The Magician 8

Orison had Lithus get a good nap in after using the lavender ritual on her and light tranced til three hours after sunrise. As soon as the Zeke lookalike gave the go-ahead, the magician awoke Lithus and they were on their way. It was a bland use of fifteen minutes before the group was standing in front of the lake house again.

It was heart wrenching but They endured interrupting Droya in the middle of a full emotional crisis due to the 'biological father' picking up his son. They doubted things were that simple with the spiritual host of Piran being the initial proactive one but it didn't matter. They shoved a small bag of gold at the woman and asked if she would be interested in being a governess.

"I can't make such a weighty decision until my husband returns," Droya said.

Orison replied. "Well, Lithus and her grandfather need a place to stay for a couple of days. Worst case, I doubt your husband would mind you having the company of an old wood elf and a kind hearted little lady for a bit of company."

The magician's nose soured at her sad smile as she said. "Yes. I suppose that would be fine. I know Morrel and owe him a debt of gratitude a few years overdue at any rate."

They handed a note to Morrel. "In case anything strange should happen and I don't return, this is the name and place where a Deep Marshlander named Takris stays. He doesn't know me but I can vouch that his interest and care for your daughter will be genuine should they be introduced."

Morrel frowned. "A stranger vouching for a stranger on a 'maybe' from the other side of the map is highly suspect."

Orison said, "There's no doubts there but it's true all the same. We can talk more in a couple of days hopefully."

"Gratitude for your assistance and respect of your magical prowess buy you that much, young man," the wood elf said.

After saying Their temporary goodbyes, the magician swung through a part of the field to pick some more lavender and make a quick circle focus ring before heading to Granite Falls for mass slumber and slaughter. They didn't stop there, however. They knocked out two more islands and broke the Domain teleport relay, isolating the Obsidian Island chain from Summerland.

The magician was in awe at how easy and strong the magic They could use was and how little it took from Them. Climbing at a break neck pace, there was never any real time to think about what returning to the beginning would do for Their prowess. They also noted that accumulating spiritual debt was a lot easier if care wasn't taken. Reaching a certain level of power was an indicator it was time to move on or remove one's self from worldly affairs, apparently.

After ransacking the three villas like a First Family pirate, Orison quickly returned to collected Their preferred people cargo. Once on a boat, They pushed them quickly out to a point of reasonable distance from shore, close to Their next goal, and appeared at the Fvaris compound. Things were about to get dicey quick but Orison laid it to rest with a Lesser Disjunction and a shout for Granny Xia.

Keeping ahead of her, They passed the sea agricultural plan and a movement to allow the Northlanders to act as intermediaries for Centerland goods. After showing the three Domain villa commandants' heads, They endured a round of questioning. When it showed no signs of ending anytime soon, the magician cut them off.

They said, "When it comes down to it, you are either interested in my proposal or you aren't. I don't care enough to banter and play games. If not, let's stop talking and I'll go collect the few Centerland soldiers I'm interested in and let you murder the rest, sandwiching yourself between two hostile forces. I promise you, I don't care whether Summerland Domain believes you innocent of what I just did and I don't care about Centerland in general.

"I'm mildly friendly with Northland political stances but think their views on gender equality and rigid traditional stances on peoples private affairs are fairly abominable. I hate your politics but think your relaxed attitude towards personal freedoms are pretty admirable if you'd drop the superior race attitude that makes the Domain a steaming pile of fertilizer."

Elder Liu said with a sneer, "Why not regal us with your opinion on the wood elves or the Marshlanders while you're at it."

Orison said, "I know jack all about the Vale. Marshlanders are insane pessimists but pretty good friends if you can manage to make them one. I know jack all about Redlanders and Highlanders too... Deliberate, I'll come back in a bit."

While the magician gave them time to stew, They snatched Lily and the foreign monk from the jaws of the Abyss and broke the gate. It was draining to open without the miasma fueling it and it was a touch dangerous to boot but half an hour later, The boat of refugees and two mummies were chilling in the secret cave.

After giving some initial treatment and rummaging through the monk's ring, They got her in a basic recovery state. "Hang tight, Lily. Keep an eye on this bunch of yahoos for me. I'll keep the ring here, just in case. But don't get into it if it's not an emergency. That monk over there is resurrectable. I don't particularly trust him but he doesn't seem to be a complete turd either. No need to gank his stuff when he has so little that's actually useful to you."

"Thhhank yyyou," she rasped, a tear sliding down from a gem-like eye.

Orison gave her a reassuring smile and said, "I'm going to trance for an hour, take care of some business and be right back, barring some unforeseen ridiculousness. Hang tight until then."

The magician put the fateful wood carving on the monk's chest and deep tranced for an hour. When they came out of it, child version Duran was clinging to Them, bawling his eyes out silently. Surprised by the kid waking from ritual sleep ahead of schedule, They returned the hug and and attempted to calm the kid down.

