Ch 94. Heart to heart (Patreon)

My answer was the deep silence of the catacombs.

“Nemendias isn’t conscious,” Agatha said, staring at the body of Saint Innocentai with a morose look. “This is just an old skeleton.”

"No, this is just a prop," I said, pointing at the dusty skull. "I've seen real skulls in countless abandoned places. Nobody dies like that. Why is he sitting perfectly upright? Why did I get only one ninth of a crest and some shiny coins if this isn't just a performance, a show intended for children?"

“It’s like you don’t learn sis,” Emerald commented, her eyes glowing green in dark room. “When Juni tells you something you gotta listen and pay attention. Can’t you see it?”

“See what?” Agatha growled. “All I see is a reckless student who has negative three thousand two hundred points that’s going to get kicked out of Nemendias as soon as someone catches us!”

“Emmy is right, you know,” I said. “Stop flapping about my negative numeric evaluation, ignore the set and open your magical sight.”

“Fine, I wi…” Agatha’s mouth fell open as her eyes lit from within.

“You see it don’t you?” I said. “The beating heart of Nemendias?”

A massive fractal knot of hexagrams spun above the corpse of Saint Innocentai visible clearly in the Astral. A million notches and patterns flowed from one to another. The enormous magical formation a thousand times bigger than the room, extended into the depths of the Still Forest, flowed into itself and outwards. Gears made of hexagrams spun, grabbed onto smaller gears which spun faster.

“It’s… beautiful,” Agatha muttered.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Nemendias is the heart of Illatius and this is her magical core. The fractal machinery of the stars, a perpetually moving engine made entirely from magical currents.”

I reached deep into Saccy and pulled out a thick blanket. I spread the blanket over the ancient, dust covered floor. My friends and I sat down, silently staring up at the complex structure spinning above us.

As the fractal machinery of the stars spun overhead, I tried to define, to understand its numerous segments. Nemendias was six thousand years old and every mage that worked within her halls must have added something new to her, leaving part of themselves behind.

Unlike Dawn, Nemmy wasn’t an Astral Tree. She was a vortex, an eternally spinning megastructure forged from magical rules and patterns, an absolutely gargantuan clockwork mechanism with a multitude of templates added all over to reinforce her form.

I lifted my hand up and let the magical gears pass through it, smiling as they left dancing trails behind like colorful aurora borealis.

“Nemmy,” I whispered at the eternally spinning mechanism. “I can see you. Won’t you come out and talk to me? I just want to be your friend.”

I saw that some pattern shifted within the storm. Nemmy heard me but chose to ignore me.

“I see how it’s going to be,” I sighed.

I stood up, climbed into Saccy and emerged with a little, black kitten.

“Guess you won’t mind if I take over this room then?” I spoke to the magical storm overhead.

“What are you doing?” Agatha asked.

“Moving in,” I said, placing the black kitten on the floor. “I’m the night instructor and every respectable instructor needs an office. It’s a bit dusty here, but that’s what cleaning spells are for.”

The purple eyed kitten looked around, sniffed the floor and sneezed.

"You're right, Captain, it's dusty as heck in here." I pointed my armacus at the table, visualized the cleaning spell I had learned back in Undertown and fired it. The dust ignited, burning away, leaving a spotless, albeit time-worn surface.

"When did you name your kitten?" Emerald asked.

"Just now," I replied. "She's Captain now. The Captain of Nemendias!"

I looked up. The patterns overhead shifted again. Nemmy was watching.

“Guess nobody’s going to stop me, eh?” I asked.

I went around the room firing cleaning spells and then started to pull furniture and crystal lights out of Saccy, decorating the gloomy interior.

Nobody stopped me, my number didn't change.

I shrugged and resumed my redecorating. Emerald got off the blanket and started to help me. Agatha stayed where she was, staring at us in bewilderment.

“Say, that’s a nice gold plaque. It would be a shame if someone pried it off and sold it on the open marker," I commented.

I pulled Endy out of her sheath and struck it at the edge of the gold plaque, trying to disrupt its attachment to the table.

“Are you seriously trying to steal a plaque?” Agatha asked. “I feel like I should give you a lecture about damaging historical interiors, but I know you’re just going to ignore it.”

“Shh,” I said, ignoring Agatha. “I’m bugging her.”

I struck the plaque with Endy again and again, causing a colorful ripple to dance through it and travel all the way up to the storm above me.

“Please stop,” a female voice interrupted my next swing.

I lifted my eyes away from the table.

The skeleton in the chair had been replaced with a serious-looking woman in a black robe. Silver eyes stared at me from an alabaster, perfect face framed by silver, flowing hair. A large, eight-pointed star hung on her chest, glittering in the dim room.

“There you are,” I smiled. “You know it’s not polite to invite someone over and then not greet them properly.”

Agatha’s mouth fell open as she stared at the woman in the seat.

“Nemmy,” Emerald whispered. “She’s real!”

