ATPnovel Episode One Hundred and Sixty-Four: Fate Magic
Episode One Hundred and Sixty-Four: Fate Magic
“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Eira, her big brown eyes staring at me while her ears twitched. “Fate magic can take the shape of dreams you cannot control. Some see what’s happening in other places, or what needs to happen. Others may see what has already happened, though they were not present.”“It’s not like that.” I shook my head, sending my hair all over.
The Cat’s attention focused on me.
I sighed, and tried to think about how to explain what my dreams were like.
“It’s more impressions, and feelings, with lots of golden light. Sometimes, everything feels like a tangled mess that needs to be cleaned up.” I paused, trying to find the right words to describe my experience. “I don’t see things, only feel them. And it’s not only in dreams.”
I motioned to the Cat. “I felt I needed to give that book to the kids. It was meant to go with them, and if I didn’t the tangle would have gotten worse, not better.”
Again, I paused and stared at the forest outside the windows, and the snow that still fell.
“Like, the tangle feels better now. Less frustrating, and more smooth. Closer to how it should be.”
“So, your fate magic manifests as strings,” said Eira. “When I say that, what emotion does it invoke?”
“Better than what you said about dreams.” My fingers tapped on my knee and I tried to understand why speaking of this made me feel anxious.
That bubble of anxiety rested in my chest, and I tried poking it to figure it out.
Realization dawned on me. I knew why. I wanted to free the Cat, but truly didn't know if I'd be able to. I didn’t understand if this power would stop me. The thought of letting him down made me anxious.
I let out my breath and nodded.
“I’m hesitant to talk about my fate magic, since I don't understand it. Hunches come and go, along with golden light that hints at things that need to be adjusted. Yet, there aren't any guides for it. I don’t know what it can and can’t do, or when I might be punished for using it wrong.”
“That's completely understandable. It’s not like you’re a Seer, with an established ability. You are definitely something else.”
The one Seer who had come into the shop had left behind a crystal ball. It’d reacted to me, but the Cat was certain it needed to be stolen by two sisters. Even thinking about that frustrated me.
How could the Cat just trust the Fates like that? Especially after they’d trapped him in the shop? Yet, wasn't that what I’d asked of him when I gave that book away?
The magical book that told the Cat what to do was from the Fates. Was my golden magic the same thing?
I frowned and itched the back of my elbow. I wasn’t really a fan of the Fates. I didn’t approve of what they’d done to the Cat, or at least, that they’d kept him entrapped for so long.
“Don't look like that,” said Eira.
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“What?”
“You have the look of someone who is starting to dislike their magic. It’s a look, and a feeling, I know well.”
“But isn't this ability just doing the work of the Fates? Making me their slave, just as much as…”
“Not like that!” Eira frantically shook her head. “The Fates care about keeping the balance of the universe, by keeping the tree alive and strong. The oldest of stories say that the Fates are just individuals with strong fate magic. They grew into their station.”
“So, the Fates aren’t some gods or something? They were, or are, actual people?”
The Cat’s head twisted to glare at the Professor, but she ignored him.
“That’s what the oldest texts say, that they gained enough power that the tree itself asked for their help, and now they are the Fates.” Professor Eira bowed her head for a moment before continuing. “They work for the tree directly, and so they have great power. It’s easier for most beings to think of them as gods, and in the context of most religious beliefs, they are as powerful as gods, but they were once mortal.”
“So, the Tree, which all the leylines run to, and the dragons return to when they die, made the Fates out of mortals?” It felt unbelievable to me, but at the same time, it felt right somehow.
“The Tree made everything. It creates new worlds as branches grow.” Professor Eira smiled. “Advanced civilizations all know this.”
“How do Travelers and Wanderers fit into this?”
“Travelers can travel between the worlds along the branches of the Tree itself. They help maintain the lines between worlds. Wanderers… are different. Not much is known about them.” She hesitated, and scratched one of her long ears.
“Wanderers feel the need to wander to new worlds, and have the ability, like Travelers, to do so. Yet, after they visit a place, even though they don’t seem to do anything, the connection to the leylines is strengthened. Some help others as they see fit, others are solitary. They are either very rare, or very rarely come into contact with the peoples of the worlds. Either way, little is actually known about them.”
Professor Eira’s eye darted all over the room before returning back to me. “The Fates are just people tasked with keeping the roots of the Tree growing. When something goes out of balance, they nudge the correct individuals to take care of it. They only step in when necessary.”
“Yet they…” My voice cut off, like someone put me on mute.
The Cat’s claws dug into my thigh, but I barely felt it as I stopped trying to talk.
I took a deep breath before opening my mouth again. “Alright, I think I understand Fate magic. It doesn’t do anything.”
“Sable…” whispered the Cat. “Don’t just cross it out of your mind because of me.”
“Don’t say that!” Again, Professor Eira’s eyes darted all around the room. “I wouldn’t have found you if the Fates hadn’t nudged me in this direction. I almost ignored the letter I received, since it wasn’t possible my friend had sent it.”
“But you showed up…”
“Only because I was nudged. Those types of nudges came from the Fates.”
“Can we just move on?” I asked, this time looking directly at her.
She slowly nodded her head. “As long as you promise to not ignore your magic.”
“I promise.”
The Cat relaxed next to my leg, and set his head on my thigh, almost like a dog.
“So, what magic of mine increased from the gift?”
“Your Fate magic.”
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the couch. More Fate magic felt like the worst thing that could happen. Then, my head snapped back.
“But my stone magic is easier to use, and it is stronger.”
She scooted forward, and reached toward my hands with her furry paws. “Take my paws.”
I did as she asked, shocked at how soft they were. My fingers warmed up where we touched, and I felt something like a question. And something inside me responded.
The Professor closed her eyes, and again I felt the same sensation.
This time I tried to figure out what she was trying to do.
Inside my chest, the glowing ball of magic separated from being a single star, dividing into more than one ball, then pulled back into that glowing force. As she asked the question a third time, the star rippled like a pool of water, and colors flashed by like an oil slick or a rainbow.
Yet, the bright golden glow mingled with each color, permeating everything.