Chapter 203: A Bit Concerned
Tala stood in the market square of an arcane city, surrounded by arcanes. Each and every one that she could see had an orange aura.
What did you expect in an arcane city?
-Focus, Tala. Youre not quite yourself right now, we need to get somewhere quiet so that I can complete whats needed.-
Tala didnt understand, but she trusted Alat. She didnt know why she trusted Alat, or even who Alat wasor even who she was, but-
Alat made a noise inside Talas head. -All will be explained. Focus!-
The very air itself was saturated with power to the point that it would have been orange if it were claimed. Fused airor Mature air, I guess? That was almost funny.
She held a massive platter of various roasted meats. On the ground before her, a teal-skinned man was groaning, having just been tripped when he tried to push her.
Behind her, another teal man was staring at her with confusion, non-comprehension clear on his features.
Good, I have a bloodstar with an aspect mirror for perception already in place. She didnt really understand what was going on in general, but she did know exactly what was going on in that moment.
The attacker behind her frowned, shaking his head. Girl, the back of your head is ridiculously sturdy. That didnt even faze you. He hesitated at his own words, realization replacing confusion as his eyes went wide.
Apparently, everyone around her, whod witnessed the assault, came to a similar conclusion at nearly the same time. Many bowing preemptively or turning and slinking away.
-Set down the food, and do a full turn so everyone can see the insignia on your chest.-
Tala did so, placing her platter on a table just to one side. She understood why Alat had suggested the action almost instantly. After all, she had the memories of the other person, too. She knew how she should act here. She just needed to focus on that second set of instincts.
Yes, focus on the instincts that seem to be based on my actual remembered experiences, not the instincts that felt more natural but that are seemingly based on nothing.
-Focus.-
If anything, I dont know why I would want to act differently, even though I do
-Focus!-
As each onlooker saw the emblem, they blanched, pulling back.
Murmurs of House of Blood and candidate moved through the impromptu audience.
Even those who had bowed seemed taken aback. The House of Blood was a powerful force in the city, and theyd just been witness to one of the highest ranked members of the House being assaulted.
There were also some murmurs of confusion. Tala caught snippets of chatter, people postulating that she was a beast folk of some kind, with her overt features repressed, or a hue folk with a coloring close to that of a human.
Well, I guess humans are hue man too.
-This is not the time for puns, Tala.-
There is always time for puns!
-Im not holding you together very well hurry up, please.-
Once she had turned fully, she picked up her food and turned once more to face the hue folk behind her. The teal man was visibly flinching back, but he hadnt fled.
Wise. Fleeing after assaulting a member of a powerful House would have been a fools gamble. The city peacekeepers had incredibly precise tracking magics, and theyd have found him in short order.
My apologies, Higher one. I did not know whom you served. I I only saw my kinsmen knocked to the ground and reacted for the sake of filial honor.
The one on the ground didnt stand, instead lowering his gaze and muttering a jumbled apology.
Alat and Tala worked together, pulling the right words into place as Tala responded. Your actions had honor, though it was misdirected. I am not harmed, nor could I have been by your attack.
The man seemed to relax just slightly when he heard that.
What do you do for a living? What were those magics that you used against me?
He stiffened again. Passives, Higher one. Im a smith by trade. I repair enhanced gear, and so my magic is bent towards allowing my blows to bypass magical defenses. That lets me work on the material underneath. Otherwise, Id have to strip all that away, first. Much more expensive to do it without my abilities, Higher one.
She nodded. She had memory of such tradesmen. Well, not my memory of them. I still have no idea what THE RUST is going on. She, of course, meant the general sense. She had no idea how shed gotten to arcane lands, or what the arcane had done to her or
-Focus! Were almost in the clear.-
Tala made a show of taking a deep breath and letting it out, slowly. Just act like the memories in my head acted. Dont think about how odd that sounds. And so she did, pulling from the memories, and trusting Alats guidance.
As I said, no harm was done to me, and it was an honest mistake. But be sure of whom you strike in the future. Am I understood?
His relief, as well as that of many of the on-lookers, was almost palpable. Yes, Higher one. Thank you for your mercy.
She nodded once. Leave me. She glanced down at the teal man who still hadnt returned to his feet, likely fearing how she would react to any movements, especially now that he was behind her. She hadnt needed to look with her eyes, but she wanted to be clear about who she was talking about. Take this one with you.
