Arc 1. Life
1.1. Hatchling
It started in 2008, actually. The night after my mother's death.
I didn't actually realize it, though. It is kind of hard to actually be able to tell everything you dream about. It wouldn't be until the Locker that I remembered everything.
Every night, my dreams turned into something utterly strange. Like it came out of a fantasy novel, or perhaps a role-playing game. Given what had been bestowed upon me, the latter option was probably closer to the truth – because it was like I was one of the game's main characters.
I saw myself looking through the eyes of a girl about my age, living in what was a town that fit properly in the Middle Ages, perhaps edging into the later end of the era. She lived in a medium-sized town, near the mountains, with her parents. She was content, happy even, but she always knew there was something that called to her, out of town. Nonetheless, she remained, helping her parents and learning a bit of everything, waiting for the signal that would tell her it was time to go on an adventure.
Seeing that actually helped me a bit. Not enough to completely make up for losing Mom, but seeing my dream self with her own mother was somewhat soothing, and I would sleep better. But not even that was enough to fully get through every day.
Then, one day, she found a bald eagle. The creature was young, probably a few weeks away from the nest, and it was injured and hungry. Somehow, she managed to approach the eagle and she checked: the eagle had been hurt in a wing, probably by an arrow. This had prevented it from hunting, and while it had managed to subsist from small animals that were not smart enough, it was unable to actually eat. She gave it some jerky she liked to carry around, and when she tried to see how to heal it, she discovered something.
She could do magic.
It was around this time that summer began. It had been a bad year for me, even with my best friend Emma's help, but Dad had had it a lot worse. He could barely function after losing the woman he had loved and married, let alone be a father. I know that he did his best, but he could not deal well with it. So, when he asked if I wanted to go to summer camp, I said yes. I had hoped he would be able to begin to recover while he was alone, and we might be able to clear the air when I returned.
During the time at the camp, there were times I thought I could see eagles flying nearby, but I never checked. I was too distracted with camp and still dealing with losing Mom.
When I returned, I wished I had not left.
The eagle, and her magic, were the signal she had been waiting for. Experimentation had showed her how to choose which spells to use every day. She had found she could cast useful spells like one that created water, another to make an object like a torch, and many, so many more. Like the one she had used to heal the eagle. So, with her parents' support, she left. It was an adventure she would have never expected.
When I came back and I tried to get in touch with Emma, I found myself stonewalled. Calling her always ended with Zoe, Emma's mother, telling me she was away. Asking Zoe to tell Emma to call me back was never successful. Eventually, I managed to gather the courage to go to Emma's home – and I was told that Emma did not want to see me.
That had been a shock. The two of us had been like sisters for years, and she had been there with me for the past months, ever since Mom died. To be told that she did not want to see me... it was painful.
Then, school began, and I found her close to some other girl called Sophia Hess.
The beginning of her adventure had been tough. Between what she knew and her eagle companion, feeding herself was never an issue, and finding her way was not much of a problem since there was a road that connected her home town with other places, but that did not prepare her for other troubles – such as bandits. One of them tried to assault her while she was halfway to the closest city, but she had learned how to wield a quarterstaff, and she had managed to hit the bandit hard enough to force him to run away, leaving behind the large sword he had tried to use to intimidate her. Despite the weight, she found herself being able to wield it quite fine, even if doing it one-handed was quite hard.
For some reason, while I was away, Emma had met Sophia and she had latched onto her like a limpet. And, let's be honest... Sophia was an A-grade bitch.
She had this bullshit idea of 'predators vs prey', and apparently while she and Emma were 'predators', I was 'prey'. And, apparently, that gave her free way to screw up with my school life. Trying to get Emma to stop Sophia only led to her actually join in the bullying – but not the same way Sophia did.
Instead, she decided that not being friends with me was a blank check to start revealing all the secrets I had shared with her. Suddenly, things that I had told her in our sleepovers were being aired to the entire classroom, just for the sake of getting people to laugh at me.