The avatar of Nemendias sighed.

“I can see that you’re going to be just as annoying as the other eight,” she said.

“Eight?” I blinked. “Don’t you mean seven?”

“No,” Nemendias shook her head. “There were eight others like you who managed to bother me immensely over the centuries. Children with artifacts over which I had no control. That reminds me... the girl with the pocket watch is still here. She refuses to leave.”

“Eunice and her high-cendai,” I muttered. “It has to be them.”

“My apologies for being a bother,” I addressed the magic-forged avatar. “But I really needed to speak to you.”

“Then speak,” Nemendias said.

“Hi,” I offered her my hand. “I’m Yulia.”

“I know,” the woman in the chair nodded. She didn’t stand up, didn’t shake my hand.

I put my hand down, feeling a bit awkward.

“Who are the other eight? Can you tell me their names?” I asked.

“No,” Nemendias replied.

“Could you at least tell me something about their artifacts? Tools that cannot be affected by magic, right?”

“No,” the woman said.

I frowned. She was being difficult.

“Why are you withholding valuable information?” I asked.

“Information isn't free,” Nemendias replied briskly.

“What do you want?” I inquired.

“I want you to behave,” she said. “Be a studious student. Stop breaking the rules. Here, I'll reset your number back to minus one hundred as a show of my… equanimity."

Nemendias waved her fingers and the blinding, red, negative number above my head shrunk, dimming the room considerably.

“I would follow the rules, but I don’t know what ‘the rules’ are,” I said.

Nemmy waved a hand and a book dropped onto my lap.

[The Rule Book of a Nemendias Novitiate,] the title declared.

“This is a hefty book,” I commented. “Can you pull any book I request out of the air for me this way?"

Nemendias stared at me, refusing to answer my demand for a mobile library.

"Say… What would happen if I don’t follow all of these rules?” I asked, weighting the thick book in my hand.

“I won’t tell you the things you wish to know,” Nemendias replied. “All of my doors will be barred to you.”

“You really think you can keep me out from wherever I need to go?” I raised an eyebrow, spinning Endy in my hand.

“I guess I cannot, since you can just unmake my doors with that knife of yours,” she said. “But I can make things exceedingly difficult for you.”

“Does Nemendias not protect her flock?” I inquired. “Am I not your student?”

“You won’t be my student much longer if you keep violating the sacred compact between a student and their institution,” she said. “Keep breaking the rules and I will un-student you, turn all of my shields against you.”

“I don’t recall singing any compacts at my interview,” I said. “What I recall is me showing you that I’m awesome and you letting me in.”

“You aren’t fully in,” Nemendias sighed. “You weren’t supposed to lose so many points so early. You shouldn’t have got a crest ray or found this place so quickly.”

“I know,” I smiled. I’m pretty quick on the uptake. Why are you being a crest miser? Why didn't you give me a full crest for finding you?"

"I am not a miser," Nemendias said. "A crest is a student's reward for numerous, outstanding magical achievements and continuous personal improvement, assembled over many years. Why would someone study hard for five years to attain it if they got a crest on their first day?"

"I see," I said with a twinge of crest-related disappointment. "When’s the compact signing supposed to happen?”

“During the Knowledge Day ceremony, in exactly three days,” Nemendias replied. “Every student swears to obey the rules and signs their name into the book.”

“Aha!” I smirked. “So I can do whatever I want until such time?”

“No, you cannot!” Nemendias growled. “You’re a guest here! Start behaving or I will gate you outside!”

“Hold up… You can make magic gates?” A wide grin spread across my face.

Nemendias squinted at me.

“Can you teleport me around? Walking between classes sounds like a chore,” I said.

“I’m not going to waste magic on a student that won’t follow the rules,” she said sternly. "Only those that prove themselves as exceptional students over the years will get any kind of benefits from me. What you ask is out of the question."

“Fine,” I sighed. “I can follow your silly rules. I’ll read your entire rule book too, but…”

“But what?” Nemendias asked.

“I might not like some of the rules,” I said. “I might want them changed. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t have to sign a contract that binds my hands into inaction. We can discuss each rule and modify clauses, like proper… business partners making a deal that benefits both of us.”

“What business deal?! If you don't agree to my rules, you won’t become my student,” Nemendias shook her head. "Go bug another, lesser Arcanarium for your education if you won't respect me."

“Nemmy,” I stared at the avatar. “I don’t think you understand why I am here. I’m not here to be a mere student. I’m not here to simply learn magic.”

“Why are you here then?” Nemendias asked. “Is it to annoy me?”

I made a pause, assessing my words. Nemendias was a magical institution. Like the Diamond Heart she had a purpose, an idea that drove her. Her personality was most likely guided by the ideals and words that were written on nearly every banner with her face on it.

“I’m here to make sure that you can continue to fulfill your primary role,” I said.

“Oh?” Nemendias raised an eyebrow.

