Chapter 14
Welcome Home
Vigau, Arielle, Bonaventure
After everything that had happened, it felt strange being back in Vigau, even more so than when they returned from their time in Nylos.
"Are you sure you can spare the time to drop in," Giger asked Mordekai, "what with your grand mission and everything?"
"I'm sparing nothing, Giger," Mordekai replied. "Reestablishing the Mages' Guilds is part of that grand mission, so it only makes sense that we would come back here. In fact, I'd like to make this my base of operations."
"Here?" Giger asked. "Not Belmondo?"
"Belmondo has its uses and there would have been merit in letting them think I wanted to use it as my capital, but do you know why I told them the me I was leaving behind was a double?"
Giger felt like he was being set up to give a wrong answer just so Mordekai could correct him. He had gotten his fill of that from his days as an apprentice and was not interested in playing along.
"Shoot," he said.
"Come now, Giger," Mordekai chided. "Try to use your brain a little."
So there was no getting around this. Giger sighed, then took a moment to pay some serious thought to the question.
"If you were just wanting the double in Belmondo to be a decoy, you wouldn't have said it was a double. If anything, you saying that has made the double safer from anyone looking to do more than put out one of your extra sets of eyes."
"Perhaps I give my enemies too much credit," Mordekai said, "but by laying such traps, I can take their measure. A club cannot be made to serve as a scalpel and I would see what they have in their hands."
"Knowing you, there's more to it than that."
"Quite right. I want people to think my main body is constantly on the move. I want them to keep them guessing where my main body is. Now, it's possible that I can maintain my existence so long as at least one of my doubles survives, but I would rather not test that theory."
"But if you've split yourself so many times, doesn't that bring us back to the same problem we had before? You already spent twelve years burning twice your lifespan. With these many copies running around, you've only got a few years at best."
"Your calculations are missing two important factors," Mordekai said. "First, the Star Seed's lifeforce vastly exceeds that of an ordinary human. We generate the very æther we consume to sustain ourself. It isn't a 100% efficient process, nothing in nature is, but it wouldn't be inconceivable for us to keep living for millennia.
"Second, rather than simply splitting off a part of ourself to make a double, we infuse ourself into a container with its own supply of lifeforce, namely another human. This way the process is additive rather than subtractive. Besides the lifeforce of the host, our æther generation function ensures that the double can continue to function for quite some time."
Giger did not fail to note that 'I' had become 'we' again. It was no coincidence that the majority of the more disturbing things to come out of Mordekai's mouth happened when he was in 'we' mode. How much of Giger's old master was even left? Could he even rightly be called Mordekai at this point?
"How do these hosts feel about all this?" Giger asked.
"Most are volunteers, so they are more than happy to offer themselves to the cause," Mordekai replied. "The rest were threats I would've eliminated anyway, so at least they're serving a greater purpose than simply feeding the worms."
"I'm sure they're thrilled about it."
"Enough of that for now, Giger," Mordekai said. "I don't want you starting one of your arguments and upsetting poor Kamellia. And none of your usual barbs when I'm explaining to her what's happened."
"What? Me? I wouldn't dream of it."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. I swear, you never change."
"And yet you keep me around."
"I keep you around because you're reasonably capable and because you have the capacity to understand the situation better than most, even if you must bellyache all the while."
"Sounds to me like you've dug your own hole."
"Indeed it would seem that way. Well, at least for the time being, you can go back to tormenting Galatea. I'm sure she's been missing you."
"How do you figure that?"
Mordekai smiled and said, "I don't think you too could be further in denial if you tried."
Giger was about to vociferously reject the charge, but doing so would only be like rolling barrels of gunpowder to a cannoneer, so instead he opted to be silent. He did not dare openly admit to being concerned about how Gally was faring, how she was getting along with Kamellia and all that.
He would have the answer soon enough as they turned into the cul-de-sac where his cottage was, but as soon as they did so, it was clear that something was wrong. The house lay open with the door on the ground out front.
Giger and Mordekai exchanged glances. Though their first instinct might have been to go rushing in, whatever had happened was long since over. If Kamellia and the others were there and fine, they would have fixed the door. There was a very good chance that whoever did this left traps behind and neither of the two mages needed to say as much to understand it.
"I'll take the front," Mordekai said. "You go around back. Carefully, now."
Giger nodded. He was already imagining the worst, but he had to consider the other possibilities as well. If they were still alive, he was going to have to keep a level head to pick up the clues to where they went, or where they were taken.