She managed to arrive to a city, and it was a chance encounter that let her meet a certain warrior. The young man had been injured trying to stop a violent thief, and she had healed him with her magic. Recognizing her skill, the warrior had asked her if she would be willing to help him and a few others with a problem – a pack of bloodthirsty monsters had been attacking several towns nearby.
Almost overnight, I became the pariah of the school. Most people just ignored me, but Emma and her group of 'friends' decided to make my life impossible. They would trip me, steal my homework, throw my lunch... nothing was beyond them. I tried to complain to the teachers, but even when the others were blatantly acting in front of them, none of the teachers would do anything but tell me 'not to make up lies'. I even got detention a couple of times for 'trying to get other students in trouble without proof'. And by the time I considered trying to ask for a transfer to another school, my grades had slipped enough that doing it would have been impossible.
They were six in total. A wizard with an interest in magical object crafting, a thief quite prone to pick people's pockets only to return the contents and tell them how to secure their possessions, a gregarious brawler that seemed to like fighting while drunk and a woman with some serious dancing skills that could also fight at the same time, along with the fighter and the girl. A strange group, certainly, but strangely well balanced.
They had set out to the task, and soon enough they were sort-of making friends with each other. They could find points in common with each other, shared ideas and things they liked to do... slowly learning how to work together.
I had never felt more alone in my life. The closest thing to someone at school caring about me was Mrs. Knott, the Computer Studies teacher, who just let me do whatever I wanted after completing my assignments, but not even she did anything to curtail them.
And, the worst was, I couldn't tell Dad. Not that I was prevented from doing it – but that I knew I couldn't load my problems on his shoulders, when he had enough problems of his own, and I knew that, if he learned about it, he would be furious, and I did not want him to get in a fight with Alan Barnes, Emma's father and one of his oldest friends. So, whenever he managed to ask me how things were going, I lied and said everything was fine.
It soon became an art of acting.
The target of their mission had not been as easy as they thought. What the warrior had thought was a pack of monsters, turned out to be worse: a mysterious creature was in control of the monsters, and its power was beyond that of any of them. They were all struck down, left on the edge of death, as the creature sought entertainment in watching them slowly die.
But then, a miracle happened: a phoenix managed to get them all away from the creature and restored their lives. Unfortunately, there was little it could do, for the phoenix had not the power to confront the creature... but it could bestow some of its connection to what was beyond the reach of a mere mortal. The creature had minions, corrupted individuals that had joined it, and that were fundamental for its plans: if the six of them stopped those minions, they would be able to bring down the one that nearly killed them.
The bonds forged in battle and survival became stronger than adamantine: an oath was sworn. They would not stop fighting the creature, even beyond death if it was possible, until it was put down, and its danger erased from the face of the planet.
For the woman that I saw things through, the power of faith took root. Not faith in the gods, nor in spirits... but faith in people, in their relationships with each other. The eagle that had accompanied her from home became her closest companion, as their link gave her almost human intelligence. Similarly, her knowledge of magic expanded; working along with the wizard, she would help give her partners – her friends – the objects they would need to claim victory from the jaws of death.
Tracking the pack, they had originally gone after, they found a werewolf that, through unknown means, was able to retain human intelligence while in his animalistic form, while deliberately casting away scruples and conscience that would hold him back in either form. Much to the world's misfortune, he had found many of similar mentality, if less mental acuity; the roads became their hunting grounds, and any town they passed through barely had any survivors. But, eventually, the six adventurers found the caves the werewolf used to hide in. It took days of exploration, interspesed with several bloody fights, to reach the werewolf's den, and then they put an end to his predations. Only luck allowed them to find some objects the dancer could identify as coming from across the ocean.
Traveling by ship, something that pushed them through learning survival in the middle of the sea, they landed in a town that appeared to be normal. Only appeared, mind you – because, on their first night there, a tribe of sea-born creatures struck. Soon they learned that the town's inhabitants lived in fear of them, as they were unable to seek help or leave without being attacked. However, as the six learned, the sea-born's attacks were not completely willing: an abomination known as a worm-that-walks, created through the will of a dying evil sorcerer who sought to live no matter what, was using them as part of its plot. After several such nights, in which attacks were becoming bloodier, the adventurers counter-attacked by subverting the sorcerer's control, causing the creatures to fight each other, while they reached the abomination and killed each and every one of the worms that formed it.
