“My aunt sent me to find you. I knew I would.” Fathina hadn’t spoken much as she’d brought the two to her home, a large marble dwelling near the castle. “I told her you would be here. I knew it.”

Seer? Echo glanced sideways at Elzio. It was the bluntest thing he’d ever heard her say, but he understood immediately her frustration. Like Elzio, Echo hated being beaten at anything. They had put an actual attempt into hiding, sneaking in, learning more about Genyl before acting, moving with caution and deliberation… and had been caught within hours.

Well, at least now they really would learn if Genyl was as benevolent as they appeared, or if it was all a ruse.

She doesn’t seem antagonistic, Elzio said.

Well, she certainly could not simply challenge us, so perhaps she is trying to find another way to destroy us. Echo sounded very irritated. Her aunt is Ashlight, I am certain of it.

Elzio sighed.

“I’m sorry, this must all seem very confusing to you.” Fathina looked over her shoulder, thick grey eyebrows creasing.

“Not at all,” Elzio said. “You’re the niece of the Genyl Nexus. We expected, if the rumors about your aunt’s gift were true, that someone who inherited her powers would seek us out.” It was a total lie, but Elzio didn’t want to appear on the backfoot here.

Fathina whirled around, eyes locking on Elzio. “You knew I was coming?”

He could push this thread. He could keep her squirming, keep her on the backfoot. But right now he didn’t really agree with Echo’s sentiment that Fathina was here to hurt them. All playing games would do was isolate a potential ally.

So he relented.

“No. We knew Ashlight was a seer.” Elzio tried a smile, hoping to put her at ease a bit. “She was an old woman when she died, she was…”

From a very large family, Echo fed.

“From a very large family. You share a last name and the ability to predict our movements.” He shrugged. “And you did say aunt.”

Fathina let out a long breath. “Yes. All you say is true. I suppose I did not try very hard to hide my identity or abilities, telling you my last name.” She laughed, a sound that softened the sudden crease on her brow. “Then yes. And Ashlight wants to meet with you without the eyes of all her advisors.”

Interesting. Do you think she has suspicions regarding her councilors? Elzio asked.

Suspicions perhaps. Perhaps she knows outright. Or perhaps she wishes to deal with us in a manner not publicly seen.

Elzio sighed at her pessimism, even if he understood it. Do you want to go back?

Echo didn’t respond for a second before sighing. No.

Fathina tilted her head up the stairs, and they continued upwards.

“You two are bonded?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. When Elzio blinked, she laughed. “Most people don’t just pause the way you do mid-conversation. And there’s a certain way your eyes glaze over, Elzio. I know it well. I spent months training to keep my face natural and animated while talking with Ashlight.”

This criticism stung. Elzio hadn’t even considered the fact that his distracted, distant gaze might be a tell that he was communing with Echo. The only nexi-bonded people he’d know were Sir Trathyn from Pyrthet and Councilor Danyien from Ythrel. Neither he’d really spoken with much.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, swallowing his pride. He couldn’t refute her point, and it had been a valid mark, so he bit back whatever excuses he could have formed and forced a smile.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking you directly to Ashlight,” Fathina said, as they opened a doorway from the tower, leading into a similarly unassuming hallway. “If you’d like a chance to refresh yourselves, I can postpone the meeting by half an hour. That’s really all we can manage before her schedule comes into question.”

“No refreshing needed,” Elzio said. He wasn’t sure if that implied refreshments or the chance to touch up his appearance, but neither were necessary. Yes, he’d come off a long journey, but a nexus wasn’t the type to judge appearances. At least, no nexus he’d ever encountered.

What is refreshing? Echo asked as they followed Fathina down the hall. My thoughts go to spells. Refreshing a cooldown? But I feel as though that is incorrect.

Elzio focused very hard on watching Fathina’s heels in front of him, keeping his face relaxed but not distant. Not sure. Was wondering the same. Probably a mortal thing. It was remarkable how difficult it was to stay present while having a mental conversation. He and Echo would have to practice later, perhaps with Syrene and Carlin watching to ensure he kept a present face. That was, of course, assuming they survived the next week.

Finally, Fathina slowed, coming to a stop in front of an ordinary wooden door, the likes of which they’d passed several times. She balled up her fist as her hand approached the doorknob, and a swirl of faint, grey magic drifted from her hand to the lock. It was a simple unlocking spell, the kind you didn’t often see in an arena since locks were rarely used at their level. And since it was rarely seen in an arena, Elzio had rarely seen it in any context.

