Tala sat, screaming internally at the stupid magic nest in her hand.

It felt like it was being purposely difficult.

For whatever reason, within the magic nest, she had great difficulty making her magic turn left. And as she continued, the magic nest seemed to be incorporating more left bends the longer she practiced with it.

Why is it so much harder within the nest?

-It seems like there’s greater resistance than under normal circumstances.-

Tala nodded to herself. So, it amplifies any deficiencies, to allow and force improvement?

-That would be my guess, yes.-

Huh…Well, it seems like my magic isn’t an ambiturner, then.

-What?-

It can only turn one way, like ambidextrous but for directionality.

-…That’s not a thing.-

Ambidextrousness is very much a thing.

-That’s not—- Alat hesitated. -Wait… You’re messing with me?-

She grinned. And here I thought you could read my mind before I expressed things to you.

-Of course, I can but I try not to. It makes for boring conversations.-

Tala thought about it and realized the obvious: Alat could only talk to Tala, so of course she’d want those conversations to actually be…meaningful?

Fair enough. There was also the fact that Alat had promised to try not to peek in on all her thoughts, at least not all the time. It was nice of the alternate interface to have working at doing just that.

Thron cleared his throat. “Talking to yourself again?”

Tala started, jerking slightly. “What?”

“You’re talking to yourself again, right?”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re making odd faces.”

Tala paled slightly. She didn’t realize that she had such an obvious tell. What now? I obviously can’t admit to having another ‘me’ in my head.

-He has no reason to suspect that, Tala. Just act natural.-

Oh…right. “You don’t emote when you’re thinking?”

“Not so…expressively, or animatedly. It really does look like I’m watching you talk to someone else, but much too fast to be reasonable.”

-Well…rust. That’s irritating.-

“Yeah, I’m talking to myself.”

He gave her an odd look. “You know that I am right here, if you need to bounce ideas off someone.” The offer seemed genuine, and not petulant as Tala might have expected.

Thron was sincerely interested in assisting her, if she wanted the help. “I know. If need be, I’ll bounce things off of you. Sometimes its easier to process internally, though.”

“Very well.”

Tala shifted, feeling her stomach rumble. “When is the next meal coming, by the way?”

He gave her a skeptical look, then glanced towards the clean dining table. “You just finished the last meal around a quarter of an hour ago.”

“It wasn’t that recently…was it?”

“Well, I was done more than half an hour ago, but you brought the last bits over with you to continue practicing.”

Tala glanced to side table beside her chair.

She did vaguely remember doing as Thron said. Those were really, really good sausages…

She sighed. “Even so, I’m still hungry.”

He sighed in turn, but he was also smiling a bit ruefully. “The artificer will be done soon. After we talk with him, I’ll send for more food.”

“Thank you.”

He hesitated. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

She cocked her head. “Oh? I can’t imagine what it would be. Do we have a duty to perform?”

“No.”

“A delivery incoming?”

“No.”

“Appointments?”

“No.” He seemed to be getting annoyed with himself.

“Well, I don’t think either of us can magic up the answer.”

His eyes widened. “Oh! Right! The test on your power.”

“What?” Tala frowned.

“You were proving that your working didn’t end.”

“Oh! That’s right.” She held out her hand, and the two tungsten spheres that she’d amplified towards one another appeared on her palm. From what she could see, the effect of attraction towards one another was undiminished. “Catch.”

Tala tossed him the spheres, and Thron easily caught them. He examined each sphere in turn, attempting to pull them apart and failing. He hadn’t tried overly hard, but that wasn’t the point. “This is ridiculous.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t continue to use power? The effect continues without further magical input?”

“No power that I’m aware of, and I believe so? So, no power from me, at least.”

The little green man grunted. “That’s an interesting theory. If we weren’t in this place, nearly barren of power, I’d say it likely is pulling from the ambient power around it.”

Tala was, as they spoke, still dumping most of her throughput into the air around herself, and Kit was absorbing it the moment it passed beyond her aura.

Thron scratched under his beard. “As it stands, this is just insane. Do you have any idea what you could do with this?”

“Stick things together forever?”

He snorted a laugh at that. “If I understand the description of your powers, you could have a belt attracted to a sphere or other item, while preventing the attraction from working in the other way.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then, once that’s established, you could lift the sphere and the belt would accelerate towards it. If that pull had a higher force than gravity acting on you, you could fly.” He shook his head in bewilderment. “Moreover, with simple constructs you could use that process to empower virtually anything with flight, and since your effect doesn’t seem to fade, it would be done without any further need of power, forever. Energy-less movement and support.”

Tala blinked a few times before vehemently protesting. “No! That’s not how gravity works at all.”

“But it is how your powers work.”

She felt a weird sort of headache building. “That wouldn’t work at all. No. Not even a little.”

She shook her head, frowning as she tried to reconcile what he said.

-Huh…your powers can theoretically cause something that is senseless to you, and so your very being is rejecting the very notion.-

She groaned, rubbing at her temples. What’s going to happen? Tala was feeling quite a bit uncertain.