As he was warned, he proceeded carefully to the back door. He had to be on the lookout for physical traps as well as magical ones. He had no what of knowing what he was dealing with.
He found nothing as he went, but the door was the most likely place to set a trap. First he placed his hand on the door and sent out a test pulse. No reaction. It would seem there was no enchantment on the door itself. He then took out his key and slowly turned it in the lock. No trigger on the locking mechanism either. He slowly began to open the door, feeling for any unnatural tautness or slackness, any sort of resistance. He crouched down to make himself a smaller target, then continued to slowly open the door and...
The door swung open sharply, sending a shock through Giger that nearly gave him a heart attack. It was Mordekai.
"We're clear," he said.
Giger thought of some choice things to say but instead simply grumbled, "Dammit, Mordekai."
"I appreciate your caution, Giger, but I could use your help assessing the situation."
Giger straightened himself up and went inside. Whatever had happened, it appeared to have been restricted to the living room, as the rest of the house appeared relatively undisturbed. There were blankets and such in disarray on the floor, indicating that this probably happened at night.
Mordekai stood in the entryway and looked at the doorframe.
"They used some manner of low-yield explosive to blast apart the hinges and the lock," he said. "The door fell inward and then they dragged it outside so it would be out of their way."
He then touched the floor and a wave of pinkish light washed over it. Footprints could be seen all over, the most recent shining brighter.
"We can see quite a few adult males coming in, swarming around where we can presume the young ladies were sleeping. The farthest one goes partway up the stairs. This was where they got Kamellia and that boy."
Giger's slippers were lying on the stairs. Kamellia must have been wearing them when she was taken. There was a heaviness in the air and it felt like the ground was subtly shaking. It did not take Giger long to realize what was behind it.
"Mordekai, I'm going to need you to calm down," he said warily.
"I am calm, Giger," Mordekai replied. "If I wasn't calm, I would've levelled the whole neighborhood by now."
"I'm worried you might do it anyway."
"Not while there's evidence to collect. There are no bloodstains or anything of the sort, which would tell me that they were taken alive. If they were taken alive, then the odds are fair that they're still alive.
"We have two primary suspects: the Witch-hunters and the mystery visitors who have been going after the Ancients. If it is the former, the target would be Kamellia and the girls. If the latter, Galatea and the boy. I have never seen anything like the explosive used on the door, which would incline me toward the latter. There is also this."
From his pocket, Mordekai pulled out what looked like a button.
"I found this in the entryway. It is some manner of transmitter. I believe our visitors left it to alert them if anyone would come here."
"If it's a transmitter, shouldn't you destroy it?"
"You want to get Kamellia and Galatea back, don't you, Giger? Would it not be faster if the ones who took them come to us?"
"Do we have any chance against them? You saw what they did in Ladrieu."
"And you've seen a sampling of what I'm capable of. However, it's possible that we can negotiate with these people. A diplomatic solution would be preferable, wouldn't it?"
Giger certainly thought so, but of what he had seen so far, diplomacy with Mordekai was a one-way street. If these visitors could actually hold their own against him, what then?
Giger then sensed something that prompted him to go over to the couch. He placed his hand on the shadow cast by the couch and as he lifted his hand, up from the shadow emerged Prissy, or rather, half of her.
"Prissy!" Giger exclaimed.
Were familiars ordinary flesh and blood, this would have been a ghastly sight, but while it was still disturbing seeing only the lower half of his companion's body, it was not quite as horrific as it could have been. Rather than blood and viscera spilling out, it was particles of light that fluttered away from the point of separation.
Wasting no time, Giger took out his ring chalk and began to draw a magic circle around what was left of Prissy. Once he tested the connection, he sliced open the pad of his thumb with his penknife and pressed it down to activate the circle.
As the circle glowed, the light pouring out of Prissy's body began to inch forward, slowly but surely reforming the rest of her body. Had Gally been there, some fragment of her memory might have likened the process to the operation of a 3D printer.
The light faded as it closed in on the tip of Prissy's nose and magic circle with it. She was whole once more but lying there still and lifeless.
"Hey, Prissy!" Giger called to her.
Prissy woke with a start, her ruby eyes snapped open wide.
"Huh!? Wha!?"
Giger scooped her up into his arms and held her close.
"Prissy!"
