(Jarenidis)

"So," I grin at Fael Mira after we have retreated to her room and her wards are up. "How does it feel knowing your uncle is also your grandson?"

She punches me in the arm with enough force to throw me back a few feet, but I catch myself with magic and just grin wider. She's smiling as well.

"It is a relief to know that Jamesari's son is alive," she says. "Even if Jamesari is dead."

"Yeah," I say as she dismisses the spell creating a second grandson for her, and he disappears. I'm still impressed by her ability to do that, I can only create small things that look realistic. "So what do you think he's like?"

"He has the Delvarkar blood in him," she chuckles. "I imagine he's quite like you, when he's not covered in injuries he's hiding with his magic."

I doubt even the scanning spells of the Sages picked up on that. Fael Mira and I were using scanning spells modeled after a silver dragon's scan, and that was the only reason we could detect his injuries. And Magus Niko's leg issue, too.

I let out an involuntary shudder as I think about my brother's scanning spell.

"Thinking about how creepy that was?" Fael Mira asks. "Seeing someone who looks so remarkably like you did two years ago?"

"No," I tell her. "His scanning spell reminds me of Anaral's, the one time I sensed it."

"He is the reincarnation of Alorovos," she reminds me. "The first Delvarkari or human to ever use a scanning spell. In both incarnations, he is a genius and a prodigy. It does not surprise me that he remembered how to cast the scanning spell he used back then."

According to the stories, Alorovos studied magic to an unbelievable level. He didn't just use it and fight with it, but experimented with it. He studied other creatures to see how their magics worked, then implemented them. His scanning spell was one such product, designed after studying the ones dragons run at all times.

"It still feels creepy and intimidating," I tell her. "Fael Mira, the one time I felt Anaral's, that was the only time I ever feared for my life. I had to hide my fear when I sensed Jason's."

She sits on her bed, and I know she's agreeing with me.

"He used it once people started leaving," she said. "You and I both noticed it at the same time. Thankfully, everyone was focused on Jason when he activated it. Tiger Alpha must have alerted him that there was a meeting of some sort going on."

Which explains the timing of his arrival coinciding with my grandmother's talk with them. He wanted to have all of the Magi in one place when he returned, to get everything over with. At least, that's what I would have done.

"Probably," I nod. "It disturbed you, too?"

"Yes," she answers. "It made me think I was being stared down by Anaral, only while he is enraged."

My grandmother is one of the only Delvarkari left alive to have been around the last time Anaral was enraged. He came across a god which had managed to break free of Alorovos's binds, a god who attempted to subjugate the Delvarkari. Anaral, in his infinite mercy, slayed the god to protect us.

"Why was his scanning spell so intimidating?" I ask.

"Jason may not realize it is," she says. "If it's the same one he's using from the war, he may not have realized that it has that effect. Back then, he wanted to intimidate anything which could sense his scan."

"Oh," I say, then scratch the back of my neck as I think. While I know I'm doing it, it's not a conscious gesture, not one I do intentionally. "How do you think Faer would react, if he knew you mistook his son for him?"

"Do you want to get punched across the room again?" She asks.

"I'm already at the wall," I grin as I lean against it. "You'd be punching me through the wall."

"I can fling you the other direction," she says, and my grin just grows wider. "We shall stay a little longer, Jarenidis. I would like to get to know Jamesari's youngest."

A seventh son of a seventh son. A prodigy among prodigies. Had Jason been raised by the clans or Faer, he'd no doubt be as powerful as, or even more powerful than, Fael by now.

"You know," I say. "It's interesting to know that Jason was named so similarly to the name Faer picked out for him. Didn't you say it was 'Jasoran'?"

"The universe works in mysterious ways," she says, then sighs.

"Are his injuries really as bad as they seemed?" I ask.

"They were inflicted by a god's power infused with their lethal intent," she says. "Had they not been, I might have possessed the ability to heal him, the same as with Magus Niko. I need to advance up to the sixth level of grey magic in order to do such a thing, and am at only the fourth, even if nearing the fifth."

Jason's injuries… it is a miracle he could even stand, but Fael Mira and I both noticed that he was using magic. He's no doubt lying to everyone – possibly even himself – about how severe they are. Why did he return so early? No doubt, he told Alex and Niko in his workshop, but the enchantment on there is potent. Fael Mira told me when she arrived that it had enough defensive and protective wards on it that even attempting to get through it was risky.

Even for her.

It seems my brother, when he cannot make something absolute, makes it as difficult and annoying as possible. Fael Mira said that were she to attempt to peer through the wards or make her way through them, enough would trigger that it would be impossible to do so unnoticed. Redundancies upon redundancies.

