Well, your story isn’t… entirely nonsensical, Doc’s words blared across her vision. But I admit, I have no clue what a bloom tonic is. Or how you somehow had a passage from your locii to another locii. You waking up suddenly makes sense. Intense emotions or experiences can jolt you awake--him punching you was probably the trigger.

“Doc says I’m mostly not crazy,” Ceyda said.

“Cool,” Lyle said, not entirely enthused. The group of thieves she had aligned herself with had been privy to her entire side of the conversation with Doc, which meant they had heard the entire recounting of the person who went by Reiner.

With one last snip of the shears, Ceyda’s long hair littered the floor.

“Done,” Natalia said, fishing out a mirror shard.

Ceyda blinked at her muddy reflection. “I have no idea what I look like.”

Which was true. The poor quality of the mirror and her lack of glasses meant she basically looked the same, only without the background frizz.

“Hey, Doc,” Ceyda said. “Does this count as getting Thelloya’s approval?”

Under normal circumstances, no. And under these circumstances, also no. But if you did give yourself extreme makeovers a few dozen more times, it’s possible you would be able to gain access to the sphere, based on my vague book feelings. Why? Do you really want to alter your body that much?

“Well, I just think it would be a great magic sphere to have if I’m trying to disguise myself,” Ceyda replied.

That makes sense, although I have been thinking about your whole… strange situation.

“Yeah?”

So, I’ve noticed something weird about everyone you’ve been talking to. None of them can use magic--and I know, I know you already said that. But it wasn’t making sense to me. And now we get this lone guy in the dreamscape? It’s got me thinking.

Ceyda nodded vaguely, holding her book ever so tighter as she found a burlap sack to tear some eye holes in.

The plan was pretty simple, all things considered. Ceyda would break into the house proper, with a dozen bags in tow. She’d ferry them outside the house, and the others would take them away, with Natalia providing lookout. This meant everyone else was more likely to stay safe, and Ceyda’s job was easier.

I think there’s a rebellion. A real one. Not whatever this weird group of outcasts that Opal cobbled together is. And I think he might be a part of it. It’s possible there’s some part of Kesterline that still resists this whole ordeal. Maybe that other thief, the one in the pink dress, is a part of it too! If we could get into contact with them, we could learn a lot. There’s clearly been a lot of information in the--in the--gods, Ceyda, why couldn’t you have asked him what year it was?

“I forgot,” Ceyda replied, staring intently at the sacks. “I was very distracted by the dying and the yelling.”

I know… I know… and that’s very fair but--there is so much we don’t know, Ceyda! There’s so much I don’t know! They could know what happened with the Avatars! Why people aren’t getting their grimoires! What happened during the wars up to this point! The trajectory of Kesterline!

“If this does work, and I’m not saying it’s gonna, what are we going to take?” Lyle asked.

Natalia clapped her hands together in eagerness. “They have fresh venison chops in the cellar--alongside freshly salted fish, which they’ll be preparing for a party tomorrow. I think tonight’s meal is turtle soup. They also have this salt box shaped like a swan--”

Records of history! Breakthroughs in medicine! New art! New architecture! New music!

“Fuck, Natalia,” Aster swore. “Just grab my dick directly next time, why don’t you?”

Natalia cackled and rubbed her hands even more tightly together, as they turned bright red.

And if they can cast spells, then we can actually compare our magic to yours! If it’s different or similar. Perhaps the Avatars altered their domains…

Gilbert made a small distressed noise. “How will we even eat all that food?”

“I am ready to die happy,” Lyle cracked. His smile disappeared when he saw Gilbert’s worried face. Lyle rolled his eyes and waved vaguely.

Ceyda tore a hole into the makeshift mask. To her surprise, another hole appeared, parallel to the one she created.

Ah, look at that, a Gretian spell. Keep this up, and you’ll be able to use magic to make all the burlap masks you like.

“I don’t suppose I can use it to create new bags?” Ceyda asked.

