198. Of powers, limits and a little bit of gold

Cassandra Pendragon

Silence was her only response while we digested what she had said. Not that I was particularly surprised, for while I had never stated it as plainly as my mum just had, the thought had crossed my mind, once or twice. Maybe even a bit more often than that. Still, while I thought she was right, I didn't believe it was all about me. In a way, Amazeroth had been influencing all of us for longer than I could even imagine. Years, decades, centuries… it was impossible to tell when he had actually begun weaving his web, or, in other words, rallying his soldiers.

He had manipulated Aurora, probably most of our people long before I had been born and judging from his interference with Greta, I hadn't escaped his clutches in my previous life, either. The question was, to what end? Stitching together the few scenes from my past I had already witnessed, I was fairly certain he was fighting against the Corruption and trying to stir the cosmos away from a repetitive cycle of woe and war. But why here, why now? Why hadn't he helped me in the past? I wasn't exactly humble but there was no way in hell I'd become as powerful as I had been in a few measly years. I was still far away from being a match for any immortal, never mind being a threat to several. From the top of my head I could only come up with two explanations.

One, I had never managed to realise my potential in my previous life. There could have been a million different reasons, from the sealed memories of the First War to plain stubbornness, but it might just be possible that I hadn't been able to do what was necessary because I had manoeuvred myself into a corner.

Two, and that was what really made me nervous, the Corruption couldn't have been stopped back then. Thinking back, there had been a thousand and one ways how my death, my defeat could have been prevented. If he hadn't erased Aurora's memories, if he had talked to me sooner… they wouldn't have spilled my blood in the void. Not to mention that I had probably taken my toll on the other immortals as well. I didn't know how many I had hurt or straight up killed, but considering how adamant they had been in their united desire to see me gone, I imagined there had been a quite a few. Why allow all of that to happen? Unless the Corruption was something akin to a disease, something that had to get worse, to rise to the surface, before it could be cleansed.

It would also fit the timeframe. Amazeroth had been at it since the First War, that much I knew. I had seen how I had come into contact with the corrosive energy during those days, after all and I had been on my way to ask for his help shortly after. Combined, the little pieces of the mosaic formed a picture that shook me to my very core. I could just as well be wrong but the only reason I could come up with that made a modicum of sense was that the Corruption was closely tied to our existence, the existence of all immortals. It flare up whenever mortals meddled with our power since they couldn't contain it, but for us, it slowly accumulated over the ages, warping our existence. Mephisto had even told me as much a few days ago: Living is corruptive. A fresh start is needed, once in a while. Maybe his words had a much more literal meaning than I had thought, back then. Holy hells, was Amazeroth preparing a war that would see our people eradicated or fundamentally changed? Was he guiding us to an end none of us could survive?

"What is it," Ahri asked, her lips drawn tight with worry. "You're pale as a sheet. What's going through your mind?"

"Nothing I want to voice out loud, at least for now. But this," I indicated the tome, "I need to know what's written in there. I've never told any of you, except for Ahri, where I got this book, have I?" They shook their heads and Mephisto replied: "Ahri told us that it contains the spell to summon you, but that's about it. What else have you figured out?"

"There was a passage in there that only became visible once I touched it. The book was written and hidden by Amazeroth as a safeguard, in case other immortals were to find this place before we had the chance to meet. He stored some of his memories in there." I leaned forward and open an arbitrary page, the complex sigils glowing in the light.

"From what I've already read, I should be able to access these, but I have no clue how. Any ideas?"

"Well," Mephisto slowly answered, "I do have a few but I'm not quite willing to try them. If this book was indeed left for you, it's very likely that anyone other than yourself touching it in any way, would result either in its destruction or a decidedly unpleasant experience. From the looks of it, it appears to be a simple sympathetic connection, linking experiences to the corresponding runes. Once they're activated, all you have to do is… well, read. The trick is finding out how to actually imbue them with the correct amount and form of energy. I wouldn't recommend anyone but you to try, though. Which in turn means, you'll have to learn a couple of spells to analyse the structure. If I had to guess and we were pressed for time, I'd say dumping a junk of your transcendent powers into them would do the trick. But unless there's a reason why you have to know what's in there right this second, I'd advise you to wait. You should be able to grasp the spells you need quickly enough and then, you can be sure that you're not going to blow up everything around you when you try to activate the runes."

