The Second Gate: Chapter Forty (Patreon)

CW: Mentions of abuse
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I plucked the orphan mission off the board and held it up to Riley.

“I think I’m actually going to take this one,” I said, trying to project some apology into my voice. I scattered around my brain for an excuse, and finally found something that was mostly true. “My broom has been having handling issues recently, and I’m not sure about getting too far from the city.”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate. Have you had an enchanter look at it?”

I winced.

“Money’s my main concern. I don’t have the money to fix it, so I’m just eeking out whatever use I can before it breaks.”

“It’s probably wise to fix it before it breaks,” Riley said with a shrug. “But thanks anyhow. Good luck with the mission.”

“Yeah, same to you. If you happen to find a group job that’s more local, let me know,” I said.

“Sure,” Riley agreed.

I nodded and marked the mission off as I slipped away, feeling a bit awkward, then studied the paper for the details on the location of the orphanage. When we were outside, Dusk let out a strange raven’s caw, saying that she was glad I didn’t accept. Riley spooked her a bit, and it wasn’t because of their vampiric nature.

“Really?” I asked her. “What do you think it is?”

She let out a complex, uncertain sound, and I nodded.

“We typically just call them gut feelings.”

I frowned and shook my head at her response.

“No, again, your stomach is not your astral realm. A gut feeling is more…”

Trying to explain to her and get to the orphanage was going to take a while, so I sent power into Harvest Distance, then tapped into Foxstep and flickered down the street. I flickered down the next street as well, and then the next, and the next, then paused to catch my breath for a moment, then flickered away again.

Foxstep’s draw on my physical body was great in combat, since it drastically reduced the mana cost, but it had other benefits. When I used it for transit around the city, it took the same effective toll on me as if I’d walked the same distance, but in a much shorter amount of time.

Cardio… wasn’t my strongest suit. Since working with Ikki for the past half a year, I’d gotten much better than I once was, but exercise didn’t call to me in the same way that it did to Ed or to Liz.

But throw teleportation into the mix, and suddenly cardiovascular exercise became fun in a way I’d never experienced before.

The limiting factor, as with most things, was my mana. Drawing on my body reduced the mana cost, not eliminated it. Harvest Distance allowed me to further reclaim some of that expended mana, but it still was a net drain.

By the time I got close to the orphanage, my second gate spatial and temporal mana had begun to run low, so I popped open a can of Mana Shock. I wasn’t likely to use my teleportation inside the tight confines of an orphanage anyhow, but there was no sense in not recharging my mana. I could, it was cheap, and it was better to have mana and not need it than need it and not have it.

Once I’d restored a little bit of mana – far more spatial than temporal, given that I had no harvesting spell for time, and indeed actually slowed its regeneration via Temporal Basin – I entered the orphanage.

The first thing that struck me when I entered was that there was a waiting room, not unlike what you’d see at a doctor’s office or community outreach program. There were lots of pamphlets, and since there wasn’t anyone around, I paged through the rack that held them.

There were a few advertisements for local events, like I’d expected, but I was surprised by how many serious programs were offered as well. Subsidized therapy for minors, ways to contact Lightwatch divisions that handled domestic or home abuse, ways to access resources for queer and neurodivergent teens living in homes that were either unwilling, ill equipped, or unable to care for them.

“May I help you?” a voice called, and I turned to see who had spoken.

Physically, they looked unremarkable. Older, but not old, maybe in their late forties or early fifties. In good health, but not a health nut. Medium cropped hair that was practical more than fashionable.

They looked kind, but other than that, normal.

To my mana-senses, the story was different. They were peak spellbinder of mental and life mana, or maybe…

I frowned, not wanting to be rude, but also really curious. If I’d had access to to the Analyze Mana-Garden spell, then I’d have been able to gather the information I wanted without any issue, but I’d traded off my ability to do that for my full-gate spell.

I was beginning to wonder if I might not have been better off with just Magister’s Body, and not the Beast Mage’s Soul as well, but it was a bit late for that.

Instead, I tried to keep my mana senses as light as I could, while also examining them.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought that they might be a false Arcanist, someone who’d used a ritual, potion, or pill to break through to the next level.

Honestly, I couldn’t blame them. While most adults who worked with magic in their career made it to Spellbinder eventually, and even people like my dad – who’s magic use was mainly conjuring force hands to help him – made it to first gate, fifth gate was a lot rarer.

If I’d hit a wall at fourth gate, would I make a different choice?

I wasn’t sure.

Abruptly, I realized that I should probably say something, instead of just standing there and staring.

“Ah, yeah,” I said, fumbling and pulling out my ID. “I’m here from the Spiritwatch, about the Asomatous problem?”

“Oh, excellent!” the caretaker said, smiling. “I’d been hoping for help. Would you like to come into my office and have a cup of tea? Or would you be more comfortable discussing it out here?”

