Millennial Mage

Tala watched Rane slowly stir.

She sat in a meditative position, having just finished looking through herself with her mage-sight. Thankfully, her scripts had cleaned up all the damage and contamination within her body. Tala really needed to thank Holly, once again, for the beautifully designed scripts.

Rane groaned and pushed himself up. “Water.” His voice came out in a harsh croak.

Tala slid a waterskin to him.

“Thanks.” He guzzled down the whole thing before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. As he set the empty skin to one side, he wrinkled his nose. “What is that smell?”

“Oh, that? That’s my bile and blood.”

“What?” He blinked at her owlishly, clearly not fully mentally present yet.

“You put three clean thrusts into my abdomen, through my digestive system, and out my back. Anyone else would be dying of peritonitis and sepsis, if they didn’t just bleed out.”

He paled. “Wha- How?”

He groaned, putting his head in his hands. “I remember you hitting me.” He looked up. “How did you manage that, by the way?”

She grinned. “I figured that your defense somehow read the velocity of the incoming attack, in order to mirror it. So, I didn’t move Flow. I kept it perfectly still, while my anchor dimensionally pulled me past you.”

“Ahh… yeah, that’s a hole in my defense.” He frowned. “Not that there are many who could exploit it…” He sighed. “I’ll have to take time to consider that.”

“So… do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I… have a temper.”

She gave him a flat look. “No, I’m not chalking that up to temper. You seem to have some memory loss surrounding it, and that was more than just an emotional reaction.”

He groaned again. “Many of my family have a blessing, or a curse depending on who you ask. When we are truly threatened, a more primal portion of our mind takes over. I wasn’t lying; it is very tied to my anger, to my temper, even if it is triggered by damage.”

“Well, I don’t like you when you’re angry.” She rubbed one hand on her abdomen, remembering the pain. It had felt like…there was no good comparison, but it had felt wrong.

“I am sorry about that.” His face showed genuine remorse.

“It was pretty rusting terrible, honestly.”

Rane sat up straight, then executed a seated bow. “My deepest apologies, Mistress Tala, both for my provocation before our bout, and for losing my temper and attacking you so lethally.”

Tala gave a half-bow in return. “Apology accepted, but you really should have told me about the danger.”

“I planned on it, but, with all due respect, last time we fought you were far from being able to hurt me enough for the danger to be present.”

She quirked an eyebrow.

“Clearly something’s changed.” He frowned, looking around as if searching for something. “Wait, you started the bout by tossing those balls out to the sides. They never actually attacked me.”

She grinned. “Best case? The fight would have lasted long enough that they could come into play. As it was, they were a great distraction.”

Rane laughed, then. “Too true.” He groaned, rubbing his chest. “You hit hard.”

“You better believe I do.”

“No, I mean, you might have left a lasting mark.” He looked down. There was, indeed, a light purpling of his flesh across his upper chest. “That’s going to be rusting awful for days.” He cocked an eyebrow at her.

“You throw me into walls all the time.”

“You heal.” He shifted and winced. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I have worse than this on my back.”

Tala nodded, having seen his shirtless back. “Yeah, you’ll be sleeping on your side for a while.”

He sighed. “I’ll just go to a healer.” He glanced towards her stomach. “We can get you looked at, too. I know you’ve good healing scripts, but I don’t want something to be amiss, and we don’t realize it.”

Tala hesitated. “What would that cost to take care of?”

“My injuries? I think the standard for a simple heal is ten silver, and this should qualify. For you? I don’t know what a diagnosis will cost, and any healing that might be needed would probably be more than simple.”

She grimaced, again, at the remembered pain. “Yeah… having myself looked at might be wise.” She bit the side of her lip, considering.

He stared, giving her time to think.

After a moment, a sly grin spread across her face. “Want to gamble?”

Rane tilted his head in interest. “What do you have in mind?”

“I pay for your healing, and you pay for mine.”

“That hardly seems fair.”

“You said I might not need it.”

