NOVEL NEXT (Vol 5) Chapter 42: To Concur Is Divine
Sammy cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at Ash, her curiosity quite piqued. “You betrayed me? And, if I’m understanding this correctly, I incinerated you for it?”
Swallowing visibly, Ash nodded while never breaking eye contact. Somewhat hoarse, she replied, “I saw it all in a flash… Visualized, I should say, how it might occur. If I had the vision and it was revealed to the others as it inevitably would be — voluntarily or not — it would’ve led to your persecution. Naturally, I’d be among them, perhaps even leading the efforts with my visions finally serving me to hunt you down. And then, inevitably, I died at your hands, likely from you discovering me as the primary vehicle of whatever atrocities were visited on you.”
It was a horrifying conclusion to Sammy. What could make me kill my own daughter? I’m happy to never know. “You do not need to worry about that anymore, Daughter. I will not see a hair on your head harmed by any hand, much less my own.”
Ash continued to stare, now seeming rather mystified. “You keep calling me that. I’d ask if it was just what you called your feminine following, but I don’t get that sense from the way you say it. I’m not sure you’re even older than me, so… is this a past life thing?”
“Indeed it is. A past lives — plural — thing. Over and over and over, you’re tied to me, across millions or billions of iterations. I am the Goddess of Fate, and you are a Daughter of Fate. One of three, as it happens.”
Ash’s eyes were wide in a warring contest between shocked disbelief and fascination. She leaned forward. “How do you know this? Is there a method and can you teach me? Can you show me?”
Sammy grinned at the immediate curiosity. I love this girl more by the minute. “There are many things I can show you and many things you’ll learn to do. The first step is you becoming a Follower. Among other benefits, should you in fact perish on Calrenazzod, you would persist in my Afterlife instead of going on to reincarnation.”
“Immortality of a sort?” Ash made a rueful noise. “To think, thousands of years of development by mortals to still not truly attain it, and a deity offers it up on a silver platter. Very well. If you’ll have me, I will do this gladly. Likely the first sage to do such a thing in a very long time, if ever.”
Sammy sent the mental ping and levitated a mirror off the wall to present to Ash, who spoke the words of the oath with unusual glee like she was doing something naughty. Sammy supposed it was quite a forbidden fruit for one of her background. It was interesting to see how quickly ‘one of theirs’ would do it in the right situation.
How many among them truly see us all as parasites and how many simply pay lip service? Progress is at least a sister to their own paradigm. Is it really so far away from them to cast aside their prejudices and contribute to a better vision for all?
1 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Note: not yet a Follower.
Follower conversion successful. 1 FE gained. 1 Daily FE gained.
Heh, it's been a long time since I paid attention to an individual gain. For her, I make an exception. Perhaps even the last of such significance, but then again, I can’t be sure.
When it was done, Ash seemed to have a weight taken off her shoulders and was breathing easier. Sammy might’ve ascribed it to the REX effects, but something told her it was far more, and despite recent events, Ash was an exceptionally disciplined person. Minor drug-like effects probably couldn’t faze her.
“With that out of the way,” Sammy said as she drummed her fingers on the table, “we’ll soon let you settle in, relax, and unwind. We already have a room prepared for you here. You’ll be lying low for a while. If you find it agreeable, we’ll transport you to the Southlands in a couple of days.”
“That is preferable, yes, for both me and you as the one sheltering me. I’ve completely blocked their ability to track me by most means they prefer, but as you saw, Dominion agents are resourceful and not to be underestimated. Despite all of the precautions and avoidance we managed, it would be prudent to continue taking them.”
“Understood. We will. But I do want you to meet some of the core people here — especially Estara.”
Ash held her eyes and a smile blossomed on her lips. “Let me guess: one of these ‘sisters’ you mentioned?”
Returning the smile, Sammy nodded. “All blonde, by the way. And adorable.”
“Blonde triplets. How amusing. But you are flagrantly brunette.”
“Guilty as charged. Honestly, you should stick to some new palette to throw off the trail as much as possible except in complete secrecy.”
“I concur. Suggestions? Brunette I assume?” A hint of humor could be detected.
Chuckling, Sammy shrugged. “Honestly, if you want to stick with Ash, perhaps you should go goth. It would suit you.”
Her eyes squinted. “Goth?”
“Lots of black, including makeup. Kinda foreboding. Usually pale.” Sammy adjusted her appearance in a flash, appearing as a typical goth girl — raven-haired, deliberately pale, heavy black eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. She added one of those frilly black gothic choker things. “Something along these lines.”
Ash looked very intrigued, leaning all the way over the table. “How have I not done th…” she muttered under her breath, but soon trailed off and caught herself. She cleared her throat and sat up. “I’ll consider it, Madam. Perhaps… let me copy this image with a quick drawing-aid cantrip…”
Trying to keep a straight face, Sammy nodded. “Of course. Go right ahead.”
Ash quickly pulled out her notebook and cast a cantrip spell, weaving her fingers as she studied Samantha and drew a nigh-perfect sketch of her face on the paper. “There we are. A memory preserved.”