A contact of theirs warned them of a sighting of the creature: it had gone into a desert. The throat-searing part of crossing the desert was the easiest part. When they arrived to their destination, they found a temple – and the creature leaving it. Attempting to stop it was in vain, so they entered the temple in order to discover what it had been doing and, perhaps halt its plans – only to learn too late that they had fallen into a trap.
The creature had also learned of their efforts, and had set up the temple so that it would transport itself, along with everything contained within to another plane, one that ought to kill them, as the ritual that sent them away also stunted any magics that would allow them to return. But the creature didn't count on the adventurers' resilience: running through a strange land that looked like a deranged fantasy narrated by H. P. Lovecraft and drawn by M. C. Escher, they battled monsters that were each stranger and deadlier than the one before, sometimes threatening their sanity, as they sought the one way out of the plane – which was guarded by a mad alchemist that worked for the creature, and which used its knowledge of potions to induce horrible hallucinations in them all. But, in spite of everything, the alchemist still fell under the assault of her eagle, allowing them to give him an end and return home.
The only thing I could do to deal with the bullying was writing down every incident in a diary. I suppose I hoped I would eventually be able to show it to someone, anyone with the ability to take those three to task. It was kind of cathartic, but in the end, it meant little as long as the school kept covering their asses and everything those three did.
It was during that time that I started noticing that I was changing. Granted, part of it was a bit of a growth spurt that actually made me look a bit more normal, but otherwise... I noticed that injuries healed a lot faster. Sleeping eight hours left me completely refreshed, no matter what. I was better at concentrating even with them trying to mess with me. I got better at avoiding their little ambushes and 'pranks'. In the rare events where they managed to steal my food, I barely even noticed hunger pangs.
Much like the girl in my dreams.
In their absence, the creature had been confident of their deaths and attacks had ramped up in number and intensity. Thousands of people died and more had to run away from their homes in order to survive the monster attacks unleashed against them. The creature's last "ally" had been sent away to continue with the destruction, while it plotted its next steps.
The adventurers answered to the rampage with one of their own: tens, hundreds of monsters were eliminated in their efforts to mete justice upon them and those who commanded them. The few that survived were those that ran away on time. The knowledge gained was put to test, and the monsters suffered greater pressure. The survivors of the attacks, as well as those who had yet to suffer, began to form improvised armies that managed to present opposition and halt further attacks.
And then the adventurers found the controller: a corrupted fairy that used its power to convince the monster army to follow her lead. After wading through mirages and illusions put in their way, the six also had to face the powerful magical defenses that acted as the last obstacle between them and the fairy, who was finally taken down when they all stabbed her with a cold iron weapon. One last battle against the monsters forced them to disperse, ending the threat they represented to the rest of the world.
Summer came through. Much to my relief, I managed to keep my notes at somewhere around a B, regardless of everything those three bitches (they definitely deserved to be called that by then) tried to do to ruin my studying. I learned to never keep anything in my locker that I did not want to lose, and evading their attempts to steal it from my backpack had ended up becoming a daily pastime. The main reason why I did not get better marks was that I could not deal with so many sabotage attempts going on at the same time. I had to wonder if they were actually spending time together to coordinate 'best ways to screw with Taylor Hebert'.
Unfortunately, this did not lend itself in time for Dad and me to solve our issues. Dwindling job opportunities and the constant siege by the gangs forced him to do more work to keep everyone afloat, and after a year of not telling him anything I could not find the way to say anything. So, we kept on, trying our best to ignore how our family was collapsing unto itself.
The death of the fairy prompted them to bring the fight to the creature that had so long ago nearly killed them, but the fight was likely to become the most dangerous in their lives: it had succeeded in finishing a ritual that gave it power maybe only below the Gods themselves, and now the creature was capable of doing things few mortals would be able to replicate.