The attacker helped his prone kinsman to his feet and the two retreated into the crowd, and Tala turned, looking for an out-of-the-way table to sit at.
She did her best not to look at the horror that dominated the center of this square, as she moved toward the outside.
Even so, she couldnt help but take in the sheer diversity of people that she passed.
There were beast folk of uncounted kinds of animal from mice to bulls, from hawks to spiders. All seemed to be based around a human-like frame, though some were only half the height, and a few towered nearly half-again as tall as the average human.
The size disparity, oddly, didnt seem directly in line with the animal the beast folk were based off. There were bullmen half Talas stature, some her height, and she saw another who could have been mistaken for an oversized statue, had he chosen to stand still.
To add to the variation, some seemed more animal than person, and a few looked basically human, with just one or two animalistic features.
Tala had no idea what the source of the variation was, nor did the mind she now inhabited. Tali, it seemed, had never thought to question it.
Tala shuddered at the thought of her enslaved personality and turned her attention back to her surroundings and the people in it.
The hue folk were similarly varied. Their defining characteristic was the color of their skin and hair, usually seemingly taken straight from the rainbow, though some were on the gray-scale instead. Like the beast folk, they varied in stature greatly. Some had differing color of hair to their skin, but most were monochrome.
Tala wasnt sure if those with different hues died their hair or if it was naturally different. Again, Tali had no memory of an answer, either.
Stop thinking about her, Tala.
The magic density of those around her was almost entirely Mature, or Fused on the human scale, but something about that label didnt feel right. Mature it is.
A few held higher ranks, and Tala noticed similar characteristics among them. All the hawk-men with higher density had similar plumage, the hue folk with similar densities had similar shading, and things like that.
Genetic? Probably. It was what demarked a higher race. The mind she inhabited had thousands of little things to look for, to help pick out higher races, but even Tali hadnt really used the information. Her mage-sight could do that almost instantly.
Focus. She finally worked her way to the side of the plaza and found a table tucked into a nook between two stores. It almost appeared like the nook could have been an alley once, but one of the shops had claimed the space, sealing up all but a small section near the entrance.
As such, the table and chairs were surrounded closely on three sides by stone walls, giving a very private, comfortable place to sit.
And there, Tala sat, her hands trembling, unable to eat for the moment.
Alat. What is going on? Where am I? She shook her head. No, she knew where she was. She had memory of getting there after leaving the hold of the House of Blood. She had memory of everything, but it was like shed been watching a play. Now, she was suddenly the lead actress, and the play wasnt a play anymore. It was all too real.
And I cant remember who I was in the audience. She had no memories aside from those of Tali, though she knew that something about them wasnt right.
-Breathe, Tala. Breathe and eat. Given the situation, I- Alat made a sound like a clearing throat. -Ive basically just forcibly imposed your true personality overtop of your mind, without correcting anything that lies beneath. Youre missing most of your memories. Rust, basically all of them, which is why you feel so lost and confused. Im going to need about an hour to get the majority of this done.-
The majority ofwhat? I know youre Alat, but I dont really know what that means either.
-Ohrust and slag. I dont know either, but I have processes to follow, and Im doing my best here, Tala.-
Sowhat are you going to do? Why am I not losing my mind about having a voice in my head. Everything I can think of makes me feel like I should be losing my mind. Tala gave a nervous chuckle. Losing my mind about the possibility that Ive lost my mindwhat is going on
-Okay. Breathe, Tala.-
How is that my name?!? I know it is, but I have no memory of anyone but you calling me that!
-Someone has wiped our mind, and implanted false memories. I have access to our original memories, Im going to put them back in our head. Youll be you again, then.-
Tala stiffened. Butwont I revert toher during that time? Will I cease to be?
-No, Ill hold you in place until then. We are both basically the impressions of who we were, imposed upon this body until we can restore ourselves.-
Tala hesitated. Wont that make it take longer? It seems like that would make it harder for you.
-Of course, but what alternative is there?-
What will she think happened if you let me fade and you work in the background? Tala was hating being Tala at the moment. It made no sense. She didnt understand why she was her. It felt like it would be best to fade away until things made sense again.
