22 Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you not dead
The old adage that strength comes from not dying is really a misnomer. Maybe a bone heals back stronger where it broke, but broken bones can also develop arthritis and that says nothing for the scars that develop in soft tissues after serious injury. Perhaps the potential for good and evil is equated in every individual, but the idea that choice is always a factor in this would elevate mortals to divinity. And if a mortal wants to conquer death that's a relatively good place to start. But how does a mortal obtain divinity? The answer was far more complicated because divinity is something you first have to reject. It's also true that Zion was masterful at rejecting things.
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Corvis and Zion first met in an insignificant way. Corvis had a very unique past from which he had been running. This similarity with Zion was what actually drew them together. There are certain understandings only experience can lend you and those shared experiences can create a kinship where you can show the parts of yourself that would otherwise never be understood. Both Zion and Corvis were always hiding their magic, it's why their magic could be bound together so well. They were both made of secrets. Corvis was astute in remembering that, even when he remembered things Zion did not. His compulsion for eating magical objects developed as a magical consequence. Keeping secrets drained his essence so he compulsively compensated with pica. This was also how he suppressed his true form, which, before having to keep so many secrets, was something he could shift into with ease. Zion, because of what they intentionally forgot, did not remember a time that Corvis did not have pica, nor did they remember his original form when they pulled him from the mirror gate.
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Being a magical creature was both a life of apprehension and adventure. It was always dangerous being something whose every feature is concentrated magic. It was like being fodder for the magically adept whom if they were not hunting for a familiar would certainly use a magical being for their magical parts. Corvis did not want to be a slave nor did he want to be food or some adjuvant or active ingredient to a spell. While magical beings possessed magic, they were not often adept with it. While the magically adept had learned to manipulate magic they often didn't possess it. Elementals and elves were the rare exception to this having both inherent magic and a strong ability to utilize it. Corvis wanted to master himself in this way. When he initially answered Zion's call for a familiar he had failed to mention this, however, and was overlooked. His natural attraction to magical objects was present even before he developed pica. Wanting to stand out from his condition to impress Zion, he flew into their window one night and told Zion about a powerful magic he felt eminating from an abandoned star temple. Star temple's were not built for the worship of stars, but ancient collection, refining and storage facilities for starlight and star dust. Neither were prepared for what they found inside. Zion did not remember this, but this was not the first time they had stumbled upon a mirror gate.
The temple was old and the exterior was covered in vines. However, inside was bathed in light and eerie magic so much that nature recoiled. There was neither dust nor cobweb, it was pristine as if it had never been abandoned. Star dust and starlight are incredibly potent and dangerous magic when they are refined. They can tear at the temporal fabric of reality. Concentrating them is difficult and requires very specific technology much of which was lost because those who worked with refinement met with certain kinds of magical insanity and those who used the refined products suffered still another. Like the magickal equivalent of asbestos, the hazards and dangers of star dust lent the temples to disuse and finally abandonment.
This particular temple was unique because the stardust and starlight was used to create a mirror gate which was housed inside. Corvis approached it instinctively and didn't realize what had happened. Zion saw this took place and panicked, not knowing what else to do they quickly made the familiar contract and used it to retrieve Corvis from the mirror.
The bond being formed was now unbreakable. Whatever regret either might have had with the haste and desperation that had forged their connection, neither felt inclined towards remorse knowing whatever could have been now was not and what was now would remain. Instead, both tried to make the best of their new union. Corvis was eager to learn magic and Zion was more than happy to have a familiar that wanted to be fluent in the magical arts. What's more, the temple would later become a huge asset, so what might have started as an accident became an unintentional pivot by which the two would cheat destiny.
Having escaped the mirror once, Corvis was fearful of returning despite knowing it's inevitably. While Zion didn't remember their first encounter with the mirror gate, Corvis certainly did, and he knew that eventually the mirror would call them back like the gravity of the dead stars it was made from. When Zion came back with that shadow, he knew they were already caught in the mirror's event horizon.