“Your office is fine,” I said, and they led me there, where they started a kettle to get the water boiling.

“Why don’t we start with the origin of the asomatous?” I asked them. “Given that they’re spirits of emotion, you must deal with them a lot.”

“We can certainly start there,” the caretaker said. “But I manage them less than you may expect. My legacy allows me to place blessings upon my children.”

“Interesting,” I said leaning forwards. “Then something unusual must have happened to form this one?”

“Indeed,” they said, grimacing slightly. “I took in a pair of twins from an abusive father. He objected, rather strenuously.”

“I can see how that would be stressful,” I said. “But surely that can’t be the first time this has happened?”

“It isn’t,” the caretaker confirmed. “But he broke into the dorms to attempt to – and I do believe that I’m quoting – ‘take back what was his’. That is rather unusual.”

“Tell me more,” I said, leaning forwards.

“When he broke in, the alarm wards were triggered,” they said. “They used impressive mental shielding, since I’ve layered powerful attention-diverting enchantments over the children’s dorms. When the alarm sounded, I made my way down to find him failing to force the twins out of their room. I used a stunning spell, and we fought for a little bit before I contained him. The Lightwatch showed up, and I filed the incident reports.”

A sardonic smile touched the caretaker’s lips, and they poured the now hot water.

“I believe their trial is in a few weeks, but the damage that’s been left on the twins is severe. More than that, he induced acute mental trauma in all of the children. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for them, and its sanctity was violated. They’ve lost faith that they’re entirely safe here.”

“And you think that’s the source of the asomatous?” I asked, wishing that I’d brought in a clipboard or notebook to take down notes on. Dusk offered me a crumpled sheet of paper from… Somewhere, and I gently patted her head.

“I’m almost certain of it,” they said.

“Good to know,” I said. “I’d like to know about the behavior pattern of the asomatous, though, and… Why can't you handle it yourself?”

I winced. That had sounded really rude, and it kind of was, but it was also important. If they had mental magic, they should be able to trap an asomatous, since those had one foot in the realm of the dead and spirits, but the other in the realm of emotions and the mind.

The caretaker just let out a good natured chuckle, though.

“I believe that the nature of the asomatous’ legacy’s core nature is preventing me. You’re right that it’s normally something well within my power to deal with.”

I hadn’t even been aware that an asomat… Asomati? Asomatoses? Did it stay singular? I didn’t know. Anyways, I hadn’t known they could have a legacy, but it made some sense that they did. The legacy was the base on which your mana-garden grew, and an asomatous had mana.

That made me wonder if my Healer’s Heart had a legacy, though. Maybe it’s unique mana signature that warped to the person was a result of the legacy? Were there other plants with mana, and thus, legacies? There had to be, otherwise Meadow would probably have mentioned that it was something unique to the Healer’s Heart.

I was spacing off a lot today. I wondered if that was a side effect of my medication. Was its dose too low? Too high?

Then again, some days were just like that. Maybe I was just spacey today.

“Is there anything else that you need to know?” the caretaker asked.

“I do want to know the behavior pattern,” I said. “That wasn’t just me trying to soften the blow.”

“Certainly,” they said. “It seems to attack mostly at night. I’m not sure if it’s simply unable to hurt my children, or if it’s power is just weaker than the blessings my legacy is leaving, but I think it’s the latter. Its first two attacks were violent, but now it seems to simply be striking to cause fear, not hurt. I think it’s empowering itself with the fear.”

“Interesting,” I said, tapping my chin. “The paper said you can sense it. Where is it right now?”

“It’s in the attic. That’s where it seems to retreat during the day, unless it’s provoked,” the caretaker said. “Why?”

“So it hasn’t seen this conversation?” I asked, a grin slowly spreading across my face.

“No, why?”

“Well, your home takes in a lot of vulnerable queer and neurodivergent children, right?” I asked. “And the asomatous has been attacking your kids.”

“Yes,” they said, raising an eyebrow. “What’s this about?”

Dusk started laughing, so hard that she fell off my shoulder, and I was forced to catch her.”

“Well, I just so happen to be a queer, neurodivergent teenager,” I said. “I’m lucky in that I don’t need help, and I have a support system. But… The asomatous doesn’t know that. You said it was trying to break through your legacy’s blessings? Well, let’s present it with someone new, who hasn’t had the time to become one of your kids yet.”

“Bait,” they said, eyes widening slightly. “If it can hurt you, it would explode in power from the massive amount of fear. But you’re not defenseless. You can catch it.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“How good are your veils?” they asked. “That’s what will really sell the illusion.”

“They’re going to have to be good enough,” I said with a grimace. “I can form them, but I’m not an expert.”

“How about we go for a short walk?” they suggested. “I’m good a veils. I can give you a few pointers, and we can go our separate ways until tonight.”