"I don't think I'd still be moving around, if my injuries were ever that bad," I admit.

"Nor would I," Fael Mira admits. "Jason has a strong will, and is likely using magic to numb his pain."

"Do you think the phoenixes would allow me to acquire a little more phoenix nectar?"

I doubt they would be willing to give up enough to completely heal Jason, but it might be enough that he won't take a few months to recover on his own. The phoenixes are more powerful than my fael, and their power could no doubt heal my brother's injuries. But they are extremely picky about how they heal, and after the illness that swept through the Delvarkari a decade ago, it is unlikely they would be willing to part with more than a few drops.

"You can try," Fael responds. "Are you certain you wish to visit them again?"

"I've only just met my brother," I tell her. "But I can feel the blood bond between us when I try. We are kin. I want to help him."

It is a trait of our people. A desire to help those of our blood. The closer in relation we are, the stronger this desire is. Jason is a brother of mine through both parents, and the only one left after the illness swept through us. If he is paining, I am paining. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I should try to obtain more phoenix nectar.

"You can try," she says. "You should be able to reach it with the gate spell. Or at least, near enough."

"Jason's invention comes in handy," I smile. "I'll be back."

I push off the wall and create a gate. Their wards on the mansion aren't powerful enough to block a violet gate yet, but we know they're likely working on strengthening the spell.

When I pass through the gate, I'm on the side of a mountain, just outside of a tunnel leading into it. No path to it, as it's set high into a cliff. Only by magic can it be reached, especially with the dragon who lives near the top of the cliff.

I enter the tunnel, my eyes able to see even in the dimming light. A trait of our clans, inherited from the dragons the Divine Dragon forged the first members of our people from. The copper dragons, the weakest of three Regals, were dying from a nasty illness. In his mercy, the Divine Dragon decided to morph their forms to match humans'. His mercy… and his oddness. Why not simply cure us?

His actions will be an eternal mystery to us, but it is what developed the Delvarkari, the Dragon-Forged.

The tunnels stretch for miles, and while I walk at a steady pace, I am not slow. The tunnels grow warmer, but I ignore that, removing my clothes as I pass. The phoenixes will burn them away, so I send them into my own spatial storage. These ones in particular dislike impurities of any form.

Eventually, I reach a chamber with a floor of magma, magic protecting me from its fumes. I've barely stepped into the chamber when a torrent of flames swirl around me, destroying any impurities I may have brought from outside. As the flames fade, I look up, in the darkness above. The clouds outside make the chamber darker than normal, even with the magma's glow illuminating it.

"Hello, phoenixes!" I call out in a cheerful voice. "How are you this fine night?"

"Fine night?" A bird of fire flies out of the magma. "Boy! It is cloudy! Do you not see that? Did you not see that when you arrived? It is cloudy."

"Hello, Chatty Flame," I grin at him. "I wasn't expecting you tonight."

"That's not my name!" He scoffs. "You've not changed a bit since our last encounter, Jarenidis. Your clans have recovered from that illness with the nectar we gave you. What brings you here this time?"

"I have discovered," I tell him. "That Faen had my brother, before she died. Jasoran lives under the name of Jason."

"It is only natural he survived," Chatty Flame says as he draws closer. "He is the reincarnation of Alorovos, the High Magus. That means you have simply discovered his whereabouts."

The phoenixes knew, even before he was born, who my brother would be? They never revealed that to us. Did Anaral know, too? A question for another time, I suppose.

"Yes," I answer. "That is what that means. Unfortunately, it seems he was wounded by a god, no doubt a powerful god of the Second Order. I was hoping that maybe you'd allow me some more of your nectar, so that I could help him heal faster? If not, it may take him several more months."

This is where negotiations begin. It may take me an hour, it may take me ten. But I really hope that I leave with at least a drop of their nectar, no matter the cost.

"Alorovos is wounded?" A feminine voice asks, and another three birds of flame rise up from the magma, drawing near the platform I'm standing on. "Badly?"

"Badly," I answer. "Fael and I could sense it with our scanning spells."

"Allow us to peer into your memories," Chatty Flame tells me. "Let us determine the truth of your words. There is no much of our nectar left. If we can verify this, then we will give what we can."

What? Just like that? The phoenixes never give things up that quickly. But then, these ones knew Alorovos, perhaps they wish to help him because of that? The part which makes me hesitate is their desire to peer into my memories. Normally, I wouldn't mind the verification, but these are phoenixes. I've heard stories of people whose minds had been read by them.