"Hey there, Dur- Do you have a name?" They said, projecting as much compassionate calm as They were capable.

Wiping the embarrassing evidence of his emotional display off with a sleeve, Duran said, "I remember, Orison. Maybe not everything but I remember... Sorry for...that. I'm still very confused inside."

The magician looked at the boy in wonder and asked, "How?"

The boy said sadly, "Wick ascended. They entered Medea and ascended. Let's not talk about the rest. Not yet."

Behind the boy's eyes was a kind of tiredness that Orison could all too easily relate to. The answer as to why Duran was still 'entangled' enough with Orison to show up on the key's radar was answered, at least.

Not bothering to hide Their own weariness, Orison said, "Then, let's do what we can for old friends and then give ourselves a fresh start. Does that sound like a plan?"

Duran nodded and then looked himself over. "I need momentum... Soul strengthening first and then... I know enough to pick up where I left off, mostly. But..."

Orison saw the embarrassed and guilty look on Duran's face and realized that he was talking about needing a massive amount of resources. Only Duran's knowledge came back. Everything else was square one.

They smiled. "Well, knowing where to start is half the struggle solved. I'll help you work on the other half."

Still emotionally unstable, Duran said, "While I still have the excuse of being... young, could we...?"

Orison chuckled inwardly and hugged the boy a little while longer. They couldn't imagine how rough it was to play catch up under the baggage of a couple centuries while having the mind and makeup of a child. Before, once he had recovered, Duran was never shy about stating and going after what he wanted and needed. It was a good quality to possess as far as the magician was concerned.

After Duran had himself back under shaky stability, They asked on a plan functioning level about the boy's old relationships and possible others that Orison might not know about. The general idea was that Duran had been kept so ran ragged by his and Wicks needs that he hadn't had much time for connection building. The biggest change would be that he didn't particularly want to go out of his way to involve himself with the phoenix lady.

"Without Wick, we won't work. And... she'll hurt people. I think I'll always care about her but I don't want her to hurt someone. She's... cruel to people she doesn't care about," Duran explained reluctantly. "It's not all her fault. She was raised badly. Her powers made her... wanted."

Orison nodded. "I get the gist. We can help but keep an emotional distance."

With a little more discussion about exactly what that plan was, the magician prepared to start enacting it.

***

"Young Orison, your plan is the height of idealistic folly. No country or kingdom would stand for the establishment of an independent power. An academy of any kind represents that whether its intentions are benevolent or not," Granny Xia said.

Orison looked at Master Kretch, appealing for support. The old man stood stock still and silent, enjoying Their predicament.

Forging on, They said, "It's primarily an educational institute for mundane knowledge. Magic courses will only be taught up to Journeyman level. There are severe shortages of health care and engineering professionals worldwide. This would be a huge step in mending some of the foundational cracks within Amoril's balance and future stability.

"The ancestors of all the elven nations were first and foremost architects. For too long have the powers of magic been made into tools of murder and destruction without balance. One day, those powers will undergo a dramatic change and if the very basis of their creation isn't explored and solidified now, the art will dwindle and die in the future.

"Fact of the matter is, I don't NEED to include you. I simply want to. All I want from you is a couple of representatives from among your people to show support of the idea. Leave whether or not it's possible to me. How about that one girl, the one with the big birthmark on her face? She has Xia blood but isn't particularly valuable for her bloodline strengthening capabilities. Assuming her mind is sound and she's willing, what would you really lose on such a low cost gamble?"

During the following week of negotiations, Orison handled some other business as well. After a particularly rough self introduction to Nub where the magician gamboled around, dodging Nub's alternate attempts to kill or eat Them, the two finally sat dawn to discuss. The vampire was stunned to near momentary mindlessness by the information in the journal before him.

"Why would you give something like this to me? I would believe it to be an elaborate hoax if I couldn't verify some of the content myself," the vampire said.

Orison chuckled and then settled into a somber mood. "Suspend your disbelief and hear me out. In another, alternate flow of events, you were a good friend who helped me above and beyond. We labored under the idea that we would become family through marriage. In this flow of events, that's no longer a possibility at all but my memories and feelings of friendship towards you haven't disappeared with it.

"Among them is a regret. As much as you helped me, I wasn't there to help you when you needed it most. To be fair, you never asked me to or even told me of upcoming struggles you'd be undergoing. But, since when did feelings need the burden of logic?"

They shared their vision of the academy and Nub's potential place within it.

"Blood Bank and Hematology division? Transfusions and mundane testing of blood born pathogens? There's quite a few terms I don't even know the meaning of and you want me to be in charge of teaching it!?" the vampire said.

Orison explained, "It's an emerging field situation. You teach what you learn and another will pick up where you leave off. I can only give so much. There are rules...

