Sworded Affair

Chapter 208 : Austerity

"Have we met?" Emma asked rhetorically, tilting her head in acknowledgement.

Emma wasn't sure how the Magus found her, or how much he knew, but either way, she wasn't going to volunteer her side of the story to a virtual stranger.

"We're speaking here and now, are we not?" Austere retorted between slow, deep breaths, the inside of his mask hazy with some unknown substance that most definitely wasn't just oxygen.

After three final puffs, he felt comfortable removing the mask, stowing it away in his suit pocket.

"Jokes aside, this should be our first meeting, from my perspective at least. I hesitate to answer with any more certainty, because I'm not much of a believer in linear time, not after the few times I ended up working with Paradox and her students, and all the strange and wonderful things I saw in those days. Truly, I suspected her hand on the scales when I woke up with my oxygen mask missing, two months ago, and the tracker pointing to this pocket dimension, one that wouldn't even open for business for another six weeks. Most peculiar."

[Magus Austere's Oxygen Mask withdrawn.]

"You can have it back," Emma graciously returned to the item without complaint, because why not?

She had no need to breathe, most of the time, and in a sense the mask had already fulfilled its purpose twice over; firstly by getting her onto the simulated space station, and now by establishing a first contact between Emma and its original owner.

"Thank you," Austere bowed his head slightly, taking the mask in both hands and staring at it.

"None of the anti-tampering spells have been disturbed, nor is there a datetime imprint of when it left my immediate vicinity, nor a recording of intent by any thief. Indeed, there's not a single drop of magic left in this, which is most improbable, as the spells I use to ensure preservation are rated for five thousand years between charges. Yet, it is most certainly my mask, or at least such a precise recreation that the only difference is a matter of semantics. Curious."

With the initial examination concluded, this mask quickly went in his pocket as well, joining its successor in the trade.

"I find myself most intrigued, young miss," Austere admitted, his eyes returning to Emma. "Would you be willing to discuss matters further, in the privacy of my tent?"

"Nonce," Crystal stage whispered.

"For a casual conversation, and nothing else," Austere clarified, shooting a reproving glance at his fellow eccentric. "I assure you, even if I were inclined to date, my interests would preclude anyone who has yet to see their second century. The difference in life experience is simply too drastic, otherwise.."

[Don't accept his invitation just yet. For now, give him the Chaos Candle.]

"I'm in the middle of a tour right now," Emma demurred, nodding in Crystal's direction. "But I'd be happy to join you later. In the meantime, I have something else you might find interesting."

[Chaos Candle withdrawn.]

Austere took the candle with a quizzical expression on his face. Emma felt a faint buzz of magic from him, albeit nothing visible to the naked eye, before his face smoothed out, returning to neutral. While Emma was curious about this instruction, she felt it best to follow Edith's lead, as her own understanding of the wider magical society was still at an embryonic stage.

"I'll be in touch," the Magus said at last, before turning on his heel and vanishing without a trace.

"I still can't believe he came," Crystal shook her head, once she was sure he was gone. "I don't know if you know this, but Magus Austere is legendary for, well, his austerity. Anything that isn't to do with medicine, and he's just not interested. How'd you catch his eye anyway?"

[You don't want to know.]

"You don't want to know," Emma repeated verbatim.

Crystal made a funny face at that, but nodded, knowing better than to pursue the issue any further, at least where Emma was concerned.

"So, are you still up for the tour, or…" Despite making the offer, Crystal's expression was distant, and she kept glancing at where Austere had been.

"I think we've all got other things on our minds now," Emma decided. "I'll be heading back to my tent to take care of some things. See you around later?"

"See you around," Crystal agreed, before snapping her fingers.

[Crystal Emporium Voucher (50% off) added.]

The world lurched again, already beginning the transition between dimensions by the time Emma read what had entered her inventory. When she landed back on the grass at ground level, Crystal was already nowhere to be found.

"Well, that was odd," Emma grumbled as she reached for her connection with the Monitor Lizard, still dutifully deployed outside of the family tent.

[Parallel Lives activated.]

—

[Your generosity today is appreciated. Do not intrude upon Eden's Echo again.]

Crystal gulped as a single line appeared before her eyes, completely ignoring that she wasn't even a user of the System. Abruptly, she felt her connection to the storage ring vanish, all the backdoors built into her creation closed in an instant.

"The Founder is truly alive and well," Crystal bit her lip, feeling cold even as she sank into her hot tub. "At least her kid likes me?"

—

Magus Austere frowned, pressing the tip of his finger against the edge of his diagnostic formation. The magic circle occupied the entirety of his coffee table, built in haste yet with the impeccable precision that came with decades of practice. At its centre, the strange candle he'd received stared back at him. Disturbingly, his formation still insisted that the candle was entirely mundane, despite the literal wax eyeball that had spawned and was now tracking his hand movements.

"This is creepy as hell," Austere shuddered, though he continued his diagnostics nonetheless.

It wasn't every day he received a gift from the family of a Founder, after a fated encounter at that. He was far too old and experienced to believe in coincidence: there had to be a deeper meaning to it, and he'd find out just what, no matter how long it took.