“Estelle have really improved on her art.” Marah’ Ziah took another spoon from the cake she carried. Her long ears moved like a happy tail of a puppy on each bite. It was another test dish from one of the mages that was studying to find a way to artificially make spices and sugar.

“Ciri, this is one of the Grand Magus of Winterhold College.” Mirabelle introduced. “Marah’ Ziah.”

“Hallo!” She waved towards Ciri then turned to Mortred. “Long time no see World Eater.”

The red haired man made a troubled face before answering her greeting.

“Long time no see. I hope you’re not planning to add her into your collections.” Mortred sneered.

Ciri immediately positioned herself in caution with such statement.

“You don’t have to do that young lady because I don’t have any plans of that sort. And even if you try, you won’t be able to. This city was protected by a barrier ward, but the college itself was protected by a space ward that prevents casting of portals, teleportation and entry of any familiar. This man is the only one among us here who could escape in this restricted space.” Marah’ Ziah pointed her spoon to Mortred. “But you can try if you want.”

Ciri obviously tried before she even finished her statements but failed so she panicked in her mind.

“Both of you stop! You’re scaring her!” Mirabelle scolded Mortred and Marah’ Ziah then turned to calm down Ciri. “I truly apologize for the bad jokes. I can assure you that they are just messing with you for fun.”

The Archmage bowed to Ciri and glared to the two. Mariah' Ziah just broke eye contact and whistled playfully while Morted just picked his nose. The Archmage glared further that they both knew that Mirabelle won't take no for an answer.

“I didn’t start it. So Mortred, stop also making her scared of me.” Marah’ Ziah pouted and bowed to Ciri. “I also apologized for such a joke in a bad taste in this situation.”

Then she gazed at Ciri and sense something she had encountered before during her long life.

“I shall also provide weight to our lady’s claim here on why she found herself on our world.” Marah’ Ziah took another bite from her cake and continued. "Her powers are getting stronger as of late and I could sense that she is bad in controlling it. Let me guess young lady, you probably found yourself in this world after an uncontrollable state of power."

Ciri frowned but didn't deny her assumptions, confirming her theory. During one of her world jumps to escape the Wild Hunt, Ciri found herself in an inhospitable world where she almost got killed and panicked. In this state, she unleashed her power in self defense and got transported to this world. Then Mariah' Ziah added.

“And Mortred.... The Parallelism of Constellations are happening again. The union of countless worlds.” She once predicted in the past that this event will happen in the future, but like Mortred, she didn’t expect it to happen sooner.

“I am sure that you already have an idea on what I was talking about. Since you were the one who stopped the Neverending Cycle.” she glanced at Mortred.

He nodded as it was mentioned in the readings that he got from Apocrypha, the daedric realm ruled by Prince of Knowledge. And the prince once mentioned that if Nirn reaches a point in time where the Kalpa was not restarted, then it would progress into the next step that had only happened a few times during a couple of cycles in the past, which was the Passing or Union Of Worlds.

“Yes, but I still don’t know the causes behind it and I was actually starting this research using my Dragon Priests.” Mortred emptied his mead and opened another.

“Now that’s another surprise, I didn’t expect you to be able to tame those stubborn undead old people.” Mirabelle was impressed.

The white haired girl then thought about and understood the similarity of words with a familiar thing from her own.

“If I am right, then this… Parallelism of Constellations was probably similar to what also happened a few times in my world, we call it the Conjunction of the Spheres.” Ciri said.

“Now that’s a good name.” Marah’ Ziah pointed out. “It sounds nice and much better than mine.”

Ciri ignored her and continued.

“I don’t know yet if this was true as I just learned this from my teachers. My world was formerly habited by werebubs, dwarves, gnomes, dryads, lizardmen and elves. But when the first Conjunction of the Spheres occurred, magic entered for the first time, contaminating the world along with the supernatural beasts and monsters such as vampires, werewolves, ghouls, cyclops, giants and more. But it also brought another new sentient race, humans.”

