Elementals were a strange topic to try and research. They were extremely well known, the biggest players in the world were elementals, even the late king of Astraev was one. Despite this notoriety, very few people knew anything about the process, and even though Cece was one of those people the process tended to be individualistic. Her father hadn’t told her anything about the process, it wasn’t the kind of thing a twelve-year-old needed to know, but she had the Silva family records and she had of course met an elemental. The patriarch of the family, Cornelius Silva, or as she knew him uncle Cornelius. Technically speaking he had been her great grandfather’s great uncle, but he insisted everyone call him uncle. He had been a… funny man, he had a way with children that was far less harsh than her father, but she had heard that he was far less forgiving with adults, and of course he had been a bit off his rocker. Silver elementals were even more prone to insanity than others, the constant waning and waxing of the moon, creating some strange mood swings, predilections with lies and deceit, and a nocturnal sleep schedule, made it hard to mesh with other people.
In the papers she had they used what they called a “normal technique” which consisted of taking in great quantities of the given element until it had replaced all parts of the body, and hoping it didn’t kill you. It seemed they would also cast magic to stabilize and enhance silver magic in the area the transformation would occur in, she assumed that Solastria would have a similar methodology, but she couldn’t rely on assumptions. She needed information.
Cece was familiar with the location of the Solastria estate, a building so large and so close to the city’s center that it was difficult to not be familiar with it. If things were easy she could use a silver eye, a reflection magic, to scry the area. Although gold was the magic of light, silver was the magic of reflection and it exceled at getting information. However such a task would not be easy. Their estate, like any mages, had mountains of wards, mostly gold detection wards, usually with a nasty attack spell that would trigger if they sensed magic, but they would also certainly have abjurative salt magics to prevent any magic from entering the building. There were salt families built on a neutrality firmer than the country of Witza, and more discreet than any silver mage, so it would be difficult to beat their wards, or get more information on them.
After a long night of consideration, Cece decided to visit her home. The fire had destroyed most of the mementos that weren’t magically protected, but the structure of the house and the wards were still intact, so she could use it as a test. Solastria’s wards would surely be different, but they had been families of similar history and influence, as much as she loathed to admit it, so they should be built on similar foundations. She rose with the sun, despite wanting to sleep in, and got ready for the day ahead of her. On a whim she decided to bring Lotte.
“Where are we going, Cece?” The golem asked mechanically. She had inscribed Lotte to ask questions with the hope that she could be more complex if she could gather information on her own. Usually the questions were less topical to the matters at hand, but she would take a win where she could get one.
“My childhood home, the Silva estate.” Cece said.
“I see, thank you.” Lotte replied bowing her head slightly as they both rounded the corner of the parking garage and approached Cece’s car. “Would you like me to drive, Cece?”
Cece’s lack of experience with golem inscriptions showed through frequently, as she had somehow encouraged Lotte to ask questions like these as well.
“Do you know how to drive Lotte?”
“No.”
“Then no. Save a new order to your golem core, you shouldn’t offer to do something if you don’t know how, especially if it is dangerous.”
“Please define dangerous.”
“Something is dangerous if people are likely to die if you do something wrong.”
“The order has been saved to the core. Core inscription capacity is now at 78%”
“I’ll have to transfer your new orders to the ruby soon.” Cece mused to herself as she shifted the gears of her car. They had only been driving for a few minutes before Lotte asked another question.
“Cece, what is that?” She said, pointing one of her ball-jointed fingers towards a bird.
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“A crow, I believe, although I’m not an ornithologist, so I could be wrong.”
“I see, thank you.”
They drove for another ten minutes before the next interruption.
“Cece, what is that?” The automata’s finger was now pointing at a phonebooth.
“That’s a telephone booth, people can spend money to use the phone there.”
“How do you use a phone?”
Cece spent the rest of the ride there trying to explain to a mindless alchemical construct the exact steps to call someone. She didn’t regret making this feature, Lotte was a fascinating side project, but still she was thinking about making a rest mode that would spare her the questions.
“You used to live in this house, Cece?” Lotte asked as Cece’s feet made contact with the damp ground. Slush had marred the landscape.