Hopefully, I can return to Jason with the nectar soon.

(Jason, 16)

The first thing I do upon waking up is groan in pain. The second is to cast my spell to alleviate my pain. Based on how much mana I have right now, I didn't run out, so I must have simply stopped casting it in my sleep by accident. Probably because of my dreams.

Ever since the battle – or probably, the ascension to grey – more and more of my memories are becoming experiences. There is no doubt in my mind that is what's happening, especially with the other things I've been remembering. I've tapped into the memories of that thing which noticed Midlaris more than a few times, too. I pray to the King and Queen of the Gods that it takes a long time to do whatever it's going to do. With how distorted its sense of time seems to be in those memories, it might be thousands of years from now.

Some of the memories I've recovered… Niko is right. We Magi are immortal. Not just our souls, but our very existences. It is impossible for us to be truly killed, which is likely why the Queen of the Gods reincarnated us back to here. This may well be the only world in the universe which could handle our power.

Sending Quinn and me to Earth was a risk on her part. With what I know about our existences, even she must have been strained to seal the strength of our souls while we were in a world without magic. Just one Magus on Earth, unbound, could have caused a calamity beyond belief.

This unique aspect of us Magi might be why my memories of Nolan aren't just memories, but actual experiences I've held. Me reaching grey magical power acted as a trigger, serving to begin to incorporate my past into my present.

Man, do I miss the internet.

That aside, the other Magi will no doubt undergo this once they reach grey magical power, though with every one of us who does, the others will awaken a little more. At least, if that happening when I did acts as any sign.

As I mull things over and wait for the stiffness to ease out of my body and spells, I slowly begin to expand my scanning spell from around me to covering the entire house. Or at least, that was the plan, but I stop once I'm sensing the living room in it, as my grandmama is down there, as well as my brother, and he… has something he did not have yesterday.

Jarenidis seems to be having trouble, too, as Mama Elena is crouched beside him as he lays on the couch. The way his magic interacts with my scanning spell, his ailment is no doubt the reason he has the phoenix nectar. How did he convince a phoenix to give it up, though?

A phoenix can create a single drop of it every twenty to thirty years, depending on how old and powerful they are. A single drop. It is the most powerful healing force outside of the gods, and even then, it can contest most gods' healing abilities. By my estimates, he has fifteen drops of it contained within a crystal vial. At least three centuries' worth of phoenix nectar.

It would be enough to accelerate my healing a little. Each drop would no doubt accelerate my healing by a day, which means I'd recover fifteen days quicker than without that. There's not a doubt in my mind they want to give it to me. We're Delvarkari, and blood relations. Bonds of blood between the Delvarkari are powerful things.

Eventually, I decide to get up, groaning a little as I do. After putting on some clean clothes, I make my way downstairs. Without a word, I walk straight to Jarenidis, Mama Elena moving to the side a little.

"His mind is under immense stress," she tells me. "A powerful force was pressed upon it, and-"

"Can you get Alex?" I ask her, and she frowns. "He is the Magus of Mind. Based on how I'm sensing the magics inflicting my brother and the contents of the vial he has hidden under his belt, he had his mind searched by a phoenix. I wasn't the sort to fix minds during the war, but Quinn did help a couple of people in a similar predicament. Alex might be able to fix this, even if his magical power is still only orange."

"They did what to him?" My grandmama asks.

"Scanned his mind," I answer. "No doubt to find his intentions, though I would be surprised if that was all they wanted to give up fifteen drops of nectar. Your reaction suggests you know the phoenix responsible?"

"Phoenixes," she answers. "There are four in a volcano near our lands. Jarenidis communicated with them a few years ago, and after several weeks of trial, they granted him some."

"When we wanted some during the war," I say. "We threatened a few phoenixes. I remember plucking the wings of one of them until he gave up all of the phoenix nectar he had generated in his life."

Mama Elena gives me a horrified look.

"Phoenixes are nearly immortal in body, even if not in soul," I say. "It healed, and Benjamin was dying. It was the one and only time a Magus Sword was turned on one of the Magi, and phoenix nectar is the only substance I know of which can mend souls."

At least, the only substance which can naturally form or be created on Midlaris. Divine Beasts can probably mend souls as well.

"After what Jacob said," Mama Elena says. "And hearing that, I am glad you are simply reincarnates and not fully the Magi of old."

What Jacob said? Something to inquire about another time.

"Don't be too certain of that," I tell her. "I am more like Nolan than you might expect, especially when it comes to my temperament. There's a reason the Delvarkari's overlords were slaughtered. My wrath is comparable to a dragon's. So is my desire to protect those dear to me, and this holds true more for the Magi than any other."

