“You know, this one kind of looks like a Skyrim puzzle,” CJ said. “Maybe the Spell we need is to spin the plates? To make the correct images to—”
The four stone murals, depicting simple animalistic shapes, shimmered in the dull light, transforming into snakes. The Spirit, who had been lording over the exit gate and proclaimed them the challenge, frowned before storming off. The gate beneath him opened, and Catherine lowered her wand, sweat beading on her forehead.
“…or you can do that, I suppose,” CJ said testily.
Millie laughed, Raj similarly chuckling.
“What did you do?” Millie asked. The shorter girl turned to look at her, before sheathing her wand.
“Oh, I just did an illusion,” she said. “It seemed an easier way to fit the criteria that all the murals had to match than trying to transmute them or manipulate them.”
“Sometimes the simplest solution is best,” Raj murmured, looking at Catherine appraisingly. “This time was a lot easier than the first.”
“We’re a lot more experienced this time,” Catherine said. “Besides, with only four of us, the test was scaled back.”
“True, but that doesn’t change how talented you are at this,” he insisted. “Well done, Catherine.”
Catherine seemed to hesitate slightly, one hand grabbing her hair. If she’d twirled it, Millie might have thought that a sign of possible attraction towards the older man. Catherine was a bit strange though, so Millie wasn’t entirely sure what she was thinking.
Though the fact that she lit up like a Christmas tree, blushing, was probably an indication of something.
“But this was it?” Millie said, turning towards CJ. “Just a trial to improvise a Spell solution?”
CJ nodded. “Should be. Up the stairs will be Saras and the Attainment counter. As well as access to the rest of the Stacks.”
Millie nodded, turning to look at the stairs they were quickly approaching, the stone archway of the gate retreating behind. It was almost anti-climactic that the hardest part of the three entrance trials to the Stacks was climbing the stairs up. But, Millie had brought several students to guide her, who’d not only experienced these trials before but had also had over an Earth week to begin harnessing their talents. The entrance tests really were simple and easy when faced with that.
She still glanced at Catherine subtly as they walked, the curvy girl’s expression distant, lost in thought as she continued to tug at her hair. Raj’s claim of her talent was almost an understatement, in Millie’s mind. Catherine was already nearly as good as the Millie in her Death Knell vision. She just needed a bit more time and access to more Runes, and she’d be there. It stung Millie’s pride a little, but she could live with it. If anything, it was good motivation to push herself further.
The group went up the stairs, entering the fourth floor of the Stacks. The room, as she’d been told to expect, was in many ways a mirror to the Collections. Wide-open, with a balconied second floor, doors lining the halls, top and bottom. There was even a glass ceiling, the sun shining above. One thing Millie had learned in the past few M-days was that when the sun showed in the Stacks, it was nighttime in the Collections. Like opposite sides of the world.
Unlike the Collections, however, rather than display cases and monuments, this floor had couches, tables, and small gathering areas strewn about. Each one had terminals built into them, their access passcodes found hidden on the Collection’s side. It was through them a student could access the Attainment library, which was limited to start but supposedly expanded with the more scraps a class unlocked.
Similar to Collections, there was a reception area in the middle. The Spirit up here, however, was far more helpful than the Banshee, Millie had been told. Though sadly, she was most open when helping a student spend their starting Attainment credit. After that, she became more tight-lipped unless students had unlocked the information they wanted to reference.
They approached the Spirit Saras, who, much like the Banshee, had her own name to start. She was an odd one though. Extremely tall, nearly ten feet high, she was human-looking, with long black hair that spilled out behind her. She wore something that was similar to a dress, mostly white with red accents framing her chest and arms, with a long petticoat open in the front of a similar crimson vibrancy. Her garment’s sleeves billowed out, however, in a very oriental fashion that matched her features. She was beautiful though, with golden jewelry on her head and ears. She smiled gently as they got near, before her expression fell neutral.
“Welcome back, students,” she said. Her voice was calm, measured, and girlish. It almost didn’t match the towering figure. “How may I be of assistance?”