-Well, it will change your fundamental understanding, break your fundamental understanding, or simply not work, but from what I can guess, the pain will just get worse and worse until you verify which.-

Can we go back?

-I mean… I could erase the memory, but that seems like it would be setting a bad precedent, and I’m not actually sure it would work. Your fundamental understanding is core to who you are, it’s not just about memory.-

Tala growled. “Rust you, Thron. Now, I have to try it, or I’m going to break something.”

Thron started slightly at the use of his real name, but he didn’t say anything as Tala tossed the magic nest aside. The thing vanished as it arched through the air, whisked away by Kit to…somewhere. Tala really didn’t care where.

She then stood, calling her tungsten rod to her hands.

Alright, target my belt, and increase its pull towards the rod.

She dumped power into the increase, and she and Thron both watched expectantly.

Even Terry raised his head from the corner where he’d curled up on a pillow.

Where did that pillow even come from? She hadn’t really been paying attention to the terror bird.

Even now, though, it was just a passing thought as Tala didn’t have time nor mental space to contemplate that further.

After a bit, her belt began pulling towards the rod, just as expected. The rod still rested easily in her hands, no added strain detectable.

Alright, then. She focused on herself, targeting her being. Restrain.

She lifted off the ground, as expected from that working. She was now nearly completely untethered from the stone beneath her feet, and she should be incredibly easy to move.

Then, her belt tried to pull towards the rod, which moved her. Her movement moved the rod, keeping it at an equal distance from the belt.

Tala wasn’t adding any further power, and there was no magic obvious in the vicinity due to Kit’s efforts.

Even so, there was suddenly a weird, stuttering ripple of power through the space between the belt and the rod.

Tala felt a spike of pain in her head, then the working shattered, and Tala was left floating in the air, drifting forward slowly due to the initial pull of the belt. Any thought of that movement as a ‘victory’ or ‘success’ was destroyed by the now overwhelmingly splitting headache.

Thron grunted. “So, I was right, but it still doesn’t work.”

Tala groaned, the pain subsiding slightly. “Seems so.”

She altered her perspective and broke the restrain on herself. Her gravity now returned to normal, she dropped to the floor with a muffled thud.

She massaged her temples, trying to drive away the splitting headache. “Gravity doesn’t work as a means of propulsion, not like that.”

The dwarf shrugged. “It is fascinating how our own magics limit themselves and us. Sometimes it is that very limitation that allows our workings to function at all, and sometimes it makes the seemingly-obviously-possible fail.”

She pulled herself out of her pain enough to look at him questioningly. “Oh?”

He nodded. “To me, the idea of magic eroding makes no sense, so I cannot directly obliterate spell-forms or things of magic with my concept or power. I work around it, but I know for a fact that others can make magic erode. Though, they have other limitations.”

He chuckled.

“The ending-trees that we commissioned for your sanctuary are capable of such, in fact.”

Tala had honestly forgotten about those. That was pretty foolish. “How did that go, by the way?”

He gave her a searching look, then shrugged. “I’d thought you would have been to the grove already.”

“I haven’t.”

“I understand that now.” He grinned back. “It is quite something, really. A completely isolated section of your sanctum, so that the trees cannot take over or influence the rest of your private dimension.”

Tala did remember hearing something about that. Apparently, incorporating an ending-tree grove had nearly doubled the cost of her sanctum creation. Though, Thron had proudly informed her that he’d kept them a full twenty percent below budget. That was below the already reduced budget, because they had a dimensional space to begin with.

She had no idea what anyone else could possibly have wanted that would cost so much more, but she’d never cared enough to ask. Maybe when I see the grove.

She shook her head. “But back to the matter at hand. I’ve seen magic be eroded by magic from those very trees.”

The dwarf just shrugged. “To me? It makes no sense that magic would degrade or erode. Fade? Of course, but corrode? Never.”

“Huh.”

Thron seemed to hesitate. “I suppose…I should probably apologize. I didn’t mean to bring your fundamental understanding into doubt, nor to cause you pain by making a suggestion.”

Tala waved him off. “It was a reasonable question. My foundation isn’t so weak that a simple query can unseat me.”

He chuckled. “By the stars, I certainly hope not.”

“It is an odd thing, coming against something that defies our understanding of the world, of our own magic. How did your teachers or trainers explain it to you?”

He cocked his head for a moment. “Well, it was like the act of stealing to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I conceptually know that people can steal, obviously. I’ve even been in situations where I was near death, and stealing would have helped, but it just…never made sense.” He shrugged. “I cannot conceive of myself stealing. The idea of theft doesn’t shake my understanding of myself, and in the same vein, knowing that someone else’s power can erode magic does not shake my own understanding of my own power.”

Tala grunted. “Huh. That makes a lot of sense, actually.”

She winced again as another wave of discomfort rippled through her mind, marking an uptick in the pain.

“Oh, this still hurts. I…I think I need some quiet.”

Thron’s response came as a polite whisper. “As you wish.”

And so, they sat in silence for a bit longer. Finally, Cerdai’s voice sounded from out in the large courtyard, echoing through the open archway to reach them. “Hello? Would either of you fine folk be available?”

