Tala headed back toward Kit, her mind already returning to the task at hand.

She was going to be initiating Kedva into the arcane path of magic.

-Giving her a rebirth, as it were?-

…You know that I’m not a fan of that description.

-But it’s accurate, and the people who have undergone it prefer that description.-

Tala decided to ignore Alat.

As she did so, Tala saw Kedva run over to her parents, giving them each a large hug and talking quickly with them and Brandon.

Even so, the girl was back at the entrance with Artia by the time Tala returned to her starting location and turned to face Kit’s door from the inside. She hadn’t even delayed her turn at seeing Rane give her an affirming signal along with a smile. “Alright, come on in.”

Kedva glanced in the direction that Brandon and her parents were, hesitating.

“I won’t let it start without Brandon.”

Artia squeezed the girl’s hand, even as she wove her arm through Kedva’s, “Come. I’ll be with you, dear.”

The two women stepped in, Kedva clearly braced against calamity.

-Yeah… that’s not good.-

No. No, it is not. Tala stepped forward, “Kedva. You have to trust me or this will fail. If you don’t trust me, there is no point.”

“I trust you.” Her voice was soft, hardly sounding like the same girl Tala had met previously, “I do.”

“No. No, you don’t. Not in this moment.”

Kedva’s eyes were looking in every direction as she clung to Artia.

“If you can’t trust that I will keep it from starting, how will you trust me to actually help it succeed? You’ll die, twitching and flooded with power that your body can’t handle.”

Kedva stiffened, seeming to rein herself in. “How can I master this?”

Tala nodded. “That is an excellent question. Let me ask you one in return: Do you know, in your mind, that I want to help you, and I mean you no harm?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t help the seeds of fear.”

Tala shook her head. “I know. You need to have faith in your knowledge.”

Kedva frowned. “I just said that fear is worming its way into my mind. That even though I know that you are going to help me, that it’s safe right now, my emotions are getting the best of me. How can I use one emotion to conquer another, internally?”

“Yes and no, Kedva. Yes, fear is your emotion. It is seizing onto your imagination and becoming overblown. Emotions and imagination are the enemy of faith and knowledge.”

Her frown deepened. “I don’t understand.”

Tala sighed. “When you walk down a dark hallway, is it your knowledge or your imagination that tells you that something is trying to get you?”

Kedva frowned. “I assume you mean when I was younger? That was my imagination.”

“Good. Now, were your emotions inclined to line up with your imagination? Or with your knowledge?”

She nodded at that, seeming to begin to understand. “With my imagination.”

“Exactly, and if you fight down the fear, what are you acting on?”

“My knowledge.”

“Exactly. You are relying on your faith in that knowledge. Putting your faith in something without evidence—without knowledge—is foolishness. You didn’t lack knowledge, just like you don’t lack it now, so knowledge isn’t the antidote to fear, not knowledge alone. Faith is what you need to bolster.”

The girl frowned again, but she wasn’t frantically looking around anymore.

Progress.

-Yeah. Where’d you get this?-

A combination of Master Nadro, Master Grediv, some of my teachers at the Academy… and my father. Tala sighed internally. But you knew that and just wanted me to overtly acknowledge it.

-I aim to assist.-

…thank you.

-You’re welcome. Now focus.-

Kedva straightened a bit. “I do know what is coming. My Brandon and Adrill have worked hard with me to ensure that I know all that I can know about this whole process.”

“And you trust them. You have faith in them.”

“I do.” She was fully straightened now, a small smile pulling at her lips and a loose grip all that connected her to Artia.

Brandon came in behind her, then. “I have them settled. They will wait in a little restaurant around the corner.”

Artia frowned. “Arnold’s?”

“That’s right.”

She nodded. “They do have great food at least.”

Kit’s door swung shut on its own, closing silently and vanishing similarly without a trace.

Brandon stayed next to his betrothed, on the other side from his mother.

Tala smiled. “Alright, then. Let’s get started.”

An involuntary tremble moved through Kedva’s body, but she nodded resolutely.

“Lay down.”

