Thanks to everyone again for their patience. Next stop, Montevue! As always, if you see anything wrong, let me know.

******

 “Shhhh...Can you keep a secret?” a voice whispered in my ear, causing my eyes to open. I was staring up at a familiar set of book stacks. The floor beneath me had repeating marble diamond patterns that spread off into the distance, while the ceiling appeared to be an endless string of vaulted arches. I could distantly make out sunlight streaming through a dome. Glancing toward the sound of the voice I saw an all too familiar face staring back at me.

“Enjoy your nap?” Faith asked me, laying on the floor of my inner 'mental' library. She was wearing a white night gown and was laying on her stomach and propped on her elbows, facing me. As I glanced down I noticed I was still wearing Faith's form.

“So this is what it's like to have a twin.” I remarked with a groan, rolling over to face her. She looked at me concerned for a moment and then wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into an awkward hug. She held onto me for a few moments before pulling away.

“If you keep referring to yourself as twins, you're going to go insane you know.” Faith said with a grin on her face. She stood up and brushed off her dress, striking a pose. “What do you think? I found it in one of your memories.” she said with a smile.

It took me a moment, but my memory was photographic these days. “Galadriel, lord of the rings. You're doing cosplay now?” I asked curiously as I dragged myself to my feet and looked down. I was dressed some type of tightly knit golden chainmail that hugged me like leather.

“You're one to talk. Who wears armor in her own mindscape? Or were you worried about running into combat in a library.” Faith said with a wide grin. I paused to look her over and just smiled. Her beauty was astounding as always...and the shock of it never seemed to fade. She was as startling to look at as when I first gazed at her in the mirror.

“You look lovely.” I said with a sigh, before turning my attention to the library around me.

“Aw, thank you. Careful though, or people will think you're narcissistic.” Faith said before giggling.

“Well, I'm glad to see that you're in a good mood.” I said as I looked around the stacks of unfamiliar books, paused, and realized how odd that was. “Um...what's going on?” I asked in confusion, pulling one of the books from the shelves and looking it over. The symbols on the page seemed to shift, giving an impression of being alive.

“You lost your grip on reality.” Faith said, taking a seat on a stack of large leather bound books on the floor. “You did something you shouldn't have, and were almost lost eternally within your own dreams.” Faith said. She crossed her legs and looked at me curiously, her head tilted to the side.

“...I don't understand.” I said confused, putting the book back on the shelf. Breathing in deeply I let out a sigh and stepped from the aisles of shelves. Faith grumbled and hopped up from her seat of books. "Wait up." she said, following behind me as I walked down the aisles looking for something familiar. The shelves which had been more or less sparse and empty before, where now packed with books. “Where did all of these books come from?” I asked.

Faith rolled her eyes at me. “The training of mages is not something that is rushed. It's not just memorizing chants or runes. It fundamentally changes her perception of the world around her. There is power in knowledge, but there is also danger. You opened your eyes, and accepted the idea that reality was mutable. You began to perceive the world of spirits, not just loose mana in the air. Then you looked beyond the spirit, and began to understand the soul. Did you imagine that was normal?” Faith asked, coming up from behind. She placed her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Don't all nature mages do that?” I asked with a frown. As I glanced up I could see other levels of the library. They extended up far into the distance, all beneath a sky of colored glass. Scenes of titans crafting the cosmos stretched off beyond my sight.

“You know better than that.” Faith said, still hugging me. “There haven't been mages capable of that in thousands of years, but you're still missing the point. Even those mages capable of such things spent centuries building the foundation of their understanding, grounding themselves to the world around them over time. What you did was normally impossible. Even when you tried to absorb the knowledge from spellbooks before, you only gained a little, before your psyche revolted. Then you let Alfred start pouring all of that preprocessed information into the stream of your consciousness. Those books are a lot more dense than anything from your last world. The spell structures and information are woven back upon themselves over and over again. A mage likely spent the better part of a century crafting anyone of them.” Faith said with a sigh. “There were spells mentioned within some of the texts you read, that allowed knowledge absorption. If they could just be used to learn magic, wouldn't nations spit out an endless stream of new wizards daily?” she asked.

“...What about Alfred...he had to 'process' everything.” I said, leaning my head to the side to rest it on Faith's.

“He's a magical construct, not a person. The only reason he could even do something like that was because you are a goddess of both magic and knowledge, and he was formed as a reflection of your divinity. He doesn't 'understand' what he transferred to you. He only processed it to fit into the format of your memories, and he put all of it into your brain. It was all I could do to hold back the tide...If mom hadn't been there...” Faith said, her voice trailing off.