Mirabelle quickly realized that Ciri felt some dryness on her throat and handed her a glass of water. After thanking her and emptying the glass, she added.

“Then after their arrival, the black shae or what we call them also as dark elves, mixed with these humans through interbreeding and became the humans that lived on the south of our continent. These humans are also my ancestors so you can also consider that I have little bit of elf blood inside me. But this isn’t the first human to arrive in our world. For centuries later, another race of humans have landed on the northern part of my home continent, they were called nordlings by other races.”

Mortred and others quickly got the similarities.

“And they were far more barbaric and brought ferocity in conquering the lands of other races.” Ciri continued. “They were able to defeat the natives and drive out the elves from their golden palaces into the wild woodlands. Since then humanity have become the apex of all races.”

“Now that just confirmed your evaluation earlier Mortred.” Marah’ Ziah grinned at him. “Still, good for the humans. Elves are stupid, selfish and arrogant bunch that mostly needed extinction level of crisis to learn their lessons.”

Aren’t you an elf also? Ciri asked mentally but didn’t say anything.

“By the way, you mentioned that magic wasn’t actually part of your world but a foreign contamination from another.” Morted noticed.

“Yes?”

“How did you- no, you mentioned that you have mages in your world right?” Mortred asked.

“Mmm. Most of my teachers were skilled mages.”

“Then could you show us your world’s magic?” Mortred requested.

“Why?” The cautious Ciri asked.

“It is also something that I must confirm.”

Ciri thought for several seconds to think of which was the best option but decided to give them a little bit of trust and granted his request. She opened her right palm and focused to manipulate the chaos around her. Remembering her tragic incident with magic in the past, she decided to start something small for now. Then in an instant, a small fire appeared on her palm.

“T-this is the only thing that I could do as I didn’t learn much from my teachers. But the mages in my world would be able to cast fireball that have more destructive power which could destroy city walls.” Ciri actually didn’t expect to be able to cast such fire in a mere second after just finishing the required mental thoughts for it as she was just planning to cast a spark of fire. The three then went into a small discussion in the corner as they left Ciri in her thoughts and surprise.

The chaos or… magicka as they have called it, is much, much thicker here than on my world’s. She thought. Mom would be ecstatic to know such a thing.

Then she remembered something and asked Mirabelle who sat in her bed in silence as if thinking something after discussing with Mortred.

“If I may ask…”

“Yes?” Mirabelle thoughts were interrupted.

“You have healing magic here also right?” Ciri asked.

“Yes, we do have a lot of healing spells. Of course, the spells that will be applied will also differ depending on the type or class of severity of the wound.” Mirabelle smiled.

“Then do you have spells that… that could heal the injured or… possibly ruined womb of a woman? Or just heal the infertility of a man or woman?”

Mirabelle was confused but also interested in her question.

“Do you actually have such defect in your body?” the Archmage cautiously asked, not wanting to stir up any negative emotions from such controversial and sensitive topic.

“N-No, it’s actually not me…” Ciri made a troubled face.

Seeing that it was truly a sensitive topic for Ciri, Mirabelle quickly answered instead of diving for vague answers from her.

“Well, we have few powerful healing spells which could treat such a thing, if it’s a cause of an injury.” Mirabelle explained. “But if it’s caused by a curse… then it requires an even more powerful spell that probably need the cooperation of two or three mages. So we do have such spells. Some of the villagers who suffers such disabilities would visit this city and ask for our mages from time to time to treat them. Most of the time, it’s just caused by stress, abuse or traumatic experience which our mages would still help through psychological counselling. We may accept payment through tribute of food, payment through coins, or if not possible then gratitude is mostly enough.”

Seeing that Ciri probably did not believe her words, she assured her.

“Cirilla, did you forget? We are mages. There’s nothing impossible in our eyes. Some healing may take some time or even requires new creation of spells but it’s never impossible. What we visualize, it happens. With mages, imagination is the only limit.”

“I see…” Ciri sighed in relief.

“I’m glad that you are slowly opening up.” Mirabelle patted her head. “You can trust us.”