Not unless you want to start actually weaving bags together.

Ceyda groaned.

Hey! Your process is greatly expedited! Never forget that!

“I am not forgetting anything, but technically my progress is immensely slowed. Because most mages start at fourteen. Even you said that,” Ceyda replied back.

Ceyda placed the makeshift mask on her head. Without her hair, it fit surprisingly easily. In fact it was like she had lost several pounds of weight. Every time she moved her head, there was nothing dragging her down, or resting against her neck. It was quite the experience.

“How do I look?” Ceyda asked, gesturing towards Lyle and the others.

“Like a scarecrow and a sack of potatoes had a one night stand and left it to die in the woods,” Lyle responded.

“Exactly how well can you see in that thing?” Natalia asked.

“Extremely terribly, and it smells worse,” Ceyda reported, as she adjusted the itchy makeshift mask to go back into the proper position.

“You going to be all right?” Aster asked. “We don’t want you tripping and dying, now.”

Ceyda nodded. “I should be, worst comes to worst, I’ll just punch a wall or something. That will probably solve my problems.”

“Can you really punch walls down?” Gilbert asked, disbelief evident.

“I can!” Ceyda replied. “It’s really cool! Apparently the most basic magic in the world gives you super strength! And it’s super easy to use too!”

Once again. Literally only for you. Don’t give them misconceptions on how magic works.

“They aren’t misconceptions if they’re true for me,” Ceyda responded, lifting Doc up so everyone would know who she was talking to.

There are other magic users Ceyda! If they run into another magic user it would be a good idea for them to know what they would be dealing with!

Ceyda sighed. “Let me amend what I said. Everything I can cast is incredibly easy because I have an ancient spellbook of vast casting power, from origins we can only begin to speculate about.”

Thank you.

“So, I personally think you look terrifying,” Gilbert said. “Mostly because if I saw you in my house, I’d think I had five seconds left before you stabbed the shit out of me. But your voice sort of gives it away that you’re not an axe murderer.”

“Right, noted, I won’t talk,” Ceyda said, wanting so desperately to come off as a proper ax murderer.

After enough bags were procured for the planned robbery, the group made their way through the backroads. As expected, they came out on Whiskey Road, which gave Ceyda an extra surge of pride.

Ceyda kept the mask clutched in her hand, as walking around in it before she needed it would have been quite foolish. It was only when she was outside did she realize how she might have overshot this whole plan.

She was still quite hungry, annoyingly so. And she didn’t have any shoes. It was warm, and from what it seemed, Aster wasn’t wearing shoes either, but she wasn’t accustomed to such a feeling.

And a few miles seemed a lot further away when you weren’t being driven.

She might be a tad in over her head on this one.

All the same, she gripped Doc’s spine tightly and muttered Dorskina’s name under her breath. Even saying the Avatar’s name made her feel a little bit better. Ceyda didn’t know if she was casting a spell or just experiencing something psychosomatic, but she wasn’t complaining either way.

The group walked in silence. As they left Ceyda’s makeshift prison, Lyle and Gilbert clustered around Ceyda, so as to avoid suspicious looks. Even then, Whiskey Road was deserted. Ceyda quickly cast Dorskina’s spell to expand her senses, and saw that most of the business was happening just a few turns away. No wonder she had been put here, if she had tried to scream for help, chances are no one would have even heard her.

The occasional worker passed by them with nary a glance, but even that went away once they left the town and entered the sweeping hills and the dusty roads. A single automobile traversed across the landscape, leading to the group gracelessly hiding by dropping to the ground in fear.

The automobile moved on, and the group continued their trek. Ceyda was not enjoying the experience at all. It as a type of stressful that was foreign to her. She had snuck past people in the past, but this time it was as a group, and if they were caught, the entire plan could be derailed drastically, and she was still hungry!

“I think we got here a bit too late,” Gilbert said, frowning. “Or too early?”

