Magic Corrupts, Magic Conquers, page 17
The boys had also been shocked that I’d lost the sword. I felt its absence more keenly than I thought I could feel being parted from a weapon.
Did I need the Divine sword to be an effective warrior? Of course not.
All things considered, I’d only had the sword for a couple months, even though it felt like much longer. Plus, I now understood that I had Divine magic within me, though I didn’t know how I might be able to wield it the way I did the sword.
But I wanted the sword back. It was mine. It had helped save the world.
And it was a weapon the Discordant Dark feared.
Gideon returned with Toji’s water, and his hand shook as he handed it to him. Ugh, what did I have to do to protect my friends? It was why I had chosen to come back, so I had to believe we could deal with these problems and not be crushed by them.
Gideon speared me with a look.
“You’re gonna give me more gray hairs than I need at this age, woman.”
“I thought you liked the grays, said it looked distinguished.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Aging grays and grays because your best friend keeps disappearing are not the same.”
My face sobered. “You’re right. I’ll work on the disappearing act, okay?”
“Hmph.”
Speaking of disappearing acts. “Has Gideon vanished again?”
“Thankfully, no.” Toji’s expression was laced with anxiety as he looked at Gideon. “I still cannot wrap my head around what happened. Not only that he disappeared, but that he said he saw…” He turned that anxious expression to me. “He said he ended up at a place where he saw you kill Kana. But that…that’s an impossible scenario.”
“Is it?” I said softly. Before Xythen had taken me into the forest I would have said it was. I had no reason to strike down Kana. But now I understood that the Discordant Dark had the ability to take others under its control, and I had been touched by its magic and brought directly into its presence.
“Gideon, how exactly did you see me kill Kana?” I hated to ask, but if I had clarity on what happened, maybe it could help me avoid it.
Gideon frowned. “There was a lot of noise and magic around and things were very chaotic, but I know what I saw.” He took a breath and let it out. “Kana was standing before you, screaming something but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. She was holding her haladie. Both of you were surrounded by Divine magic. And then all of it struck Kana and she collapsed. I saw a lot of blood. But when I tried to move, I disappeared from that place and ended up somewhere in Triumph. It happened a couple more times before I got to the place where you found me. But I only saw that situation once. The other times I think I was moving from one place in the city to another.”
“Shit. I don’t know what would put me and Kana in that scenario but…”
But the Discordant Dark could make it happen. I bit my lip, struggling with the terrible thing Gideon had seen me do.
“I don’t feel any different, but what if the Discordant Dark tainted me? What if it’s only a matter of time before its compulsion takes hold? What if that’s the reason I end up striking out at Kana?” And what if I ended up hurting Ashe, Callan, Gi, and Toji? That was too horrendous a thought to voice, but it hung in the air among us.
The Discordant Dark wanted to destroy me. Having me destroy the ones I loved would definitely start my downfall.
Everyone was silent. Gideon’s mouth fell open as he looked between Toji and me. Toji’s brow furrowed.
“Okay, but we don’t even know that I saw something that’s really gonna happen,” Gideon finally said. “And for that matter, we don’t even understand how I disappeared. Callan said he would look through Linella’s journals for any info since she knew a lot about all types of magic and abilities, but—”
“I may have found something.” I jumped a little at the sound of Callan’s voice because he had been quiet for so long.
He shifted, so I moved from his arms so he could reach for one of Linella’s journals, which had been sitting on the coffee table. Her journals had been among the items Gideon and Toji had brought up to Bastillen for him. This one had a green cloth cover.
“I remember overhearing my mother talking about a rare ability to time-walk,” Callan said. “That’s what came to mind when Gideon described what happened, so I started combing through her journals to see if she wrote about it.”
“Did you find anything?” Toji made room on the armchair and Gideon dropped onto it, leaning against Toji, who put his arm around him.
“Yes.” Callan opened the journal and carefully turned a few pages.
My eyes glanced over Linella’s extremely neat print. She wrote in straight or slanted lines all over the unlined pages, but it was all legible, even the pages that were clustered with notes and drawings. He stopped somewhere in the middle.
“Time-walking involves Temporal magic but isn’t a Temporal ability,” he said. “In fact, it can’t be done to anyone with Talent magic. Only non-magic users. It gives you the ability to fluidly move through time without needing the conditions Temporals usually need to time travel. It came about as an experiment, and as we know with magical experiments, it’s dangerous and the risk for it to go wrong is high, which is why there’s never really been any successful time-walkers documented as far as I know. Mom wrote about time-walkers who survived the experiment, but time-walked and were never seen again.”
That brought a startled gasp from Gideon. Toji’s face remained pensive. I felt like a stone was sitting in my stomach at the idea that Gideon could time-walk and never return.
“If it’s a risky experiment, how did it work on Gideon?” Toji asked.
“I think…I honestly think it was a fluke.” Callan shook his head, looking bewildered. “It has to do with the circumstances of his death and resurrection. Time-walkers are created by first having their lives ended within a time pocket, then being revived within it as well. The death and resurrection occurring outside of linear time is what opens up the possibility to walk through it.”