Curious as Fathina opened the door, Elzio took a quick look at her stats.

Fathina Evenspale: Level 3 Alterator

Level 20 Seer

Strength: 15

Intelligence: 64

Agility: 15

Fortitude: 15

Hit Points Pool: 325 (FOR)

Endurance Pool: 325( STR+AGI)

Mana Pool: 1550

Elzio blinked, taken aback. Hers were the most wildly specialized stats he’d ever seen. Even Syrene, who was higher leveled, had spread her points more evenly. Fathina, it seemed, cared rather little for anything that wasn’t prophesying. Given she wasn’t a hero, however, perhaps that made sense.

As she opened the door, her stats shifted.

Fathina Evenspale: Level 3 Alterator

Level 20 Seer

Strength: 15

Intelligence: 74

Agility: 15

Fortitude: 15

Hit Points Pool: 325 (FOR)

Endurance Pool: 325( STR+AGI)

Mana Pool: 1800

He knew immediately that Ashlight must be inside, bathing Fathina with an unsurprisingly specialized aura.

“They’re here, Ashlight,” Fathina said, peering around the door. Then she nodded and opened the door the rest of the way.

Ashlight wasn’t much brighter than Echo, nor much larger, but Elzio could feel her power humming throughout the room.

Elzio. Echo. Welcome to my home. Ashlight’s voice was very similar to Echo’s but deeper. Not just tonally deeper—it somehow pierced through Elzio’s mind like an arrow to the brain.

“Um. Thank you for greeting us.” The sensation had been startling enough that Elzio found himself tongue-tied, and even though he internally winced at his weak greeting, he still couldn’t summon much more to mind.

I knew you were coming. Fathina, my niece, has succeeded me as seer, overlooker of the people. Ashlight didn’t waste time with pleasantries, which helped Elzio focus on her words instead of his responses. I do not know your familiarity with prophecy, but perhaps more information may help you follow along with this conversation since it is integral to the discussion we must have. If you wish, I will explain the subject to you in as brief of terms possible, for it is far more important to us that we explain our situation rather than engage in a discussion on magic.

This wasn’t where Elzio wanted the conversation to go, since he would absolutely love an in-depth discussion on magic, but he simply nodded. “In Pyrthet, prophecy is considered a myth. So to say I’m underinformed on the subject would be putting it lightly.”

Ashlight nodded, much in the same manner Echo did, just on a grander scale. Then I shall be brief but conclusive. There are two ways to see the future. Premonition and prophecy. Premonition acts on moment-to-moment matters. Many mortals get a peculiar sensation that they have experienced something before. Premonition simply extends that to also knowing what will happen immediately after, up to several minutes depending on the level of the skill. These events may be disrupted either by actions of the seer or by blindspots. We do not know what causes blindspots. Sometimes they are the shadows of powerful individuals, sometimes they are random acts of nature. They are uncommon, but it is not unheard of for a seer to simply have a premonition not come to fruition.

‘Not unheard of’ is a strange term when discussing a branch of magic no one has ever heard of. Echo’s comment was needlessly loaded, and Elzio bit down a smile.

Focus. Ignore Echo. Don’t let mental communication cloud your face.

Ashlight continued. Prophecy is rarer, though still common throughout a seer’s life. These events are grander and further in the future. They are not limited to the seer’s immediate surroundings, though they do typically impact the seer’s life in some way. A seer will not often get a prophecy of an event happening on a distant star, for example. Prophecies overwhelm the senses of the seer, and as such, often occur in dreams, when the seer is not mentally occupied. However, they do infrequently occur during the seer’s waking hours, during which the seer will become debilitated. Invoking a prophecy is thought to be possible, though as with blindspots, the specific criteria to do so are unclear. She paused then, energy fluctuating thoughtfully. I think that is sufficient for our purposes today.

Elzio nodded, keeping his face impassive even as his thoughts raced. Everything about this was fascinating, and he could just sit across from Fathina and interview her for weeks on end.

But he didn’t because there were endlessly more important things to discuss.

“All right,” he said, face still composed. “So why did you summon us?”

