“I need your help,” I said as I stepped into Meadow’s cottage. She was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting something, and looked up to nod.

“What do you need, dear?” she asked.

“How can you change a legacy?”

She gave me a long, considering look.

“What brought this on?” she finally asked.

“I have a date to the Carnival of Color,” I said, “Kene, I think I’ve mentioned them to you before.”

“The one who showed you a bit of alchemy, I remember,” she said.

“Yeah, and I do want you to take a look at the potion we made,” I said. “But that’s another point entirely. The long story short is that his legacy has put his life on a ticking timer.”

She rocked back a bit and looked at me, then nodded.

“They’ve hag’s blood in them, don’t they?”

I paused, thrown off by the uncanny guess.

“Well… Yeah,” I said. “How’d you know?”

“The region of the world, the proclivity for potions, and the fact that no legacy is truly harmful on its own,” Meadow said. “Even whichever one your date has, technically speaking, has beneficial effects. But having your soul used to incubate another creature…”

She paused for a moment and shook her head.

“It’s technically what happens with vampirism passing onto another creature as well, alongside most transformative curses, and a handful of other creatures passing on. Some, like vampirism, leave the soul mostly intact. Others, like a hag, consume almost the entire soul.”

“This is interesting and all, but is there a way to change it? If not, can we get it out? Primes, can we give the hag a new body or something?”

“Orykson could remove it,” she said seriously. “Removing something like that requires incredibly delicate soul surgery, something that perhaps four other people in the world could do. Of those, only two of them are what we would remotely consider to be ‘good’. And even they are unwilling to do something of that sort without sufficient motivation.”

“So the only hope he has is to bind their tattoos?” I asked, a little desperately.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Though, are their tattoos sealing magic?”

“Yes, their grandmother put them on,” I said. “So if that’s not his only hope…”

She was quiet for a long time before she sighed.

“I’m going to trust your judgment, Malachi. This… isn’t a secret, but it also isn't usually widely talked about until a mage has demonstrated a very large amount of strength. But in the unclaimed territory of the world, there are three doorways that lead deep into the bowels of the earth, altered with complex spatial magic, and magic of all sorts. They’re called the Sepulchers.”

“Isn’t that the name of the place where we stick dead people?” I asked.

“It’s named after those for a good reason,” Meadow said. "They are deadly. Filled with traps that defy logic, rooms that lead to nowhere, and strange not-quite-real beings made of mana. That's why this is a measure of trust. If you wanted to, you could go out and join an expedition today. I have to ask you to wait, however. You aren't ready – yet."

That raised so many questions. Who built them? Ancient magic was usually terrible, so how had they done that?

And most importantly…

"Do they hold a cure?" I asked.

"There is a room," Meadow said, "at the bottom of the first sepulcher you dive. Inside, whoever has made it that deep will find a way to change their legacy. Most people make theirs stronger, or more flexible. But it might – and I do say might – be able to rework Kene's legacy into something usable."

"Can you do it? Just blast your way through the Sepulcher while Kene trails behind you, until you reach that room?"

"I cannot," Meadow said. "Each person may challenge a Sepulcher as many times as they like, but once they defeat it, they are forever barred from entering that one again. I wish I could, I truly do. But the only solution is for the two of you to get strong enough to delve that deep."

"Then…" I said, taking a deep breath. "How strong do we have to be?"

"Common wisdom says that an Arcanist is required if one is to take on a Sepulcher alone. If you push yourself to the limits of your spellcraft, and with the help of Dusk and a healer, though?"

She paused, seemingly thinking, running scenarios through her head. Dusk patted my cheek reassuringly.

"Third gate," she finally said. "Depending on how hard you work and how much effort you put in, it could be anywhere from early third gate to peak third gate."

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I set my jaw and nodded.

"I can do that."

"I hope you do," Meadow said seriously, nodding.

"Oh!" I said. "Before I forget."

I pulled out the chunks of amber I'd gotten and held them up.

"I found these, and I was thinking about making them into a new basin for my time magic. But I wanted a professional's opinion first."

Meadow took the gems from me and turned them over in her hands, examining them slowly.

"I think the two normal pieces of amber should go into staff construction. That will hold you through to second gate. The one with the scorpion…"

She turned it over one more time and squinted.

"If you choose, it could make a good basin. It's not a crystal, so the mana will be less orderly and neat, but it will have a larger natural capacity than the quartz. Not only that, but it should lend a… Death flavor… to your time mana."

"Death flavor?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Or sub-aspect, if you'd prefer," Meadow said. "Trace amounts of death mana will mingle into your time mana. The effects of this could vary, especially as you grow in power, but in the short term it will allow some of your flagging temporal mana regeneration to be compensated with via your death mana's regeneration. It's useful, but it's messier than your quartz crystal, so I can't really recommend one over the other."

I thought about that for a moment. There was definitely a beauty in simple solutions, that was hard to deny, but complexity wasn't a bad thing.

Dusk whistled, urging me to go with the pretty bug.

I focused my mana and cast Capture Moment on the amber, then set it to automatically update. I drew the mana that I'd stored in the quartz out to refill the small amount that doing that had drained, then went to break my link to the quartz.

I paused, right before I did that though. There was no sense in wasting the power I'd already stored in the quartz.

