!” Donna complimented.
I couldn’t even smile, because I was getting really worried about the things I didn’t know. Perhaps if I weren’t affected by my lack of knowledge, it wouldn’t bother me, but my father died and I had no idea why. I was beginning to see why Hethekk the Scryer thought it was foolish to have mind manipulation capabilities and not take advantage of it. Mastering mind manipulation is long overdue anyway.
So, I began my unethical mind trespassing with Aldis when one of my clones found him smoking his pipe and fishing.
August decided to stay in Hyzek, and I took my clone’s place in Methelia, where Aldis was.
“Ah, want a grape?” Aldis offered me when he realised that I was Levitating next to his boat.
“Aldis, you underwent the One ritual…”
He closed his eyes, and put the grape back down. “Eric, I suppose it’s time I spoke to you.”
“No need. I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to do,” I said, preparing to map his mind. But as I began, it was like my mind’s eye was blinded by a sudden bright light. I reeled backwards and hunched over, holding my head in pain. “What the fuck was that?!”
“Mind magic? You’d best start with someone who hasn’t done the One ritual if you want to advance it. I’m connected to the same sea of knowledge that mother is connected to. It is simply too vast to even be looked upon,” he chuckled. “Figured you’d know this…”
“Yeah, well I don’t.”
He laughed again, and offered the grape one more time, “Sit, and ask me what you will, Eric.”
Reluctantly, I took it. “You know the Apostle of the Crescent Moon called Sven?”
“Mhm,” Aldis nodded. “What of him?”
“Is there something he doesn’t want others to know? Is there a secret he’s hiding?”
“Hmm,” Aldis rubbed his chin, “not that I know of. Even as I comb through his knowledge and experience, there’s nothing in particular that’s controversial enough that he’d want to keep secret. Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s freakin’ weird, man!” I exclaimed. “When Donna was getting close to discovering immortality or whatever, he was sent to kill her. When dad began investigating the One ritual and its origins, dad suddenly died. Plus, he attacked Methelia’s guardian of nature for a reason I have yet to know. However, there must be something he wants from her, because he didn’t immediately kill her. I also don’t know for sure if it he was the one who killed my father.”
With a gentle smile, Aldis stared out into the lake, “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Suddenly, I could feel a presence behind us. I pulled a condensed Water Prison over myself and prepared for immediate battle, but Sven was in no rush to fight by the looks of it. The man had a fishing pole, some bait, a couple straw hats and a picnic basket floating in the air next to him with void manipulation.
I’m certain he used void to suddenly appear like that, otherwise I would’ve felt his presence. How the fuck did Aldis know he was there?!
“Well, they can access each other’s knowledge, memories, senses and stuff like that. Maybe it works for location too,” Donna tried explaining. It certainly made sense.
“You believe I’ve caused your father’s death? Oh? And you also think I want something from our guardian of nature.” The disgustingly sly man simply sat next to us like it’s nobody’s business. “You’d be right on both accounts.”
“Justify yourself,” I commanded gently.
A huge sigh escaped from Aldis, “Alright, alright, you two.” He stood up, “just give me enough time to get out of here before I get caught up in your fight.” The old man pulled an orcish glider out from the side of the boat and flew away with void magic. For a fleeting second, it amazed me how widespread Ingen magic became. But with Sven sitting right next to me, I was quickly returned to the present.
“I’ve no obligation to tell you anything, but I suppose I will, if only to make future endeavours easier.” After a deep breath, Sven said one word, “Balance.”
“Explain,” I snapped back quickly.
“Unlike you,” he cast his line, “I’ve only mastered but one magic type – mind. This means I can see a little way into the future. I can see when things go wrong and when things go right. When Donna Maxwell was searching for immortality, I couldn’t see it then, but the witch did; she saw destruction. Eventually, I learnt to see these things myself, and I knew your father would soon discover the One ritual, and undergo it himself. The knowledge he would’ve attained, would have been shared freely with the Order of Mages’ library. Usually, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but there are two big factors that made it into an issue. The first is you changing the policy when it came to accessing the library. Switching the requirements from years of service to rank means that many more people would be able to access the library, which means it would be harder to control what people see and do with the information. The second factor is the integration of elf and orc magics. This integration means that magic can be learnt by just about anyone very easily, and there are even more people joining the Order. The Order’s populace also spiked after the Ulanos invasion.” He paused and took a breather, “I’ve been prattling so far. Don’t you have questions?”
“I do, but I’ll ask them after. Continue.”
He sighed. “Hmm, alright then. With someone who can see the future, you can also see the cause and effect of certain actions, like simulations. I could have simply told Flynn that what he was doing was a mistake, but no matter how many times I ran the simulation in my mind, it ended up inspiring him to pursue his research even more. I even thought of framing him and having him imprisoned for some crime or the other, but alas, the man’s a master of illusion. All the simulations with imprisonment ended in jailbreak and it also drove a wedge within your family.” He smirked. It wasn’t one of derision but one that seemed to appreciate the big picture.
“You may think I’m playing god. After all, deciding whether or not people should live by my own moral compass is nothing short of acting like one. Is it wrong? Yes, of course it’s wrong. I acknowledge that completely. But I pose this question to you, Eric Archibald. If you have two choices, one where you do nothing and something bad is the consequence, and another where you take action and the set path is changed to something better, would you not leap into action? I’ve lived most of my youth on the passive end of the spectrum, thinking that my input would never make any situation better. Yet, life kept proving my choice of passivity to be wrong. I could’ve done something about the previous guardian of nature luring the Virai into her bewitchment. I could’ve prevented their entire tribe from being wiped out. But I didn’t.”
He became more focused on casting his gaze upon the glaring reflection of the morning sun on the lake than actually fishing. “Well, that’s why your father died, but, as for why I attacked the guardian of nature, well… Even I have to get stronger in order to keep balance properly.”
“What does the guardian of nature have to do with you getting stronger?” I posed the question.
“You already know the answer to that, don’t you?” He took his coat off eventually. “I do recommend you–”
I slugged Sven with a sudden left, “You’re an asshole, man! You killed my father because you thought he’d bring knowledge back?” I fumed, but the persistent calm that exuded those who underwent the first mana powerup would always rear its head, making my anger feel like nothing but theatrics. “Fuck…”
“Is that it?”
“Is that what?” I questioned.
“Is that all the wrath you wish to unleash onto me? If that’s all, then you’re a lot wiser than you let on.”
I scoffed. I didn’t want to admit that I understood where he was coming from and why he felt like he had to kill my father. I didn’t want to admit that I just might’ve done the same if I didn’t know the person. What moral high ground could I possibly stand on to say that he was wrong when I’d probably do the same as he did? What the fuck, man… I was disgusted at myself, because the more I tried to see everyone else’s logic and understand their perspective, the more I felt like I lost touch with who I was. Is that it? Is my quest over? Did the man who killed my father just talk me out of taking revenge? Was he right, to do what he did? Was father right? Is Sven right? What am I gonna tell mom?
If the witch wanted me to replace her, then does that mean I have a duty to do what Sven is doing across all these worlds I’m discovering? I swallowed. Am I, strong enough?