“Should we call the others?” Catherine whispered to the group. Raj nodded, pulling out their communication stone, stepping back to let the others know that they’d arrived. Then, Catherine turned back to Saras.
“Greetings, Great Spirit,” she said reverently, before bowing and approaching. “Our classmate seeks your consultation on how best to redeem her Attainment credit.”
“I see,” Saras responded, bowing lightly back towards Catherine. “Please step forward, mother of man. Let us converse.”
Millie fought not to raise her eyebrows, especially as she saw CJ smirking at her shock. Well, she thought. I suppose not all Spirits in this place are as crazy as the undead. Undoubtedly that would likely make dealing with them more of a pain, but at least she didn’t have to worry about them going ‘off script’ or anything.
“Um, hello,” Millie said. She almost used the Spirits name but remembered Catherine’s advice she’d gotten earlier. ‘You’ll need to introduce yourself,’ she’d told Millie. ‘She’s rather informal, but don’t make her angry, okay? Be polite.’
So, Millie swallowed, then bowed as much as her aching back allowed, and finally cleared her throat. “I am Initiate Millie McArthur, Great Spirit. May I have the honor of making your acquaintance?”
The Spirit waited for a beat, her piercing dark eyes boring through Millie. Then, she bowed slightly and smiled. “I am Saras, keeper of Attainment. I welcome you to the Archive’s higher halls, Initiate McArthur. How may I assist you on your path?”
‘Just pretend you’re LARPing or something,’ was the advice that CJ had offered. She wished he hadn’t, because now she just felt ridiculous. I’m bowing and scraping to a ten-foot-tall supermodel. Why is life in Magincia so fucking weird?
“I understand students have a credit for their first Attainment, and I was hoping to cash it in, as well as get your advice on what to get.”
The Spirit raised one long, delicate arm to her face, holding her chin thoughtfully. Her sleeve was massive enough Millie probably could have worn it as a dress and had cloth left over.
“Technically,” the Spirit said, “you’ve already acquired your first Attainment. Two in fact. I can sense them within you.”
Millie paled suddenly.
“However,” the Spirit said, raising a hand to forestall Millie’s protest. “Your credit remains to be used. What manner of power do you seek?”
Millie let out the breath she’d been holding. She would not have been happy to find herself screwed over on a technicality. “I’d like something defensive if possible,” she said. “That, or maybe something that can help with using a sling?”
Millie didn’t see herself being a front-line fighter anytime soon given her pregnancy. She figured if she could find ways to defend herself she might be able to lower her reliance on her Tarot deck. She hadn’t yet been able to figure out just how negative her Karma was, but Eyes of Fate had allowed her to at least start sensing it. It had translated as a stomach-dropping terror of going against traffic, driving straight towards a wave of steel rushing to meet her. Directing that away was clearly beyond her, but taking steps to prevent it from worsening wasn’t.
“Hmm,” the Spirit said. “Do you have any thoughts on how you wish to chain your Attainments?”
“Chain?” Millie said. From nearby, she heard CJ facepalm.
“I knew we forgot something,” he muttered.
Millie glanced back briefly, before nearly jumping out of her skin when the Spirit’s massive hand came into view, gently touching Millie’s chin, turning her head back to face her. She let go when their eyes locked.
“Focus on me, mother of men,” the Spirit said, gently chastising Millie for breaking away from their conversation. “Chaining of abilities is simply a term. There are many that can be used, some more innovative than others. Combos, I think one student suggested?”
The large Spirit actually smirked, before her expression returned to that neutral mask. “The essence of the matter, however, is simple. Your soul has a finite amount of Understanding within it. This limits how much you can acquire and grow, at least until your soul expands. Are you familiar with this concept?”
Millie nodded. Eden had been pretty thorough on that explanation.
“Good,” Saras said. “Attainments come in tiers; which marks the footprint the power leaves on your soul—and thus the amount of Understanding it requires. The higher the tier, the more Understanding it takes. Yes?”
Millie nodded again.
“Now, tell me, do you know what it means to have a foundation for one’s Attainments?”
