"Fate is fickle," Felin began, "Although I don't doubt you know that already. Rather, what I am referring to is its whimsical nature in the mana. Imagine, if you will, a world where no mana exists, whatsoever. Everything is as it is, nothing unknown or out of the ordinary; completely mundane in every way. A perfect picture of Reality itself. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Alright..." Amy murmured, unsure where he was going with the metaphor.

"In this perfect world, with everything physical and unchangeable, all will come to pass as it should. All results are determined. All endpoints are fixed. Nothing really is subject to change. The illusion of change exists, yes, but in the end, even that isn't true choice. That same choice was determined long before you even began considering it by factors wildly out of your control. There exists possibility, yes, but it is in a constrained form. Many things can come to pass, but they are singular in nature. True randomness is impossible, and such is it that all variations are also known and predictable. There exists possibility indeed, yet there is only truly one; one path, one way."

"Sure," Amy said, "Let's say a world like that can exist. What happens next in your analogy?"

"Well, as you've likely been taught and have learned over your magical career, mana is possibility. To introduce mana into an environment is to invite uncertainty into the equation and allow things to explode out of control. Nothing is determined, nothing is set. True randomness now exists and possibilities expand infinitely in all directions. We can restrict this possibility, like directing and damning a rapids to our wants and needs, but, ultimately, it cannot be stopped. These 'restrictions' in possibility always nourish and nurture new possibilities, branching off of them like tributaries on a boundary.

"We artisans of the stream of endless possibilities, those called Mages, shape and sculpt and narrow these unassailable rapids into Spells so that they may create even more from that. Certain aspects of the stream focus on various different things, that which we call Elements, all suited to different Mages' sensibilities. Some facets of the rapids, however, focus on the rapids itself. Specifically, two."

"Ah," Amy realised, seeing where this was going.

"Elemental Luck, one of the first Elements plucked from the mana, focuses on narrowing the possibilities of the present to greater enhance that of the future. By bestowing fortune or misfortune upon a situation, the way that develops is altered and more, well, known, but it also allows for more obscure possibilities to flourish that, otherwise, wouldn't have had the chance to. Some Mages considered the opposite to this; not literally, of course, but magically. And thus its twin was born.

"Elemental Destiny involves narrowing the possibilities of the future so that the possibilities of the present can expand and grow more varied. Only by solidifying future events can those that lead up to it be allowed to truly become fulfilled to their full potential. An important matter to remember with Destiny, however, is that it is never fixed. It is merely a solidifying of a future happening, not a creation of a certainty. These stone manacles on possibility can be broken if they are flexed and strained against hard enough. Destiny thus requires a skilled hand to properly work, so that it can encompass multiple paths to the future foretold and not be too wide so that such a prophecy isn't much of a prophecy at all.

"All Mages who dabbled in these Elements, however, stumbled into the same question you have, albeit from a different angle than you, my dear Apprentice," Felin said solemnly. "What if there was a way, they dared to ask, a way to narrow not the beginning nor the end, but the middle? A way to constrain the very path itself? And so the idea of Elemental Fate was born."

"Couldn't a fate-like Magick be produced through a combination of both, though?" Amy asked, scratching her cheek. "By using Destiny and Luck together to weave a certain path, just like an Elemental Fate Spell would."

"Of course such a thing exists, and skilled fate-weavers do end up spinning their wheels that way," Felin said cryptically. "Only that isn't true path manipulation like Fate would suggest. It constrains the beginning and the end of a path, but variation and possibility exists within those barriers, always. Even if you use Luck Magick every instant between your first cast up to the moment your Destiny comes to fruition, it would still not be Fate. At each cast of your Luck Magick, there exists a possibility of something different, no matter how minute, a way for something to go awry, a way for possibility to become unchained and break free. This imagined Fate? No. That slim chance doesn't exist.

"Then why haven't Mages made Fate then, you may ask," Felin predicted, stopping Amy just as she was about to speak the same question. "In my mind, it's obvious the reason why but to you it may seem not obvious at all. I said it at the very start, after all. Mana is possibility. So why would mana allow such a thing, such blasphemy as Fate, to exist? A way to chain possibility, a way to kill mana itself? No. Never. Mages will always continue to try and create Fate, and they will always continue to fail. And any misguided shot at creating it? I always prevent it. Stop it. No matter what."

"Oh Felin... Why?" Amy asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Because fate is the death of mana, the death of possibility. It is the death of everything good in this world, and it would paint the perfect picture of Reality it wants, not the flawed and beautiful one that Mana reveals for us. No Mage, high enough in their craft to create an Esoteric Element, would not understand that. And still, knowing that, they would try to create it? To birth our own genocide? It is unthinkable. So I have killed them. So I will forever kill them. For their disgusting act. For their ultimate sacrilege."

"If Fate is impossible, then why stop it? Would it not be the greatest punishment for them to see them fail, and then punish them?"

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"Because..." Felin trailed off, frowning. "Because we fear it. Me, and all the other Ascendants, who all agreed on the terrible evil that is 'fate'. We fear fate to death. Because mana is.... Mana is... We don't want to risk it. Even if we know, to the deepest depths of our souls, that it couldn't exist, we cannot risk it. Not one bit. So we always do it. Kill the creation in its crib, and kill its maker too. After all... what else could we do?"

"Felin..." Amy said, petting him on his back.

"Ah! My greatest apologies," He jumped, wiping an errant tear from his eyes. "I did not mean to rhyme. Utmost apologies."

"It's alright," She assured, petting him more gently. Smiling kindly, she said, "I don't see any reason to apologise for rhyming of all things."

