[Cards] Book of Instant Copying (Patreon)

Arcanists love their puzzles, and the ancient Magister Mintren was no exception. And so, it came as no surprise when the expedition to his long-concealed city-tower discovered, among invaluable arcane finds, his journal. It covered everything from arcane theory to personal philosophy - Mintren had been an authority on many subjects - but the matrix of complex glyphs linking the pages' surface drew the eye. And the team had an arcanist of their own.

They naturally couldn't mark the original, so it fell to Oscar to duplicate it; Holly, notably not such a specialist, went for a walk after five minutes. Over their yet-brief but already storied career, his knack for having the right thing at the right time often saved them, as it did now with his unusual book. Yet, each time he closed the glass cover to scan one of Mintren's beautifully illuminated pages, his eyes slid to the armored ring on his finger.

His study was suddenly bright as the door swung open and Holly vaulted over his desk, grinning face-to-face with her lifelong companion.

"Hey, Oscar! Copying going well?"

Putting his work aside and looking away from the ring, he replied, "Oh, yes. It's just taking longer than I thought it would."

Holly raised an eyebrow as she said, "Are you sure you're alright? Just, you've copied that fancy page 18 times and you're almost out of paper."

Oscar refocused, returning to the page, replicas spread around it. And in one excerpt, he realized why he'd stuck with the page.

I have finally felt the truth near my end. Beyond mundanity, beyond magic, beyond all is simply sense. Trust it when it calls.

Oscar could feel the heat well up within him. He could swear his heart felt swollen enough to choke him. He knew this feeling: it was time to be brave, something he could always rely on Holly to be when he needed it.

But now? In a place like this? Being brave seemed almost naive. But if even Mintren had come to the same conclusion that fabled bards had after his long and storied life, then it would be certainly even more so to shrink away in this moment. With a waver in his voice, Oscar began to do what he knew to be the bravest thing he'd ever considered.

"Holly, I... have something to say."

Comforted by his familiar hesitance, Holly replied, "Yeah, Oscar?"

"I think..."

Holly leaned forward in expectation.

"...I've always..."

She nodded for him to continue.

"...felt for you."

The tackling hug he received was answer enough, as were the joyful tears. The feeling was, of course, shared.