“Uh, yes, Great Spirit,” Millie said politely. Jesus, I feel like I’m talking to some big wig manager right now. “Attainments have to be built off of something, expanding an existing skill or sense. The only exception to this is with external Attainments, which create a foundation to build on.”
“You are knowledgeable,” the Spirit said praisingly, her dark eyes twinkling with a smile that didn’t touch her lips. “So let’s speed this conversation along then. As you know, the difference between internal and external isn’t just in their method of acquisition, but in the amount of raw Understanding needed to gain them.”
Millie hadn’t known that specifically, but in hindsight, that did seem rather obvious. You probably have to expend extra Understanding to cover an external Attainment’s foundation, she reasoned. Whereas you’re only paying for the Attainment itself if it's internal. Strangely, she actually felt the sense of Understanding growing inside her at that thought, something she occasionally felt now and again. It was more pronounced in the Spirit’s presence, however.
Can she augment Understanding growth? Holy shit.
“Another prominent method,” the Spirit continued, “of lessening the burden of an Attainment is what I referred to as chaining. I believe your companion, Initiate Johnson, called it ‘totally like a skill tree.’ ”
Millie heard a noise from CJ and guessed he was probably blushing behind them, though she kept her eyes on the Spirit. The large woman actually smiled at Millie’s focus before her mask reformed.
“His observation, comedic though it was, wasn’t wrong. Using Attainments as a foundation for future Attainments will lower the cost of your Understanding, allowing you to gain more than another Magi who is more spread thin. I say all this, because if you have any Attainments you hope to acquire in the future, your optimum strategy now is to lay a foundation to acquire them efficiently. You may not be able to afford them otherwise.”
Millie nodded as the direction of the conversation finally made sense. “I do have some I’m looking for,” Millie said. The Spirit gestured for her to continue. “There’s a tier-three Attainment, a blessing of fertility I need to protect my child’s body, and then a tier-six Attainment, the Twinsoul, I need to protect his spirit.”
The Spirit’s eyes widened, before she nodded. “Ah, yes, I recall now the conversation with your companions. Those are lofty goals for one so young, but admirable for a mother such as yourself.”
“Can…those be chained together somehow?” Millie asked. It seemed a long shot, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
The Spirit paused, stroking her chin once more as she thought. Eventually, she inclined her head slightly and nodded. “Yes, I believe they can. You will technically lose some of the Twinsoul’s power by doing so. Its original purpose was as a connection between lovers, ensuring that as long as one should live the other couldn’t die. Later iterations of it were created for royals and their champions, ensuring that the greatest of fighters lived on no matter the horrors of war that befell them. Still, other uses have even included versions of Lichdom and Godhood.”
Millie’s eyebrows rose. “Godhood?”
The Spirit nodded firmly. “Oh yes. However, the term Godhood may be misleading, I’m afraid. There are those who would call Spirits such as myself that, and that is what I refer to now. Those that bind to Spirits greater than themselves, ensuring their lives never end so long as the Spirit remains. The best example of that I could suggest to you now would be your peer; Initiate Rosenberg. She has this very power right now.”
Millie grimaced. Great, so not only does that armor protect her, but if she dies it can revive her too? Fucking hell. It seemed almost a joke that the Fortune-Teller had spoken so highly of Millie’s gift when that was what she had to compare to.
“But the Attainment could be used for mother and child?” Millie asked.
“Most certainly,” the Spirit confirmed. “In fact, I’m rather taken by the idea. I’m not aware of previous uses doing so. Not without other circumstances that don’t bear mentioning at the moment.”
“Will I need to…uh, do something specific to make that work?”
The Spirit shook her head cautiously. “Yes and no. If you build a proper chain between Attainments, then the way the Twinsoul fits into your soul would naturally encompass it. All that will be required is for you to build that foundation.”
Aka, get a skill tree going with the Twinsoul at its top, Millie translated. I can do that.
“I take it I’ll need some starting Attainments to get going?” Millie asked.
