There wasn’t much else to say, they opened the gate. I stepped through dramatically, looking over the city as if I hadn’t seen it in twenty years. This wasn’t difficult as small pieces of me were always jeering at the little changes in the place since I’d gone. Were those stones always so worn? When did this blacksmith shop replace its roof? That kind of thing.
I appraised the city for a moment, noticing with glee that the entire wall guard seemed to be freaking out at each other for several moments before the responsible one from earlier pointed at three of his fellows, said something, and then descended the wall while screaming orders at the remainder of the guard.
Now that I thought about it, that one was probably their captain.
Oh well, I’d figured it out eventually. Sparks I’m sounding more and more like Fari with every passing moment…That was…technically a good thing considering she’s who I was trying to be at the moment, but I wasn’t sure I liked it.
I continued walking, not making it clear to the wall guard that I’d even noticed them, but I did see one of them clutching a communication stone as a few more worked to close the gate.
The particular one I’d been bullying was nowhere to be seen, but after a few moments the captain guy caught up to me and matched my pace. Probably a stalling tactic as they got orders from higher up.
“Ma’am I must apologize for earlier, no one knew you were…well alive.”
I nodded curtly and stopped, figuring I should give them a bit of a break. Besides, I had no idea where I was going anyway. “I know.” I smiled at him and gestured toward the city. “And I am sorry about that. Disappearing wasn’t really my idea, but at a glance it seems that Reiaran is doing fairly decent without me.”
“So you really are her then? The Hero?”
I sighed, “I was never really famous before, but I figured that people would at least recognise me.”
“Ahhhh…” The guy nervously glanced back at the wall, “You do resemble the portraits I’ve seen.”
I nodded and started walking again, instinctively taking us toward Nightwind. Mmm, yeah that could work. The ancient bartender probably remembered me from the numerous times I’d started fights and danced on his tables drunk.
“Miss…Hero…Forgive me for bothering you but where are you going?”
I glanced at him, “A tavern. Nightwind if it’s still here.” I caught a glimpse of a transmission stone in one of his hands, he probably had some of the wall guards rushing ahead to make sure no one offended me again. Very nice of them.
The captain nodded slowly and continued after me, people along the street were staring at us and I had a feeling the wall guard would tell more than just the folks at Nightwind who exactly it was who was marching towards that tavern. “So…where have you been all this time?”
I ignored the question, not really having a good answer yet. The captain watched me for several moments and then glanced up as Nightwind came into view. Sparks, I could swear that half the city was on the streets or peeking out windows with baited breath just trying to get a glimpse of me. I didn’t really like that, but I plastered on a grin and waved at a few people I dimly recognised from Fari’s memories.
Walk with confidence. Fari had always been confident. I was planning on kicking open the door all dramatic-like, but someone opened it for me. I caught a glimpse of the wall guard’s uniforms rushing through the crowd.
When I entered the tavern it was surprisingly empty, only three tables were full but I suspected that was how it had been before the wall guard told everyone I would be here. I suspected they were limiting the people who could flood in.
Internally my mind hiccupped when I noticed one of the groups was Hivren, Niun, Jiuhen, and Givei. I had to treat them the same as everyone else though, Fari hadn’t known them and even a lingering glance could give me away.
I should have known however that Hivren wouldn’t let me do that. He was obsessed with the hero and had predicted that I wasn’t dead a long time ago. He stepped into my path, eyes wide, mouth poised for a thank you.
But I didn’t give him enough time to do that. I glared him up and down and simply distorted space so I could step past him without pause. Hivren stepped through the space I’d been and gave me a bewildered look as I continued on to my table.
The bartender was already there, Sen, the one I remembered. He seemed skittish. “F-foralen! I remember what you like, I have it cooking right now, what about drinks?”
I gave him an unamused look, “What, you’re using my name now? Fari always worked before and I never said you could change that.”
Sen blinked at me and laughed nervously, “Ah, right right…Fari… do I need to order some new tables again or are you going to leave these ones be?”
“As long as that human leaves me alone, the tables should be fine. And for the drinks-” I paused, thoughtful, remembering how much happier I was now that I mostly avoided alcohol. Besides, this body wasn’t used to it in the least. “I don’t know, give me whatever he gets.” I gestured toward the captain and Sen nodded quickly.
He glanced at the captain with a worried look, but he simply shrugged, and the bartender was gone a moment later.
I leaned back in my chair as Aneles’s song began on the piano. Sparks if anyone was doing their research they would know I’d grown up with him. I paused and narrowed my eyes at Illila, who was innocently tapping away at the melody. What would Fari do in this situation? Heck I knew that answer without even thinking about it.
She would make it everyone’s problem.
But I didn’t have to always act like her. And so I ignored it.