Fortunately, among those few mortals were the six adventurers, six heroes now hot on its trail as it attacked the world's biggest city.
Many troubles beset them all as they went through the town. Apart from the chaos in the streets, the group had had to deal with an attack on a cathedral where hundreds of people had thought to take refuge: instead, the refuge had become a trap as several portals leading to the Abyss opened up, freeing bloodthirsty demons that had to be put down. At some other points in town, they had been forced to put down people that had gone crazy and started to murder everyone that came close.
And, at the center of it all, in the palace where the local king lived, was the creature, ready to cast the ritual that would turn it into a God – one which would have sunk not just the city, but everything in hundreds of kilometers, into the Abyss, while transforming everyone into some mad, half-demonic caricature of themselves... or worse.
Going back to school after that was a sign that things had not changed at all. If anything, Emma, Sophia, Madison and their stooges had only become more vicious in their campaign to mess with me: my first 'bully diary' of the year got filled in six weeks. I actually asked them once how sad their lives had to be that they kept going after me when they could actually be doing something useful.
Their answers bore no need of being repeated: they were repeating themselves too many times already.
The heroes arrived just in time, if not to save everyone, at least to prevent further death. Of innocent people, that is – for death suddenly rained over the creature in the form of arrows and spells, followed by claws and swords, all of it with one objective: destroy it before it could carry out its final scheme.
The creature was alone, regardless of its power, and the six heroes were more than capable of matching said power, so eventually it was turned into ashes, courtesy of the wizard's most powerful fire spell. What they didn't know was that the death of the creature was the last step in its insidious ritual, and unless they acted soon its last act of defiance would instead bring its plans to fruition.
It was by combining everyone's abilities that they were able to halt the ritual.
It had taken the thief's work to dismantle the magical runes holding the entrance to the ritual place closed.
It had taken the warrior's sword to open said entrance when it became obvious that it was not going to be opened fast enough.
It had taken the dancer's skill to reach the rune that would show where their target was, and to inspire their partners to achieve greater heights.
It had taken the brawler's strikes to batter down the box that held the secondary ritual components and destroy them.
It had taken the cleric's connection to the divine to banish the last piece protecting the central piece of the ritual.
It had taken the wizard's knowledge of the arcane to disrupt the ritual and prevent it from actually doing what it was expected to do.
It had taken everyone's power to save the city from the creature's last-ditch attempt to bring everyone down with it.
And, just like that... they had achieved their goal.
They had saved the world.
For me, things were not going as well as they did for the ones whose adventures I saw in my dreams. The three bitches kept stepping up their campaign. I deflected what I could and ignored the rest. It was not enough.
The heroes had become the saviors, and among the most powerful people in the world. With the end of the threat that had kept them fighting for more than a year against the creature, their purpose had finished, and slowly they began to take different paths. But they would never forget, and regularly they met, so they could celebrate their success.
She ended up marrying the wizard that had been her closest companion in their adventure, both in the battlefield and in their downtime. They met their families, and chose to settle in the same city they had saved, using their knowledge to live a good life through selling the magical objects they made and helping the people in need. They eventually started their family, and their life would be happy and prosperous.
That was when I was thrown into the locker.
Monday January 3rd 2011, 8:57 AM. Winslow High School, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth Bet
I opened the locker.
I almost hurled at the smell.
That was when Sophia pushed me in.
When Madison laughed.
When Emma laughed.
My sister in all but blood... committing the ultimate treason.
Before I could even react, the door had closed behind me, the lock broken so I couldn't try to open it from the inside, and those three bitches had just left, laughing as if they had just heard a funny joke instead of leaving me in here, surrounded by, from what my more detached part of my mind could comprehend, used tampons and pads – and all sorts of bugs that had immediately started to climb up my legs.
I started to bang on the door. I knew that there were people out there – other students, probably the teachers. I could hear them closing their own lockers, running for class – and ignoring me. No one even gave me a sign that they would try to warn a teacher or help or something.
They... they left me.