“Where—” The words died on Kedva’s lips as she turned to look around and saw that not only was the door gone, but a bed was now behind her. “Oh…”

“My domain, remember?” Tala grinned. “I rule, here.”

That had the intended effect, and Kedva seemed to relax a bit, even as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Reinforce her knowledge that I have this well in hand.

-Yeah, she’s heard stories of Mages all her life, seen them as ‘beyond’ her capability. Wield that for her good.-

Precisely.

Artia walked around to the far side as the girl lay down, that way Kedva could hold each of their hands still.

Brandon kissed Kedva on the forehead, “You’ll do just fine. Mistress Tala knows what she’s doing.”

Yeah, build up her confidence. If there's no trust, she dies.

-And re-emphasizing that again would be counterproductive.-

Agreed.

Over the next few minutes, the six of them talked, Master Simon answering some questions, the others comforting Kedva, and Tala filling in where she needed to.

Rane stayed off to one side, smiling Tala’s way whenever she glanced his way.

Finally, Tala motioned to the two holding Kedva’s hands.

It was time, and they couldn’t be in contact with her when it happened.

Artia gave a squeeze and let go.

Brandon leaned in and kissed her forehead once again, making Tala wish they were a little less overt with their affection.

-It literally doesn’t matter how covert they were. You see everything in here, and in the vicinity. You see it, even if the ‘me’ part of you keeps certain things from the ‘you’ part of you for the sake of propriety and your mental state.-

…I did not want to know that you have those things Archived.

-I didn’t say I Archived them.- Alat responded evasively.

But you Archive everything we experience, see, or perceive.

-...fine. If we ever have need of something that happened near such a memory, you’ll thank me.-

I’m sure.

Kedva, to her credit, maintained her composure. “I’m ready.”

Tala smiled. “I know.”

With a releasing of her will, power snapped back inward.

Kedva’s body acted as if it was hit with an electrical shock, arching up and back, arms spread wide, eyes widening and mouth opening in a silent shout of surprise.

It had begun.

* * *

Tala watched carefully as Kedva arched in shock and involuntary spasms as magic permeated her every cell.

There was a noticeable increase in the power flowing through Tala being funneled to Kit. That drain would slow once Kedva equalized, but it gave Tala a nice feeling similar to stretching a sore muscle.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

As to the impact on Kedva?

Tala had chosen to allow the weight of the full magical density within Kit to come down upon Kedva all at once for a very simple reason: It was easier on everyone.

A slow build up wouldn’t hurt less, and it would make the whole process take longer.

So, they’d made the decision to do it in one fell swoop.

Tala’s aura had unquestioned superiority over this entire situation and circumstance.

This sanctum was hers.

They were within her soulbound companion.

The power in the air had come through her gate.

It had been purified by her earned magics.

The woman before her was on Tala’s guest bed.

She’d put herself into Tala’s hands for this rebirth.

-Ha! You’re calling it that now, too.-

Tala growled internally. Not really the time.

-Fine, fine, but Adrill and Brandon will be quite happy that you’ve agreed to use their word for it.-

Tala ignored her alternate interface; helping Kedva through her predicament was more important right now.

As such, Tala felt something almost seem to click into place within her aura, within her will and power.

If she wanted to, she could simply claim Kedva’s iron, and it would be hers, unquestionably. There would be no effort, no reaching, no extending, nothing. If she willed it, it would be hers.

More than even that, if Tala so desired, she could control the girl’s every cell as she would her own.

What the rust?

Tala almost recoiled at the sense of sovereignty and ownership that she felt over Kedva’s physical form.

The girl was at Tala’s mercy, within her sanctum, within her aura, and utterly under her power and authority.

Tala hated every aspect of it.

The very idea made her feel ill.

It reminded her too much of her circumstances in the House of Blood, even if her own vulnerability had never been quite this overt.

But she couldn’t let her personal issues put Kedva at risk, and she had work to do.

Tala couldn’t pull back.

She couldn’t disengage.

Doing so would all but guarantee Kedva’s death.

Thus, Tala would buckle down and do what needed to be done.

