Chapter 5
The Master's New Look
District C-1, Central Sector, Dominion of Nylos
"Explain it to me again," Giger said.
The young woman adjusted her glasses and said, "Come now, Giger, you're not that stupid. It is exactly as I told you. The Star Seed fused with me, which is why I look like this."
"But why are you a woman now?"
"Because the Star Seed is female. You have to realize that this wasn't like the time we merged Kamellia and I with our doubles. Two unequal beings merged, leading to a necessary imbalance. Hers was the more powerful form, so that's why her appearance is dominant."
Giger narrowed his eyes and asked, "Then why are you just you otherwise?"
"Because the Star Seed's mind is not fully developed, like that of an infant. She has a will of her own, but lacks the required level of cognition to express that will clearly, so I compensate for that lack."
Giger was still having difficulty accepting it, but this woman was Mordekai. As a wizard, perhaps he should not have been surprised at much of anything that could happen, but just when he had come to accept his old master as a precocious half-pint, this had to happen.
While he was still trying to reason it all out, Giger said, "I thought a fusion spell required the two halves to be synchronized first. You weren't planning on merging with it, were you?"
"She, Giger," Mordekai corrected. "She's not an it. And, no, I had no intention of merging with her, but she's so powerful that she can override the normal limitations of the spell. In fact, she may well be the very source of all magic, so it's no surprise that she can transcend the normal boundaries of the magical system as we currently understand it.
"Honestly, it was closer to a possession than anything, though instead of her will taking over my body, it is something of the reverse."
"But why you?" Gally asked. "She could have taken any of us."
"Even though the bulk of my powers are still latent—or perhaps I should say were latent—I am the most powerful of the three of us. Someone without any magical ability like yourself, Galatea, would not be of much use to her and indeed you may not have even been compatible.
"It may also have something to do with the fact that I am the successor to Belmond Weiss. It could be that the reason he was more gifted than other mages of his time was because he carried with him a piece of the Star Seed's power and that power has been transmitted from master to apprentice ever since. This is all conjecture, of course."
"Alright," Giger said, "so what do we do now?"
Mordekai shifted uncomfortably and said, "Finding some better-fitting clothes would be nice."
Clothes that were only a little oversized for a twelve-year-old boy certainly did not fit so well on a rather tall and not so modestly endowed twenty-year-old woman.
He stood up and said, "Let's make our way out of here, shall we?"
"How?" Gally asked.
Mordekai pointed to one of the open panels where a window had once been.
"And how do you want to get up there?" Giger asked.
Mordekai began tracing circles in the air and pieces of the floor, perfect little discs about a meter across, rose up to form a floating staircase.
As if to reassure them of its safety, Mordekai went first. As he started to ascend the stairs, Giger followed. After a couple steps, Giger glanced over his shoulder to Gally, who was looking on uncertainly.
"Come on," he said impatiently.
Somewhat grudgingly, he reached out to take her hand to help her take the first step.
Before he even looked into the room beyond the window, Mordekai said, "It would seem we are going to have to deal with them before we can get out."
Giger hurried up to see what he was talking about.
"Who?" Giger asked as he peered into the room on the other side of the window, seeing several naked figures scattered about.
This was not good to say the least.
"Oh, hell..."