I knew that everybody else was so far up that traitor's ass that they probably could see the world every time she opened her mouth, but... this much? So much that they would leave me here? Bad enough that they would abandon me in this locker... but they couldn't have missed the smell, or the waste that had fallen to the ground before Sophia closed the door. They had to know what I had been pushed into... and still they had left.
I lost track of time after that. My watch did not have a glow-in-the-dark function, and I couldn't move in such a way as to see the hour under what little light entered in. The smell was only getting worse, as having to breathe in there for so long was not conducive to holding my breakfast. I think I actually vomited more than that in the process, and adding the smell of puke was not pleasant at all.
Whenever I heard the bell marking the time between classes, I tried to call attention, but no one came. I was sure I even heard one or two of the teachers passing by, but either they could not hear me or they simply chose to ignore what had happened to me, like they had been doing since I started attending this fucking shit high school.
And then... I realized I could not hear anything else. There was sound... but there was no one around.
They...
they...
… they had left me there.
I had spent eight hours in the locker, and no one had even tried to check on me in that entire time. Students, teachers... not even the janitor.
I... I...
Free... I needed to be free... to get out of here... before I died...
That was when I felt the crushing despair. Despair that made me instinctively beg, try to reach out for anything that could help me, even if it were a red-hot nail.
If what happened then had not happened, it would have been the moment I stopped being normal and became a Parahuman – my Trigger Event.
It could have been my Trigger Event. Should have been my Trigger Event.
But wasn't.
I did not receive a superpower.
What I got, though, went beyond mere superpower.
I saw two creatures that looked like whales – if you really squinted your eyes and told yourself so – floating around in a dark void, apparently, possibly talking to each other.
As they 'talked', they eventually crashed against each other, and when they did something fell. It seemed a crystal, but it was completely alien, clearly did not fit with what us humans called reality. It felt... ill. Sick. Something that I was certain I really, really did not want anywhere close to me. But I could not move, so the only thing I could do was wait for the crystal that fell through the void, unerringly aimed at me.
But, before it could hit me, I was yanked away from its path by something grabbing my right arm.
The crystal fell right across my sight a second later, not that I was able to notice much since I was flying so fast it and the 'whales' were soon twinkles and dots in the black sky, possibly never to be seen again. Looking at whatever had grabbed me, I saw a pair of awfully sharp talons gripping my wrist, somehow not breaking through my clothes, never mind my skin.
Said talons were attached to – I kid you not – an eagle. The kind that showed up in documentaries.
Yeah, it made no sense. Clearly, this was some sort of nonsensical, delirious dream brought on by what had happened to me.
Then again, 'nonsense' had slowly become 'norm' in the past thirty years, so I could not tell how real it was.
And talking about real... I was surprised by the fact that I could actually think rationally, in spite of everything.
In fact, I was the calmest I had been in months. For once, I could actually feel myself breathing – so to speak – free of pain. I was not burdened by the weight of fifteen months of solitude and loss over my shoulders.
Fifteen months... fifteen months where I had witnessed Emma gluing herself to Hess' hip and becoming an alpha bitch in the process. Fifteen months where I had held out the hope that the Emma I had shared my secrets and dreams with was still there, ready to be unburied. But now I could recognize it: my sister in all but blood had died while I was at summer camp, and had been replaced by someone that could be best defined as her evil twin. Whatever had happened while I was away, Hess probably had something to do with it.
And, speaking of them... how had they managed to pull that thing with my locker off? For that matter, how had they managed to get into my locker so many times? No matter what kind of lock I used, they could always take my stuff, yet the lock had never been broken. Given that none of them had the skills of a master locksmith, clearly there was something rotten in the state of Denmark. Literally, in this case.
I am betting that Blackwell will, once more, attempt to brush things under the carpet or claim that I was once more calling for attention. Never mind that what those three had done was a crime. From my limited knowledge of law, false imprisonment and attempted manslaughter were at least in the list. And the teachers were liable for massive neglect of duty, because there was no way the teachers missed what had happened nor the smell from the toxic waste those three had put into my locker.