He gestured to the sun, which was stark in the middle of the sky, as the Merrister Manor became visible on the hilltop.

“It’s fine,” Ceyda said. “Merristers tend to sleep in because they’re both suicidal alcoholics who only get pleasure from cheating on each other.”

Natalia gave a stifled, cackling snort. “The worst part is, she’s not wrong.”

Ceyda beamed underneath the mask. Come to think of it, she had never verified such a statement. She had just learned it from her mother’s gossip. It was a good thing she hadn’t been incorrect, that would have been incredibly embarrassing.

“Well, this is probably going to blow up in all of our faces,” Gilbert said softly. “I’m excited, hope everyone else is.”

“Hey, look at it this way--what if we succeed?” Aster shot back, grinning wildly.

“They scour the entire village and blame anyone that looks at them funny?” Gilbert replied.

“Wh-hey! Don’t make me think about that! Why are you making me think about that?” Aster whimpered.

“That won’t happen,” Ceyda said. “You’ll be far away and hidden. I’ll get most of the attention, and if I’m casting magic, they’re not gonna think it’s a pillar, they’ll probably think--”

“It was some rogue soldier dude,” Lyle supplied. “Or maybe a chisel who learned to cast. My dad told me that when he was a kid, one of the servants was discovered to have magic and was whisked away for the fancy life.”

“I’ll make sure to run in the opposite direction, it will be fine!” Ceyda insisted, but she could feel the enthusiasm dwindling as the realism set in.

The mansion was within sight now. Lyle and the others situated themselves a decent ways away, and all that was left was for Ceyda to sneak into the kitchen, devour all she could, and then plan everything else after that, and not a moment before.

She put on her mask, bags in one hand and book in the other. Natalia went off ahead, while Ceyda waited behind a garden shed. Natalia wasn’t working today, but no one would probably care if she was only seen for a few minutes.

Ceyda tried to count to a thousand to pass the time, but found herself losing her place several times, and ended up just slowly pulling out blades of grass and creating a small pile of dead plants next to her.

Natalia returned, a wide grin across her face. “The Merristers are still asleep. Abelard is currently in charge-- if he sees you just-- well I guess if you have the mask on you should try and scare him but tell him that Gepetto hired you. That will probably confuse him for long enough that you can get away.”

“Anything I should be aiming for?” Ceyda asked. “Other than the food, I mean.”

Natalia shrugged. “Opal says she knows someone who can fence items, so get anything that isn’t unique--uh, silverware, probably.”

Natalia started to ramble down a list of other obscure objects Ceyda could possibly steal, and where she could find them, but Ceyda was beginning to have trouble focusing. Everything was set up and ready to go. She didn’t need more information, her head was going to explode.

“--and there’s also a tower there. I thought he’d be gone but I guess he’s not,” Natalia continued. “He has quarters on the second floor. He might have some shit, but he’s probably in his room, so probably don’t risk it.”

Ceyda nodded numbly, and there was an awkward silence as she tried to figure out how to gracefully exit the conversation. Natalia was probably going through the same mental process as she raised a hand as if you shake Ceyda’s, and then hesitated before carrying through with it.

“Good luck,” Natalia finally awkwardly mumbled, and walked away.

Ceyda slipped the mask on, and walked up to the first door she saw.

“Dorskina,” she muttered, and broke open the handle. To her annoyance, it didn’t actually unlock.

Ah, the magic of not having crap engineering. Perhaps we should have asked Natalia for a key.

Ceyda squinted. She knew one of those windows went into the guest bedroom, and usually people weren’t in there.

She invoked Dorskina again and started to scale the wall. The first window she encountered was heavily curtained, but she vaguely recognized the curtains. Ceyda stuck her fingers between the hinges, frowned, and pulled. The metal clasp on the inside bent, and after a few tries, she was able to open it quietly.