“Oh, I know. That is exactly the problem. I mean that it is not fair to you. You’ll be paying for my wounds, and I probably won’t have to pay anything.”

She almost laughed, then. “Alright. Then, what if you clean the training hall?” She gestured to the blood-splatter and streaks of stinking bile.

He scratched the back of his head, considering and grimacing at his injuries. “Deal, but I would have done that regardless.”

Tala just shrugged. She honestly felt a bit bad about hurting him and wanted to pay for the healing. She knew that she shouldn’t. He hurt her in sparring far more than that all the time, but she had designed herself to recover from such things. She’d purposely bypassed his protections.

Which I’m supposed to do in sparring. Even so, she felt it was right to pay.

She smiled, bringing her thoughts back to the present. “So, your defensive, temper thing: Magical?”

Rane grunted. “Yeah. Some ancestor earned a boon from Basileus and asked for his descendants to be protected against death.”

“Wait… Basileus the Betrayer?”

“That’s the one. Apparently, he hadn’t earned the moniker, yet.”

“That’s…rough.”

“A bit, yeah. He kept his bargain, though. For mundanes, the berserk rage is actually really useful, and unlike psychedelic induced rages, we can always distinguish friend from foe.”

“Assuming your friend isn’t attacking you.”

Rane scratched the side of his head. “That’s not usually an issue?”

Tala snorted. “I suppose.”

* * *

Rane took nearly half an hour to clean the mess. He even had to request a batch of pretty strong cleaning chemicals from the facility staff.

While he did that, Tala bathed. She used the privacy to focus on her abdomen and cement in her own mind that she was whole, once more. Getting hurt and healed so rapidly is doing a number on me…Do I want to get used to it?

She further centered herself by crocheting an other stitch within her innermost self. Progress. Always progress.

When she came out, Rane was in his normal clothes, rather than his training gear, and stretching. “Ah! You’re done.” He smiled. “I just finished getting cleaned up, myself. Ready to go.”

“Yeah. Terry?”

Terry joined them, and the three headed towards a healer recommended by the training center’s staff. Apparently, training accidents weren’t uncommon, so a healer had set up shop just down the spiral.

Tala opened the door to the healer’s shop and a little bell dinged over the door. She held the door for Rane. He’s the patient, after all.

Rane hesitated for the briefest of instants, then shrugged and walked in ahead of her. A kindly man greeted them from a comfortably looking chair in the back corner. “Master, Mistress, how can I serve today.” He set down a book as he stood, after placing a bookmark in it.

Tala immediately picked up on his magic, the inscriptions were entirely oriented towards Material Guide spell-forms. Holly’s inset assistance helped Tala understand them as focused on flesh, bone, blood, organs, and other internals. Makes sense.

He was clearly unbound.

Rane bowed to the older Mage. “Master. I am Rane, and this is Mistress Tala. I took some injury while sparring, and I would appreciate healing.” Rane grinned. “She’s paying.”

The Mage laughed. “Well, Master Rane, Mistress Tala, I am Cris.” His eyes flicked to Terry, on Tala’s shoulder. “Who is your small friend, there?” He gave a professional smile as he waited the answer.

Tala reached up to scratch Terry’s head. “This is Terry. He’s my partner.”

Terry trilled happily but didn’t otherwise react.

Cris bowed towards Tala and Terry, then faced Rane. “Now, Master Rane,” he regarded the much bigger man, “it is common practice to ask others to wait outside, or in here, while we go into a back room.”

Rane shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”

“If you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Very well.” He held out his hand. “May I?”

“Certainly.”

He touched Rane’s head and a pulse of magic swept through the Archon. “Oh, yes. That looks painful.” Cris winced in sympathy. “Nothing’s broken, thankfully, but both your flesh and bones are bruised. My standard fee is ten silver, and this isn’t complicated enough to require more.”

They both looked to Tala.

She shrugged. “I’ll trust your expertise, Master Cris.”

Cris smiled, giving a nod of thanks. “That is kind of you.” He tapped Rane’s head once more and a different, more extensive, set of inscriptions activated.