At least, I have gained something better in my drop on this world. Ciri finally calmed down. But Mirabelle, not wanting to make Ciri even more cautious towards them, tried to explain further.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I don’t want you to have any misunderstanding so I will also mention that the mages that we taught hated taking the shortest route to power and most of all, we hated the words ‘peak of magic’, because for us, it doesn’t exist. If there's a peak of magic then there's no point in trying to improve what the former mages discovered and innovated in magic. So we never acknowledge it's existence..” Mirabelle explained. “The journey in investigating or trying a new type of magic or the sense of achievement after the journey and knowing that there is more to every discovery are the treasured moments by every mage. So even if they were offered or tempted by anyone or any being to be a powerful mage, they will just scoffed at such offer for being a show off or even looked down for being a low offer. Infinity is not our goal, infinity is our blood. If it ends, we die.”

"Why are you telling me this?" Ciri was honestly confused.

Mirabelle smiled like a caring grandmother to Ciri.

"I wanted you to know that you should never hesitate to use and never hide your powers. We swear that we have no interest to take or steal your powers but only wanted to help you with your burden Ciri. Again, we are mages of Winterhold. Even if you are a vampire, werewolf or even a monster, we will help you control your power."

So they know. Ciri realized.

“Although you still have to be cautious towards that woman.” Mortred warned Ciri, pointing at Marah’ Ziah. “You must never agree to anything Marah’ Ziah offers as she would demand yourself as payment.”

“A pot calling the kettle black.” Marah’ Ziah snapped back.

“It’s not my fault that they refused your offer. Besides you already have the Arg’hallis on your Library. So I am confused on why you are still trying to increase them?” Morted tilted his head.

“I couldn’t help it as I don’t want people with potential to die without reaching their peak.” Marah’ Ziah answered.

“See that’s why you should be careful to anything she will offer to you.”

"Both of you should just shut up please." Mirabelle sighed.

Ciri then laughed loudly which made the three wonder on the cause.

“S-sorry, it was actually my first time to see an elf act like normal trash buddies with another human. Something that didn’t exist back on my home due to the elves feeling cornered and nearing the extinction of their race... or also clinging to their selfish look on themselves as the highest race.”

Marah’ Ziah just scoffed upon hearing it.

“Such thought was actually still present on the elves on this world.” Marah’ Ziah said. “Seeing that the elves on your world also does the same thing, can only be considered now as their coping mechanism in denial of their weakness and in rejecting their deep feeling of insecurity to humans and other races that were blessed with great potential.”

Marah’ Ziah then added.

“If you take away the trait of long life from the elves, they would be practically be far lower than pigs with such mindset.” Marah’ Ziah sighed. “I actually wished to see them suffer to open their eyes on the reality that using victimhood and discrimination as their defense mechanism is the worst thing they could do in wasting their long lives.”

Aren’t you also an elf? Ciri was really confused at Marah’ Ziah’s hostility to her cousin race.

“So we also have another question, this time it’s about yourself young lady.” Marah’ Ziah said.

“I feel that you’re going to read my mind anyway or interrogate me through hypnotism if I don’t answer so just shoot.” Ciri raised both of her hands as if yielding in a smile.

"We will never-" Mirabelle tried to reassure her again but Ciri raised her hand to stop her.

"It's fine." Ciri smiled. "I will trust your words Mirabelle."

Marah’ Ziah nodded then stared at Mortred. But instead of a question, he said it as a fact.

“Young lady, you don’t just have the blood of humans and elves, but you also having else… something more ancient than even your world and our world. Something powerful and dangerous. And I feel that is the same power that caused you to jump through worlds.”

Ciri realized that they were talking to the same thing that her pursuers wanted to get from her. But she decided to take a risk with this people. That maybe, on the off chance, they will be able to help her. Know about her power and if possible teach her how to control it. With mages as powerful as them, Ciri started to think that maybe, they know how. So she made a big gamble with this step.