Ceyda looked around. No one had noticed her yet. She didn’t know if it was due to luck or due to Natalia’s good timing. She knew that unlike her own family, the Merristers had gardeners, but she hadn’t seen anyone on the path here. Perhaps they were working on the front of the house, instead of this corner. Or maybe they only worked during the early morning.

She shut her eyes and invoked Dorskina to expand her senses, but only for a moment. No one was around her, not inside the room, and not outdoors. Excellent!

Ceyda slipped into the room. In the dark she tried to figure out what sort of room it even was. She blindly fumbled for a few moments, afraid of the strange shadowy head mounted on a table.

“Dorskina,” Ceyda mumbled. The head on the table was a sewing machine. It was astoundingly untouched, practically new. The rest of the room was covered in dust--soot? And there were several ceramic basins with long, burnt sticks poking out. No lightbulbs in this room, from what it seemed. The spell evaporated before it got too overwhelming.

This was probably Mrs. Merrister’s demesne. Ceyda’s stomach overturned. Oh this would be bad if someone found her in here. She had to get out of here as soon as possible--on the other hand, this was a great hiding spot. This was where many murderers hid in those novels that her mother read and Ceyda would steal when she wasn’t looking. But of course, her aim was for the kitchen.

Or did that make it a terrible hiding spot? Aaargh! Hiding was hard! It was terrible and she hated it! Being sneaky was the worst! Couldn’t she just walk in and politely inform them they were being robbed? Obviously she couldn’t do that, she wasn’t an idiot, but it sure seemed like the tempting way to do it.

“If I keep practicing being sneaky,” Ceyda whispered, “will Gretian let me turn invisible?”

Maybe.

Ceyda reached out to grab some of the crystalline objects that surrounded the basins. She paused. This was probably a little sacrilegious. But she had new gods now. No more King, instead she had Dorskina.

“Does Dorskina approve of stealing from rooms of worship?” Ceyda whispered.

...you’re asking this now?

Ceyda nodded.

Well, as far as I know, no, Dorskina doesn’t approve of crime.

Well. Shit.

Ceyda shifted her weight back and forth. Didn’t like this. Didn’t like this at all. What if it cursed her? What if it alerted the King of Kesterline to her presence and then the King got into a war with the Avatars? Could that happen? Or had it already happened? Maybe if she ran really quick, she could catch the Ritesgiver and ask. That would only be a… few miles away. Easy!

She groaned and sat on the floor, covering her face. This was so stressful! She had been ready to rob the manor blind but now there was an arbitrary choice she had to make and it was stressing her out!

Ceyda, are you okay?

“This is someone’s demesne. I don’t know if I’m allowed to steal from here,” Ceyda whispered.

Allowed by… whom?

“The world!” Ceyda whispered louder, gesturing.

Hey, Ceyda, it’s all right. We’ll just go to a different room. Why don’t you use your Dorskina spell to see if anyone’s in the hallway, and what the other rooms look like, and we’ll go there, all right?

Oh. That was an incredibly sensible solution. Instantly feeling better, Ceyda shut her eyes and invoked Dorskina.

Stairs to one side, two rooms to the other. A powder room and a guest room. All empty. Oh this was much easier than she thought it would be!

Ceyda went to the door, only to have the handle refuse to budge. Right, of course it would be locked.

“Dorskina!” Ceyda hissed, lowering her shoulder into the door, this time snapping the locking mechanism in two and opening into the hallway. There were wires going across the wall, with tiny lightbulbs hanging down, giving a dark orange glow. The hallway had no windows and it provided the only light, illuminating the brown and blue wallpaper with oversized blue bees painted across it.

Now her robbing could begin.

She raided the powder room and guest room and filled the bag to the brim with knickknacks. She didn’t know if they were particularly useful, but it couldn’t hurt, right? Additionally, the guest bedroom had a few silk robes, slippers, and a basket of clean linens She grabbed a linen of medium size and wrapped it around her head. Her mother insisted on silk caps, but this would probably be fine. She spent a few more minutes filtering through the linens to find something dress like she could wear over her poorly made outfit. If someone was going to see her, it was best she looked as suspicious as possible. Straw bags were rarely worn, even by the servile class.