“Yes, though in further good news—you can begin by synergizing to your current Attainment, The Mother’s Blessing. There are several Attainments that fit that line, beyond the Soul Cradle you have now. Once you’ve acquired at least three of them, that should be sufficient to support the Attainment from the Fertility Goddess line that you previously mentioned. With at least one tier-three, and three tier-ones, you can support the tier-six Twinsoul, should you be able to afford its resource cost.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Right,” Millie said. “What are the other Mother’s Blessings? Anything defensive?”
The Spirit paused to think again. It took her longer this time around, her head cocking back and forth, the occasional hum escaping her lips. Eventually, she nodded firmly once more.
“There are two I would recommend for you, though only one is defensive. The other I suggest after the first, for the synergy it chains with if nothing else.”
“Okay,” Millie said excitedly. “What is it?”
The Spirit gave her a patient smile. “The first is called Mother’s Blessing: Wellspring of Life. The Attainment increases the amount of lifeforce within you, covering a number of minor boons as well. It’s a powerful Attainment, especially for its tier, and passive. The detractor, however, is that the Attainment only functions while you carry life within you.”
“So I’d basically lose it after I have my son?” Millie wasn’t fond of that idea.
“It depends,” the Spirit said carefully. “There are options you could pursue. Attainments that could freeze your pregnancy, letting you control it as you require. There are also others that would make you stronger from the number of children you’ve had, though there are limits. However, I digress. I believe the Wellspring of Life may stay functional for you after you give birth, so long as you manage to acquire the Twinsoul before that happens.”
Millie’s brow furrowed. Okay, some of that’s kind of messed up sounding, but that last part? “How exactly does the Twinsoul keep the Attainment working?”
“Simple,” she said, smiling with her eyes. “Spiritually, you’ll remain pregnant. Your child’s soul remaining inside you, for the most part, should allow you to maintain the Wellspring. If that isn’t enough, then I fully believe it won’t take you much else to keep it active.”
Millie paused, folding her arms. “And you think the Wellspring Attainment here is a good defensive choice?”
“Its power would easily be comparable to the Mage Armor you wear, Disciple,” she said, her eyes boring deep into Millie once more. Disciple, Millie thought. She knows. “Best of all,” she continued, “it would be layerable to it. Further, it synergizes with the other tier-one Attainment I would suggest.”
“Which is…?”
“Mother’s Blessing: Desperate Gambit. This Attainment is a dangerous one, not just to your enemies: but to yourself. It shuts down the limitations of your form and converts lifeforce into power. Specifically, it bolsters your Strength Attribute massively, at the cost of your health.”
Millie mulled over the Attainment’s description before it finally clicked. “Shit, it's like those stories of mothers lifting cars off their kids. Hysterical strength?”
“I…suppose?” The Spirit said curiously, before smirking. “Normally, this Attainment is rather restricted in its upper limits, however you, Initiate McArthur, have two ways in which you could bring out the most of this particular ability.”
“First,” she said, raising a massive finger. “The Attainment I already mentioned, the Wellspring of Life, floods the body with excess lifeforce, giving the Desperate Gambit, oftentimes called Mother’s Desperation, a large pool of energy to draw on. It will last longer and give you more as a result. Now, there are other Attainments you could get, bolstering your lifeforce further, but there are diminishing returns. The Wellspring will still serve as the best place to start here.”
“Second,” she held up her other finger. “Is your Eyes of Fate. By itself, it doesn’t interact, but there are Attainments that can allow you to draw strength from your Sympathetic Links, and Mother’s Desperation fundamentally draws on the strength of your connection with your children. If you were to bolster that connection, you would directly influence that Attainment as a result.”
Millie nodded in understanding, though it was a little disturbing just how much about Millie’s abilities the Spirit knew. Those piercing eyes of her aren’t just for show, I guess. “I don’t suppose you have an actual hard number of how much my strength could get boosted and for how long?”
She didn’t expect an answer, which apparently was Millie’s first mistake.
“If you had all the Attainment’s I suggested?” Saras said. “A bolstering of around one hundred strength would be attainable. The length of time you have that strength would vary: every action taken would damage you, taking away how long the Attainment lasts. If you got the most out of it that you could, however, you would end up nearly crippled at the end. But during that time—there would be little that could stand in your way.”
