Elder Wu frowned, slightly lowering his mug of steaming Aztec Chocolate as he felt yet another strange ripple run through the mana in his office. The phenomenon felt... artificial, but only barely so. Not quite like the shifts he would feel every now and then coming from the ley lines, but also not too far off.
"Gary!" Elder Wu called.
"Yes?" the aide asked, appearing in his office a moment later.
"Find out what the other Elders know about these weird ripples, please," the old Vampire said, dismissing Gary once he had acknowledged the request.
Luckily for him, he did not have to explain what he meant. Despite Gary being a rather ordinary man, he was quite sensitive to the movements of mana. And quite useful in tracking that Elf…
Aperio had made no attempt to conceal her whereabouts until a couple of hours ago, when nearly every hint of her presence had utterly vanished for a period of a few minutes. There had been no gathering of mana, or any other signs that teleportation was at work. Something else was afoot.
At least cameras work on her, Elder Wu thought to himself as he scribbled himself a note to add some more people to the team that was in charge of surveying the newest source of trouble. Probably considers this to be some kind of entertainment.
The ringing of his phone caused Wu to let out a long groan. Setting individual ringtones for different contacts had been a good idea in theory, but knowing that Merlin was on the other end filled him with nothing but dread.
"Hello," he said, once he had reluctantly accepted the call. "I hadn't expected a call from you for another twelve hours at least."
"I was excited and had a favour with the tower I could use," Merlin replied, her words underlined by the honking of the car she was likely driving at the moment. "I'll be at your fancy tower in an hour or two. Depends on how many idiots I encounter on the way."
"At least one," Elder Wu mumbled in reply.
"What was that?" Merlin asked, the old wizard sounding more curious than annoyed.
Nothing," he said quickly, "just talking to myself."
"Sure," Merlin replied. "Maybe your new guest is taking a bigger toll on you than expected. Imagine, the mighty Tiang Wu being bested by someone who isn't even trying to do anything."
The Vampire merely huffed at the words. "You'll see for yourself what she is when you arrive. Shouldn't be long before you can feel her presence."
"Oh, I can sense that alright. She is doing something with the ley lines, but what that is is beyond me at the moment, I would have to look at the convergence below your tower to get a clue about what she might be up to."
"She said she had come to judge us and — should she find us acceptable — fix our mana troubles," Elder Wu said. "How she plans to do that, I do not know, but I if I had to guess I would say it has something to do with her rather excessive amount of mana. Might just share some with us."
"That would not be a fix," Merlin replied. "And I don't trust your judgement on anything related to magic, anyway. You may be old, but in all that time you’ve never thought to actually learn how any of this really works." She mumbled something else that Wu did not quite catch before speaking more clearly again. "I'll be there shortly."
Elder Wu lowered the phone, as Merlin had hung up after her declaration, and reached for the mug that stood on his desk. He took a sip, savouring the sweet notes of the chocolate and the sorely needed soothing touch of the blood that made the ancient drink so unique.
He held his mug in both hands, taking a long, deep breath. "One of these days, I'm going to lose it."
///
Merlin shut the door of her rental with a foot and eyed the bustling crowd of people moving through Riverburg. She had told Tiang that it would be a bit longer till she arrived, but that had of course been a lie. Using a favour of the Ontario Mage's Guild guaranteed you speedy travel; especially if your name was Merlin and they owed their entire existence to you.
She hummed to herself as she locked the car and set her eyes on an old house made from brick. To most, it would look like any other house in the town of Riverburg, but to Merlin, who could see that the house was practically leaking mana, it was quite obvious that the person she sought was inside.
Of course, the house wasn't really leaking mana, and it was likely nothing more than the aura of the self-proclaimed creator. A bit lacking, if Merlin was honest with herself.
As if her thoughts had been heard, reality suddenly seemed to slow. Every pair of eyes, despite the fact that the people were paying her no mind, still seemed to be staring paradoxically right at her. She was seen even though nobody was looking. A moment later, a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, connected with a presence behind her that all but blinded her senses.
When she turned around, nobody was there except normal people minding their business and ignoring her like they should. When she checked, nothing had disturbed the magic she had placed on herself to remain unnoticed by most. And yet, the reason she had come had not only noticed her through the spell, but had also gone out of her way to show that she was capable of a very high level of either mind, illusion, or straight up reality-warping magic.
Probably mind… It would help explain why nobody questioned the rather ridiculous claim she had made and why Tiang would use his favour with her. Merlin might not be the foremost expert on mind magic, but she was close, and she had a far larger breadth of general knowledge than essentially any other mage alive.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Everything alright?" a voice asked from the sidewalk Merlin had still not moved to. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
The old wizard blinked and turned, her eyes settling on a large Orc. Merlin hesitated for a moment as the gears in her mind turned ever so slowly, bringing a memory of the Orc in question to the forefront of her mind.
"Gale?" she asked, finally moving away from the street and next to him. "It's been a while."
"Do I know you?" the Orc asked and took a step back.
"Oh right, yes," Merlin mumbled. She put her hand into her pocket, a slight bit of mana causing a piece of paper to appear that she promptly handed to Gale. "Merlin. New body, same me."
