Breakfast was a delicious one of eggs and fried vegetables that Rich cooked himself. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was definitely delicious considering Vivian hadn’t eaten anything the day before.
“So, Vivian…” Rich said, folding his hands and leaning in. “Tell me about yourself.”
“Oh… I’m Vivian! I’m… not from around here. At all.” Vivian chuckled. “I… Oh, where to start?”
“The beginning?”
“I don’t remember much of that, but sure. I was born to the Shadow Queen in the Tribe of Darkness, though I don’t remember any of that, since we were banished from our realm right afterward—um, is this making sense?”
“I think I understand well enough. Do continue.”
“Well, after we were banished, the Shadow Queen went on a rampage and was eventually sealed away. I… I was told by my sisters that she was amazing and that we needed to work to free her. I ended up… making sure she would never return.”
At this, Rich’s eyes widened. “A rebel?”
“Well… I guess? I kind of just… got tired of my sisters treating me like trash. They’re better now that mother’s out of the picture, but it was hard. So I finally got to live my life for a while until I got pulled on the crazy adventure I’m currently on.” She decided not to talk to him about the Void consuming all worlds. The Void wasn’t here, he didn't need to panic. “I’ve met a bunch of friends on this quest, and we’ve explored many different worlds! But… our enemy recently attacked us and separated us. I have no idea where I am, but…” She took off her hat, setting the stone heart down on the table. “I do know I need to find a way to restore this.”
Rich held out a careful hand. “...May I?”
“Sure.”
Rich stroked the edge of the stone heart, a soft smile coming to his face. “Well… there’s something here, all right. It’s… what is this?”
“It’s a Pure Heart,” Vivian said. “Every world has one. It… represents the essence of love and creation inherent in each world. Something… drained it of its power.”
“And you seek to restore it…” Rich stroked his beard. “Well… that is going to be difficult here in our world.”
“Oh?”
“Any magic not carefully studied at the colleges of Magic is quite illegal, punishable by death.”
“Ah.” Vivian tapped her fingers on the table. “Well then, that would explain why everyone wants to cut me up.”
“However,” Rich said, sitting down. “I may know of some… people who could assist you. Like-minded individuals such as myself who see things like you and I. It will take time to call them together, but come they will for something as monumental as this.”
Vivian clasped her hands together. “Really? Oh, I’m so lucky I ran into you, Rich! Thank you!”
“You’ll have to stay for… a week, I believe. But I do not believe you have anywhere else to go.”
Vivian shook her head. “Unless you have any idea where my friends are.”
“If they look anything like you I believe they will be killed on the spot.”
“They’re stronger than that. But…” Vivian went ahead and described her friends.
“This Caspian will be able to walk freely, and Toph will so long as she does not ‘earth bend’. But all the others, I see no safety in the Empire.”
“The Empire? Empire of what?”
“Just… the Empire.”
“Creative name.”
Rich shrugged. “Talk to the Emperor.”
“That’s probably a bad idea, huh?”
“Maybe, maybe not. The new Emperor has been issuing reforms in regards to magic, he may understand your plight. Getting to him, however, would be impossible. Altdorf is the largest and most well-defended city in the Empire.”
“Then I guess I’ll just wait here until those friends of yours arrive.” Vivian smiled. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Don’t thank me yet!”
~~~
And so a week passed. The days were largely the same—Vivian would wake up, talk to Rich a bit, do some reading from his bookshelf, and then go to bed. She was in hiding, and Rich was an old man who never seemed to leave the house except to purchase food. He must have had a store of money somewhere, but Vivian never tried to figure out where it was. It was his business, after all.
She told him many stories about her adventures, but Rich told her very few about his. He’d described his life one of the days as “boring, uneventful, without young love, and ending in a cabin with more books than the average man.” He would occasionally talk about how he came across the books, since it was uncommon for someone to even have a book, but that would inevitably lead to his rather boring days of education, which Vivian eventually admitted she didn’t really want to hear. Nothing ever happened in them.
A few times, she demonstrated her magic for him. She pulled him into the shadow with her once, though he did find it unsettling. She’d also gotten into the habit of waking up just before him and lighting the fireplace.
He was always willing to listen to her, though, and she found that she loved telling her story. She never did mention the Void—didn’t want to worry him—but she left virtually nothing else out.
On the sixth day of her stay, he approached her with a concerned look on his face. “They’ve arrived, but they won’t come down to town. They’re waiting for us just up the road in Delberz.”
“Oh… how am I going to get there?”
“I could put you in one of the grain sacks… it’d be uncomfortable, but it’d keep you out of sight.”
Vivian nodded. “Let’s do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve been waiting around for a week and nothing’s happened. I’m going. Even if I have to go in a sack.”
Rich shook his head and chuckled. “Of course, Vivian.”
Less than an hour later, Vivian was in a grain sack set on the back seat of a carriage, sitting right next to Rich. They were the only passengers aside from the driver, and the driver was exceptionally quiet and unresponsive. Vivian had no idea what he looked like since she’d been put in the sack before arriving.
It was a bumpy ride to Delberz, not to mention a little tense since Vivian couldn’t see where they were going. Luckily, they made good time, and by the time the sun was starting to set Vivian could hear the sounds of a much larger settlement. Instead of the quiet solemness of the place she’d been living for the last week, there was a lot of shouting—most of it either angry or coming from someone trying to sell something. There was a suspiciously large number of people trying to sell pies, from what Vivian could hear.
The smell was worse, though. There was no calm country air here, only the smell of an unsanitary city mixed with animal dung and who knew what else. You’d think with so many people selling pies, she’d be able to pick up a scent of fruit, but all she got was some strange meaty smell that utterly disgusted her.