“Nemendias protects her flock,” I repeated. “You can’t protect your students if they’re all dead.”

“How certain are you of this?” The silver-haired woman asked.

“100%,” I replied. “In a decade from now a magitek revolution will sweep Illatius. The rulers of this city will put it down with force and then order an attack on Novazem. In retaliation, the Necromag warships will unleash a plague that will end humanity, leave your halls barren.”

Nemendias frowned at me.

“If you don’t believe me, scan my words for the truth,” I said. “I saw your all-mighty truth-hexagram in the tower. I’m certain that you can weave a similar one beneath my feet here, in this very room.”

“I have been scanning your words for the truth since the moment you’ve arrived and started making demands. Now, how have you come by this prophecy?” the Arcanarium’s avatar asked.

“My artifact allows me to... experience the future,” I lifted Endy up to her glowing, silver eyes.

“Why did you come to the Interviewee’s Tower as a student applicant?” Nemendias asked. “Why not apply as a teacher if you wish to guide the new generation of Nemendias students away from war?”

“I have two bodies,” I replied. “I can do twice as much, be teacher and student.”

“Determined to fill every role, hm?” Nemendias commented.

“Of course I am!” I waved my arms. “You do understand what’s at stake here? I have to do everything possible, tackle the looming catastrophe and approach the problem from every possible angle. I want to change the hearts and minds of the new generation as their peer AND their instructor. I will be their best friend and their enemy, their guide, their leader, teacher and dynamo.”

“That sounds like a... massive rule-violating issue,” Nemendias mulled. “You are not the first student here with two bodies, but you are the first one who wants to use both for two distinctive roles. You cannot be both student and teacher…”

“I NEED to be both, Nemmy,” I shook my head. “Please! For the future of humanity, for all of the future children of Nemendias… I need you to change the rules just once. Just for me. If I don’t stop what’s coming your rules won’t matter because there will be nobody here to learn! Nobody will read your books, nobody will sit in your classes, nobody will fill your halls with laughter, nobody will win or lose points, nobody will make out or hold hands on your lovely benches beneath lilac trees! There will be nothing left because in time magic itself will fade from these walls and your machinery of the stars, your engine will stop spinning, your heart will stop beating!”

“You ask for too much,” Nemendias crossed her arms. “If you wish to be a legitimate teacher, the Dean and the Keeper will have to interview you for a job.”

“No,” I shook my head. “The Administration is part of the problem. The puppets you’ve used to interview me have shown me exactly what the current instructors are like. Their hatred for lowborns is part of the reason why Illatius will catch the fire of revolution. The Keeper of the Keys and the Dean obey… Inarian entities and an evil goddess that will bring about oblivion if I do not stop them.”

Nemendias didn't comment on the issues I raised, but I knew that she was aware of it because her eye twitched at my words.

“I see that you’re made of rules and laws. I see the fantastic beauty of order and intelligence within the machinery of the magical hexagrams that comprise your extraordinary soul,” I said. “How about this - we don’t have to break the old rules. Let's make a new rule, a personal compact between you and me. Between an ancient Arcanarium and a ghost with two bodies from a world that no longer exists. A compact for a very distinctive role, one that’s got nothing to do with rules followed by students, teachers or administrators! A personal agreement, a pact based on our mutual goal of keeping these halls alive!”

The avatar of the ancient institution seemed unmoved by my words, didn't reply to my appeal. She simply shook her head, denying my request.

“Please Nemmy,” I whispered, tears of forlornness running down my cheeks. 

"I don’t want to fight you. I don’t want to have to kick down every door or damage your heart. I don’t want to break your rules or have to cut apart the beautiful engine powering your soul. I’ve already died five times, sacrificed my life again and again to learn horrible, awful truths about exactly what’s coming. I implore you, let's save Illatius together, let's make sure that the future I witnessed never comes to pass!”

The pale woman in the ancient, dusty chair stared at me like I was a bug that was bothering her immensely.

“Three days,” Nemendias said finally after a deep, tense pause. “You have three days until summer ends and Knowledge Day begins and students fill these halls. Three days to exterminate her.”

“What?” I blinked.

“Since you refuse to leave me alone and also refuse to be interviewed by the current Dean, you must prove your exceptional worth to me personally,” the avatar of the most ancient Arcanarium said. “Exterminate the ghost with the pocket watch that has been bugging me since the beginning of time and I will consider giving you a new role befitting your... unique station.”

“Sure, where do I find…?” I started to speak.

The avatar of Nemendias shattered, fell apart into dying sparks leaving only the eye-less, dusty skull of Saint Innocentai behind herself.

I frowned and suddenly noticed that the corpse of the architect now had a silver compass sitting in his right, pale-white, bony hand. I picked it up.

“Guess who has a new job?” I turned to Agatha, wiping my cheeks.

“Is it you?” She muttered, wearily staring at the compass in my hand.

“We’re gonna be ghostbusters!” I declared giddily to her.