After a bit, the school official that had bugged Eliax about enrolling so long ago burst through the doors looking very out of order. He was backed by a person I hadn’t seen in thirty years. I mean seriously, one would expect that a Tuvei in her seventies would be dead by now, but no, Misial was just as lively as ever.
She seemed to be half blind at this point, but her magesight was clearly intact because she looked me over and then glared at the school official, “Sparks above, why’d you need me to come all this way just to tell you something so obvious. That’s Fari, I’d think the way her aura is shaped would tell you that much, only a student of mine would have it so flawlessly under control.”
She ranted for five more minutes before looking me over again, “Fari, I’d rather hope you’re still practicing those exercises I gave you last time we saw one another. A mage must always keep learning.”
My smile was strained but I managed to keep it together until Misial started ranting at the official again before teleporting away, “Next time you want me to do something, give me something in return, you sly bastard!”
And then she was gone.
The school official cleared his throat awkwardly before bowing, “I am Roin Yanovel, an official of Starsbane. On behalf of the school, I would like to welcome you back from your long absence, Miss Imal.”
Stolen story; please report.
I gave him a bemused look, immediately forgetting his name again. “Is there something you want from me?”
He blinked and glanced at the captain of the guard who was still standing next to the table before shaking his head slowly, “Ah, how long are you going to be in town for, Ma’am? We can provide housing free of charge if you are in need of lodging.”
I was dimly curious about where the school would put me, but not curious enough to try it. Their housing had never been worth the price in the past and I didn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Besides, Alsen would probably have a fit if Eliax disappeared for weeks on end. I contemplated just making a show of Eliax leaving the city so I could focus on whatever it was I ended up doing now, but I would have to think on that more.
I shook my head and took the warm plate from the bartender who’d hesitantly approached the table in the last few moments. I was glad for something else to focus on. “I’m staying somewhere already.”
He left a few minutes later, thrice Hivren tried to approach the table only to be deflected by members of the wall guard and two cleverly positioned cleaning ladies, and after a while Aymiae showed up surrounded by the anxious wall guard, as if they were trying to verify my identity in as many ways as possible.
To her credit, Aymi was a very good actor, I was going to simply blame that on her illusionist prowess. She acted like we hadn’t seen each other in twenty years, and I acted like we hadn’t hated each other for most of our childhoods.
All in all, this was bizarre and I was starting to regret the whole thing.
--
I slipped back into Eliax’s clothes, taking out the mirror and scrubbing at my face until there wasn’t a hint of makeup remaining. The thin silver chain that would make me who I once was had been tucked into a relatively obscure pocket of my bag. It felt strange to see my actual face, to hear my actual voice. For a bit there I might have actually convinced myself I was back to being her.
Frowning at the darkening sky, I left the palace grounds, and made my way to the Lazy Dryad bed and breakfast. Alsen seemed excited when I entered, in fact everyone did. She didn’t usually serve folks at the more rowdy times of the day, but I found her humble home filled with a surprising amount of people.
Alsen herself was baking sweets, and for the first time since entering her home just over a month ago, I thought I saw a drunk person. Alsen spotted me almost immediately, rushing over and handing me a cookie, “Eliax! Have you seen her? I think I saw her! You know the Hero is the reason I moved here, I figured that if someone that powerful was looking out for a place then it must be worth the trouble.”
I blinked at the woman, it only took a moment to understand she was talking about Foralen. Oddly touched at the history she’d shared, I glanced down at the cookie and decided it was one of her more amazing recipes. I took a bite, “Yeah, I saw her too, where do you think she’s been all this time?”
Alsen smiled and started making rounds across the room, handing out cookies and drinks to the gathered townsfolk. “Sparks, nobody knows that, I doubt even Gium has a clue! I’ve heard plenty of speculation though.”
I decided against pointing out that the Hero would know, and that I knew. After a while I managed to extricate myself from the partygoers, heading up to my room. I stopped in the doorway.
It was very sparse in the way of items, most of what I had was what I’d brought with me. Three sets of worn clothing, my notebook, a few weeks of dry rations. The rest were small things, a flute from Illila, a card I’d ripped in half when trying to learn how to play Yellowpass, a pile of drawings that I didn’t know what to do with. The battlefield of ash; Raendus, broken behind a barrier; the stack went on.
I didn’t remember drawing all of them, but I knew it had to have been me, while I was me. Fari didn’t like drawing because it reminded her of her mother, Eliax didn’t like drawing because she didn’t know how. I didn’t like drawing because this was all that came out, but sometimes it’s all that could trap the nightmares.
I sat down at my desk and pulled out the notebook, taking out a stick of charcoal and putting it to the page. A shape formed beneath my fingers, a face. The face of who I once was, who I’d been once again for a day.