“Yes. It’s my blood.” She confessed. “I actually descended not just from a normal elf but an elf with a powerful bloodline that could open rifts in space and time."

The three showed different expressions, Mirabelle was worried, Mortred was now looking with great interest, and Mariah' Ziah was leaned closer with childish curiosity.

"The origin of my power comes from the desire to manipulate and bend space. A race of elves in a different world from mine depended on pillaging and raiding worlds. But they could only sustain small portals that are only capable of transporting small raiders. They wanted to send not just small raiders but armies, bigger than the one that besieged this city.” Ciri said.

She noticed that Mariah' Ziah was the only one who changed her expression after hearing her revelation.

“Fuckers.” the snow elf said with disgust.

“And their livelihood and culture with slavery of lesser races that also ran deep in the tradition and life as raiders of another worlds. In other words, they can freely travel to another worlds to kidnap unsuspecting beings and enslave them when they return back to their world.” Ciri explained further.

"My elf ancestor was actually the daughter of their king. And she was their successful attempt of making a mage with the power to bend space and time and to easily transport many people, this time, in armies.”

“But unfortunately for them she actually fell in love with a human and had a child with him. Which greatly angered the elves as they deemed it to be an extreme taboo and insulting act as they actually planned to have their princess impregnated by one of them and not by someone whom they considered as race of slaves. Of course the princess and her human lover tried to escape but she was killed on the way while her human lover was able to leave with their child. And he found himself on my world. You know the rest, the child became my ancestor... blah blah.” Ciri shrugged.

“How curious…” Mirabelle mused.

“How ironic.” Marah’ Ziah just smirked.

Then Mortred asked again.

“Then do you know how were they able to create such power?”

“No, it wasn’t mention in the story actually. Why?” Ciri thought that they were probably curious and interested in creating her blood.

“Cirilla. Your blood is actually more than that.” Mirabelle said. “You have the blood of Magnus.”

“Magnus…”

“Did you ever heard of his name mentioned on your myths or world's legends?” the Archmage asked.

“No. But how is he related to my blood?”

“Magnus is a primordial being that existed during the Age of Creation. He was a prominent et'Ada, one of the Original Spirits and among those who were involved in creating Mundus, the mortal plane which we walked now, along with others beings who would later be called Magna Ge.” The archmage explained. “Magnus was said to have been the architect of Mundus, as he created the schematics and diagrams needed to construct it. As this realm began to form, it became evident that many of the et'Ada would be required to sacrifice much of their power in order to form the mortal plane. As their aspects began to die off, many of the et'Ada vanished completely. Realizing this too late, Magnus decided to terminate the project. He fled to Aetherius and his departure tore a hole which became now the source of light every morning, Nirn's sun, which we also called Magnus. Many other et'Ada, who became known as the Magna Ge, followed Magnus, tearing smaller holes in the sky, which became the stars. It actually had longer story but in summary about Magnus, that’s about it. ”

Ciri thought deeply about this myth and found no connection or similarity back on her world. She decided to safely assume that there's may be a myth but she probably just haven't heard of it yet.

“By the way, do you have any symptoms or experienced any power surge in a moment of something like… uncontrolled emotions?”

“Uhh… yes… to be honest, I actually found myself teleported most of the times when I lost to temper, panic or extreme anger. The latest one is the cause of my landing here.” Ciri confessed. “I would also sometimes cause massive damage on my surroundings.”

Mirabelle glanced at Mortred and Mariah' Ziah but the two just silently listened to Ciri's continuation of her story.

“My power was actually called on my world as Elder Blood. And was prophesized that I would be tied with the end of my world. Much of the prophesy was murky at best but this what the clear lines stated.” she added. “And it was a great cause of trouble for me as I was both pursued by mages, powerful people and people from other worlds to take advantage of this power and use it for their gains.”

Marah’ Ziah smiled then puffed chest proudly.

“Never worry as you are now with the same blood.”

"Huh?" Ciri was confused then Marah’ Ziah explained.