I channeled the power into my Capture Moment spell and imprinted each of my limbs, along with my body, and then set them each to automatically update.

With that done, I sketched the basin spell and sunk my time mana – alongside a little bit of death – into the crystal.

Where the quartz had turned from clear to an almost pastel yellow color, amber was already a deep orange, so instead of altering the color, the amber instead began to glow ever so slightly, as if I'd cast a light spell inside.

"Thank you Meadow!" I said as I shoved the glowing rock into my pocket.

"Isn't there something else you wanted to ask me?" Meadow asked as I turned to go. I could hear the smile on her lips, and I froze, thinking.

"Crows," Meadow said, and my eyes shot wide.

"Oh! Yeah, that's right. What's going on there?"

She handed me the inky black potion that would let us into my mana garden, and I took a sip then passed it back to her.

Meadow, myself, and – to my mild surprise – Dusk all appeared inside the grass of my garden, and I immediately beelined for the Crow's Shade Messenger spell.

The tree looked… Weird. It was a complete tree, but the branches had curled in on themself, almost like it was trying to lay down in a fetal position. Several of the branches were cracking, though, like they may break apart.

"Huh," I said, poking at it. It looked slightly diseased, but it was also in the death part of my garden, so I wasn't sure how much weight to ascribe to it.

"This does happen from time to time," Meadow said. "The Crow's Shade Messenger spell has two parts, as you know.

"Right," I said. "I overemphasized the first part, but not the second."

"Which leaves you with a choice to make – allow it to shape into Call Crow's Shade, or keep it as it is and let it break back down as you cycle it into Crow's Shade Messenger."

"Is there any benefit to calling a crow's shade?" I asked. "Outside of clearing out bugs, at least."

"Cleaning out bugs?" Meadow asked, and I gave her a quick rundown of how I'd gotten the spell to the point it was at.

"Ah… Well, as you experienced, calling one and getting it to do something useful are rather different. The messenger part of the spell contains the contract that the shade agrees to in exchange for an additional energy infusion. Without it, you're free to make whatever contracts with the crow shades you summon however you want."

That sounded amazing… and like it had a severe downside. If it was so simple, then I'd have just learned Call Crow's Shade.

"Of course, without the contract bound into the spellcraft, it will put a higher burden on your mana, and you'll have to actually work out the contract, which can be hard with sub-sapient beings. Finally, the third gate spell 'Call Shade' would be more flexible and powerful, should you choose to pursue shade-based necromancy."

There it was.

"I'd also suggest you choose quickly," Meadow said. "Your spell's beginning to strain. I suspect you have about eighteen hours before it begins to break apart, and your work will be largely wasted."

Eighteen hours… That wasn't too bad, actually. I could go shopping to pick up Kene's Carnival of Color gifts while the choice processed in the back of my mind, and then figure it out when I got home.

"Thank you for the warning and explanation," I said. "I'll figure it out before too long. For now…"

I wished I had a communication mirror, so I could check my bank account balance. I probably could spend forty to sixty silver before I got into too dire financial circumstancrs.

"Are there any gifts you can reccomend for an alchemist?" I asked. "Preferably ones that aren't… horribly expensive?"

Meadow chuckled and picked up her knitting needles again.

"Unfortunately, most things you could easily make or buy, your date likely already has."

"Oh," I said. "Well, thank you anyhow." I suppose I'm off to buy nail polish an–"

I was cut off by Meadow.

"Nail polish?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, my. I suppose that does make sense…"

"What?"

"There's a plant that grows in southern Kijani, called the rainbow sugarbush. It's not magically powerful in the slightest, but it can change its color with a bit of ungated mana. We used to use it to make dyes and paints when I was growing up. And with a bit of alchemy skill, you can make just about any color of nail polish you want."

My eyes widened. That was perfect!

"How expensive is it?" I asked.

"Oh, two or three hundred years ago, they were quite expensive to import all the way to Mossford. Nowdays, they're more of a curiosity. My guess would be that a pack of seeds doesn't run you more than fifteen silver. The trouble will be finding them – check out a Kijani import shop."

I thanked Meadow profusely before flying off to do just that, and to check my bank account.

With a budget in mind, I headed to one of the wealthiest parts of the city and bought Kene a hanful of different clothes from different charity and secondhand shops.

When I got home, my Dad was eating with Ed, so I grabbed a bowl and joined them.

"I hardly feel like I've seen you," Ed said as I sat. "You okay?"

"Busy few days," I said, stuffing the salad into my mouth. "I got a date!"

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," my dad said reflexively. "But that's great! Is it with this mysterious "Kene" fellow you talked about?"

"Yep," I said, once I finished my bite.

"Hah!" Ed cried, and Dusk spooked slightly at the noise, turning to look at him.

"Liz owes me ten silver," he explained. "She was betting you'd woo the librarian with your mysterious, suited battlemage look."

"Oh," I said, flushing. Honestly, if things had gone differently… I could see that having happened. But I liked Kene a lot. I didn't regret my choice there.

Still, I'd mend my fences with Alvaro. And soon, maybe a bit after the festival. I'd put it off long enough.

"So, why don't you fill me in about this Kene," my dad said, leaning in…