I just hoped that I would never have to step into that hell hole any more. I had had to deal with bullies and apathetic teachers for more than a year: no more. Even if I had to pick up homeschooling. Granted, I would prefer to go to somewhere like Arcadia, but with my marks as they were right now, I would have a hard time getting accepted.
I would have to talk to Dad about it, whatever the choice. And that was another can of worms, ready to be opened: we had spent almost two years never actually talking with each other, just filling the silence with words. Actually, bringing up an important matter was going to be awkward.
…
Alright, how long had it been since the eagle took me away? I did not even know how much I had spent thinking about my problems, and yet the eagle did not even seem to be tired. Another point for a lucid dream, I guess. I had been so deep in thought that I had not cared about it until I ran out of stuff to think about.
Looking ahead in the direction the eagle was flying for, I noticed a spot of light that was clearly the target of the predator, given its apparent eagerness for reaching it. Since there was little I could do, I just kept my eyes on the spot, which grew and grew until eventually it was all I could see. It was almost like being struck with a beam of light, but without being blinded by it.
Then I blinked, and everything changed.
Instead of the white featureless expanse from earlier, we were now overflying what could be described as a Middle Ages-era town, one in the middle of market day: birds flying around, stands full of produce built over a floor of paved stone... but not a single soul to be seen. Kinda spooky, actually.
However, it did seem to be the destination, for the eagle descended carefully and with purpose, until I could finally step on the stone floor, and it gave me something akin to a glare, but without malice. It seemed like it was waiting for something.
"Hmm... thank you?" I said, more in confusion than in thankfulness, since I did not know where I was now, but the eagle took it as good enough, because it gently headbutted me, brushing me with its feathers.
"Come now, Suruher, you've already begged for enough petting today," a voice – a female voice – said from behind me. The eagle jumped off from my shoulder – almost winging me in the face in the process – and took flight towards whoever was at my back. I turned to see who was th--
"Mom?" I whispered. The sight before me... I could not process it. The woman that had suddenly appeared, and that was now giving the eagle what I could only presume to be some kind of treat... she looked so much like Mom it was uncanny.
But then she turned to look at me, and there was something else to consider.
Namely, the fact that she was not like Mom.
Instead, it was almost like I was looking at myself on a mirror. Perhaps with a few minor differences – she was not as thin as me, and clearly had done work on the gym or something like that – but still me. A prettier, older version of me, perhaps.
"Sorry, Taylor. I wish I were otherwise, but I'm not your mother," older-stranger-me said, giving me a sad smile. "It's nice to meet you, even if the circumstances aren't the best."
"Who are you?" I asked, still stunned at the appearance of this doppelganger of mine, and her smile turned slightly more genuine.
"If my husband were here, he'd likely be able to explain this better than me because he practically breathes this kind of stuff. Put short, I'm you, but from a different universe. You have been seeing my life these past few years, I think."
"Seeing your..." I whispered, but then I looked around... and I realized I had actually seen this place before. With more people, obviously. "My god. This... this is from my dreams. They actually happened?"
"Yes. As you can imagine, it was a hard time for us all. But every hardship and effort were worth it in the end. I helped save the world quite a few times. Made several wonderful friends. I even met the man I eventually married. And... well, for some reason I somehow became a kind of goddess to the people I helped."
I blinked again.
Was I actually hallucinating right now? Because everything was on some upper level of weird. First the whatever-the-hell-whales with the crystal, then the eagle and now an alternate magical me that speaks with me.
I was certain that books that began with that kind of plot were the type to kill writing careers.
"OK... I'll try to take things at face value even if I feel like I should be at the loony bin. First, though, what do I call you? Because 'magical-older-me-from-different-universe' doesn't quite flow."
She chuckled and briefly combed her hair with her free hand – the one not holding the eagle – before pulling something from under her shirt.
"My name is Habristiel." She grinned, and I had the feeling that there was some kind of joke I was missing. It did sound like it came from The Lord of the Rings. I think Mom had a dictionary of it, or something.
"Nice to meet you. So... why am I here?"
It was a perfectly legitimate question, after all.
"I want to help you."
