It took a little over a day to help Jess get back onto a sowhat even keel. It took so promises, a few attempts to talk sense into people, and even a couple of threats, especially the threat to withdraw all support from Maggie’s community and simply leave them to their fate, to force the people to give Jess the space she needed. It was only now that I realised how much my reputation and my sheer, overwhelming power had protected from the social and peer pressure. Well, regarding peer pressure, it was difficult to exert it on soone without any peers. As the joke went, if you can only sit in the company of your peers, the peerless will always be forced to stand.
But that was an issue for another day.
Now that I had mostly dealt with Jess and her issues, I was back in my shelter and prison. The first order of business was checking in on my guests. The revenant was still in pieces and had continued to pull itself together at the expected rate, but my test-subjects were a little more active. Luckily, they seed to be in good condition, even if Lisa looked a little bored. Alice and Xander, on the other hand, seed to be doing their best to emulate rabbits, or maybe it was just an effect of bad timing, but the pair was, well, they were busy. Busy, loud and very enthusiastic, to the point that Lisa looked almost sleep deprived.
Unwilling to just let that go, I reached out, causing Lisa to tumble into the shadows and back out, only that she was now in the living space I had prepared for myself. It wasn’t overly elaborate, nor did I have any ostentatious objects stored in this area; it was just the replica of a comfortable, modern living room. It even had sothing resembling a television, though the effect was completely different.
On one wall, I had hung a large sheet of conjured crystal, inscribed with a large number of runes that, amongst other things, allowed to easily link a scrying construct to it. That effectively served as both a window and a television, making the space feel less confined. I could link the crystal window to a scrying construct sitting atop the mountain above, making it look like a simple window, or I could move it elsewhere, giving a nice window into Canada's quickly recovering nature.
And there was a lot of nature, likely fueled by the Change and the introduction of Astral Power, growing faster, larger and vastly more diverse than it had ever been. Well, at the sa ti, I was fairly certain that there had been larger differences between creatures throughout history, though so of the special abilities the various critters had gained might just prove wrong. After all, how would one rate the difference between a normal deer and one that could shoot rainbow lasers? Or a reindeer that could fly, though those didn’t have a red nose, as disappointing as that was. They had crystal hooves and sparkling antlers, similar to those of the rainbow laser deer.
At the mont, the crystal window was linked to a scrying construct I had placed in a tree overlooking a nearby adow. So of the snow out in the open had already thawed, maybe due to the nearby forrly burned land, maybe simply because it was out in the sun, making the area a pri grazing spot. Even now, a relatively small herd of deer, maybe so thirty or forty animals, were having a al there. It wasn’t completely peaceful, as I could faintly see the outline of so sort of predator lurking in the shadows between the trees, but that was just a part of the cycle of life.
Predators had to hunt, or the prey species would grow too large in number and cause devastation. It was a small miracle, or maybe intelligent design, that this hadn’t happened during and after the change, given how depleted the natural predators had been and how many forrly dosticated animals had gone back to the wild. Or maybe it had happened elsewhere, and this area had been spared due to pre-change circumstances, I wasn’t sure.
After Lisa tumbled out of the shadows and landed on her backside, she briefly started to cuss and grumble before her mind managed to catch on, and she realised what had happened.
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“Lady Jade,” she greeted , rolling over and getting into a kneeling position. It was a slightly weird habit she had cultivated. She always knelt when eting , unless and until I asked her to take a different position. It felt a little weird, especially when she got that breathy, almost worshipping tone in her voice, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“Lisa,” I returned her greeting, “Take a seat,” I pointed over to the couch, while I remained comfortably seated on an armchair. It wasn’t my throne, but it was almost as comfortable and not quite as ostentatious. She sat down gingerly, her eyes flickering around the room, taking in the ambience and decor, making hide a grin at the awe on her face. Though given that the rooms they were living in were almost as convenient and comfortable as this room, I wasn’t sure what she had been expecting.
“Did anything interesting happen these last few days?” I asked, deliberately keeping my voice completely casual, “I’m afraid I was occupied elsewhere,” I added, only now noticing that Lisa’s eyes had flickered over to the crystal window and seed to be fixated on it.
“Not really,” she shook her head, her eyes focusing on for a mont, before going back to the window, making realise that she hadn’t seen the open sky since I had taken them in. “Alice and Xander have started a relationship, well, they are banging, but otherwise, it was pretty boring,” she paused for a second, still staring out the window.
“Where are we? This doesn’t look like Colorado,” she asked, her voice wavering with emotion.
“That’s because it is not,” I shrugged, “The shelter you are living in is in Central Canada,” I told her, not seeing any issue with telling her this.
“What?!” she gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared at in disbelief. “How can we? How? What?” she stamred, doing her best to formulate a coherent question, only to fail miserably.
“That thing with the shadows,” I began, a smirk curling my lips, “Let’s just say, I can do quite a bit with it. It’s a very useful trick,” I told her, not going into details. Which was probably for the best, given that even that little tidbit made worry that her eyes were going to fall out of her skull any mont, they were so wide.
“Incredible,” she whispered, “Could you teach ?” she pleaded, the desire to gain a asure of control and freedom palpable in her voice.
“Maybe,” I shrugged, knowing full well that I wouldn’t teach her that ability without so assurance that it wouldn’t be used against . “Let check sothing,” I offered, not even waiting for her response. Instead, I started to gently poke her soul, checking her affinity for Darkness Magic.
Her magical affinity in general wasn’t bad, maybe even a little above average, but it wasn’t linked to Darkness. She’d make a decent Water Mage or sothing similar, but that was about it. Unless I made her a Warlock, which would also eliminate any worries about loyalty. If I imbued her with a magical symbiote, I would own her, body and soul.
“You could learn magic, but Darkness Magic will be fairly difficult for you,” I explained, noticing her face fall, “You also need to understand that magic, just as any Path of Power, isn’t sothing you can casually walk on. It takes ti, effort and dedication, even if I’m fairly certain that the current state of the world makes it easier to learn, at least when it cos to the basics,” I warned, hiding a grin when I saw her interest diminish in real ti.
“Isn’t there so easier way?” she asked, a slight whine in her voice.
“Power always cos at a cost,” I shrugged, “Normally, that price is paid over ti, by dedicating yourself to the Path and expending effort to walk it.”
“But that’s not always the case, right?” she asked, showing a mont of shrewd insight. “You said ‘Normally’, that ans there are abnormal situations,” she insisted, making grin for a mont.
“True,” I nodded. “And at that point, the question becos what you are willing to pay? What are you willing to sacrifice for power?” I challenged her, noticing that her expression was far more interested and pensive than expected when soone was faced with that question.
“What can be sacrificed?” she asked, and suddenly, I realised just how opportunistic she was. As long as the price was right, she’d be willing to do quite a bit for power.
It would be interesting to explore her limits, maybe push them a little. Just for the sake of idle curiosity.
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