Rich slung her over his shoulder and she did her best not to make any noise at all. It was enough, since nobody stopped him to question what he was carrying. He paid the second half of his ferry and took Vivian deeper into the city.
Vivian all but held her breath the entire time, tiring herself out rather quickly. However, the sounds of the city eventually abated, and Rich opened a door and shut it silently behind him.
“Brother Richardson,” a deep, monotone voice greeted.
“Brother Boris,” Rich said, taking a slight bow. “Are the others already here?”
“Yes.”
“Very well, gather them.” Gently, Rich set Vivian down on a table. “I’m afraid you’ll have to stay in there a bit longer, I don’t want them all asking the same questions over and over again.”
“All right,” Vivian said.
“Is that…?” Vivian heard Boris ask.
“Yes, now shush while we wait for the others.”
Vivian waited patiently for everyone to arrive. She felt several people sit down around the table, but she wasn’t Toph, she couldn’t sense any more than that. Eventually, however, the shuffling stopped and a woman spoke.
“Brother Richardson has brought us together to examine an… unusual entity. Do you care to begin?”
Rich cleared his throat. “Thank you, Sister Eliza. I want you to know she is slightly bashful, and try not to overwhelm her—she is rather skilled in aqshy. Now… Vivian, would you like to come out?”
“Yes,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief. She untied the knot on her side of the bag and poked her head out, making sure to keep her hat on tight. “Hello everyone!”
The group around her consisted of eight people—five men, three women—no two of whom looked alike. Rich was the oldest, but he also smiled the widest. The man she presumed to be Boris was young, muscular, and had no hint of a smile anywhere on his face. Two of the women were twins, each with soft smiles, though one had white hair while the other had black. Another man was clearly extremely drunk while his companion wore a dapper suit that looked oddly out of place.
At the head of the table sat Eliza, a middle-aged woman with the most distinctive feature of all—a glowing purple scar that ran from just above her left eye to the crease of her smirking mouth. “Incredible…” Eliza said.
“Thank you,” Vivian said, smiling brightly.
“I’ve never seen a daemon so… stable.”
Rich coughed. “I am uncertain she is what we would consider a daemon, sister. She claims to come from another realm, but if it were the Realm of Chaos, she has not seen it since the day of her birth.”
Vivian shrugged, unsure exactly what all of that meant.
“I have never heard of such a thing,” Eliza said. “Then again, she is clearly unique, aren’t you Vivian?”
“I have some sisters,” Vivian said. “But… they’re in another world right now.”
“That you don’t know how to return to.” Eliza nodded slowly. “Well, it is possible we will be able to help with that. As you may know already, we are a sect of practicing wizards who operate… outside the laws of the Empire.”
Vivian nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d get help from anyone else. Seeing as, well, everyone thinks I’m a daemon.”
“Even if you are, we would not turn you away,” Eliza assured her. “All minds need to be respected and understood in these times. Now, Rich mentioned an artifact?”
Vivian nodded, pulling the stone heart out of her hat. “Here it is. Can you… restore its power?”
Eliza carefully traced her finger around the edge of the stone heart. “Something this magnificent is far beyond any of our power. But… we may have another way. Vivian, are you aware that there is a realm of pure magic parallel to this one?”
“I… no?”
“It is true.” Eliza’s smile widened. “And there are beings within that realm that can offer us assistance.”
“Really? What are they like?”
“They are very… different from us, and so many people fear them, calling them daemons. But they are the most magically inclined beings in the world. If we can contact one, perhaps they will know what to do to restore this… precious heart.”
“How do we do that?”
“As it happens, whenever we meet we call upon one of them anyway,” Eliza said, standing up, stone heart in her hands. “You can accompany us for the ritual.”
“Oh, that sounds exciting!”
“Then we shall begin immediately. Come.” Eliza gestured for everyone to follow. “The sanctum is this way.”
They passed through a set of stone doors that led them into a large, round room lit with torches that burned with pink fire. On the back wall was a symbol carved out of blue stone; a circle with a spike coming out the right side and a stylized flame coming out the left. On the floor was a complex series of geometric markings that interlocked to form an impressive magic circle.
It was also made entirely out of blood and had a human skull in the center.
It was at this point that Vivian realized she had really, really screwed up. But the doors had already sealed shut behind her, there was nowhere she could go.
Great great great great great… Vivian glanced around, quickly looking for something she could use. She could vanish under the ground and leave through the door, but these people were wizards, who knew what they could do? If she ran, they might… do something to her. And plus, Eliza still had the Heart. She wasn’t leaving without that.
But she couldn't do this alone. Okay… now would be a real good time to have some help. Uh… The various people started chanting. The skull burst into pink flames and a fleshy eye began to form in the center of the symbol. What would Twilight do? Magically teleport out of here. Toph would smash her way out… Tippi would ask someone else. Cosmo would make friends with them but I’m pretty sure I’ve already done that and it’s not really working. Data would out-think them, and… Caspian would let out some silly remark and then scream “in the name of Aslan” or something.
Wait. She winced as the skull was reduced to ash and the eye popped out of the symbol, floating in the air, currently lifeless. Wait, Aslan! Hey! Uh… Caspian says you’re everywhere and I believe him so now would be a really good time to give me some protection!
Nothing came to her. All she could do was tremble as a sound like thunder rumbled through the chamber, and a disc of rippling flesh with metallic spikes poking out of it formed, a single eye in its center.
“Oh, wise Lord D’mirik,” Eliza said with a slight bow. “We have need of your counsel in the eyes of our Lord Tzeentch.”
D’mirik didn’t pay attention to her—it stared right at Vivian.