"What do you mean by quickly enough?"

"If you truly tried, I'd say a few days, not more. It's not overly complicated and depending on how much of your memories we can get to resurface it might even be much faster."

"Can't you or anyone else for that matter just share your memories, your understanding with me?"

"No, you've already said it yourself. You need to understand what you're doing. Everybody has his own access to magic and spells, depending on who they are. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you. It's the same reason why you only gained abstract knowledge form your past. The way Lucifer thought and did things differs greatly from what you're going to do, from what you will have to do to make your magic work."

"Why did you mention resurfacing memories, then?"

"Because I'm fairly certain this thing works with transcendent energies, otherwise anyone would be able to read it, given enough time. And the way we manipulate transcendent energies is linked to our core. In other words, it doesn't change when we reincarnate."

"But…then it's as good as useless. I'm still a far cry away from being able to control my transcendent powers."

"Doesn't matter too much, I think. The sparks that have already taken over your astral body should be enough. But this, unfortunately also means you'll have to acquire a bit of skill before you can make use of the memories, since you'll have to guide your mana in a specific way. Cast a spell, in other words."

"Wait a minute," Viyara said slowly, still caught up in her thoughts. "Cassy, do you remember when I tried to push a spell through you, back when we were in my father's hoard?"

"Sure, how could I forget? Even though I've gained a bit of perspective since then, it was still a thoroughly unenjoyable moment. Let me guess, you want to try again? Now that my astral body has developed, you expect us to succeed, don't you?"

"Well yes, and I think we could circumvent the restrictions that keep you from reading the runes. It won't be a surrogate for your magic, but with my help, you might be able to decipher the sigils."

"She won't, unfortunately," Ahri interjected. "You can try to cast the required spells through Cassy and her power should, in theory, infuse and support your magic, but… remember what Erya told us about taking over a curse. As far as I know, the same thing holds true for spells. It would be fuelled by Cassy's power but the intent would still be yours. I don't think that would turn out too well for the both of you, considering whom you're trying to trick here."

"She's right," I agreed and wrapped one of my tails around Ahri's waist, mouthing "thanks for the safe." "The risk isn't worth it, but I'm still curious to know if you can work your magic through me, in general. We should give it a try, sometime. But for now… If I have to take the long way round, what exactly do I have to learn?"

"Not that much, basics, mostly. As far as I remember you've got an innate form of heightened vision, don't you," the demon inquired. After my nod he continued: "that should cover most of what you need, we just have to tweak it a little bit. Usually people develop their magic long before they can a start to actually see it. They have to learn how to sail an airship blindly, that's why it usually takes ages to learn even the most basic spells. With you, that won't be the case. Once you get a feeling for how you can actually manipulate the mana around and within you, the rest will come naturally. Like drawing a painting when you can already see its outlines." He closed his eyes and massaged his temples before he continued.

"Alright then, we won't be able to cover much ground in the few hours we've got left before Alassara returns," when he mentioned the vampire's name, my mum growled quietly and I heard her claws ripping through the pillow she was seated on, "but it won't be difficult to teach you how to use your stamp and then, you can finally store your belongings properly and I won't have to hurry after you, picking up your things whenever you drop them. We should also be able to finally set the poor creature in that gem free. Afterwards… well, frankly, the easiest way to teach you both," he pointed at Ahri and me, "would be to have you fight over the next few days. Cross swords in the morning and have at it with your magic in the evenings." My fiancée wanted to interrupt, but the demon droned on unerringly.

"No, you can't get out of it, Ahri. Do you really think that what you did before when you used a reservoir stored in your body is the same as actually casting spells with your own power? Thought not. Now, what do you plan on doing while we wait for the Captains' gathering?"

I cocked an eyebrow and answered: "what makes you think I even want to do anything?"

