The Magician 37

A voice that was both familiar and not explained, "Like I said, Garret. Causality for mortal souls is a chicken/egg kind of conversation. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if souls can't remember past or future lives because they aren't bound to ordered time. The same goes for not being bound to ordered time because they can't remember.

"All I'm trying to explain is that my path specializes in afterlife laws while avoiding becoming an afterlife creature. On top of spanning time and existences without spiritual or emotional fatigue, it allows me to implant SOME directions into intentionally created spiritually created splinters. Skip from one to four and bam, pure profit."

As Orison's consciousness began pouring back into his body, he said, "Sounds pretty high risk. To break pieces off of yourself and send them out like that, isn't it like trying to use a remote controlled guidance system, on a rocket, without visuals? How do you even retrieve them reliably?"

A person clad in slightly futuristic armor said in a deep but youthful baritone, interrupted the original speaker's attempt to reply to Orison's questions. "Whatever you do, don't go into your spaces. The one in your head is housing people and important items that might disappear if they're connected or exposed to this place. The one housing your soul is packed beyond it's ability to hold things and even a probe with spiritual intent will give it a valve to release that pressure, killing us all."

Looking around, the young mage said, "That sounds dire. The surroundings will seep into my seat of consciousness' space whether I want it to or not... While you're at it, how did I survive containment to begin with?"

While Garret prepared his response, Orison observed the original speaker. The person looked like some kind of curious but harmonious blend between Nub and some other person.

Tapping on his armor, Garret said, "Paladin has the flying saucer creating a gravitational field until your soul core grows strong enough to take over the job. You'll have to ask Danny what Atanus is up to."

Skeptically, Orison looked at the solid but mostly deep elf looking person and said, "You're Daniel?"

Displaying the same unassuming but reassuring presence as he always had, Daniel replied, "Primary soul and all. I'm about as much me as I can be at any given time. Oh, and Atanus is pre-Zeke, Piran's father. This 'teaser' suit that I'm wearing is his artifact body on loan until his current conduit bonded can... adjust."

"Okay. I think I know what Ze-Atanus is doing. He's probably using his own powers to reinforce the space around the cabin, messing with time up to whatever's allowed. All so that the people inside can 'fit' wherever it is that we are instead of just poofing... Mind giving me the who's, hows and whys?"

Daniel and Garret looked at each other before unspoken agreement had Daniel take the lead. "Garret is Grit. Your awakened and self aware drone absorbed one of the soul shells the story worlds made. It was your entanglement power that won the day at some point on that one. The specifics on how he's a real boy underneath that armor is something you'd have to get collaborative answers from Atanus and Paladin together for it to make any sense.

"Other than Atanus' body of consciousness, your cabin has Little Pete, Hunter and... Corvinus?... in it. The last one is Atanus' conduit bonded. Since they're in suspended animation, you'll have to wait to get answers as to why they were floating near death in the in-between. I snatched them into your cabin space as a reflex. As for me, when HAVEN'T I been with you?"

Seeing confusion mingling with returning skepticism on the young mage's face, Daniel explained further. "First off, purely mortal souls aren't bound by causality. Please don't make me have to go through THAT a second time... The other splinter me's you might still remember beginning at your journey after Al are; Nub, self titled, Nicolas 'the sculptor', the girl you rewarded into voluntary and thoroughly enjoyed slavery... also Klein. I completely apologize for Klein's excessive pursuit of self destruction causing you a headache but I was afraid he'd end up going rogue like Rose."

Orison's blood pressure shot through the roof over the last reveal. Still in shock, he tried to regulate and prepare his logical mind to keep his emotional one from going after Daniel with ill intent. He had no reason not to believe the man but it was a lot to absorb without some mental friction produced anger, irrational or not.

"That fragment was corrupted and deviated by Osomo. I completely lost control and contact with it while I was an Osomo captive myself. The part that was in Winter, that possessed and replaced Iliyani, was created when I stripped Osomo's corruption from the splinter as I reabsorbed it. Why that twisted AI helped it survive and let it roam the world, I have no idea." Daniel said with a look of dejected regret.

The young mage said, "I have no reason to doubt your words after you volunteered the worst parts but I want to. Can you offer me any evidence the logic side of my brain can bludgeon the emotional side with?"

Daniel cupped his hands, almost like he was praying. "Nub had Portia. Nicolas had Ms. Gorganos. Neither of us have clear memories of that girl from Beta Prime but you know what you did to make her happy. The me that you knew from Osomo had that spoiled noble girl. And, I don't think I have to explain Klein to you.

"Rose's original splinter wasn't much different from the rest. To be honest, other than becoming a serial killer, the rest of her personality wasn't THAT different even after she twisted. I couldn't reign her in or divert her path because I was terrified of returning to Osomo. That place is a climber's graveyard.