Gale looked the piece of paper for a moment before he took it, and his eyes widened the moment his fingers touched it. "That's most certainly not something I have seen before. Do you switch bodies regularly?"
Merlin shrugged. "Whenever my current one gets too unwieldy I make a new one. No, I won't share how I do it, or do it for you. This is a secret I will keep."
"I hope for your sake that it doesn't involve kidnapping people or something of the like," Gale said. "If it does, you are in trouble." His eyes wandered towards the building Merlin knew her target was in. "I assume she is the reason you came. Trust me when I say this: You do not want to upset Aperio. Though, judging by your previous reaction, you seem to have figured that out already."
"I'm not inclined to judge on what could've been an illusion, Gale," Merlin said, her eyes lingering on the old house for just a moment. "I have some preparations to make before I meet her."
"Good luck," the Orc said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You'll need it."
///
Aperio could not help but keep a mental eye on the peculiar woman who had entered the city and directly proceeded to the All-Mother's location, seemingly having found an interest in her presence.
Once she had arrived, Aperio had given her a slightly more thorough inspection. It seemed to have spooked her, as she was currently moving away from the house and towards a bookstore that hid a vast number of magical items behind its unassuming facade.
"Found something?" Caethya asked. "Or is it just that new mage that came?"
"The mage," Aperio replied, making sure that the others would not hear, and thus be disturbed from their current discussion of what she had meant by 'demonstration.' "There is something… off about her. She appears young, but is not. And her Soul seems like it has been grafted to the body instead of them being born together as one."
Caethya straightened a little, the carelessness she had displayed for the past hour or so fading away. "You think she messed with others to figure out how to do that? Or takes over people to live longer?"
"I hope that is not the case, but that is most certainly what it looks like," Aperio replied, standing up from the sofa made of her mana. She offered Caethya her hand, and as she took it the All-Mother's wing nudged her love's back to help her rise. "I think a small visit is in order."
The mortals in the room quieted as they noticed Aperio standing up. "Caethya and I will be leaving for a moment," she said. "Adam can call for me if you require anything."
Before any of them could say anything, the All-Mother and her love vanished from the old home, reappearing but a moment later inside the definitely completely normal book store. The owner was currently in a room hidden behind one of the shelves, and the view through the windows was obscured by thick curtains. Nobody to see our arrival.
"How neat," Caethya commented, letting go of Aperio's hand to approach one of the shelves. It was filled with books about magic that were most assuredly nothing but fiction. She pulled one out, the light reflecting off a silver embossed cover. "I do like what the Humans do with their books. So many of them, and most anyone can simply come and buy one."
Aperio nudged yet another ley line out of the way of the System’s mana, adding some of her own to form into a new network that simply felt more correct to her mind; to her very being.
"Are books only for the wealthy on Verenier?" Aperio asked, her eyes wandering over the various volumes on display. "I only know the time of the Empire, and there knowledge or even entertainment in written form was only for those of high blood."
"It's for everyone who can afford it," Caethya replied, putting back the book she had inspected. "It doesn't help that most people are not really interested in books. A play is often far more entertaining and costs the same, sometimes even less."
"I see," the All-Mother said, tilting her head as a pulse ran through the ley lines, originating from a knot further west, in the ocean. "Well, I think it is time for us to meet our mystery mage and see if she is a body snatcher or not."
Whoever this new mortal was, they had had enough time to notice her appearance and finish whatever preparations they needed. Both the mage and the store owner were standing on the other side of the door disguised as shelves, the woman staring at it with what Aperio would consider a mixture of fear and curiosity while the owner took a step away from the door, something the All-Mother could only describe as abject horror visible on his face.
A wave of her hand caused the shelf to slide open, revealing the inconspicuous-looking woman and the store owner who, for one reason or another, currently wore a monocle. An enchanted one. Neat.
"Greetings," Aperio said, spreading her wings slightly and offering a nod once she entered the room. She eyed the owner a moment longer, smiling slightly as his hands fidgeted before she set her gaze onto the woman. "I have some questions for you, miss. Your Soul does not belong to that body and I wish to know why it is there." She stepped closer, already looming over the much smaller mortal. "I do hope it is not what I think it is. I have had enough of idiots thinking of Souls as a tool to be used as they see fit to last me a few lifetimes."
Caethya stepped past Aperio and the frozen mage, deftly plucking a dagger that had not previously been there out of the store owner's hand. "That won't do you any good. Just let her ask her questions and hope your… friend? Or at least customer, is honest."
"Who are you?" Aperio asked as she tugged at the threads of reality to let the System show her little bit about the mortal in front of her.
"Merlin," the woman replied in a quiet whisper. "Mage."
"Merlin, or do you prefer Myrddin?" Aperio asked, mentally dismissing the information the slowly expanding System had already provided on the mage in front of her. "Half Human, half Demon. Ancient. But, more importantly, someone who is in a body not their own."
"They are mine," Merlin said through clenched teeth, seemingly straining against Aperio's undivided attention. "I make them."