“Well, seeing that you're revealing your secrets, there's no problem for me too. You may consider me as a sister... Or technically a flesh sister? But you carry the Blood of Magnus while I carry the Eyes... Hmmmmmm...” She mulled for the right term which just made Ciri confuse even more.

At first Ciri thought it was just a joke but realized that she was the telling truth.

"W-wait! What do you mean by the eyes?" Ciri asked in panic.

"I carry the Eyes of Magnus." The Grand Magnus proudly said then added. “The barrier that protects the Winterhold was actually made by me. That’s why you who still can’t control the Blood of Magnus was not able to penetrate through.”

Many questions started appearing on the mind of Ciri but before she could utter a question, she was interrupted by Mortred who remembered something wrong in their statements.

“By the way, the barrier around the college should have been able to make the teleportation of Cirilla impossible to happen… so why did it happen?” He scowled at the archmage and Marah’ Ziah. The two ignored his questioning gaze but Mirabelle gave up and sighed then answered after knowing that he won’t take their silence.

“Actually…"

"We were experimenting with a new type of ward that day that was created by one of the deans. To test the integrity of the ward, we temporarily shut down the ward with the cooperation of Marah’ Ziah. The time for our test was actually scheduled only for two hours. But after our test…” Mirabelle showed a disappointed look at Marah’ Ziah. “…we failed to reinstall the ward due to the absence of Marah’ Ziah. She somehow forgot our operation and slept through the day inside her pocket dimension making us cast a barrier but not a ward.”

Mortred just looked at Marah’ Ziah instead with amusement as she sweated in embarrassment then he turned his attention back to Ciri.

"Nevermind. You can continue gal, we will answer your questions right after." Mortred shook his head in troubled grin.

“A-ah... okay... ummmm where was I? Ah yes! By the way, I met their elven king. To make the story short, I found out from him that they were actually planning another Conjunction of Spheres.” Ciri felt that she forgot something important but decided to ignore it for now and continued. “Their world was already threatened by an apocalyptic winter earlier than ours. This made the Prophecy about worlds ending in eternal winter proven in my eyes.”

Ciri then silently waited for any comments from the three.

“This was probably one of the effects of the unnatural tapping of chaos without knowing how to safely handle it.” Marah’ Ziah mused.

“What do you mean?” Ciri asked.

“As you may have heard from being mentioned many times, chaos is another word for magicka or magic here but the most used term is magicka. Unlike Nirn, other worlds was probably born without it and now those worlds were contaminated with this foreign element.” Marah’ Ziah explained. “Each of these worlds is starting to adapt itself to the changes. So your worlds were most probably not ending, but changing to adapt the magicka because if it wouldn’t, it would break apart.”

“Do you have any proof of this?” Ciri asked again.

“We have but we don’t have any recorded view of such event except written records.” Mortred said.

"Wait! But what about the White Frost? The upcoming end of my world through eternal winter?" Ciri exclaimed. She was assuming that the White Frost was an entity that could be defeated or faced using her power.

Mariah' Ziah was about to answer but stopped by a loud clap.

“Okay that’s enough questioning for now. We can continue all of this again tomorrow, she needs her rest.” Mirabelle clapped her hands and pushed the Mortred and Marah’ Ziah out of the room.

Then turned to Ciri.

"You could take a rest with great welcome here. I will send a nurse to help you apply healing salves.” Mirabelle said.

“By the way Mirabelle… could you teach me to control my power?" Ciri asked.

The Archmage patted her head to assure her.

“I am actually not knowledgeable in teaching you that except Marah’ Ziah or Mortred. But I would ask them about it later. In fact, they would probably love to teach you.” she said. "For now, take your rest. We will continue this tomorrow."

“Thanks…”

Mirabelle left the hall and gently closed the door. Ciri could see the snow falling outside the window but the warmth of the hall contradicted the weather.

Then she went back to sleep as the dreams of the peaceful sight she saw from the high walls of the Winterhold.

“Please wait for me a little longer. Mom… Dad… I will protect you this time.” she mumbled in her sleep.