I felt an eyebrow rise on its own: after fifteen months where the only people that had offered me any kind of legitimate support were Dad and Mrs. Knott, I was kind of skeptic about the idea.
"I know of the struggle you have undergone, Taylor. Of the many dangers that threaten your world. Do you think that our connection was one-directional? Plus, it wasn't only memories that you received, I have been giving you a bit of the power I hold, I'm sure you have noticed. There was little else I could do, though – at least until you went through that 'Trigger event' thing. That was the one moment I could directly interfere, before you were implanted with a power."
"Implanted with a power? How does that even work? And how did you do it, exactly?"
"To the former, I don't know much. It's not something I have researched for long, but these... 'parahuman' abilities are something completely unnatural, not born from humanity's interaction with the world. As for how I stopped it from happening to you... magic." She snapped her fingers as she muttered something, and suddenly my shirt was shining like a lantern. "That there is a spell that anyone in my world with minimal power can cast. By the time you return home, you'll be able to do even more than this parlor trick."
"Not that I don't believe you... but I don't believe you." Habristiel chuckles. "How, exactly, will I be able to do that? It's not as if I actually have the ability to do magic."
"Are you certain about that?" Habristiel asked, giving me a small smirk – one that painfully reminded me of a photo of happier times. "You're me, Taylor. Younger, less experienced... but still me. I assure you, you have magic within yourself. And, if you will allow me a bit of bragging, my magic-weaving skills are quite excellent. You only need to learn how to let it out and keep the magic running. Besides, since I'm technically your source, it shouldn't be hard for you to maintain it. Just keep in touch, clean living, punish evil, help the helpless and take care of your companion."
… What.
"What."
"Oh, right," she replied, snapping her fingers as if remembering something. "People like you and me rely on an external source of power to gain our spells. As I said, I'm your source. As for your companion... imagine, if you will, an animal that will always stay next to you, one that will share your struggles and help you on your quest. Suruher here was that for me, and sooner or later you will find yours."
It was involuntary. But for a moment, I kind of saw myself. Wearing silvery armor, a shield and a large sword, a pair of wings to my back, and an eagle perched on my shoulder. I shook my head: the imagery of an angel had been taboo ever since the Simurgh showed up and turned all of Lausanne's inhabitants into walking time bombs and berserkers.
A weight on my shoulder shook me out of my musings, and I turned to see that Suruher had flown from Habristiel to me. Once he had my attention, he started to comb my hair with its beak. It actually felt... kind of nice.
"Well, Suruher likes you," Habristiel stated with a smile. "Eagles are like that freedom you've always wanted but never found. You've wished you could just fly on your own, right?"
"Well, yeah. Going through the sky without a care... I've wished for that a million times."
"Congratulations. Magic will let you do that. Both with spells and with objects." She turned to a pile of boxes that had been standing next to one of the market stands and opened one of them, pulling out a cape that seemed to be made of white feathers and putting it on. "Takes a while to make, but it's completely worth the effort. Unless you need to get very far, this is good enough. Ruc!"
The cape parted, and the feathers turned into two enormous wings that spread from Habristiel's shoulders. They looked quite awesome.
"Set up a workshop, get the materials, and you'll be able to get this one quite easily. Depending on how hard you work, it can take anywhere between a few days or a few weeks. But... it depends on whether you actually want to know more."
What should I do?
On one side, this alternate version of me had been sending me weird dreams, and I presumed was also behind some of the weirder stuff in my life, such as the whole 'don't-need-to-eat-so-much' thing. I had to wonder what else accepting would bring in me.
On the other side... magic. Seriously, as far as I could tell, this was magic without issues like making you go mad. And flying. Cannot forget the flying. And, well, a chance to save the world? I doubted I could actually do that, but... I could try, at least.
"I think I am going to take the offer."
Nine words that, in different circumstances, would have been minor.
Right now, they were going to decide my entire life.
"I had the feeling you would accept. Thank you for that."
"How do we do that? Do I have to do something special?"
"No, don't worry. The power was already in you when you accepted. What we are going to do is to hash out the kind of things you need to do when you begin working, because let me tell you, you are going to have to squeeze everything you can out of your powers if you want to become the best hero you can be. Is that alright with you?"