Even so, there was one thing that she had to mentally address first.

There’s still a soul in this body, right? That was the most logical explanation for Tala’s sudden seeming ownership of another body: The soul was gone.

-Yes, I know you can sense it, can see it, can feel it, but I also understand why you asked.-

How can I have ownership over her every cell while her soul remains?

Tala knew the answer, but it was important to express. -I think it’s best if you say it.-

Because the body is just a thing. It isn’t the person. It is a possession that we are given for a little while, and then we leave it behind.

-Go on.-

Before the unmeasurable vastness of eternity, nothing that happens to our bodies matters. Even a grievous injury is like losing a piece in tafl. In the game, it's frustrating, even infuriating. It can mean the difference between victory and defeat. It unquestionably matters… in the game.

-But outside the game?-

Losing a piece is meaningless.

Tala felt like the moment was expanding before her enhanced consciousness as this truth truly rolled through her.

In the view of eternity, only the soul matters.

-And the soul’s destination cannot be diverted by acts of magic, monster, or man.-

…But… does that mean that nothing here matters? What’s the point of all this? There is no point if that’s true. Even the arcanes’ use of vestiges doesn’t matter in the perspective of eternity, then. That can’t be right. I refuse to believe that. If that’s true, then Mistress Odera didn’t matter while she was here, and her passing doesn’t matter now that she’s gone. This life must mean something.

-I don’t have the answer for you. It is probably something worth asking Master Grediv about—or Master Nadro—but after.-

Right. After.

-...but, if it helps, I think you are missing something.-

Oh?

-How we play a game matters. Even if the game, itself, doesn’t matter in the end, how we played not only reveals who we are, over time, it will shape who we are.-

I… I can’t really process that right now.

-Fair. We do have work to do.-

Tala tucked her questions away into the back of her mind, returning her focus to the girl whose life—whose very being—was entrusted to her care.

She nodded to Brandon, and he began verbally giving the instructions for Kedva to ‘attempt’ to act with her will and her power.

Kedva obviously had no power of her own, and her will was utterly untrained, but the act of at least believing that she was trying would help.

Toward that end, they had decidedly not told Kedva the true purpose of the verbal instructions.

Tala tuned out Brandon’s voice even as she used her aura as the medium for her magical manipulation techniques, long honed as an Immaterial Guide.

The power that had invaded Kedva moved at Tala’s direction, because it was Tala’s power.

The natural magics were carved into existence around the girl as Tala guided the magic with surprising ease.

All the while, Kedva’s cells drank in the ambient power, so much so that they would have burst while still drinking in more if Tala hadn’t forcibly directed the excess away.

There had been a lot of discussion on what spellform to give Kedva, so that she could easily bleed off the excess power as her body acclimated.

Unlike Brandon and Adrill, Kedva didn’t have the basis in magical theory for magesight.

Tala didn’t have a basis in arcane social structures that was sufficient to understand what the standard scripts given to infants of their various species were intended to do, let alone how they were meant to function.

There really was only one choice in the end.

It helped that Tala had a template ready at hand.

As discussed, Tala called a handful of fruit to her hand.

Now I literally have them at hand.

-Bad pun, Tala. Focus.-

Right.

The fruit was already cut in half, the deadly pits removed.

She gently placed them in Kedva’s mouth, using her aura to pull enough power away so that the girl could chew and swallow.

They’d discussed having her eat them beforehand, but from what they could determine, having such active magics within her would have utterly blocked the process from taking place, which is not what they wanted at the moment.

Regardless, Kedva finished eating the offering, and Tala allowed the full magic density to return with a swirl in the zeme.

An almost achingly familiar power spread throughout Kedva from core to extremities, and Tala continued her work.

Soon, Kedva would have the natural magics that had saved Tala’s life more times than she cared to remember.

The magic of ancient heroes.

The magic of endingberries.

* * *

Tala was in a maze of power, every wisp of it dancing to her tune.

The very zeme moved in patterns at her direction, creating patterns akin to weather patterns that would last until the day that Kedva died.

Tala was creating a cycle of magic within the girl that was beyond anything that she had fully planned beforehand.