A rough scar, bold makeup, someone who hadn’t been real and still wasn’t. I never liked drawing things as they were, it probably barely even looked like Foralen, the nose the wrong shape, the eyes with a different glint, but it let me think, it let me use my mind.
I couldn’t just stop being Eliax, no matter how much I wanted to.
There were too many variables happening all at once. but…I could change that. I could follow every lead, be every person I needed to be. I just needed a spell.
--
I passed through into the repository, knowing fully well that if I got caught here then everything would be over.
The spell repository of Starsbane was somewhere I would never go under normal circumstances. It had three very distinct, very powerful wards. First was a ward against dimensional magic, the type that reached into the between itself and destroyed the bonds I could normally forge. It effectively made a deadzone to my magesight. Second was a ward against illusionism, destroying falsehoods before they could even form. Even Aymiae couldn’t make something that would pass against it. Lastly, there was a particularly thorough alarm ward. The second anything was moved without specific authorization, it would alert everyone that there was someone inside. The doors would lock and the authorities would descend.
But I was there, looking for one of the most restricted spells I knew of. I wasn’t positive I could cast it, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to let that stop me. I wandered through the halls, taking note of the sorting system. Hands behind my back to limit my ability to accidentally touch anything. I even had a bubble of air cast around my head so as to not accidentally breathe a page off a shelf.
I only had one idea of how to get this spell without being tossed behind some bars and questioned the heck out of. I wasn’t certain what I would do if it didn’t work, but the first step was locating it.
I strode through the shelves for hours, feeling my mind tire and my body begin to grow sluggish. I kept onward though, persistent as a human with a grudge. After a long time, I stopped near the middle of the repository, frowning at a single page on a single shelf. That was it. That was what I needed.
I took out my notebook and started drawing up a spell circle.
I wasn’t an expert on a lot of things, but my main focus throughout my lives had been Dimensionalism. It was my primary affinity and it lent me so many advantages in a relatively annoying field of magic.
As such, that was a large part of my plan. The wards relied on people not being able to leave the vicinity with dimensionalism, I wasn’t an expert on wards, but if something was working on both sides to bypass their safeguards, very few wards would see it as something to be countered.
I stuck the page to the underside of a shelf with sap, packed up my supplies, and left the repository.
--
I meditated in an obscure corner of the palace. If someone somehow managed to trace this, I didn’t want them to find Alsen’s house as the endpoint.
People were still milling about the streets, most of them drunk and the rest still going strong. I tried to ignore them, but the occasional cheers to Foralen’s name and drunken singing was hard to ignore. Eventually, after sufficiently connecting myself to the Between realm, I stood up. “Oh Gium above, grant me your blessing…” I muttered, I didn’t normally resort to prayer as I figured that if a deity was there, he would decide to intervene if I was worth the effort. But today I felt like I needed every help I could get.
“Esile take my power, Orien fuel my dreams…” I slowly brought my hands together, seeking with my magesight for the magical circle I’d left inside the repository. My senses found it easily and the anchor took hold. “Aeinar don’t take me today, Nasei protect my soul.” I poked the hole between realms and felt the space begin to distort as I created a true Gate. I didn’t like doing this so often, but a gate was more powerful and already had the function to locate a specific spot that I needed.
I examined the silvery plane of space and took a deep breath before poking my head through.
When I did that, I could hear the alarm already blaring, sparks. I grabbed the page without fully going through the portal, and finally I pried the page off the top of the shelf to keep anyone from realizing what I’d done or how I’d done it. It wouldn’t do for them to update the protections and I certainly would like to be able to do this again in the future.
Hopefully they’d call it off as a false alarm and not even realize the page was missing. I closed the portal and immediately teleported to the dungeon before teleporting again back to my room at the Lazy Dryad.
The room was silent, dark, and exactly how I needed it to be. I cast a light spell and sat down at my desk, pulling out the page triumphantly, a successful mission. Looking back I probably should have thanked those deities I’d asked for help, but everyone agrees that hindsight is much clearer than any other type of sight.
I’d like to hit those people in the back of the head with a chair and see if they still agree, but with my luck they’d grow some extra eyes, dodge it anyway, and I’d impale myself on the chair legs.
Thankfully, I was too stupid presently to notice my misstep. I brightened the light and unfolded my page, reading the title at long last as a grin spread across my face.
Geneseri, the art of duplication, cloning, and the forgery of the soul.
Need another hand or two? No need to fret, with a small set of exercises you’ll be popping out simulacrums like the lost sage’s dead lover!
Below was a list of the most grueling disciplinary activities I’d ever had the misfortune to read. I mean really, seventeen different conjuration types, each with their own personal milestones? A specialized routine based on time magic? I was apparently going to be busy on this for quite a while.