Location: Eldorian Royal Manor in Azmar, neutral kingdom of Azmar in the world of Aethalgard.
The group gathered at the table for a late lunch. It was Cyrus who first broke the silence. "I thought I heard screaming earlier. Are you okay, my dearest Vivian?"
Vivian's face turned red, and she explained, "I just get bad nightmares sometimes, and I was too tired to lucid dream. I'm sorry if it scared you. I'm usually not around people who would hear."
Cyrus' eyes practically sparkled. "Tell me more about how you use this 'lucid dream.'"
"Later, Professor." Tristan admonished his father, reversing roles momentarily in their father-son relationship.
"Fine." Cyrus pulled a small notebook from some inside pocket and scribbled another entry. It contained a list of all the questions he wanted to ask. It was already quite lengthy.
"So Viv?" Tristan said to get her attention.
"It is Vivian. You do not know her well enough to use that name." Callum quickly interjected.
"It's okay, Cal. I really don't mind." Vivian said as she tried to soothe him.
"As I was saying, your highness… Vivian, when you were still sleeping, we discussed the schedule for today. We can change it over the course of our work here, but…" Tristan flashed a look at Callum.
Callum interrupted again. "Why do you get to control her time?"
Vivian stepped on Cal's foot under the table, clearly annoyed.
"Because he is quite a capable assistant, and this is one of the things I need him for," explained Cyrus.
Tristan continued as if he were giving a business update to a boardroom. "And I have also structured goals and how long the professor and I think it should take. We will adjust it accordingly after we assess where we are starting from."
"You even made benchmarks? That's… impressive." Vivian looked genuinely impressed, to Cal's annoyance.
"If these 'benchmarks' were included in what I just told you, then yes," Tristan answered earnestly.
"They are the goals indicating progress," Vivian explained to the group.
Callum cleared his throat. "She is always saying words and phrases from her world that I do not understand right away. You will get used to it. I have… over the many, many years we have known each other."
Vivian looked a little embarrassed, though she'd heard this many times from Cal "over the years," already.
Tristan responded, "I am sure I will be able to keep up with her given context. And I do not mind asking when I do not know."
Vivian sighed and muttered to herself, "I guess even the men in this world need to have a pissing contest."
The room went silent, and Vivian—who had just realized that they had heard her—"uhh… it just means you are unnecessarily competitive," Vivian explained sheepishly as they all stared at her in disbelief. She stood abruptly and excused herself to get changed for her magic assessment with the professor. She couldn't leave the room fast enough as Cyrus made a note to ask more about how to compete with piss.
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Vivian soon met the rest of the group in a secluded garden area of the Eldorian Royal Manor. She had pulled her hair up in a ponytail with some string, keeping her copper wavy hair from falling into her face. She had also changed into the clothes Cal left for her in the carriage during her journey. It was too risky to "dress like a man" around the other Barklars. Also, showing up as a man they didn't know might actually get her killed. But now, she was in a place where she could be more herself and had cinched Cal's clothing around her as best as she could.
When the men noticed her, the professor and his son chuckled. Callum, on the other hand, went slack-jawed at seeing her in his clothes.
"Is it normal for women to dress like men in your world?" Tristan asked with both curiosity and amusement.
"Sometimes. And sometimes men dress like women. But, in my world, women's clothing isn't so ridiculously bulky and difficult to move in," she smiled at the men, feeling that she had taken one small step to end misogyny in Aethelgard. Then she added, "There is also no separation of men and women when it comes to the types of jobs they do."
The professor immediately took out his little notebook again and started scribbling furiously.
Tristan looked at Vivian thoughtfully and asked, "Would you give an example of what you mean by that? I imagine we have different jobs in our own worlds."
Vivian nodded with a smile at Tristan. "There are some jobs here that we don't have. And many jobs that you don't have that we do because of our focus on science and technology instead of magic. My job is an example. I'm a firefighter, which used to be a job only men were allowed to do."
Vivian bit her lip and paused to consider how to explain it. "I'm kind of like a city guard, but I don't deal with crimes or military duties. I help people by reducing fire danger and damage, rescuing people from being trapped in the fires, and preventing the fires from spreading to other buildings. But I also help people who have been in accidents—like injured when their… "carriage" falls over or people have fallen in fast-moving water or a ravine. And all of us firefighters are trained in basic… scientific healing, until the injured person can get to a healer."