-Probably nothing? Youve acted basically as she could have acted, though likely a bit more mercifully than she would have, if the memories we have are good indication, and they are. The other personality shouldnt find anything amiss unless shes prone to deep thoughts.- Alat gave a half-hearted, internal laugh, then hesitated. -I wish I knew why I thought that was funny-
Tala decided to ignore that. How quickly could you get me back in command if we let her come back?
-Tala I dont think-
How long, Alat?
-Half an hour? Thats just the basics, though. Its going to be days before I can correct everything.-
Do it.
-Are you sure?-
Please. Yes. I cant I cant take this, and you cant deal with my crisis of identity while fixing me, while fixing us. She felt like it was the cowards way out, but she felt like she was barely holding herself together.
-All right.-
* * *
Tali blinked, looking down at the meat in her hands.
She looked around at her surroundings, then shook her head, taking another bite.
How odd. Everything was as she expected. She was at a quiet table, enjoying her amazing meal.
The meat was delicious, well prepared, and excellently seasoned.
I need to get more of this.
Her mind returned to the two men who had laughably failed in their assault on her. Part of her wanted to find them, and their families, and teach them to look at who they were addressing before they attacked, but that really wouldnt serve any purpose, and it was likely out of line.
Whats more, they were perfectly within their rights to have attacked her with the force that they did. She was a member of a Lowest race, well, the only Lowest race. The fact that she had a gate made her an exception, but that didnt actually change the law. She had caused bodily harm to one of them, so they were in their rights to try to kill her. The fact that theyd been laughably terrible at it wasnt her fault.
In fact, she suspected that these very laws were part of why Master had selected her as his Eskau. Lower races couldnt be charged for the murder of Higher. It would be like charging a baby mouse for killing a tiger. If it succeeded? The rodent should be praised!
She grinned. I just happen to be the worlds strongest mouse.
Even so, it irked her that the hue folk had assumed she was one of the gate-less.
And a rabid mouse has to be caught and killed. She would not be a rabid mouse. She would be what her Master needed her to be.
She would be an extra layer of insulation for her House. Her every action an extra slap to their enemies, because it was a mouse that was hurting them.
She shook her head, returning her focus to the meat before her. This is so good. She wasnt speaking to anyone in particular. She just felt like she had to say it aloud.
It reminded her of feast days back in her village, before the passing arbiters had noticed her gate. It had been weaker than usual, but that wasnt a problem in the least. It existed, so she could be of use.
It also reminded her of celebrations at the Academy.
Tali twitched at that, something misaligning within her own mind. What? Celebrations at the Academy?
She suddenly had a flood of memories about attending the Academy with other students, learning how to use her magic for the benefit of humanity.
Tali paled. What?
-Well, rust. That didnt take long.-
* * *
Tala blinked, looking down at the meat in her hands.
Alat?
-Yes, Tala?-
That didnt work.
-You noticed that, did you?-
Tala took a deep breath, gilding herself. Do what you have to.
-Ill try to be fast.-
Over the next two hours, Tala ate, got more food, and tried to not look at the monument to horror dominating the nearby square. Through that time, she absently made two more bloodstars for Alat, starting the three loose stars orbiting around her head as before.
That was a joy in and of itself, because she remembered making them before, as well as her training to master the orbiting motion.
Finally, Alat seemed to sigh in satisfied exhaustion. -Done, at least with the skeleton of our memory. We shouldnt becomeother us again unless we want you to.-
Why would we want that? Tala mirrored her perception onto all three bloodstars, passing off two to Alat.
-Thank you for the perception. As to your question, Ill let you consider that for a moment.-
It didnt take even a moments thought to click into place. Rust. Thats right. Tala swallowed then. So, if memory servesThe saorsa collar?
-Yeah. We have two dasganachs wrapped around our neck, one for iron, one for gold. Theyre barely contained and ready to be injected into us if we leave the city without authorization, or if our master chooses, or if we breach any of a few other statutes...-
Tala grimaced. Id hoped I was remembering wrong
-Nope. Its even designed so you can inspect it, and see exactly whats inside and what would trigger it. Theyre courteous to their prisoners like that.-
Tala had known about the inspectability of the collar, but still appreciated Alats reiteration and assurance. She then did what was expected, sending her mage-sight into the collar.