A bit further down the hallway, she found a closet and after a good deal of time, she found boxed dresses, and quickly shambled one over head. She now looked incredibly lumpy and stranger than before. She then took it off, took off the straw dress, and then put the grayed dress back on. It was too large on her, but it did the job. The colors were incredibly faded, so most would think it was a servant’s outfit anyway, unless they paid great attention to the intricate pattern on the buttons.

After making sure everything in the bag was sturdy and able to survive a significant impact, she returned to the window and tied a loose knot into the bag.

“By Dorskina’s grace, let me throw further than I ever imagined,” Ceyda said quietly, before attempting to hurl the bag out of the window. She quickly realized the flaw, however. The window was small, and the bag was large. She might be able to forcefully toss it out, but not with the windup she wanted.

Finally, she awkwardly compromised by sticking half her body out, and sent the bag flying into the shrubberies a full field away.

It landed roughly in the area the others were hiding. As it landed, a servant walked into view. Ceyda cursed and ducked. She couldn’t tell with her vision if they were confused or had seen the throw. She peeked out the window. The servant was standing still, idly shifting.

All right, they probably didn’t see that.

Find the kitchen. Rob their doctor. Abscond dramatically.

As she made it out of the unused side of the manor, she saw servants walking around, but Ceyda had some small experience in sneaking around. Of course, usually she did it by just acting like she was supposed to be there, and this was nothing like that. Luckily for her, everyone was busy, which meant she was able to eventually make it into the kitchen in the bottom floor with no one seeing her. This mask was becoming more of a liability than a useful identity obscurer.

Unfortunately, the kitchen was occupied. Ceyda hid in a nearby closet, which contained aprons. She took off the mask, readjusted her makeshift hair scarf and donned an apron, and waited. She wouldn’t look familiar, but it would mean she would stick out less in an individual’s peripherals.

Her stomach growled. She was ready to commit murder to eat.

Still stuck in a closet, Ceyda sat on the ground, trying to wrestle her brain with her stomach.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way to quietly knock someone out?” Ceyda whispered at Doc.

Not in your spheres, no.

Ceyda sighed. “After this, I should start studying. So I’ll be able to teleport in and out of rooms in two years.”

You have no idea how funny that thing you just said is, but rest assured, academics who have been dead for centuries are laughing their asses off, spiritually speaking.

She expanded her senses and waited patiently for a gap in the kitchen. It wasn’t long before the head chef left, claiming he needed a nap. The rest left as well. Late breakfast was being served in another part of the mansion, it would seem.

Ceyda slipped into the kitchen, and devoured the first thing she saw--a wheel of cheese that had been left out. Then she took several bites of pears, before devouring the bowl of corn in the center.

It was heavenly.

She ate so fast that her stomach hurt, but it was worth it. Ceyda wasted no time in shoving as much food as possible into two bags. She couldn’t bring anything bottled, but any food that could survive being squished was perfectly serviceable.

Breads, cheese, meat, and more filled the bags to the brim. She went down into the cellar and grabbed even more dried fish, fruit, vegetables, and slabs of meat. Once she struggled to hold the bags, filled to the absolute brim, she invoked Dorskina, and walked out the door in the kitchen that led outside.

She tied the bags to the best of her abilities, and tossed them again.

Ceyda walked inside, only to come face to face with someone else.

“What are you doing?” she snarled, grabbing Ceyda’s arm.

“I was--” Ceyda’s voice faltered as she tried to lower it. Good thing she had taken the mask off, that would have been all sorts of awkward. Although now this person knew her face and that was pretty bad too. “Getting rid of rotten food.”

“Are you new?” the woman asked.

“Yes. I was hired by--” Ceyda paused. What was the name Natalia had told her? Shit! She was supposed to be good at this! She was pretty sure Natalia had given her a man’s name as the one to lie to, but she wasn’t about to falter because of that. “Gepetto.”