Since she's not calling Alex, I reach over and grab her comm plate off the coffee table, then activate it and contact Alex. He answers almost immediately.

"Did he wake up yet?" Alex asks as soon as he answers. "It's almost noon, and ya said ya'd let me know as soon as he woke."

"Do you remember how to soothe a mind that's been searched by a phoenix?" I ask.

"Ya woke up!" He exclaims. "Wait. Why?"

"Jarenidis had his mind searched by a phoenix."

"Gimme a few minutes to get over there," he says. "Connor and I were sparring."

I end the call, then sit down and accept the tea and cookies Cecilia offers to me. She heads back to the kitchen, and I detect her making a meal for me. I am starving.

"Cecilia," I call, and she returns. "Please make more than normal. As I heal, I'll be consuming a greater quantity of food. My body will be converting it a lot quicker."

She dips her head and returns to what she was doing, and we wait the few minutes for Alex to arrive, Connor following behind him. Alex quickly walks over to the side of the couch and places his hands to either side of Jarenidis's head. He begins to concentrate, and it's pretty cute, the way his face tenses a little, his brows dipping down just a tad as his eyes barely squint, his lips just-barely starting to purse.

His magic flows out of him in a steady, but strong stream as he overcomes some of his weakness with quantity. As he works his magic, my brother's own magics begin to calm, his mind settling. It takes Alex nearly twenty minutes to finish, then he collapses to the ground, breathing heavily.

Mama Elena helps him up and onto the couch beside me, and my grandmama moves to my brother, pulling the vial from his belt. Within it is an amber-orange liquid, and very little of it. Just fifteen drops, and fifteen drops is not much at all. She walks over and holds it out to me.

"This will help you heal," she says in the tongue of the dragons. "As you well know."

"I will heal just fine without it," I tell her in the same language. "Thank you, though. A friend needs it more."

"If you are referring to the leg," she responds. "This will not work for that, it has been too long since the injury was received."

She must have expected that I would want to use it for Niko, which would explain why she chose to speak in this language.

"My injuries were received before his."

"Maybe," she says. "But his injury is not in a constant state of healing. What remains of his leg is fused with the stone. Even if it were to be removed, it would not restore his leg. Your brother went through whatever they put him through to acquire this for you, Jason. Accept it."

I try to argue with her some more, but she remains firm. It's pointless, though. I knew it was too late for Niko to be healed with the phoenix nectar, but I still wanted to try. Because of my brother's sacrifice, I accept the vial and drink the liquid. My body feels aflame as the nectar goes down my throat, then spreads through my body. I adjust my spells to allow for the healing to work without being halted by something.

It only takes a few seconds for that to finish, and once it does, I look at Jarenidis, who has sat up.

"Thank you," I tell him in the ancient tongue.

"You are welcome," he responds.

I know the ancient tongue is likely a little different from their native, but it will be close enough for more fluid communication than us speaking in Varilan. At least, unless they ripped the knowledge of Varilan out of someone's head, but they both have heavy accents.

"Fael," I look at my grandmama, speaking in the language of the dragons once more. "Do you know of a way to heal his leg before he turns grey?"

"I do not," she answers. "It is possible a god might, but I do not know of any gods with healing powers who would be willing to heal a Magus."

"Same," I nod. "The only ones who are free have some healing power, but not of the level required to restore legs."

"What language are you two speaking?" Alex asks.

"The tongue of the dragons," Jarenidis answers. "Do not attempt to understand it. Only a chosen few may. The language itself is magical, protecting itself from being stolen."

Alex frowns, but decides not to ask more.

"It's complicated," I tell him in Varilan. "But is essentially a way to ensure that only dragons can understand it. However, a dragon can 'bless' someone so that they can speak it. Nolan was always able to understand it, even without the blessing. We weren't entirely sure why, but it seems I inherited that from my past self.

"Thanks," I look at my grandmama again. "It was worth a try."

"May you find success in it," she tells me. "Though I must ask, Jason, as a concerned fael. What were you doing the last few days, before returning? You mentioned you were reinforcing other seals. How far back did you set your healing to do that? Especially as you said you were threatening the gods."

"Erm," I think for a moment. "Just a couple of weeks."

A lie, but it isn't directed at the Mad Witch, so I should be-

"Ow!" I exclaim as she pinches and pulls on my left ear. "Mad Witch! Mad Witch!"

"What about the rule about lying to family?" She asks.

"The agreement was to not lie with those in the room!" I protest. "She wasn't there! And she knew already, anyway!"