Just as expected, two dasganchs lay within. One was gold, and one was iron. They were held in suspension and attached to an incredibly complicated series of spell-workings, all containing power with a blue aura.
Any tampering, even just cutting or ripping it free, would cause these to be injected into me faster than I can react.
-Yup.-
Decapitation triggers them too.
-He seems to have thought very highly of your regenerative abilities.-
You arent joking. She shook her head slowly.
They both poured through the magics, considering.
These arent standard creatures either.
-Not at all.- They both had access to Talis memory of them being used on others.
The dasganachs in these collars had their inhibitions removed somehow, as well as having their ability to gain mastery over material incredibly amplified.
A particularly vivid memory of a man dying by one of these collars let Tala and Alat time a full bodys worth of iron in less than a minute. The victim had screamed the entire time.
Time to think about something else.
Is my personality stable enough to address the mass grave in the room?
-I think so. You are you without my enforcement of such, so yes?-
Thatll have to do.
And so, Tala lifted her eyes and looked at the citys central column.
It was worked crystal, seemingly of a solid piece, though it could have been fused into such magically with relative ease. The uncountable facets were surrounded by an irregular net of gold
The gold was fairly obviously a spell-form, even without the power that shone forth from it. The working was powered by the column itself. As to what it did, aside from shunting most of the power into a distribution network for the city, it seemed to filter the magic coming from within.
And a lot of power was coming from within.
If Tala had to guess, there was close to twenty thousand founts packed into the column, which appeared to be about twenty yards in diameter and over two hundred feet high.
By the magic that she could see, it extended equally far into the ground as well.
At least they arent too crowded in there. They had more than fifty square feet each, if her estimations were correct. They likely needed it, if the individualized nets of power that surrounded each fount were any indication. It seemed like they had to customize something for each individual fount.
Tala let loose a little manic giggle.
Twenty thousand people, broken and bound in eternal slavery to this city.
-Look at the power, Tala. What do you see?- Alat sounded a bit concerned.
So, Tala looked. It was everywhere, and everywhere it was dense.
-True, true. But look at the power itself, not just its density. Theres a reason that Fused doesnt seem right to you.-
Tala looked closer. Therestheres something wrong with it. Like a concoction made with inferior ingredients, then reduced to try to up the potency.
-Thats what Im seeing.-
Holly had talked about how Tala, herself, didnt have the quality of power to run some of her scripts as effectively as a Bound.
Their filter doesnt work right. They arent getting Fused quality power. Was something broken?
-Or their working doesnt refine or distill the power. The magic were sensing isnt aspected, but its not-
Clean. It came from unsettled souls, through a rough connection. And that was no wonder. These founts were the souls of former slaves, not Mages gaining power to protect themselves and those they loved.
Tala felt tears rising up in her eyes, as her mind tried to turn towards her friends and family, but she pushed those thoughts away. She couldnt think about all she wanted to get back to right now. That would cripple her, maybe for days.
-You cant have a Fused fount. Rust, you cant even have a Bound one. These are all from simple Mages.-
So, the power is weaker. Thinner? No, that wasnt right. Lesser.
-I think so. Metaphorically: They may have a lot more gold than we do, but ours is pure.- Alat hesitated. -Well, were only Fused. Its purer.-
Tala snorted a laugh at that. True enough. No wonder the few higher Archons humanity has can hold back those who wish to recapture us, She hesitated, thinking of her own situation, at least they can stop it on a wide scale. A drop of Xeels power is probably worth more than this city sees in a decade.
-Thats probably hyperbole, but who knows? You might be underestimating the man.-
In any case, our power is purer than theirs, stronger, better.
There was something to that. It would give her an edge. It wouldnt obviously be an overpowering one, Be-thric had been able to beat her easily enough, but it might matter. Good observation. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
-Thank you, and youre welcome.-
Tala was still staring at the pillar, the power-center of this city. She was staring at the twenty thousand souls of her kin. Master Boma would have a fit. After a moment, she shook her head. I dont like it much either.
-We cant really do anything about it. Not now.-
But we dont have to act now, do we.
-No. No, we dont. We can bide our time, get what we can, then rob and pillage our way to freedom.-
Tala felt herself grinning broadly. That, my good Alat, sounds like the beginnings of a plan.
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