“Gepetto? Who does he think-- look, I’m sure you’re very nice, but please, go home. There’s been some mistake. Gepetto doesn’t have that ability, he lied to you,” the woman said.

“Oh no, I should have known! I’ll leave now!” Ceyda lied, hurrying out the door. She wrapped around the mansion, trying to figure out which part was where the live-in doctor took residence. She squinted in annoyance, but eventually settled on sneaking in through another wing, away from where the others were hiding. She wouldn’t be able to toss them anything, but that was all right, she didn’t have to. She was here to steal some glasses and possibly some bottles of mysterious doctery liquids.

The amount of skill you have in this is impressive. I don’t know how you do this.

“The key is to keep moving and never make eye contact!” Ceyda rasped as she magically hoisted herself up the wall. “If you show a moment of weakness, everyone knows you don’t belong! Move fast, move confidently, and don’t fumble.”

You were taught this for what--social etiquette?

Ceyda edged her way into a new room.

“Sort of. It’s how I learned to stop getting yelled at for my bad social etiquette.”

The new room was not what she wanted at all. It was a bathroom, but not one she recognized. Ceyda frowned. This was going to get annoying. After this she was going to make a pact with whichever avatar let her turn invisible and steal things with her mind.

There was some scuffling outside of the room. Worried noises. Her deeds were evidently being discovered. Or alternatively, there was some other drama going on.

She leaned against the wall near the door and expanded her senses.

On the other side of the wall, she recognized Mr. Merrister, with his wine red bathrobe, stocky stature, button nose and constant gestures as he talked. The person he was talking to, however, was someone she didn’t recognize at all. The stranger was dressed in crisp black vest, black pants and a stark white shirt, gloves, and small glasses with darkened shades. He had short black hair, just barely past his ears. Strangely, he had a section of hair, a chunk of his bangs, that were stark white. The two were at the other end of the hallway, far away from her, but still too close for comfort.

“Thank you for coming,” Mr. Merrister said. “I know this is abnormal--”

The other one put his hand up, and placed his other hand on a bag. Not a bag--it was a book holster. Merrister was talking to a mage.

“You were there at the Blanche’s party,” the mage said “You saw that rogue mage. An innocent girl is either missing or dead because of him. Blanche personally asked me to check every building for anything that could be exploited.”

“Yes, but I’m surprised you would come visit us in our little country estate so soon!” Mr. Merrister stuttered.

“My sources sensed great power in this area.” the man said quietly. “I advise you evacuate with your wife and children for the time being.”

Fuck. Doc cursed, giant letters looming in Ceyda’s vision. This isn’t good. Karani, I’m such an idiot, I should have never let you do this. You might be a powerful caster, Ceyda, but if that man has even an ounce of training, he’s going to know how to counter everything you can throw at him. Especially if they teach casters more than just Dorskina’s sphere.

Ceyda numbly nodded. Her good spirits had been grounded to a complete halt, and confusion swirled around her.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

She put her mask back on. This robbery was over. She needed to skip straight to the dramatic absconding. This would be fine. She could get out and run out faster than anyone noticed. She didn’t need to panic, and Doc was overreacting.

Her hand flinched, as if it had grazed a nail. Ceyda bit down in order to avoid yelling from the pain. She glanced at her hand.

In the light of the window, she saw something that unnerved her. A large, bloody, diagonal gash. She had no idea where it came from, or how it got there.

“Doc?” Ceyda whispered, as she held the book up so it could also see her wound.

How did you manage that?? Doc wrote, adding more and more question marks the longer Ceyda held the book up.

And then, quite out of nowhere, another deep gash appeared, right along her forearm. And then another. And another. They started to appear everywhere, on her arms, her legs, her chest.

Ceyda didn’t know when she started screaming, but it was around the time she dropped the book and started spasming on the floor in a small pool of her own blood.