Millie stared at the Spirit in disbelief, hearing the sounds of her companions choking behind her. Apparently, the rest of her class had arrived to hear that explanation and were taking it as well as she was, though she once more refused to turn away.
“You…you’re joking right?” Millie asked shakily. One hundred fucking strength? So what if I end up gimped at the end—holy fucking shit.
The Spirit smiled widely, the most she had before. “I assure you, the estimate is accurate. Your potential build here, to borrow your generation's terminology, is rather…broken? An amusing way to think of it, though in truth many potential skill sets are. I should also tell you that from any reasonable perspective the odds of you being able to acquire all these Attainments in a timely, affordable manner, is practically nonexistent.”
Millie nodded absently. “Yeah, no that makes sense. I think though…yeah, I’m going to have to go with this then. This is just too…wow.”
The Spirit clapped her hands, making Millie jump. “Excellent! I must say I’m pleased, too many Magi eschew the value of life, or harness it for crass purposes. I look forward to the purity you could bring, mother of men. Now—for you,”
With a flick of her hand, a small booklet appeared. She gently set it down, sliding it towards Millie. Millie stared at the script on it, narrowing her eyes as her brain slowly, slowly translated the First Language on it. Her soul wasn’t strong enough, it seemed, to make short, easy work of Runic designs yet. She got there in the end though.
‘Mother’s Blessing: Wellspring of Life.’ Millie grabbed it, smiling nearly as wide as the Spirit.
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Learning Attainments was a simple process, it turned out. Many of the rooms surrounding the open area of the fourth floor of the Stacks were dedicated to it. After greeting the rest of her class who had joined her, she followed Saras’ guidance and entered a free room.
Inside, she waited for a few minutes before a servitor came in to assist her. She was directed to sit inside a giant Mandala, imbibing potions and getting anointed with strange-smelling oils. Eventually, she found herself losing focus from the magic, everything becoming hazy and indistinct. Like a fever dream she could barely remember. It took almost a half M-hour to complete her ‘upgrade,’ even though it felt like minutes. She was told, however, that it didn’t normally take so long.
The servitor had had to be extremely careful, she was told. Precautions due to the weak nature of her soul, and she was warned that she shouldn’t attempt to acquire any Attainments past the first tier. She would need more soul bits before she could go much further, but that honestly didn’t surprise her.
The fact that she could get anything felt novel, if she was being honest. She’d gotten used to dead ends and bad news.
“So, how is it?” CJ asked, smiling. “Feel any different?”
He was sitting at one of the tables, along with the rest of her class. They’d been discussing strategy while she was leveling up, and looking around Millie could see a small number of other students coming and going. Her class was no longer the only ones exploring the Archive’s Stacks.
“I feel…” She said, before pausing. The haze of the magic was slow to retreat, but the more she focused on it the more odd it felt. “I feel like I’m…growing? I don’t know how to explain it. The magic drugs, or whatever they were shoving down my throat are wearing off, but I feel like I keep waking up more. More than I was before, at least.”
“Lifeforce should be tied to your stamina,” Catherine noted. “That might be what you’re feeling?”
“It is?” Millie said.
Tanya leaned forward. “Can’t you, you know, die of exhaustion? It makes sense.”
Catherine nodded in agreement, so Millie ceded the point.
“Honestly though…” Millie said. “I feel good. Like…really good. Almost like…”
She paused again, staring at her hand as she clasped it over and over again. There was so much sensation to it she hadn’t had before. As more of the haze left her, she realized something else. It was so startling, she stood up, her classmates looking at her in worry.
“Is everything okay?” Katelyn asked. Millie turned to look at her, glad to see she looked mostly recovered.
“Yeah, it…” Millie trailed off again, shaking her head as she smiled like an idiot. “It can’t be,” she muttered, once again drawing looks. Before anyone could question her further, however, she did the unthinkable.
She jumped in place. The others looked at her as though she’d gone mad, especially as she repeated the action, giggling.
“Ah, shit, she’s high or something, isn’t she?” D’marco said.