“Yes.”
“How long ago?”
“I last lived here when I was twelve, so six years ago now. Although it feels like longer.”
“Why is there soot on the outside?”
That struck Cece as an oddly specific question, but she supposed it made sense when Lotte’s main purpose was cleaning.
“There was a fire.”
“I see, thank you.”
“You shouldn’t say thank you when someone tells you something bad.” She replied grimly
“Is that a new order?”
“Sure.” Cece said, beginning to fiddle with the iron-wrought gate preventing people from entering the premises.
“Please define “bad”.” She replied.
“What a philosophical question. Let’s go with, when a person’s body, mind, family, friends, or possessions are harmed.”
“The order has been saved to the core. Core inscription capacity is now at 80%”
Cece undid the large lock chaining the gates of the estate. It was mostly there for show, people were generally too afraid of the magics an estate would possess to try and rob it, even after all these years. As they walked in through the heavy light blue doors, The sound of their footsteps echoed around them, and Cece couldn’t help but notice the layer of dust that had built up since she had last been here.
“Should I begin cleaning?” Lotte asked.
“No Lotte, leave everything in this building where it is.”
She started going through the estate with a fine-toothed comb, and arduous task since the mansion used to house over fifty members of the Silva family. She checked every ward, for the most part they were typical. Salt magics would protect the building’s exterior from magical bombardment, and prevent spells from passing through the entrances. Various silver magics would be cast if an unauthorized person were to walk through certain doorways. She was of course authorized with the estate, although she wasn’t able to take control of the wards due to her inability to use magic.
She walked into her father’s study, it was exactly as she left it besides a good layer of dust. The walls were painted a dark blue, with bookshelves lining them. At the center of the room was an ornate wood desk, so dark it was almost black. A comfortable armchair was situated behind it and a few photos of family members were on the shelves. Photos were the pride and joy of most silver families, although the magic was so old none could claim credit for it, Silva was the one that popularized them in Astraev. There was one frame on the desk, along with a variety of knick-knacks. Cece picked up the frame, already knowing who it was, still she stared at the boy’s face, only sixteen when it was taken.
“Cece, why did you stop living here?” Lotte asked.
She stared at the frame. She heard the roar of fire, and her own voice screaming. She wasn’t there, but she was always there.
“Cece-” Lotte began.
“They died, Lotte.” Cece interrupted. “They all died.”
“I see.” Lotte replied.
“Let’s get a move on.” She said, walking out of the room while putting the picture in her purse. Cece desperately wanted to leave and clear her head, but she had a job to do. She walked from room to room, hoping she could find some vulnerability to exploit that Solastria was likely to have, but nothing was that easy. All she was discovering was how horrifying her family could be sometimes. The wards of the house were set up not just with individual spells to kill the intruder, but a series of spells meant to slowly mess with the intruder’s sense of reality. Subtle illusions to make hallways not lead where they should, illusions to make windows look bigger and doors look smaller, illusions to whisper in your ears and lead you to different rooms. Each doorway presented a new level to the trick, and she doubted one could enter into this house unprepared without leaving slightly less sane.
Illusionist’s cruelty aside, she struggled to come up with any promising ideas.
“It’d be easier if I could just siege the building, but unfortunately I really need to know what’s going on. I don’t have the experience or manpower to get a spy inside Solastria, but I can’t get a silver eye inside either because of the wards. I could probably destabilize the wards on the inside, as long as I can inscribe the walls with an antimagic salt field, but I would still need to get past the exterior wards which block spell effects.” Cece thought to herself while sighing. She sat down on the floor, her back against one of the hallway walls, and she turned to look at Lotte. She was already showing great growth, despite her lack of tact, but she didn’t really blame the construct. It did what it was inscribed to do, she was, after all just magic and mechanical pieces.
“Magic. Lotte you’re magic!” Cece almost shouted. “You’re magic, but because you are not an active spell, you don’t trigger the wards, and neither do scrolls.” She said, to the clueless automata.
“Cece, I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to, Lotte. This is so stupid it just might work.”