"So you are like a hero who does not fight?" Tristan asked, wanting to know more.
"You wouldn't call a city guard a hero for catching a criminal when it's part of their job, would you?" Vivian responded.
"So you only act like a hero to get paid," Tristan remarked, thinking about why guards did their jobs.
"Hrm… I do get paid to work as a firefighter. But I chose the job in the first place because I wanted to help other people. I guess, from another's perspective, a job is something you do to get paid. I think the difference is that in my world, you pick the job that you want to do and not the one picked for you or inherited."
Tristan ruminated on what he might choose to do instead of researching with his father.
"This opens up a whole new line of questions, dearest Vivian," said Cyrus. When Callum cleared his throat, the professor added, "Though, we should get started on your assessment and training."
"Yes, of course. I do like to talk about my work," Vivian responded, looking a little embarrassed that she had talked about herself for so long. "What do I need to do?"
"We will begin with a simple transfer," Cyrus instructed, reaching into his coat pocket. He presented a pale, smooth seed. "This originates from a Glimmerwood tree. It serves as a natural, living channel for ambient energy. Hold it in your palm. I will direct a small part of my personal energy toward the seed. I ask you to observe the physical sensations."
Vivian took the seed, her fingers curling loosely around it. Cyrus raised his hand, his skin emitting a faint, bioluminescent aqua glow. A delicate ribbon of energy drifted from his palm toward the Glimmerwood seed in Vivian's hands.
The moment the energy made contact, the garden's atmosphere shifted violently.
The temperature plummeted. A harsh, metallic tang—like the acrid bite of a lightning strike—flooded the air. The pale seed immediately turned pitch black, absorbing the aqua light and violently pulling the ambient energy from the surrounding environment.
Vivian gasped, a reflexive panic setting in as the ground beneath her boots began to sink. The seed crumbled to fine ash in her palm. The lush grass around her feet lost its color, turning dry and brittle. A localized vacuum of gravity pulled the dead soil downward, creating a small, sunken crater where she stood.
Callum lunged forward, his hand gripping Vivian's shoulder to physically pull her away from the collapsing earth.
Cyrus stumbled back, his eyes wide with a terrifying, ecstatic realization. His hands had sprung back, too, showing signs of some injury like frostbite.
"Incredible. She consumed the energy entirely. This exhibits properties of an Aether Tear, or perhaps Void Weaving." The professor looked at the blackened grass, his mind racing to formulate a new theory. "This is absolutely fascinating! The historical texts mention this phenomenon, but I have never seen it before."
Cyrus grabbed Vivian's hands and looked at them, turning them over to inspect both sides. "Vivian, my dear, I think it is what was once described as Void Magic."
Vivian stared at the dark ash coating her trembling hand, realizing her connection to this world was far more dangerous than she had ever calculated.
Tristan used some kind of restorative magic to tend to his father, who wore a huge smile across his lips. "I am fine. I am fine," he waved in the air to stop Tristan from continuing treatment. Vivian was almost sure Cyrus' eyes were completely filled with stars when he said, "I knew Ally was a magical prodigy, but this… I do not even know how you are possible, dear Vivian."
"I don't understand, Professor,' confessed Vivian.
His eyes still gleaming, Cyrus said, "Of course. Of course. I do not fully understand myself." He turned to his son and asked, "Did you bring the book on Aethel?"
"I did not intend to," responded Tristan, "But I will see if it is in our things."
"Go fetch it and meet us in that study. I need to look it over before I am sure."
Tristan helped his father stand as Cyrus tried to urge his son to hurry up and get that book.
Cyrus then turned to Cal and Viv and proposed, "Let us go somewhere to avoid accidental ears listening in as I try to tell you what I can so far. The rest will take some time to research and be sure. You might even be able to help with that, dearest Vivian."
Cyrus walked next to Vivian, supplanting Callum as they went to the study. Once inside, Tristan was already waiting with a few books and handed one to his father. "I found more than one, but I believe this is the one you are thinking of, professor."
Cyrus nodded and then put up a wind barrier to prevent sound from leaving their bubble. "Vivian, I am going to tell you what I know happened, what I think happened, and what we still need to look into. Okay?"
Vivian nodded, clearly worried about what he might say.