“High on lifeforce, maybe?” CJ offered, the two sharing a laugh.
Millie jumped again. “Oh my god,” she said, grinning wider. “This is the best power ever. The fucking BEST!” She actually screamed with joy, glancing over shyly at Saras at the counter. The giant Spirit glanced at her, but only smirked as she continued sorting through books.
“Millie, what are—”
Katelyn cut off suddenly, eyes widening as Millie backed off and did a cartwheel.
“What the fuck?” Isabella exclaimed, but Millie just laughed again.
“This is the fucking best!” Millie said, jumping in the air again, kicking her legs out, even twisting side to side. “I don’t feel anything. No back pain, no knee pain, no any pain. Fuck. YES!”
She threw her hands in the air in triumph while the others settled back down, a mix of bemusement and annoyed acceptance at her sudden antics. Millie didn’t regret her outburst though—they just didn’t understand. She could barely remember the last time she didn’t have some amount of annoying pain. The fact that it was just…gone was incredible. She only stopped jumping about because her son had started doing power squats in her stomach, clearly throwing a protest at being tossed about unexpectedly.
She sat back down, breathing heavy but beaming. “So, what's the plan?” She said. “What’re we doing? Can we go scrap hunting?”
Raj chuckled, nodding. “If you’re sure those Fate eyes of yours can track them, now seems a good time to start. We talked about it already, so here's the plan. Braylon, D’marco, and myself will be handling the Collections, looking for the starting pieces the rest of us are keen on. Isabella, CJ, and Tanya have agreed to handle research in the Study. That’ll leave you, Catherine, and Katelyn on checkout duty.”
“Checkout duty?” Millie said, laughing. “I guess that’s what we’re calling it?”
The others nodded amiably in agreement.
“It is,” Raj said. “This will be our first full class dive into the Archives. Every team got its stones?”
He double-checked with the others, and Millie found out at some point they’d acquired a third set. The three teams would be able to speak with each other, though it was a little clunky. There were some ideas in the works for making it smoother, but that would take time and resources—both of which they were short on.
So instead, they got to work.
----------------------------------------
There was a part of Millie that, despite riding the high of her string of successes, was worried her Eyes of Fate would let her down somehow. That she’d march into the higher floors of the Archive, with her team at her back, just to let them down. To fail, again, when she was so close.
But that wasn’t what happened. Her power was terrifyingly effective.
She could immediately tell which scraps were on higher floor, so they set those aside. The ones on the fifth floor with them, she quickly tracked down the shelving, and then left it to Katelyn and Catherine to tackle the puzzle lock on them.
She did try to help at first, but it quickly became apparent that the handicap she was under trying to read the First language with such a weak soul just wasn’t worth fighting against. Especially given the practically inhuman speed that Catherine could solve them.
Once the shelf was unlocked, Millie’s power really shined. Previously, the duo explained that they’d had to go, book by book, solving puzzles just to read what the book was about. It was a frustrating nightmare, taking far too much time with little to show for it. It was no wonder that in over two M-days of work, Millie’s class had barely gathered two dozen scrap—none of which was even from the same set.
Millie however could instantly point out which book they were looking for, and in the first M-hour they worked, they gathered twice the number of books than the class had gathered altogether. The only thing that slowed them down was Millie running out of Mana. When that happened, they just returned to the Study to help the research team while she recovered. Then, once she was good to go—it was back into the Stacks. They were a well-oiled machine, firing on all cylinders.
Millie also enjoyed the upper floors much more than the lower ones. Not just for the fact that she was actually useful up there, but also for the decorum. While the Collections felt like walking around an underground graveyard, the Stacks felt more like an ancient library. It had stone walls that were frequently broken up with glass windows, showing impressive, beautiful landscapes beyond. Banners, statues, sculptures, and other art pieces were common, often set up around the large groupings of bookshelves. There was also a breeze in the air, rather than the stagnant musk that permeated down below.