"You strolled through town without concealing who you are. Not even you are that reckless unless it won't matter anymore, which tells me you expect to become known around here sooner rather than later. So… are you going to be the immortal avenger who turned the Mask into stardust or an exiled princess? What's it going to be hon, pity or power?" I chuckled quietly.

"A bit of both, I guess. How much gold do you think we could get if we were to sell the artefacts we still have?"

"Here? Scarce as any magic is? Enough for whatever you want to do."

"Are you sure? Because I want to buy the slaves off the markets, every last one of them and commission a few ships. Provided Clovis and his former pirates are willing to train them and turn them into our own little fleet." They stared at me as if I had just grown a second head.

"What? Is my idea that terrible?"

"Actually…no," my mum replied after a few seconds. "But probably impractical. Could we get enough coin to pay for all of that?" It was Mephisto's turn to chuckle.

"Even if we couldn't… gold is a basic element and as such a pure manifestation of earth. With a little time and some help, I can conjure however much you need."

"You're not serious," I gasped. "Are you?"

"Of course I am. It's never been an option before but with the amount of essence that's still within the remaining statuette of a forgotten goddess, I can at least manage some more impressive parlour tricks. It'll take about a week, but… Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Two things. First, you've never considered telling us? Do you know how much money can buy And secondly… we've never really talked about the statuettes after we got out of the tomb. Is Isis still in there?" I had actually been staring because I had remembered Pete's words when we had arrived on Free Land. With enough money we would have been able to buy the information we had needed, but Mephisto had never uttered so much as a single syllable. Since the magic needed several days to prepare, I could hardly hold it against him, but my temper still flared beneath the surface.

"Huh. The first question is easy to answer. Better than you, but it didn't matter… we didn't have the time nor did I have the capabilities… and I've told you now, haven't I? As for your second question… she is, in a way." He rolled up the sleeves of his robe and adopted his bendy legged lecturer's pose.

"Those things, they are ingenious pieces of magical architecture. It's a true pity you destroyed…: when he saw the icy glare my mum, Mordred and I shot in his direction, he quickly hurried on, "… but I'm sure there was no other way. In any case, they were formed or rather forged with an obscene amount of souls. Now, before you jump down my throat, those poor blighters are gone."

"You destroyed them," Ahri casually asked but I felt her temperature rise, putting the lie to her projected calmness.

"Please, why would I? No, they were… warped, their essence forged into something new that still contains remnants of the past. Those shadows you have fought in there were their manifestations, but they aren't very real or alive. Their souls have lost their lustre… a flowery description but in essence what happened to them. Souls are nearly as resilient as our cores, but they can be altered, changed… subjugated. Their uniqueness, their… choices were taken and replaced with an ironclad purpose. They were transmuted into the fundamental structure of those realms. And while they still are there, in a way, they're nothing more than the most precious mortar you could ever hope to find. So yes, they're gone, no, I didn't do anything to them and we won't really be able to set them free. All we could do is destroy the last statuette, but that wouldn't change much." He sighed deeply and added: "They won't ever be able to rejoin the cycle. As soon as the realm crumbles, they will drift off into oblivion."

"Suddenly I'm not feeling so bad anymore about what I did to the spider," I murmured.

"You shouldn't have in the first place," Viyara almost chided me. "There's enough ambiguity in life without you adding to it. Use her and get rid of her. Nothing good can come from her continued existence and if you ask me, a prison without torture is still much too good for her. Let her face the fires of retribution in whatever hell she's headed for. The sooner the better. Why do you keep her around anyways? What do you hope to gain?"

"The keys to Amon's empire. She knows him, she taught him… I think she can guess what he'll do next. Where he'll strike and which forces he'll be unleashing upon our world."

"Then ask her, get it over with. Damn it Cassy, it almost feels like you're afraid of letting go. The spider, the statuettes, the pirates… you can never make a clean cut, can you?" I paused.

"Maybe… maybe you're right, maybe I am afraid…, but then again, what does it matter? Do you think I'm wrong? Out with it, what's troubling you? Where do you think I'm mistaken?"