“To best answer that, perhaps it would be a good idea to start with our purposes and goals with the kingdom?” Fathina smiled. “When Ashlight first took the job of Grand Advisor—back when we had an elected leader and he had a council—she set her eyes towards how to create a strong nation. A peaceful one. One without war and conflict. As a seer, she had the means to do this and spent years chasing down hypothetical futures, chasing prophecy, to find an ideal world for the people. When she died and reincarnated as a nexus, that remained her goal.” Her eyes grew troubled then. “In this way, she is both very similar to and very dissimilar to other nexi.”

It was as if an itch in Elzio’s brain had finally been scratched. “The nexi crave familiarity,” he said, leaning against the stone wall of the room, chasing this thought to its natural conclusion. “They’re creatures of comfort. They want their nations to stay the same.”

They are also jealous. This scathing remark came from Echo. They are Gods, they are deities, they must always be on top of their citizens. Nexi do not want to see their people happier than they were in life. They do not want to see the common swarms that worship them experience a better life than they did.

Elzio grit his teeth, waiting for a rebuke or a scolding from the older nexus. Ashlight was their ally here, at least tentatively, and Echo’s scorn could easily offend the nexus.

Fortunately, Ashlight seemed the opposite of angry. She is right. The nexi are greatly incentivized to keep their nations underdeveloped. They have nothing to lose. Within their walls, they are worshiped by common folk who would not dare speak out against their overlords. Even if a nation wanted to overturn their nexus, they would find themselves in the same position you are currently in. A nexus could buff an army to the point where they could easily conquer a populace—with much bloodshed and loss of life.

“Which is why nexus battles came to exist in the first place,” Elzio said. It had always seemed like such a good way to avoid war, avoid battles and death. To an extent, Elzio still believed in that cause. But a world where nations slavishly worshiped stagnant beings who were, by nature, incentivized to keep the world from developing? Was that worth it?

So why is your city unlike theirs? Echo asked, tone suspicious. Why are you so different?

“Because their nexus lives in the future.” Elzio looked straight at Ashlight. “Ultimately every king or queen, every ruler no matter how benevolent, will cave to the selfishness of immortality and worship, unless there was a compelling reason for them to continue caring about the future.”

When I was reborn as a nexus, I lost my powers of foresight. Ashlight’s light shifted, a sad note in her voice. But in bonding with my kin, first my son, and then my youngest niece, I have found a way to keep my gaze firmly rooted in the future. In doing so, my sympathies remained with the people, whom I had spent my whole life prophesying ways of enriching.

I imagine you seeing so many wonders of the future also incentivized you to build towards that. Echo would be crossing her arms if she could, still incapable of seeing a world where Ashlight was seriously invested in her people.

Again, Ashlight didn’t respond to the criticism. I will concede that point. There were many glorious things I saw, several thousands of years in the future. These are things that I would very much like to see myself. So if you would like to attach a degree of self-serving to my cause, you may.

Don’t push them away, Elzio projected to Echo. We need allies. Then he turned back to the two, already knowing they’d detected his distant expression. “So why reach out? I’ve heard a lot about prophecy and about Genyl, but why did you seek an audience with us?”

You are an anomaly, little echo, Ashlight said. Something we did not foresee. Thus far, your victories, your movements in general, have been highly unpredictable. We could see your general path, but there have been many forks in your road where upon reaching, you took the route we did not expect.

“From creation to current time, you’ve caused a significant upheaval in what we’ve seen.” Fathina sat down at the oak desk in the room and began rummaging through paperwork. “We now consider you to be, perhaps, our only hope at surviving Deluuth.”

At the mention of their mutual enemy, Elzio frowned. “What was your plan regarding Deluuth before all of this?” he asked. “What was your strategy? Did you know they’d defeated Argeny? And still you did nothing? You stuck with your treaty instead of reaching out for aid. Now you come for help?”

“Part of our treaty was to cease prophetic spying on their nation,” Fathina said, pulling out a sheet of parchment crisply and standing up. “Our nexus has always been smaller than theirs, and they have always been more willing to see bloodshed. We have always been on the backfoot with that.” Her voice was terse, angry at Elzio’s accusation of inaction. “Prophecies leave a residue, a film that only the trained eye can see, but Deluuth has powers that can see these traces. We hoped they would stay true to their word, but the horrors we’ve heard regarding Ythrel have shattered our hopes that they will continue to act in any peaceful, diplomatic sense. That is why we’re reaching out. The time to act is now.”