“What happened?” I asked, sensing something wrong from her tone. “...I thought you were watching that thing in the abyss.” I said, trying to put my finger on what was troubling me.

“The abyss to which all life is consigned, and from which nothing returns.” Faith said, as she slipped around to my front and looked me in the eyes.

“...Death...what was in the abyss was dead?” I asked.

“That is not dead, which can eternal lie.” Faith said simply.

“What is this, H.P. Lovecraft? What aren't you telling me, Faith?” I asked, my voice rising as I was getting upset.

“It was never meant to die, and thus could never pass beyond the gates of oblivion. It could only sleep inside the empty, endless night...” Faith said as she stepped back and turned to walk away. “But we're connected to it, and when you set your gaze beyond the veil, you stared into the heart of the beast. It is waking now...and it is so very angry.” she said, her voice trembling slightly.

I followed behind Faith as she approached a massive golden door that stretched upward into the distance. Upon the face of the door were millions of interlocking runes, woven into a met across the entrance. I could feel heat rolling off the door as magic boiled just beneath the surface. “Time is running out, and Mommy is waiting.” Faith said with a sigh, turning back to look at me “But at least you're awake now.” she said.

“Oh, and don't blame Alfred...he was terrified when you slipped away.” Faith said, her voice sounding a bit distant. As Faith spoke I could hear faint whispers, while the light reflecting off of the door was growing brighter.

*******

I awoke wrapped in a thin cloth covered in runes, lying in bed in my room. There were at least a hundred separate spell circles overlapping each other around me, and a set of glowing crystals hanging above me like a chandelier. Mother was sitting across from me, holding my hand, while two robed men stood to the side. One was a balding middle aged human in a set of brown robes adorned with brass buttons, whom I immediately recognized as my mother's friend Abernathy. The other was an older elf dressed in purple robes, who was quietly muttering and finishing a spell.

“Baby! You're awake!” Mother said pulling me into a hug, and clutching at me for dear life. “You've been asleep for two weeks. I was afraid you'd never wake up.” she said, her voice filled with relief.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Magus Rowan has been working continuously for the last week to try and retrieve your mind from the dreaming...A task that has been more arduous than was expected...” Abernathy said with a smile, glancing at the silver haired elf.

“Perhaps if we had not had to spend a week traversing that nightmarish realm of illusions and spirits she called into being around herself, I could have reached her earlier. You should be astounded that I was even able to reach her torpid mind. I had to spend three days weaving 8th tier mentalist spells just to bypass whatever gods damned effect was brushing away my weaker spells.” Rowan said with a note of irritation and offense.

“And you, girl, what in the seven hells were you thinking?” Rowan asked angrily, as he began putting away assorted magical tools. “Absorbing an entire library of spellbooks? You're lucky that wretched magical construct of yours had the good sense to stop before you delved any further into the path of illusions, or you might have destroyed yourself.” he said glaring at me, though I could see a note of relief on his features as well. As he finished boxing up the tools he had been using, he took a seat in one of the chairs in my room.

“Now, Rowan...It's not as if she had been properly educated in such things before hand. Frankly I'm amazed she even managed such a feat. Though I will say, perhaps Faith might now understand why wizards are so very careful with the protection of their spellbooks...especially among young apprentices.” Abernathy said, moments before the door to my room opened, revealing a disheveled looking Aisha. She was wearing a thin nightgown, and appeared to have just rolled out of bed. She looked around, and seeing me awake, immediately rushed to my bed and started hugging me. Being caught between Aisha and my mother in dueling bear hugs was somehow comforting.

“Ugh! Can't breath!” I said, causing the two women to relax their grips.

“Ava...Ur, my I.D. card was contacted by Alfred. I couldn't even get through the mists around your illusionary world though...I went to get Abernathy, and he brought the others.” Aisha explained as she slipped away from to sit up on the bed.

“Others?” I asked looking at Rowan and Abernathy with concern, realizing that multiple people had obviously been down into the depths of Caliburn.

Abernathy cleared his throat. “Yes, Magus Rowan, Myself, Magus Ceras, Ceras's Grand Knight Phillip, Magus Carmen, and Grand Magus Tithonus. It seems the spells you cast interacted with the font of magic buried beneath this castle.” he said pausing for a moment to consider. “The illusionary world was likely hijacking other spell structures buried down there, and was creating spiritual entities in hoards. The illusionary world itself acted to compress space, creating a vast maze. Unfortunately a few of the entities escaped, which is why Magus Ceras and her knight are currently hunting them down in the city.” Abernathy said, before glancing back at Rowan hesitantly.