Surprised, Prissy pushed away at first, but when she looked up at him, it all came back to her.
"Giger? Giger!"
She buried her face in Giger's chest and he stroked her head to comfort her.
"You're alright," he told her. "You're alright now."
She reached out with her paw and clutched at Giger's shirt, saying, "They came here, Giger... Shadows... There was this bright light, then the door exploded. That Ancient woman, she jumped out like she was going to protect everyone, but then they all just passed out. I was hiding up on top of the shelves and I tried to stop them. Happy, too. Something hit me, and... and..."
"We can assume Apollos met with a similar fate," Mordekai said.
"If part of him managed to escape into the shadows like Prissy did, we won't be able to repair him without Kamellia's blood," Giger said.
"Leave that to me," Mordekai said.
"Are you just going to try to force it?" Giger asked.
"You forget that I spent nine months sharing Kamellia's blood, Giger," Mordekai pointed put. "I should have enough of a compatibility for him." He paused. "Oh, and you can come out now, Ramstein. I'm not angry with you."
From a shadow cast on the wall, the old raven's beak emerged. As the rest of his head followed, he bowed apologetically.
"Forgive me, Master Grummond, but Apollos and Priscilla were bested quite effortlessly and though I understand the priority you place on Mistress Reis, I could not risk falling into the enemies' hands."
"It was the right call," Mordekai said. "The rational part of me understands that."
"It is the irrational part of you that concerns me at the moment, Master."
"Then I suggest you work very hard so that part of me doesn't have an excuse to end your three hundred years of service."
"Yes, Master. What would you ask of me?"
"Can you tell me anything about what happened beyond what we've learned so far?"
"Most of the attackers were not mages, but there were a couple among them. Besides claiming Mistress Reis, the two Ancients and the young apprentices, they also took the missing half of Priscilla."
Priscilla was staring with a distant look in her eyes as she said, "I can see it... I'm in a strange room... I'm floating... Around me... it's like glass... There are lights... Sounds I can barely hear... People are coming... They know I'm awake..."
"It would seem the two halves are still connected, as it were," Mordekai said. "If Priscilla was taken to the same place as Kamellia and the others..."
"Don't do anything to provoke them, Prissy," Giger said. "Just stay calm and tell us what's happening."
"There are people dressed in white standing around these boxes," Prissy said. "There's someone else. A woman. A mage. She's walking up to me. Putting her hand on the glass. She's searching me. I can feel her. It's almost like... like... like Master Grummond since you came back..."
"Interesting," Mordekai said. "If you'll excuse me, Priscilla, I'm going to borrow you for a bit."
Mordekai placed his hand on Prissy's head and her body stiffened up.
"Hey, Mordekai, what are you doing?" Giger asked.
"It's alright, Giger," Mordekai assured him. "I'm not hurting her. I just want to see what she sees and feel what she feels."
Mordekai closed his eyes as he focused.
"Yes, I see. The woman does have a similar touch to the Star Seed but diluted, weaker. Still, blood is blood."
Prissy's eyes started to glow as her mouth moved along with Mordekai's words.
"You have something that belongs to me," he said. "I would very much like it back. I have the little trinket you left here. I'm guessing you can use it to follow me.
"I will go somewhere a little quieter outside town. You can meet me there and we will discuss terms. I certainly hope you have been taking good care of what you have taken. Don't keep me waiting too long."
Mordekai lifted his hand and Prissy's eyes went back to normal.
"She looks shaken," Prissy said.
"I would think so," Mordekai replied. "Mother's blood calls her children together."
"Mother?" Giger asked.
"The Star Seed had to come from somewhere, Giger," Mordekai said. "Three hundred years and still they think they can put a hook in the jaw of the Leviathan... They never learn..."
"Would you care to elaborate on that?" Giger asked, trying his damnedest to hide his unease.
Mordekai gave him a sidelong glance and seemed to see right through him as he said, "No. No, I don't think I will. Not at this time. I need to be heading out for my little tête-à -tête with the people who took Kamellia. If they know what's good for them, they'll return her to me."
"You're going alone?"
"I'd rather not have you get caught up in the crossfire if they mean treachery."
Mordekai then turned to Giger. He placed his hand on Giger's chest and said, "But first, I'd like a little insurance for myself."
Staring wide-eyed at Mordekai, Prissy pinned her ears back and hissed. Unfortunately, though felines do this for the sake of warding, it does not often produce the desired effect.