“Indeed.” Sammy finally let the illusion melt off. “I might’ve mentioned this, but my mirrors can record events in real-time and play them back later. You just need to-... Well, you have some issues with mental communication, but I think you can still communicate with my realm through mirrors? All you need to do is ask Jeeves and one of my Resemblant Servitors will aid you.”
Ash was intrigued once more. She nodded. “Perhaps I’ll allow the name to be used in a few other cases…” Suddenly, she frowned. “I feel I should ask you this just in case. On occasion, something with a mirror comes up to the sages. Some are very paranoid about them. As it happens, I observed one taken by Savant Greizer to be slated for investigation at the highest level. Were you involved in the situation with Sebastion Falshaen, who became a fugitive?”
Alarm shot through Sammy like pins and needles. “That’s an issue? Seriously?! It was a month ago! Yes. Yes, is that going to out me? Am I already outed?! How do you even know?”
Pursing her lips, Ash squinted her eyes in careful thought for how to respond. “Firstly, I know because I am an Inquisitor charged with internal security — something of a mid-level duty. We observe all that we can to search for treasonous activity and threats to Wisdom. To ensure the fear of ever committing it and to know everyone’s secrets. Not only that, but I always found Greizer to be a less boring sage to follow. He is quite a fascinating, active plotter.
“Secondly, no, you are not already outed — as far as I know. Finally, yes it is an issue. It is slated for Psychometric Analysis which will pull memories from years back, but it is on a waitlist. Depending on the Sixth Sage's whims, you may have days, weeks, or months. I don’t recall exactly how fast he works, but not fast unless it involves cooking. He is, in fact, a world-class cook — you should try his stuffed dumpl-... nevermind. I would not wait more than two weeks to be safe.”
“To do what, Ash? What am I supposed to do about a mirror locked in some warded fortress of the Dominion? I’m screwed!”
Ash blinked. “Oh. Oh, yes… that could be challenging. But, you aren’t ‘screwed.’ We have magic. We bend reality to our will.” Still sitting cross-legged, she raised her hands flattened together to her lips, musing in concentration. “There are some wards they will have changed already with my escape. Code-based designs and person-based access. More modern adjustments made to certain key locales and persistent spells.
“But I don’t think they can easily alter the ancient wards of the old vault, nor would they for one second be humble enough to think it under threat or jeopardy from me. Them blocking me out is a chance approaching zero. I can devise a spell to avoid detection while bypassing the ward. But I have no tie to the mirror. Tell me, can you utilize the magical Rule of Sympathy?”
“Yes, I have [Sympathetic Targeting], but this sounds insane, Ash. The Capital? I have to stay away from it.”
“Who said anything about approaching it? Your tie to the mirror makes it very close to you already, and to nothing in the Capital. While they could have bound it and altered it, they would not do this before investigating it to completion, as it would interfere and pollute the reading.”
“What do I do even if I can target it safely? Destroying it makes an issue obvious and wouldn’t it provide Sympathy right back to me from the spell?”
“It may be the lesser of evils depending on what the spell would reveal.”
Sammy only had to think about it briefly. “I spoke my name through it to Bast and revealed myself as a goddess. Fuck-fuck-fuck!”
“Exceptionally damning and problematic.”
“This is so messed up… they’re going to know there are mirror shenanigans going on for sure…”
“Hmm. Didn’t you say you were a… [Magineer]? Custom spell creation? How fast? How are Spellbreaks?”
“Very fast. Faster than normal spell learning. Spellbreaks are much easier, and I can develop spells much further before needing to bother with them.”
“Incredible. Well. Just design a spell that creates a false read over psychometry and history reading spellcraft, then use your success-manipulation ability you previously used in the city to force success on the inevitable comparison you’ll make with the Sixth Sage in regards to the mirror. He’ll see nothing of interest, yawn, then go back to designing delicious foods. I’ll miss his creamy three-cheese quiche so much…”
Sammy’s mouth dropped open as she sat there stunned for a spell. “You’re a fucking genius, Ash!”
Ash smiled faintly. “I concur.” She reached down for her nearly-empty tea cup, then paused. “Can you fill and heat this a little? With the same sugar as before. It’s among the best tea I’ve had.”
Laughing, Sammy waved her hand and made the teacup fill up with more hot green tea. “I told you we were fated to come together! How long will your own preparations take?”
After sipping and closing her eyes in savoring the tea once more, Ash replied, “I do not know for certain. Under a week. There is some risk I cannot win a contest to go undetected, though my circumstantial bonuses should be quite high. I will try and conspire for the best raw bonus I can muster.”
“Would a ritual help in some way?”
Ash’s eyebrows rose. “You have that many wizards?”
“Some. Enough for an edge, right?”
“There is wisdom to what you say. It seems we have a plan, hmm?”
Sammy bristled slightly at ‘wisdom’, but made herself let it go. Maybe it's time to stop hating that word. “I guess I’ll just say: I concur.”
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Nice.