"What you would be working towards is a way for vampires to be able to re-embrace portions of real lives. They may never be able to fully step out of the shadows but they could erect a masquerade. It might be a strange thing to consider but imagine moving away from the need to 'hunt and gather'. It's a possibility of mass food stores that don't require death instead of a long life of predation."

Nub smirked, "And all the while we slave in the background to save lives, prevent the spread of disease."

"Since when would a large population of longer living and healthy people be a bad thing for vampires?" Orison smirked right back.

He responded, "When the world becomes too small for remote and secretive places, there are plenty of creatures that will suffer."

Rolling it through Their mind, They said, "Assuming a world lives long enough, it will happen one day. Good thing there's a possibility of getting on the track of being insiders. Give a little, take a little and evolve with the times. You're speaking of things over a thousand years away or more.

They shared some of the larger plan with Nub. And after a couple more migraine inducing sessions with the Council of Elders, Orison had missives flying to the Colleges located in the Northlands and Centerlands along with ones to key Order of Silence chapters. It was an annoying but necessary step.

While that was percolating, Orison cleaned out the hidden jade tomb and found that the opening to a failing abyssal plane was absent. It gave Them some hope. It was far too early to tell if that meant what Orison wanted it to mean, however.

What WAS present in the tomb, gave ample means to heal and recover the two climbers. They were careful not to reveal greed inducing things to either Lily or the shady monk, keeping it to personal concoctions of medicine. With little to interest the cultivator who had strayed far from his splay, the man left fairly quickly with empty words of flattery and gratitude. Lily, however, seemed keen on sticking around a little while longer.

"Can you tell me a little about the sister you're supposed to meet up with? Maybe I've ran into her. I know that's highly unlikely but you never know unless you ask," Orison said with a smile.

Still weak but no longer gruesome to behold, Lily said, "Looking to win over two pretty ladies instead of just one? You greedy little thing."

The magician gave a bitter smile. "You tease but you know how the lower dimensions are. I've already saved you once before and had a bit of a school kid crush on you. At that time, I wasn't even a climber yet. You kind of gave me a little leg up to get me started."

Giving a bitter smile of her own, she said, "Oh, past tense, huh? Find out how old I am or something?"

Orison shook Their head. "That wouldn't matter to me. It's just, a lot of time has passed since then and I've accumulated some pain I need to let go of. Someone told me to keep my heart alive and gave me the advice to hold on but with a loose grip. It's a good piece of advice that I'm finding hard to put into practice."

Lily sighed. "Don't I know it! Hey, if my age doesn't really bother you, would you mind helping me overwrite some... It's... never mind."

The magician said, "I'm up for some cuddles, if that's what you want. And if it turns out that you aren't ready for more than that, that's fine too."

It turned out that's exactly what she wanted, some comfort to ease the loneliness without invoking memories of what she had endured. She wasn't the only one. In no time, they were the center of a dog pile of children that Duran continued to pretend to be a part of.

Orison could understand how such a thing remained appealing even after all that Lily, Duran and the rest of the kids had been through. There was something healing about physical closeness that lacked the fire but kept the warmth. That was especially true for Duran.

The poor guy gave off the vibes of a loner. But in truth, he feared loneliness more than death. Without Wick to provide him with a source of constant companionship, the magician wondered how Duran would cope. They thought that the boy didn't put off a level of unhealthy codependency, at least. It did make Them curious about how long he had spent alone before things unraveled.

The magician indulged in the comfort for awhile before moving along to other things. A few days of raiding ruins and the secret hellish experiment facility of Avenar and Orison was hemorrhaging out a small mountain of wealth through the right channels to get Their plan off the ground. They also acquired an important approval from Centerland through a senatorial back channel.

Once They had made a fourth check in to see how Droya was coming along, the magician finally made a return to one of the most unhappiest places They'd ever stayed. "Acting Captain Quintus, I'm in need of four of your men. I've also been given a pass you can use as a political shield. There's no reason for your men to wait here with improper supplies and insufficient manpower."

The grim man in question carried a little too much dirt on his soul but there was no denying his care for the men that weathered the hardships of the Obsidian Island consulate. Before he'd discuss anything, he extorted Orison into providing healing for his men once he discovered that the magician could. Once that was done, the man was ready to play ball.

He said. "This is technically not legal. I COULD be court marshaled for accepting this order."

Orison nodded. "You COULD take this ledger I'm giving you and secretly blackmail your way from a disgraced acting captain to an actual captain with commendations on your record. Don't get greedy with it or you COULD also be assassinated."

After giving a sloppy salute, the acting captain called Hefty, Mellow and the Tulius brothers. He didn't stick around to satisfy his curiosity over the four men's fates as he had a small lock box full of back payroll to distribute and a boat to prepare for. Figuring it was better for the four soldiers to be confused than informed and capable of raising objections, the magician teleported them to the Evergreen Academy's future mountain wreathed lands to set up temporary accommodations.