Forging the magics for the men—Adrill and Brandon—had been an act of desperation, but she’d done the best that she could.

Kedva’s magics—those that Tala was forging within her at that very moment—were planned and premeditated.

There was no magic that Tala knew better than that of the endingberry.

Even before she’d wielded gravity, she’d longed to replicate the feats of the heroes of old. She’d studied the legends about their magic and the theories on its potential sources.

Her first defensive scripts had been temporary, modeled after the endingberries’ cyclical nature—even if she didn’t know that at the time.

Strength unyielding gained in exchange for a short duration.

Tala had built upon those magics, incorporating them as constant rather than temporary, always burning her gate-derived power, resonating with that gate—her soul.

As for the endingberries themselves? Once she’d discovered them, she’d eaten uncounted thousands of the little fruits.

She’d drunk gallons of their juice, especially recently since it had become a staple drink with most of her meals.

Every ounce consumed had been turned into power, purified, and applied to her own defense.

Truly, there was no magic that she knew better than—and few who knew any one particular bit of magic as well as—she knew this one.

As such, she felt the call to push the possible.

That is why she went beyond what had been planned, if only just.

The power echoed off of the endingberry magics that were blazing from within Kedva, using their pervasive spread as the basis to resonate toward her goal.

Tala’s own magics, resonating and manifesting in existence added to the feedback of power.

Rather than a single spellform, which would have acted across Kedva’s being at once, Tala forged the interlinking mesh in a mirror of her own—mimicking the actual effect of ending berries, rather than just copying their magics.

But Tala’s magic had a flaw.

A flaw rooted in her nature as a gated.

Her magic had a single source, even if that source spread out to feed her magics all at once.

The nature of arcane magic was that the body was a vessel for power, thus the body became the source, not the conduit.

True, it was a source like a bucket rather than a spring, but the idea still stood.

Thus, Tala didn’t connect Kedva’s magic into a central network.

Instead, she forged each minute spellform to draw power from the overflow given off of Kedva’s very cells, directly.

The difference between Kedva’s magic and that which Tala had given to Adrill and Brandon was effectively the difference between using a bucket with holes in it to carry water to a waterwheel when compared to installing waterwheels on every hole in the bucket.

The very act of failing to hold onto power would be what caused the power to be used as desired.

-That was a horrible metaphor.-

Yeah, well, I’m sort of focused on other things right now.

-Sure, sure. It’s interesting that you’re effectively making her default state the use of magic, rather than requiring activation.-

Do you disapprove?

-No, no. It was clever when you thought of it, and it still is. Kedva learning to control her power will be her learning to turn it off, rather than just letting it run out.-

And learning to be able to amplify its use at need.

-That too. You know that your defensive scripts aren’t clean, right? They aren’t just endingberry power.-

You can see that I know that, Alat. You’re just distracting me.

-Right, right, but enhancement… it’s not easy to adjust to.-

I’m not giving her my enhancement scripts. That would kill her.

-But you are giving her the variation of endingberry power that makes every cell more capable of doing what it does.-

Brandon, Adrill, Kedva, and I agreed that I’d give her my endingberry-derived scripts. They know that this is a part of it.

-Oh, agreed, but I still think they’re going to be surprised.-

Tala grunted internally at that.

Alat was probably right. Most people didn’t actually understand what secondary effects various magics had. Even though power rarely ever only did one thing, they would still act shocked by the side effects.

Adrill and Brandon’s own scripts were examples of this.

The spellforms that she’d given them for magesight—and that they’d have reinforced with inscriptions sooner rather than later—included the necessary alterations to allow their minds to handle the increased information.

You know… I bet that the reinscriber would work on them. It does model its inscribings based on the person’s natural magics…

-That would be working backwards from the normal process, but it should work… We would one hundred percent need a healer on hand.-

Oh, definitely. We’d also have to figure out what, exactly would be done about their focal point. It isn’t like they have gates.

-It could actually be really enlightening to study what came of it, now that I think about it.-

But she was allowing herself to be distracted.

Kedva needed her full attention.