Whispers penetrated my slumber, my dreams forced against the grain. My mind floated to consciousness, clawing for the surface within reach away from the whispers. A few words started to become distinct. “… awake yet?” A female voice asked. I opened my eyes, dawn was starting to filter down, it was later than I expected…

“I don’t think so…” A male voice whispered back. Qen. I remembered. “I don’t think he feels any of that…” Any of what? I wondered, raising the back of my hand to press against the visor. Right… Heavy armour, if they were poking at me I wouldn’t feel it for the cushioning I added… “He’s awake!” Qen whispered urgently, and as I sat up I could see him pointing at me, with Maria having turned around to look at me.

“Good morning.” I said, grinning under the helm. “You know you could speak louder if you wanted to wake me, I’m not going to eat you because of it.” I joked, easily segueing back into character. I should’ve been an actor… I thought to myself. Then again, I learned it from lying, not exactly something I’m proud of. I winced.

[Your history seems replete with just the right knowledge for everything you’d need.] Page remarked bemusedly.

Well when I was young I used to have fantasies about being a self sufficient Renaissance Man. I thought wryly. Until I realized partway through the kinds of things I did that it was impossible in today’s society. There’s just too much to learn, not enough time…

“We were afraid we’d annoy you.” Maria started. “We didn’t want to cause you any trouble…” Can’t tell if this is a result of Linden or not actually… They were pretty timid when we first met.

[That time you also met them as “the Masked”.] Page remarked wryly. [Now that you’ve been time displaced though, would you not be able to be one?] Page wondered.

I could… If I had the time. I’m still aging aren’t I? I thought, resisting the urge to cup my chin. Why am I trying to hold two conversations? “It’s no trouble, we need to get there as soon as possible.”

[Your aging is not stopped, though you can change how you appear…] Page mused. Whoa. We’re not going there… yet. I could hardly deny that looking to be in my thirties wasn’t going to help me pull off that ‘rookie’ look. I really want to get back home before that happens… I sighed internally.

“Understood.” They answered. Nice. I thought, looking at the already cleared campsite. They work fast… I shook my head ruefully. I really should’ve woken a lot earlier. I replaced my weapons onto my belt, having placed it beside me for the night. Reaching them would not have been easy lying down.

We arrived after another day of travel. The two looked exhausted, I doubted we’d be going out to hunt tonight, but I had to try. “Get some rest.” I said. “If you manage to wake up and are human then we’ll set out after dark.” They nodded blearily, staggering off to rest. I briefly wondered if I could go and finish the request I’d taken first, but decided against it. Wouldn’t make it back by dark.

[You don’t actually expect them to be ready by then do you?] Page asked.

Well… no. Even so, have to give them the benefit of the doubt. I answered. Expecting them to fail wouldn’t be good for our relationship going forward.

[You can’t stay with them too long.] Page cautioned, [There’s too much else that must be done. At some point you must consider taking the fight to the Edratchi.]

I grimaced. How would you expect me to do that? When it comes to a war it’s more about the numbers than a magic bullet. Our fights against the Edratchi were hardly curb stomp battles. I don’t contribute as much as a squad of people or an army. I thought.

[You aren’t the one gathering the races to unite against them, you aren’t even freeing up anyone to fight in the war. If the front falls what can we do against an army of them? Sure a magic bullet isn’t as important, but directed properly, we can destabilize them like no one else can.] Page argued back. [Our survival hinges on a precarious balance right now that’s tipped towards the enemy.]

I sighed, asking a room for myself and making my way up the stairs. I don’t think it’s as bad as you make it out to be, the races that Cale and the others have gathered are pushing them back well enough, people are actually starting to give good news from there. Considering the situation before, that’s honestly pretty good I’d say. I thought, taking out the shaper and setting it on the desk. It’d been harder and harder to hide, constantly glowing as it was, though with my armour covering everything, I suppose that didn’t mean much.

The elementals were almost fully formed, their bodies floating upwards once the covering I’d placed on them had been removed. They shifted and twitched occasionally, but remained still otherwise. It was fascinating to watch, they didn’t seem to have souls in the traditional sense, instead they seemed to have bodies formed of their element that extended into their soul.

Their soul had no other elements other than their own and that mercurial aether… I was beginning to think of it like the piping to their soul. The hilt processed aether, extruded it into each of the souls, and it somehow bled into the world itself. I shook my head, it was definitely far more advanced than anything the civilizations I knew could make.