The only issue she had with the aesthetics was when she saw it through her Eyes of Fate. The walls and shelves were covered in thousands of tiny pictures of men, women, and places, trapped in time. A lot of them…screaming, silently. helplessly. It felt like the plush carpets squished underneath her feet, the smell of blood coming from them. Even the books themselves showed ancient script that was gouged out, covered in stamps of Magincia. Over the time that they searched, Millie figured out three things due to this.
First, she was pretty sure most of Magincia’s knowledge was stolen, or otherwise questionably obtained, from other people and realms.
Second, she learned how to turn off her Attainment, to spare herself the discomfort of seeing through it constantly while it was active. The power was still ongoing even when shut off, but it was easy enough to toggle it, she found.
Thirdly, she discovered a way to grab the chains, pulling them to the side and changing the path they followed. It was an odd thing to do, but it turned out that trying to navigate using a chain that pointed straight through walls was rather difficult. When she discovered her pull technique it had been a godsend, as it caused the chain to warp in space, bending somewhat around walls and obstacles.
It wasn’t perfect, and they still found the occasional dead end that the chain pointed through, but it was a significant step up. Because in the end, Millie and her class got over fifty pieces of scrap, most of which were matching sets. It put several of her classmates close to completing several Attainments, and they stopped for the day off because the others were getting tired.
But not Millie. She had energy for days, it seemed.
“I’m jealous,” Katelyn said gently. The three of them had just got off the line, getting the call to come home, and were starting to head back. The poor woman looked exhausted.
“Well, you could—” Millie began to say, before cutting herself off. “Ah, sorry, never mind.”
Katelyn looked at her pointedly, before turning away. “It’s alright,” she said softly.
Millie winced. “I…I’m still sorry. I shouldn’t joke about it like that.”
“Joke about what?” Catherine piped in. She nearly poked her eye out again, reaching up to her face. When is she going to outgrow that reflex? Millie thought, bemused.
“She was going to suggest I could try getting pregnant, dear,” Katelyn said dryly. “The sad part is, given the powers you could acquire here, it doesn’t sound as poor a decision as you think.”
“Really?” Millie said skeptically.
“But who would you marry?” Catherine said in concern. “Your husband, he…” She cut off, looking sheepish.
“You’re married?” Millie said curiously.
Katelyn shook her head. “Technically, yes, but we’ve been separated for…oh, almost six years now. I don’t think he’d mind.”
Six years, Millie thought. That…fit about the age of the ghost in the vision.
Something must have shown on Millie’s face. “Did you…see something,” Katelyn asked carefully. “In your vision of me?”
Millie paused, the other two stopping with her. “I…I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she said.
“It’s alright,” Katelyn replied, leaning against one of the walls. “Please.”
Millie believed her, that or she was great at feigning an inviting air. Catherine, meanwhile, stood to the side looking uncomfortable, though that seemed to be more related to her latest accidental blurting.
“I saw a little girl’s ghost,” Millie finally said. “Five, or six years old.”
Katelyn stiffened, before obviously forcing herself to relax. “You did? Did she…what did she look like?”
“She had dark hair,” Millie said. “A cute nose. Her mother’s eyes.”
Millie saw Katelyn’s lip quiver, her eyes starting to wet. “She had…m-my eyes?”
Oh, Millie thought. It happened…really early, didn’t it? Slowly, Millie approached, leaning against the wall next to Katelyn.
“She did,” Millie said. “She was playing in the dirt, having a great time while you watched her in the park.”
“Did she look happy?” Katelyn said, her voice trembling.
“Yes,” Millie whispered. “Very much so.”
“I…” Katelyn’s voice cut off, as her hand shot to her mouth. Fighting the tears that were already falling. Millie reached up, grabbing the tall woman, who leaned down to hold her close.
“That’s all I ever wanted,” she said quietly. “I just wanted her to be happy. To know that I loved her. I just…I…”
Millie held Katelyn, rocking her gently while she cried. The two stumbled slightly when Catherine came charging in, grabbing them both tightly, joining them. As their quiet sobs filled the hallway, Millie pulled back for just a moment.
“How do you feel about being my son’s Godmother?” She asked.
The woman’s smile was all Millie could ever ask for.