Tala and Thron looked at one another before standing at the same time and walking out of the building. The pain was mostly gone, but Tala was still moving a bit slower than she was used to, letting the last echos fade.

“Ahh, there you are. Greetings once again, Eskau Tali, adjunct Thorn.”

“Greetings, Artificer Cerdai.” Tala smiled, despite the lingering ache. “What have you determined?”

He patted the box, which was once more closed around the void sword. “This weapon is in excellent shape and should be able to be combined with a fount-core weapon to great effect.”

Tala frowned. “What about a soul-bound one?”

Cerdai looked temporarily hesitant. “Soul-bound?”

He frowned, scratching the tip of his nose.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with one.” He glanced her way, his eyes narrowing. Then, a hunger seemed to spark within them. “Do you have one that I could examine?”

Tala hesitated. They may not ever have had the chance. Should I let him?

-I don’t see how we can avoid it, if we want to improve our equipment while in arcane lands. We certainly don’t have the expertise to do the merging ourselves. Not by an inch or a mile.-

That’s true enough… There was one thing that made her more confident than she might otherwise have been, if she were being honest.

To this man, she was an Eskau of the House of Blood. Stealing from her, or harming her, would be a very foolish move. Ironically, she felt like she could trust the power of her captors to keep the artificer honest and on good behavior.

She hated that she had been taken, and no amount of benefit would ever make her look kindly on the House of Blood, but she was in a precarious position, and any defense was a boon. Still, reminders never hurt.

“As Eskau Pallaun sent you to me, personally, I see no reason not to trust you to examine my weapon.”

Cerdai hesitated for an instant, then nodded. He didn’t appear as if he’d been planning anything untoward, but he definitely seemed more cautious after her reminder.

Good.

She called Flow from its sheath into her hand, pulling it with a trivial act of will.

She then flipped it around and caught the knife’s blade, extending the handle towards the artificer. “Here you go.”

Cerdai took Flow with a reverent hesitance, his power immediately beginning to wash over the weapon. “Oh…oh! Oh, this is fascinating.” He looked up. “This weapon can change shape, yes? It mirrors protian weapons in that way.”

“It can.” She mostly hid the wince. Tali would have winced, too, as Tali had been meant to be a protian weapon, but she had failed. As for Tala, it was a reminder of how close she had come to being forever bound within a tool for others to use.

Failure and a near brush with eternal enslavement.

Neither were good, but Tala was certain she was happy to have ‘failed’ to become a protian weapon.

Cerdai had begun talking to himself, Tala only able to hear him because of her enhanced senses, “And its power-source is here, within it, but also…not. Of course, it is her. Somehow her soul and this weapon have the same underlying location in the dimensions of magic.” He barked a laugh. He was clearly talking to himself and just as clearly enamored. “Spectacular! This should be able to function anywhere in the world, regardless of the location of the Eskau, its power source. Is this replicable? If we could bend the dimensions of magic and permanently interlink them, it would allow for an incredible decrease in our need for founts.”

He shook his head and laughed. “What am I saying? It would just increase the availability of fount-powered items. It would revolutionize the—Oh…”

His demeanor fell, and he sighed. “It is a connection and displacement forged of will more than anything else. That’s a pity.”

Cerdai’s ramblings became quieter, then.

Thron was giving Tala a look that conveyed a deep concern over the sanity of the artificer. Then, the dwarf smiled and pointed at Tala, then Cerdai.

What?

-He’s saying that’s how you look when you talk to yourself.-

Oh… Tala glowered, and Thron grinned.

Finally, Tala cleared her throat. “Artificer Cerdai?”

“Huh? What?” The man jerked, seemingly having forgotten her presence. “Oh, Eskau Tali, my apologies.”

“Can we combine them?”

“Hmmm? Oh, of course. The spell-forms will need to be altered, but not greatly, and you will have to be the initiator. I doubt the enaction will have too much of an adverse effect on you, unless you have the willpower weaker than that of a child.” He gave her an appraising look. “You aren’t a simpleton are you?”

Thron bristled, and Tala knew that Tali would have been…less than pleased. Tala, though, felt a wave of nostalgia and home-sickness, as the hue-folk male reminded her of Holly in an odd way. She snorted a laugh, covering the swelling sadness within her chest and startling Thron.

Though she was going a different direction with the tenor of her response, she still compiled the content from Tali’s memories and tendencies. “The House of Blood would be weak indeed, were it forced to raise a child as Eskau.”

“True enough.” Cerdai nodded, still seeming distracted by the knife in his hand.

Tala prodded, “How soon?”

“Hmm?” The Artificer was staring down at Flow once more.

“How soon can it be done?”

“Oh! Any time. Point me to a wide clear space of earth, or stone you don’t care for, and I’ll get to work.”

Tala was about to ask about payment, reminded of her interactions with the Constructionist Guild back in the human lands, but her knowledge from Tali quelled that instantly. Of course, the House of Blood will cover it, and Pallaun likely already negotiated the rate.

In either case, it was not for her to bring up.

“In that case, follow me. I know exactly where we can perform the merging.”