"How long is it going to take you to heal?"

"Longer if you keep tugging that ear, it's not all there!"

She quickly releases my ear, and I rub it a little. The god managed to rip off a fair chunk of it, and it's barely begun to heal. My body and magic is focusing on the more severe injuries first. The phoenix nectar helped a fair bit with that, as I can tell my spine is in a much, much better condition than it was before.

"By the way, Mama Elena," I say. "I might know a way to let you have a child, even in your older age."

She raises an eyebrow.

"A birth child," I tell her. "One you carry yourself. Not a child like me. Trust me, nothing can replace or compare."

"I wouldn't want a replacement for you," she tells me. "Just you is enough!"

"Yup!" I grin at her. "Just give me two or three years, and ten thousand behavior allowances-"

"I can see the similarity to your faer and brother already," my grandmama sighs, and I grin at her as Jarenidis laughs.

"Jason," Mama Elena says. "You better not be-"

"I'm serious," I hold up my hands. "I know how serious this is for you. But the ten thousand behavior allowances is my fee for it."

"How about a basket of sweets every week for ten years?"

"How about every day for five?"

"Deal."

"You know I got the better end of that, right?"

"If you can help me have a blood child," she says. "You will have given me something far more precious than that, Jason. The child won't replace you, as nothing could ever do that, but it would be a gift. A real gift. I can sacrifice what's required to pay that fee. But can you really perform such a feat?"

"I can't perform spatial magics for awhile," I tell her. "Opening that gate last night took the last of what I could offer up for that. But once I can access the spatial storage, I have something that can give you a month to become pregnant."

She frowns, and I can tell she's about to ask me how that's possible. I know her well enough to know that, and it's also the logical question someone would ask.

"It's not something I made," I hold up my hands. "I, personally, don't have the power for that. One of the gods I sealed up is a god of fertility. She was repentant for what she had done. She was willing to do anything it took to make it up to myself and the Magi. She can't heal injuries, but she can increase fertility. Of lands, of people… so I asked her for one of her Life Beads. If you swallow it, you'll be able to have a child again. You'll have a single month to try for one, but I could probably get another out of her."

"You freed a god?" Alex asks. "Are you certain she's-"

"I am," I interrupt. "And I didn't free her. She was already free."

"But you said-"

"I said that Triossa said it was just her and Enaveka," I say. "But there seems to be a few gods who managed to get free without Triossa's notice. These gods are different from other gods, which is probably why she didn't notice them."

"Different how?" Alex asks.

"I'm not certain," I shrug. "But they're different. Their auras are different, and they're weaker. At least, the ones I noticed. And Alex? I'm weakened, with barely any magical power to spare. She could have killed me easily. Or at least, subdued me and bound me in a way that would prevent me from ever getting free. She didn't. She just talked with me, apologizing for everything."

She said that she had sensed us, but was nervous of approaching us because of our Magus Swords. I don't blame her – we were pretty happy with killing anything from the heavens or underworld we could during the war, and she knows that to us, we had no evidence the gods who remained had changed. For all she knew, we would have killed her on sight.

"Thank you, Jason," Mama Elena looks ready to squeeze me tight.

I know how much it meant to her, having a son like me. I won't mind stepping aside as her only chid for her to have a birth child, especially since I know she's been missing having my goofy self around now that I'm at university.

"You're welcome," I tell her. "We have a good relationship, so it's only natural I'd bring you gifts from time to time."

"That goes beyond gifts!" Alex exclaims. "She's old! She doesn't have any eggs anymore!"

I suppose he has those memories from Earth, since the knowledge that women have a limited amount of eggs doesn't exist here. In fact, how the actual procreation process works isn't entirely certain to them. They know the act, and the reproductive fluids, but those are obvious things. Sperm and eggs is something else entirely, and this culture is just a little behind on that.

With the current culture, and my sparse memory of Earth's history, I'd say we probably don't have long before we reach that point here, though. I think we're in what would be considered the Renaissance Era, and that's probably when such things were discovered on Earth. Probably. I'm just going to assume it was the Renaissance Era, because that's when they were doing a lot of funky things.

"Eggs?" Mama Elena asks.

"Long story," I tell her. "I can tell you about it later, but it involves knowledge from my life as Lucas, on Earth. Might be best to let it be discovered naturally."

"Or you can tell me, and then it can be discovered naturally."

"Maybe some other time," I tell her.

"Jason," my grandmama says as Cecilia brings me a tray of food and a fresh tea. "I was wondering if you would be willing to come to the clans for a time."

Well, that was unexpected.