Healing energy moved through Rane like a cool breeze.

Cris leaned in close to Rane’s ear, speaking low enough that a normal person couldn’t have heard him in Tala’s place. Of course, she heard him anyway. “Your urine will be brown and foamy for a couple of days. That is normal for instant healing of such injuries. If you have any concerns, you can come back whenever you like. If you want a second opinion, you may go to any other healer, and if they find issue with my healing, I will pay for their work on you.”

Rane nodded in thanks, then his eyes flicked to Tala, and he reddened, slightly.

Cris didn’t comment. “Now, Mistress, would you like a diagnosis? It’s free of charge. I am happy to take a look at your companion there, too, though I don’t know avian biology as well as human.”

Tala was about to protest, but then, she shrugged. Might as well verify Holly’s work. “Sure, I suppose.” Might be good to check on Terry, make sure nothing’s off. “You can check Terry first, if he’s interested.”

Terry lifted his head, trilling questioningly.

Tala smiled at her friend. “Yes, if it’s ok with you.”

Terry regarded Cris for a long moment before bobbing his head. He extended his neck so that Cris could reach him more easily.

After a soft tap, power rippled through the avian, and Cris frowned. “Did someone shrink you, my friend? Are you…under a curse or something?”

Terry squawked, then looked to Tala.

Tala quirked a smile. “He shrunk himself.”

“Ahh…okay, then.” Cris seemed to be looking at something they couldn’t see. “Well, he seems in good health, though much of his biology seems to be sequestered in a dimensionally expanded, inertially isolated space?”

Tala regarded Terry. “Is that how you get smaller and get lighter? I was curious.”

Terry shuffled happily, curling back up.

“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it, but you seem healthy enough.” Cris seemed a bit uncertain, but finally just shook his head. “I can say with certainty that you have no living parasites within you, nor any infections or unaddressed injuries.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you, Master Cris.”

He gave a nod. “Certainly.” He took a deep breath, seeming to recenter himself. “Alright then. Mistress Tala?”

“Sure, I’m ready.”

He looked to her and gave a bow. “I’d normally have Master Rane depart.”

She waved him off. “He’s fine.”

“It’s up to you.” Cris tapped her on the forehead, and she felt power ripple through her. As she felt the power move through her, she thought she detected a pattern. It’s following my circulatory system. Using the iron in my blood to reflect the investigative spell more efficiently through my body? That seemed reasonable.

The healer’s eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror. “Mistress Tala…what…what have you done to yourself?”

“What do you mean?” She frowned, coming back from her contemplations.

“Do you have active inscriptions on all your internal organs?”

Tala shrugged. “Yeah, most of those are regenerative, but every system has scripts working alongside it to improve its function.”

“Well, yes. With this, you’d only need to defecate…monthly? Maybe less than that, if I’m understanding correctly, which is doubtful, because you seem to be almost as much inscription as biology.”

Rane was giving Tala a questioning look, but she was focused on the Mage. “I know that my digestive system is more efficient, and my cleansing organs recycle more than they expel.”

“Yes, there is that, and that work is quite ingenious. Honestly, I look forward to the designers of those inscriptions publishing a paper with their findings.”

Tala frowned, but he continued before she could comment.

“But, that really doesn’t explain what’s happening to your liver and kidneys.”

“What do you mean?”

Cris was clearly a bit off his usual routine, but he leaned forwards, concern obvious across his kindly face. “Are you…an alcoholic?”

“What? No!” Tala straightened, stepping back and raising her hands in negation.

He shook his head. “Then, I can’t easily think of what could be causing such a strain on those organs.”

Rane spoke up, then, interjecting into the brief silence. “Coffee.”

They both turned to him, and he shrugged.

“What? She drinks an insane amount of coffee.”

Cris turned to regard Tala. “How much coffee have you had, today?”

Tala considered for a moment. “Ten…no fifteen cups.” She glowered. “Second breakfast wasn’t ideal…”

Rane suppressed a grin, but Tala decided to be the bigger person and ignore him.