I frowned. “That’s exactly what happened to Gideon. He died within a time pocket, and even though he was brought back in my living room, it was inside the time pocket you’d created to anchor the portal that helped us get out of the community.”
Callan nodded. “We weren’t trying to make Gideon a time-walker, but the conditions of his revival were right for it. And get this, being without your soul is key. Mom wrote that the soul serves as an anchor to our physical selves. Without it, you’re open to more possibilities with magic. And susceptible to more dangers, as we saw with Kinari.” He still sounded stunned, as though he couldn’t believe he had executed a complex magical experiment without even knowing it.
I was stunned too. But still plenty worried.
“The ability is magical of course, and it works on Gideon because his resurrection involved imbuing his body with Temporal magic as I stitched Kinari’s years to him. So Gideon now exists as…” Callan paused, seeming to consider what to say next. “A magical creation, I guess is one way to put it?”
“I’m just a man who died and was brought back to life by magic within a time pocket and without my soul, what do you mean that makes me magical?” Gideon’s sarcasm was laced with weariness. His shoulders heaved as he sighed and further collapsed against Toji.
“Okay, so we unintentionally turned Gideon into a time-walker,” I said. “How does he control it? How do we make sure he comes back?”
“And does that mean what he saw with Kana and Penn is real?” came Toji’s worried voice. “Did he time-walk to a future moment where he really saw Penn…”
Silence fell over us again. Ashe whined softly, sensing my emotions. I continued to give her rubs that were as much to comfort her as they were to comfort me. A terrifying feeling gripped me. Callan shifted closer so the line of his body pressed against mine.
Was that scenario going to come true? I would never kill Kana of my own volition, so did that mean I was going to fall sway to the Discordant Dark?
“Does it have to be true?” Gideon asked. “The future moments time-walkers go to. Are they set in stone or are they just a suggestion of what could happen?”
Callan shook his head. “I’m not sure. Mom’s writings about it indicate there’s no way to know for sure because of how few successful time-walkers there were. But in terms of making sure Gideon comes back, he’s going to need to keep an anchor on him at all times.”
“Anchors are used with Temporals too.” I had stepped through Callan’s portal holding Mixuné’s card box to make sure I went directly to her.
Callan nodded. “Right. If Gideon keeps something on him that belongs to Toji, it should help him time-walk back to him. We’re lucky he made it back the first time.”
Toji immediately took off his watch and slipped it onto Gideon’s wrist. They both looked a little relieved afterward.
“I’m going to talk to Eruci and some of the other Temporals here to see if they have any insight about time-walking,” Callan said. “We would need to know how to help Gideon control it, to make sure he doesn’t move through time arbitrarily. Time traveling is done purposefully, you know exactly where you’re going so you don’t end up in midair with the edge of a cliff three feet behind you, or in front of a gun that’s about to go off.”
Gideon looked stricken and Toji sucked in a breath. “Yes, let us quickly, and with much haste, find out how to keep me from time-walking in front of a gun or into the path of a lion, or midair with no parachute.”
“Chelara was a pretty strong Temporal, maybe she might know something,” I said. “Though I am worried that none of the people from the caves have made it here yet.” I had thought they would have, but after the dust settled after I returned, I’d found out that none of them were here yet and again felt guilty that I hadn’t left them Portalorbs.
Had they already been Erased?
“I’ll head back to the caves tomorrow to see if they’re still there,” I said.
Callan nodded. “We’ll figure out this time-walking ability. And…” He hesitated, glancing at me. “We’ll make sure the future moment Gideon saw doesn’t happen.”
“I won’t hurt your sister,” I said to Toji. “And if it happens because the Discordant Dark takes me over like it did Xythen…”
“We’ll figure it out.” There was a fierce look on Callan’s face as he said that. All I could do was nod back. After facing the Discordant Dark in the forest, I didn’t feel confident that I could overcome its compulsion.
“There’s something else I found out in Mom’s journal that relates to Gideon,” Callan said.
“What now?” Gideon said witheringly.
“It has to do with where Gideon’s soul might be,” he said. “And if we can get it back into him, it could make the time-walking ability go away.”
Gideon sat up straight and looked at Callan expectantly. “Do go on.”
Toji looked hopeful.
“We have her notes on the Necromajin ritual to thank, believe it or not. Listen…” He started to read. “Those who would practice the dark magics must first gamble with their souls. It must be removed for the inherent chaos of mixed magics to pour corruption into the vacant space. However, the soul must be kept with the Necromajin, should they emerge from the ritual successfully. Should the soul ascend to the Afterlife, the dark magic will not stabilize and will result in a heinous deterioration of the human body. My own eyes have thrice beheld such.”
“Goodness…” I was glad I didn’t have a weak stomach or the images my mind was trying to conjure would have me running for the bathroom.
“Yeah. Truly nasty stuff. Mom never aligned with them to help someone become a Necromajin, but she tracked down Temporals who did. That must be when she saw the failed rituals.”
“What else does she write?” I was eager to understand how this helped us locate Gideon’s soul.