"You came there a beginner climber. You weren't strong enough for Osomo to directly care about you and left before it started to. Tier fours who try to enter and reach ground are greeted by world calamities. Tier Fives find Osomo's defensive systems a little more than they bargained for or she flees. As a pseudo tier six artifact, the very peak of what the low dimensions allow, she has more capabilities than you can easily imagine."

"So, the maze is a pseudo tier six?" Orison said, more to distract himself from going further down the rabbit hole of complex interpersonal relationship stuff, stuff that was no longer that relevant after he'd been erased and forgotten by most.

Daniel shook his head, "Pseudo tier seven. It's phased between low and mid dimensions. If you need a comparison, Atamus is a pseudo tier five. Each tier after four is exponentially greater in power and ability.

"The 'pseudo' part is because they can't use the full extent of that tier's ability for one reason or another. In Osomo and the maze's case, it's because they don't have proper souls. In Atamus', it's because his domain is partially made of taboo laws."

A little reluctant, afraid of some soul crushing answer, the young mage asked. "Are there any good pieces of news you can share with me on the current branch of events over there? I'm only interested in people I personally care about right now."

Daniel smiled bitterly. "I'm a tier four peon like you. I was released from service to serve you more directly. I doubt my splinter, Klein, would have survived the crossover and there was a chance he'd go rogue once my connection was severed. I couldn't allow that and you deserve better.

"Cray and Rithus were successfully reclaimed by Keita. Iliyani is with Suniir and SEEMED to be happy enough. I didn't make the splinter that would become Rose and I collected all my active splinters before I merged with Klein... I don't know how you feel about this but Piran wants to merge with you after you're both tier five. I guess he's technically a part of you that CAN be separate but doesn't want to be.

"Atamus is telling me that back when you were a rock, a spiritual herb grew from it that contained a bit of that soul. Pelentis ate that herb and that's how she was able to give birth to him with Atamus. He has mixed feelings about it but recognizes that you saved him when you tried to save 'Zeke'.

"Because of the expanded timeline options he could see after having contact with the maze, he didn't have any problems getting Piran across the divide and giving Piran the very best advantages. If Piran still wants to merge with you when we return, he won't stop it from happening as long as you don't disagree. With his lifespan limit reset from coming here and hopeful of being a more complete entity, he will no longer be limited to just Piran for a continuance of legacy."

Seeing the dubious look on Orison's face, he quickly added, "It's not that he doesn't care for his son anymore but he spent a very, very long time almost devoted to nothing but. He's merely ready to let go."

The young mage waved his hand in dismissal. "I commend the man for his dedication. He deserves to have whatever happiness he can claim for himself. I just don't know how to feel about Piran. It's true we were better together but Mimi brought up something I can't dismiss about how the dragon legacy from Rithus works. She said it sacrificed the me parts to save Piran and consumed me to fuel his climb. I can't discount Gnarly's potential involvement with such a decision either."

Daniel's eyes grew distant for a moment. "Piran's draconic bloodline power follows his wants and needs. Before, he was subconsciously afraid of losing himself to you. If merging with you is what he wants, then that won't be a problem. It will have its hands full trying to make the most of the merge anyway. After it's done, what difference will there be between the two of you?"

Suddenly Garret chimed in. "Anything could be Gnarly's doing. That's a bad road of thoughts to walk down."

He reached over and patted Orison's shoulder as a Paladin's nearly emotionless voice projected, "Be advised. Potential complications outweigh benefits on high tier merges unless both parties are synchronized first. Atanus is in support of this merge, however, more than has been suggested."

Orison projected back as best he could, "Can Atanus be trusted with the safety of those inside the cabin?"

As if he was trying to cheer the young mage up, Garret got him in a head lock and started rubbing knuckles of the soft haired head of Orison. "All indications point to lack of significant ulterior motives. Although that isn't completely clear, there is no alternative to his protection."

After shoving off Garret in a show of amused annoyance, the young mage said, "I see we're in some kind of run down temple. What are we dealing with here?"

While they took turns giving him the break down of what each of them had seen of their surroundings, he began the experiments exercise to determine what he was capable of. They were on an island big enough to have fresh water and some edible vegetation but not much else. The only defining feature of the place, they were sheltering in. Farther into an underground entrance, there was a closed stone door but not much else about the temple was of interest either.

On his side, the flying saucer covering the physical manifestation of his soul was dampening his connection with it along with the heavily stuffed void. He didn't dare delve any deeper into that matter for fear of the dire warning he'd received on waking up. For fear of contaminating his mental space, he couldn't really delve into that either.

What he did know was that the reality around them played off of much different interpretations of the same laws. That meant a double hit to his ability to express his comprehensions. The plus side was that he was getting a clear idea on a whole new layer of laws.

After finishing his personal experiments, he shared, "There's abundant ambient magic but there seems to be a heavy penalty for accessing it. Even then, this reality or its laws don't allow for magic to replace matter. Although, it's not as picky about energy or lack of it."