"Sure. Not like I can do anything else right now."
"Perfect! Now, there are several tricks I did not learn how to make until I was at the tail end of my adventure, but you should be able to pull them off right now. Take a seat, and we'll begin. Hope you can remember everything when you wake up again, though."
"Those metals are weird."
"So, you are fine with: magic, holy fire, water control, creature summoning, creating demiplanes, making food and even the power of making actual miracles... and you draw the line at adamantine and mithral?"
"Well, at least all of those things can be explained in some way, they are probably opening portals connecting the material plane to some demiplane where those things exist. These metals make no sense at all."
"Well, adamantine comes from certain meteorites, it's certainly strange, but mithral is relatively common. Dwarves had this instinctive ability to search for it, the difficult part was extracting and working it, that drove up its price. But you should be able to get as much as you want – your only limit is what you can make."
"You know that that still feels weird too. Creating stuff ex nihilo? With not even an actual exchange of energy to do it?"
"That's what your mythic power is meant to do, provide the energy for the spell to work. Also, technically you are doing it through a miracle, aren't there religious figures in your world that did that?"
"Yes, but mostly they are either mythological figures or those who were claimed to have that power long after they died."
"Well, you will be able to do what I just mentioned. Just make sure to build up all the ideas before working everything out and you will be fine."
"I will, thanks for that."
"I know it seems like cheating, but given what you are going to be facing as a heroine, the idea is simple: if you are not cheating is because you are not trying. Any advantage to get is going to be welcome, I assure you."
"It's not a complain. But, this forge... it does feel strange that it can actually replicate any spell when you use it."
"Well, not every spell – arcane spells of the highest levels are unfortunately out of the scope of a miracle, but yes, apart from those anything goes."
"I'm wondering. Would it be possible to make some sort of workshop where you could use that for anything? Like... potions, staves, wands, wondrous objects."
"Hmm... I had not considered it. During my adventures, we never had the time to actually settle down and come up with these kinds of ideas, but... we can work out if your idea is feasible, because it would be a great boost to your empowerment."
"... and this is Sanae. I don't think I have met someone as happy-go-lucky as her in my life. You would be surprised by how much joy she could insert in almost any situation. And her dancing ability was certainly without peer – it certainly helped us multiple times in battle."
"You think I should make a simulacrum of her to aid in my fights?"
"It is a good possibility, yes. Simulacra are automatons, so they have no needs and will follow your orders unquestioningly. Granted, the main problem is that you will have to guide her in some way, even if she would be mostly independent, and will need to be well armed and protected if you bring them into the field with you. At the beginning, she probably will make more of an impact helping you in the crafting of objects. Same as with any other simulacra you make."
"They can be given long term orders, right? Because if I have to stay with them all the time just to ensure they follow orders, it would defeat the purpose."
"Don't worry, they can. You can leave them a list of things to do and they'll follow it to the best of their ability. Though, take into account that they will have diminished skills compared to my friends. So, if you make one of Marcus, he won't be able to give you wishes."
"I know. Well, I think that what I would use wishes for is already covered with miracles, so..."
"Very well, I have taught you everything you will need when you return that isn't spells. After the little sojourn you had, it is likely it will take a few days for you to gain the strength you ought to have. Less if you use restoration spells, but try to hold off on those until you can get away with it. When you can, create your holy symbol – it will be really helpful. And, well, remember the workshop – having that will make your task a lot easier."
"I will. And, eh, thanks for, you know, everything. You've helped me a lot."
"Hey, I couldn't not help you! It would have been like denying myself the help I needed. Come 'ere, let me-" she said, giving me a hug. At first, I was stunned, but slowly I returned the hug: it was something I had not done in quite a while, and Habristiel giving me one felt like when Mom would do it. "Now, be careful and never lose sight of your true goal. And... who knows? Maybe we'll be able to see each other again."
She combed my hair with her hand and then kissed me in the forehead.
"See you around, kid."
She tapped my nose...
and soon began my new life.