Animus mages… I thought, recalling his words back then. They hadn’t really been talked about much… They made artificial souls, not the same type as what I saw here, the souls were more like programs in a computer, able to do very limited things. Most Animus mages made golems to protect places like the inner sanctum of a castle or family crypts, mostly places most people wouldn’t go, just to mitigate the harm if they malfunctioned…

They were rare as diamonds, it required a mastery of all the elements of the magical spectrum, including aether, most mages were only particularly proficient in at most three elements, not to mention that without being a Sensitive, they had no way of being able to properly direct their talents. Second of all, they had been hunted to near extinction before, being capable of warping people’s very souls unless their targets were properly trained, like Gaven…

He said it replicates it, but I’m pretty sure this is beyond them… I paused. Or perhaps beyond their current membership… Considering the purges it’d be logical to assume that it had just been lost… Come to think of it… How many purges has this place been through?! Sensitives, purged. Animus mages, purged. The Kithar, claim to have been purged… I frowned. Way to mirror my world… I thought sardonically. In the worst ways possible… I sighed.

[Perhaps it is your world that mirrors theirs?] Page mused. [How would one go ahead to compare and contrast?]

I’m not even going to start entertaining multiverse theory and prime universes, the latter is comic fantasy…. I thought, rubbing at my temple. I should sleep. Can’t really think of a better use for my time right now…

[What about Delving and Shifting practice?] Page asked. [It would be good for you to improve on them, maybe even start walking around and doing it on demand.]

I grimace. It’s not a bad idea, I just don’t like it. Leaves me nauseous and sick after we do it too long… I sigh internally. Still, let’s get it done. I Delve, looking around the inn itself. I recognized Maria and Qen in a room. They lay separate, likely in different beds. If they were sleeping, their sleep wasn’t all calm, I could see their souls shifting and writhing, the different elements of it sliding and slipping over each other. It was… fear? Sadness… Yeah… it’s not something you can just shrug off… I thought.

The others in the building were mostly normal, the inebriated below had surges of emotion every once in a while. I curled up one of my armour bits into a ball, reconfiguring it now I knew how. It took time, but it was good practice, just bind the atoms to each other in a pattern. I bounced it off the wall, sticking my hand out and Shifting it to catch it and toss it from another angle. I stretched my foot out to kick it, shifting it where it needed to be. I was getting pretty good at this…

Someone rapped on my door, I caught the ball, putting it on the table before opening the door just enough to see out, my body blocking the elementals. “Please, it’s been a long day for me, if it’s not too much to ask, please… Keep it down…” A bleary eyed man said, eyes sliding towards and away from my own.

“Ah, sorry about that.” I replied with an embarrassed smile. “I’ll stop, have a good rest.” He nodded, turning away as I shut the door. He must have seriously good ears… I thought, watching him enter the neighbouring room. The ball itself is practically empty. There’s not much mass to it… I picked up the ball, pressing it against the desk to flatten it and tearing it to reform as a strip again.

I doffed my armour, light or not it would be quite the encumbrance to wear on the bed. I kept the breastplate on, having the liberty to wear each part as I pleased without worrying too much about how it was layered, and closed my eyes.

It didn’t take very long before it was time to wake again. I stretched myself after I got out of bed, donning my armour before going to find Maria and Qen. I knocked on their door, and I heard several thuds and groans before the door opened. They looked like they’d just woken, rubbing at their eyes, Maria yawned. “We’ll… get ready now…” She said, turning almost headfirst into Qen.

“No.” I answered. “It’s alright… We’ll set out tomorrow, I don’t want any of you to die just because you didn’t get enough sleep.” She hesitated, struggling to protest, I held up a finger. “I’ll wake you before first light, trust me, we’ll have a lot of work to do, so go get some rest.” I said, giving a wry smile. “In your state I wouldn’t trust you not to stab yourselves, better have you alert and ready.”

As I walked away Page spoke up in my head. [So in the end they still weren’t ready, maybe you should have gone out to take a look at the beasts first.]

I shrugged. It’s fine, we needed them to be ready I’d rather have them learn what needs to be done on the job at least. They need to know the importance of keeping themselves rested and ready. There’s just no point running yourself ragged, if you die no one can protect your charges. I went downstairs, exiting into the night.

I wandered the town, dark and silent now that most people had retreated to their homes. A few people still stumbled along the streets, having just had what they would likely consider a good time in a tavern. I sighed, completely wide awake. What to do… I thought to myself, walking past several taverns and dark alleys. Occasionally I’d notice several furtive figures, but armoured as I was I doubted they’d try me.

Eventually I settled for going out of the town, cutting a piece of wood for myself from a nearby tree. The branches I trimmed off and left there. I’ll get a machete or something at some point… I thought to myself wryly.

[I doubt you’d be able to fit anything else on your person without more modification of your armour.] Page noted.

Well it’s not like it’s really hard to do anyway.