Daniel chimed in, "Almost all the items we had on us were chewed up on the way in. We could have stayed inside the cabin with the others but it was imperative that I came out so you had a way to access cabin stored things once they've been carefully eased enough in. The food, drink and clothing are going to adjust much faster than the people are. They are a lot less complicated to stabilize."

Garret said, "You needed reliable protection too. Paladin thinks they came from a completely different Greater Reality anyway. Getting exposed to a third wasn't that harmful... You know how our Greater Reality is alive? It's been... coupling with other ones. Several astral cycles ago we would have crossed over into the place Paladin came from instead."

Daniel chuckled. "Little known myth, the lower dimensions are considered our reality's mind whereas the higher dimensions are the... procreative parts. Seems there might actually be some truth to that."

Orison raised an eyebrow. "So, what did we just travel through, a kiss?"

"Alignment of weak spots would be more akin to rubbing wounds, I think. Best not to break it down to far. I'm pretty sure that it would end up being wrong anyway. Some tier sevens might know the truth and it's guaranteed that upper parts of powerful high dimension families know... something. Good luck getting them to tell us anything about it, though." Daniel griped.

The young mage did some light calisthenics and then said, "Okay. Before I start digging into a few days of trying to order my comprehension into something that makes me feel less mundane on a desert island, I got a question. Morbid curiosity, why do you look so... deep elf, Danny?"

Daniel shrugged. "Ask yourself. I might not go all shiny ball but I have a similar adjusting ability. Mine's more linked to comfort and acceptance, though. Strange to think someone would feel more comfortable around one of the most dangerous splinters I ever made than my normal look but it's not a big deal either way.

"I'm here to work off the heavy debt I owe to probably one of the closest friends I've got, not critique a person's poor choice of... I mean, come on. That's like someone saying that the color of blood is soothing. Do you think giant spiders are cute and cuddly too? I just feel glad it's how I look and not how I'm made."

Orison chuckled at Daniel's tirade. He understood it all too well.

He said, "I'm glad I didn't but I'm surprised I didn't wake up as a girl."

Garret said, "I dragged us to shore but technically Paladin touched you, not me. You could look like a prune of an old man OR a world class beauty and it wouldn't make a difference to them. What I'm surprised about is how we arrived in the ocean of an inhabitable planet. The odds are ridiculous of that happening."

Daniel said, "We didn't. We appeared in space. Some random entity attracted by the essence geyser plopped us here. I say random because it was basically a space jellyfish. It thought we were inhabitants of this world that lost their ship and asked us not to tell on it. I think it was breaking some kind of treaty. It was awfully innocent minded for being a trespasser."

***

Days bled into weeks but at their level of climb, such a period of time was quickly becoming beneath the notice of Daniel and Orison. Garret hadn't built up as great a numbness to the passage of time but his battle with inner demons kept him occupied and somewhat distant. All three of them felt the sense of a closing of a chapter, a harsh and painful severing of the past.

At least, that's what Orison thought until Garret interrupted his trance a few days after the last winter storm of their tropical location. "I figured you'd be the type to freak if I just left without saying anything."

Confused, the young mage said, "Planning to go for a long swim or something?"

It was hard to read expressions and mood when the other person was wearing a full set of armor but there was a sense of tension coming from Garret. "Paladin wants to preserve the, I guess you'd call it 'purity' of Grit's personality. We never planned on merging to begin with. It was an agreement and a sharing.

"Babs came for me but she's lifetimes of distance away. So, I'm going to go to her now. I don't really understand all that stuff but Paladin does. It's not really that important anyway.

"The person you knew for those couple of years, it wasn't really me. It was the me that the story worlds made and... I want to forget it. I'm glad it was useful for something but it's not the path I want to walk.

"If... when we meet in the future, I'd like to be friends again. With you and Grit or whatever Paladin decides to call themselves afterwards, if that's possible. At least I don't have to spend years regretting being yanked away without having done something for you for all the help you gave me."

Orison wanted to argue but he could understand. There was no telling how many lifetimes of misery wrapped up in the person known as Grit. A single derailing of that wasn't going to change the tidal sea of agony the story worlds made Garret endure.

Sighing, the young mage said, "Well, peel off the armor and lets hug it out then. I don't want to say goodbye to a helmet that isn't going anywhere."

"Sorry... I can't do that. My soul is the only thing leaving and the body underneath is... under construction. Besides, you know my sister's power. How else did you think I was going to reach her?" Garret said.

The young mage suddenly understood the 'method' behind the young man's travel and said sadly, "You're going to forget everything. You'll just be another mundane soul. The things your sister might help you remember will be cloudy and distant."

"I was never a climber to begin with," Garrent said.

He reached out and messed Orison's hair up before the hand froze for a split second, lowering down with machine precision.