Cris held up a hand, making a small circle with his index finger and thumb. “Like…small cups?”

Tala shook her head. “No, I’d bet we’re talking…sixteen-ounce mugs?” She nodded. “Yeah, I think the first five were from twenty-ounce tankards. That place was amazing.” She scratched her temple, considering. “I should really go back there. They have great portions.”

Cris gaped at her.

“What?”

“Mistress Tala.” He swallowed. “That is more than two gallons of coffee.”

She thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“How are you breathing? Your liver is obviously breaking down the caffeine, but It’s not like you can pee out the metabolites… where do they go? What is happening to you?” He leaned forward. “Two of those byproducts are stimulants in their own right. How are you not overstimulated, all the time?”

Tala frowned. “Well, my neurology is also reinforced and regulated with scripts. Would that explain it?”

Cris just stared at her for a long time. “You let someone…inscribe your brain with magics that can alter function?”

She opened her mouth to say, ‘No.’ but stopped herself. “Yes? Well, yeah. I had to alter brain function, or I couldn’t support my increased senses and reactions.”

He just stared back at her, a look of genuine horror dawning across his features.

Rane cleared his throat. “I think we are getting off topic, just a bit.”

“Right, right. You’re right.” The Mage gave Rane a searching look, seeming to be pulling himself back together. “Is that much coffee…standard for her?”

Rane snorted. “From the sound of it, today’s a slow day.”

Cris pulled up a chair and sat down. “I’m going to be sick.”

Tala was feeling a bit uncertain. “What’s the problem? I’ve inscriptions that keep my organs functioning properly.”

He lowered his head into his hands after he waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, sure; it looks like they even enhance functionality. Good for you.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a bit snippy.”

He locked gazes with her, again. “Do you use inscriptions to boil water immediately before you drink it, just because your throat can take it?”

“No?” Might help warm me up, if I’m ever somewhere really cold, though…

“No! Of course not! Why waste the inscriptions? Why put that stress on your system? Why are you doing this to yourself?!”

Tala took another half step back, glancing towards Rane.

Rane, for his part, seemed to be uncertain how to handle the situation.

“Please, for the love of…every human. Drink. Less. Coffee.”

Tala swallowed. “I’ll…consider it?”

Cris narrowed his eyes at her.

Rane stepped forward, clearing his throat. “That’s actually quite a concession from her, Master Cris, and if she says she’ll consider it, she genuinely will.”

Cris sighed, slumping back. “I suppose I’ll take what I can get.”

Tala shifted. “So… other than that?”

The healer waved. “Oh, you’re in perfect health, from my perspective. You should be two hundred pounds, by what my detection spells are saying, but you clearly aren’t.”

“Well, I am.”

He gave her a look. “Ahh, apologies. My…professionalism seems to have left me utterly. Please forgive my imprecise language. You should be very overweight, but clearly, your fat stores are well proportioned to your body, however they function now. Your bones are denser than I would expect, but they haven’t calcified through the marrow, so there is no loss of function there. Your blood pressure should kill you, but there you stand. Your blood volume shouldn’t fit inside your vascular system, but I suppose that explains at least part of the pressure, which I’ve already addressed. Do you wish for me to go on?”

Tala cleared her throat. “That…that won’t be necessary. Is there anything you’d recommend I get healed?”

He sighed. “You are healthier than I could make you, and anything I did would risk interfering with the unstable equilibrium you seem to have achieved.”

“Alright then. Thank you, Master Cris. I think we should pay you for your time and be on our way.”

They departed a couple minutes later, leaving the healer in a mild daze.

Rane was smiling widely, clearly containing laughter while Tala really didn’t know what to feel.

Terry was content to remain on Tala’s shoulder.

Rane cleared his throat, “So…still up for seeing the plays? It’s barely lunch time, so we should be able to make it easily enough.”

“That would probably be a nice distraction. Sure.”

It had been a strange morning.

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