Callan continued reading. “A Temporal is key to this ritual not only because of their ability to reverse death, but because they are able to prevent the soul from ascending by use of a time pocket to create a barrier. The Necromajin’s soul is their dark magic’s first meal and is a crucial step to ensuring they do not crumble to ash.”
“Yuck, they become a Necromajin, then their dark magic eats their soul?” Gideon said. “I’m speechless.” He paused. “Also, this dying and being revived in a time pocket is awfully similar to what happened to me.”
Callan’s lips twitched. “Like I said, soul removal is key for many magic abilities, but the process to create a Necromajin is a lot more involved, so don’t worry, time-walking is the only thing you have to contend with.”
“Yippee,” Gideon said tiredly.
Callan continued reading. “The time pocket presents a liminal space that cannot be crossed. It has been observed and charted several times that the human soul, whether from the body of a Talented or non-Talented person, will remain present in the living realm if kept in the confines of a time pocket. As for why the time pocket presents an obstacle to ascension, one can surmise it is because of the very nature of the thing itself, which, when created, exists outside of time…”
“Oh my God.” My hand shot out to grip Callan’s forearm. I’d heard enough. “Gideon died in the Temporal community, inside a time pocket. Does this mean…does it mean…”
Callan was nodding as he gave a hopeful smile. “Yes. I think this means that Gideon’s soul is inside the time pocket, having been unable to breach it and cross to the Afterlife.”
Chapter Eighteen
Gideon was asleep after agreeing to try a draught made from one of Kinari’s powders that was supposed to help with insomnia. It was unlikely he would have found rest otherwise.
His anxiety about time-walking wouldn’t settle until we figured it out one way or another. We were all deeply concerned that he’d time-walk and not make it back to the present day, even with an anchor.
The possibility that his soul was accessible was encouraging, but we couldn’t get our hopes up until we found it, got it back into him, and saw if that put an end to the time-walking.
I would be heading back to the community as soon as I could to try and locate it. And figure out why no one from there had shown up at Bastillen yet. Guilt continued to worm through me about not giving them a Portalorb.
Callan was in the kitchen washing up after dinner. It was well equipped but small, and all four of us had crammed in there to cook. I think we needed normalcy after everything that had happened.
We ended up with curried chicken, naan, iced tea, and a marble Bundt cake.
Callan had refused our help with tidying up the kitchen, so when I came out of the bathroom, I looked around for Toji, spotting him through the sliding door that led to a deck. Beyond it was a spacious backyard.
I headed through the door and walked up to the railing, where Toji was leaning on his forearms.
“Hey,” I said. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“Do you have anything of higher value?” He slanted a smile. “And are you sure you want these thoughts?”
“If there’s something on your mind, you know I’m all ears.” I shook my head. “What am I saying? Of course there’s something on your mind, on all our damn minds.” I sighed. “I can’t believe Gideon can time-walk.”
“I’m worried. I hope getting his soul back will make it go away.”
“I hope so too. I’m glad I could help him sleep. I hate how much has been dumped on him.”
“And yet the thing that worried him the most was you getting taken by the Kiabi Warrior.”
I bit my lip, feeling the truth of that settle on me, knowing that no matter what was going on with him personally, Gideon always put the people he cared about first.
When I glanced at Toji, he was looking at me speculatively. He turned away, staring out at the yard, which was lit by Firi Stone lanterns staked around the perimeter.
“Do you remember the night you came back from the past?” he started. “And the way Gideon initially reacted?”
I looked up at the moon. “He was…highly emotional.” I wouldn’t soon forget the moment I’d passed through Linella’s portal and how Ashe and the boys had reacted to my return. It had been as joyous as it had been heartbreaking. My own feelings had been compounded by being happy to see them but grieved over having to step away from my family. They still were.
“Gi tried to show a brave face while you were gone, but you and I both know he wears his emotions openly. No matter what it is, you’ll know how he’s feeling.”
“Happy, sad, mad, yeah, he doesn’t hide anything.”
“He barely ate.” Toji’s voice dropped lower and he tilted his head down. I felt a squeeze in my chest. “He hardly slept. When he did, he would wake up restless and I couldn’t comfort him. The only consolation was Callan telling us that if Ashe was alive then you were as well, because death for one of you means death for both.”
“Yeah, it’s the biggest risk of the Familiar bond.”
“I think that’s why we didn’t try too hard to work out a schedule where we took turns caring for Ashe. We all wanted to see she was okay, every day, because that meant you were too.”
“I’m really sorry I made you guys worry.”
Toji shook his head. “It’s not my intention to make you apologize for something we already dealt with.” He released a soft sigh. “Honestly, I’m not even sure why I’m telling you this.”
“It’s okay. Gi is your husband, and he was hurting.”
“As much as we love our significant others, that love alone isn’t enough, isn’t all we need to carry us through our lives. That’s why Gideon always tried so hard to help me find any inkling of my birth family. He knew it would fill a missing piece that he never could.” His voice was still low, but the emotions conveyed in those words screamed through me.