Rowan just continued to glare at me from his seat, tapping his fingers on the arm rest. “Carmen suffered some injuries, and is receiving treatment. I'm frankly amazed no one has died yet, though with those spiritual entities on the loose...” Rowan said, his voice trailing off as he seemed to focus into the distance. After a few quiet moments his harsh gaze returned to me.

Abernathy frowned, looking at Rowan weakly before stepping forward. “I'm afraid the last two weeks have been trying on everyone's nerves. You are very lucky Countess...Most rash young magic students who attempt even a fraction of what you attempted, are usually destroyed by their own magic. Each path carries its own risks, and the two paths you pursued are among the most treacherous. While a scholar of the path of fire might be consumed by the primal flame, a scholar of illusions could be trapped with an unending nightmare...or rip themselves from reality. As for the path of nature...a misstep early on can mutate and destroy a practitioner’s body. A misstep at the higher levels could consume her soul.” he said, looking at me seriously.

“Yes, and had your value not been deemed greater than the risk, we would have seal the doors and waited for that hell your insanity created to consume you.” Rowan said angrily.

There was another long silent pause, while mother pulled me closer. “I would never have let you go, baby.” Mother said to me, glaring viciously at Rowan in turn.

Abernathy cleared his throat causing Rowan to stand up, grab his things, and exit abruptly from the room. “I'm sorry...Faith. Try not to be put off by Magus Rowan's attitude. He is simply exhausted from all of this, but I assure you that he exerted himself the most of all of us to save your life. Without his efforts we could never have unraveled the illusions barring our path, nor pulled your mind back from the abyss...” he said, causing me to shudder as I remembered looking out over the abyss with Faith, watching the creature in the depths.

“I'm sorry Abernathy. I didn't realize the dangers involved in what I attempted. At most I had thought I'd suffer headaches or disorientation.” I said weakly, realizing how crazy that sounded under the circumstances.

“That's understandable. The dangers involved in the study of magic are numerous. Normally a bright young student would be guided through the dangers inherent in the paths. General texts tend to discuss methodology, but in my mind are far too vague when discussing the dangers. Honestly, I've never heard of a neonate doing what you have. The first trials tend to be far less arduous, and are more than enough warning to any student with the aptitude to continue.” Abernathy said as Aisha slipped off the bed and moved to take his hand.

“Why don't we let her rest...she's been through a lot.” Aisha said, giving Abernathy a smile. I noticed her hand caressing Abernathy's arm, causing the middle aged wizard to turn his attention her way for a moment.

“Right...Of course.” Abernathy said to Aisha, before looking back to me. “I would be happy to discuss the events of the last two weeks with you in more detail later...Faith, I'm not sure what has changed in you, but...your talents are frightening...” he said before glancing down at Aisha with a smile. “And Ms. Aisha here as well...Don't worry about all of this too much. You two have an amazing future ahead of yourselves.” he said.

“Why don't we go get a nightcap.” Aisha said to Abernathy, pulling the mage from the room. As the door closed, leaving me alone with my mother, the tension in the air melted away.

“Baby...I was so scared.” Mother said, kissing my forehead. We sat there quietly before she pulled away and wandered over to the fireplace. With a wave of her hand she lit a fire. “It's starting to get a bit chilly in here.” she said before moving to take a seat across from me.

“So...it's been an exciting couple of weeks I take it?” I asked, leaning back into my pillow.

“That's putting it mildly.” Mother said with a smile. “Luckily the school agreed to keep what's beneath the castle a secret, though they do want to wander the library later.” she said.

“I can imagine...I'm sorry mom. I had no idea anything like that...” I said before she cut me off, leaning forward to take my hand.

“It's all right, baby. Everything is going to be fine now.” Mother said, clenching my hand firmly.

“Besides my screw ups, has anything happened? I can't imagine everything has been quiet for two weeks while everyone saved me from my stupidity.” I said wryly.

“Ahh...” Mother said and then paused. “Nothing that takes precedence over you getting some rest, but you received correspondence from the Duke's court and an official request to attend to your lands in Montevue. I sent Sir Bastier ahead to see to things. When you're feeling recovered we can take a trip to Chateau Montevue.” she said leaning in to give me another hug. Taking the runed cloth from around me, she folded it a few times and draped it across her arm. “Get some sleep baby. We can talk more in the morning...I'm just happy you're safe now.” she said, and then left the room quietly.