"No, it's-," He cut off suddenly. Making a strange face, he continued, "It's considered a severe offence to speak as we do in the Faerie to those not of the plane. Rhyming is... it is the way we fey speak to each other. Properly, of course. Well... not the only way, as alliteration is just as prevalent, but it's just as rude either way."

"Well, I can definitely say I'm not offended by it, so there's no need to apologise to me," Amy laughed politely.

"Still... it was improper of me," Felin grimaced, hanging his head.

"Never mind that," Amy waved off. "You were telling me about fate, no?"

"Yes, I was," He said, a quick frown appearing on his face and disappearing. "Fate then, as an Element, can't exist, by some fundamental magical reason or by the intervention of other Mages. So what did I mean in calling it fickle if it doesn't exist? Because while Fate isn't real, fate is. Every passing moment the mana is influencing you just as much as you influence it. In this exchange of possibilities, your future is altered and directed towards grander possibilities, wider possibilities just as you add to the endless possibilities of the mana itself. Every Mage's future, every Mage's path, is influenced and guided by the mana, a helping hand to guide them along their way. Although some Mages would disagree, mana is kind. It wants possibilities. And while it doesn't discriminate between good or bad possibilities, it always helps those keen to make them, those who, more often than not, are good people and good Mages."

"That... makes sense, actually," Amy leaned back, cupping her chin in her hand. Mana can cause a lot of terrible things when you think about it, Amy pondered. Hell, I've already used an Element most would consider evil; Unknowable. It would be perfect for those with bad intentions to erase their own traces and evil deeds. The only reason it isn't more prolific is because it's hard to use and relatively obscure, the only widely known users of it having been the forgotten Wizards. If we consider something like, let's say, Elemental Thievery, which I have no doubt that it exists, then that'd be used all over the place. Why then isn't it more common? I doubt it's just the government doing a good job of stamping down on things like that. It's more likely that most Mages then are people who'd stray away from those sorts of things, or at least not resort to it. Huh. The way Felin speaks of it, it almost seems like the mana is al-

"Moving on," Felin interrupted, "We arrive back at where this all started. A Spell or working that would simply make an entire plan of yours to go exactly as anticipated, your robbery of this museum going off without a hitch, would violate the principle that mana is built on. Such a Spell would prune all other possibilities bar the one your plan follows and in doing so, violate the principle that mana itself is, as well as proving the existence of an Elemental Fate which I have just described. Your attempted working might instead follow the lines of a Luck enhancement or prophetic Destiny instead whilst you believe otherwise, leading to an inevitable failure in your plan when you carry it out."

"So I should just try for a Luck working straight away? Or one of my other options?"

"Hmm..." He deliberated, casting his gaze downwards. "A combination of all would suffice. Unknowable to conceal, Mind to manipulate, and Luck to sway things ever so more in your favour. No Destiny, however. Too finicky for you to learn so swiftly and on such a whim like this. You... have no qualms, however, about using Mind and Unknowable to such an extent?"

"It should be fine," She said, brushing the dark thought off. "It's not like it's permanent anyway. For Mind, all I have to do is pressure and ask around William a little for some hints-"

"You can also ask me for a little about it," He said, looking a little worried about something.

"-and for Unknowable there's you, thank you, Felin. Luck is a bit of an outlier though," Amy frowned. "Would you happen to know anything about it?"

"I've dabbled in a lot of fields of magic over my life but Luck is not one I have explored extensively, especially compared to Destiny. With what little I do know, I can certainly say I'm not confident enough to teach you right about it. I'll give some hints here and there, but it's probably better for you to find out on your own."

"Fantastic," She sighed. I guess I have to do it myself. Let's start with the brainstorming first though. Ignoring Luck, what are some Mind or Unknowable Spells that I know? I guess there's... Mind Blank maybe? I have a ring from Jones for it. Only ever ended up using it once too, during the tsunami back in Triesen. Wait... Mind Blank. "Ah! How does this sound? A Mind and Unknowable Spell that actively erases the memory of me from a person's mind as they see me, so it's like I was never even there?"

"Possible at high Tiers but perhaps not at Apprentice. Scale it down a little," He advised absentmindedly, his face still looking strangely concerned about something.

"What about having to physically interact with the people who'd be seeing me then? Like giving them a touch and a talk, and they'd forget all about me," She described innocently.

"So Mind Control. You're suggesting Mind Control," Felin repeated seriously, his eyes odd and glowing.

"I wouldn't call it that, it's more like a suggestion. Maybe that's what I'd call it? Suggestion? Add in some Fae-Command into it and it really would be like a Suggestion."

"Amy, maybe you're not getting me, but that is firmly in the realm of Mind manipulation, which, frankly, you do not have anywhere near enough skill or affinity in order to put to use, let alone create a Spell about," Felin emphasised. "Don't involve anything akin to Mind Control into your plans. Lean into Unknowable more. You're a Wizard, not a Weaver."

"Oh," She realised, beginning to understand why Felin had been looking strange. He had been looking at her strangely, not at something in his head. "Sorry, Felin."

"Not a problem, my dear Apprentice."

"So... if not a Suggestion," Amy began to say, steering the ideas in a different direction. "Then perhaps a... kind of stealth? Similar to your natural stealth, built into the Familiar Spell, but properly expanded. An Unknowable veil to cloak myself in so that I cannot be seen. It'll have some aspects of Mind and Fae in it too so it can properly act in those sort of avenues and ways."

"A.... Witch's Cloak, perhaps?" He smirked cheekily. A few weeks ago, Amy might've bristled at those words, but now?

"Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" She smiled back, eager to start experimenting.