Chapter 443: Family Visits_Millennial Mage

Chapter 443: Family Visits

 T nervously scratched Terry’s neck and head as he perched on her shoulder.

 No need for nerves, T, you just saw them a month ago.

 She and Rane stood in the teleportation tower within Alefast, awaiting her siblings'' arrival.

 They’d considered having everyonee to the teleportation receiving array within Kit, but as T was only set up with one such tform, that would have been a bit inconvenient to coordinate and make work well for all of the arrivals.

 This one time, Illie, Nc, Dagan, Alva, and Osip would being from the Academy to join her other siblings for the day. That wouldn’t be very frequent, as T had to pay for their reinscription upon their return to the Academy—they also had to endure the ssic inscribing process as well—and that made it untenable very often.

 Still, they had arranged for it to take ce before each subsequent sibling was to make their own choice about the Academy. Those visits would have the Academy attendees arriving in Marliweather though. That way, they’d get to see their parents and friends, too. This time, however—just this once—they were alling to visit T in Alefast.

 Rane ced his hand on her hip—across her back—subtly drawing her in closer. She leaned into him, allowing his presence tofort her. Terry chirped and flickered to the opposite shoulder so as to not be between them, before nuzzling T’s cheek to givefort of his own.

 Rane spoke calmly and quietly into the tense silence, “This is going to be great, T. We have all of the meals arranged and tables at the restaurants reserved. They will get to see the city as a whole and have context for what you do, going forward. The battle-view restaurant experience should be fun for all of them, too.”

 This particr day, T and Rane should have been on the night shift, but it was the time in their cycle of duties to be fully off for the day. Thus, they wouldn’t have a shift until the following afternoon.At precisely six hours past midnight, the teleportation circles began to light up throughout the building as T watched on with her threefold sight. For those at the Academy, it waster in the day, and those in Marliweather likely had just barely begun to see the light of dawn start to gray the sky over the mountains.

 The Alefast branch of the Teleporters’ Guild requested that they keep two iing teleportation arrays unused, just in case any other iing traffic chose this time to arrive. Thus, it would take a few waves for all her siblings to arrive, but that was fine.

 They arrived in quick session, with Mages present to receive them and ensure nothing had gone amiss with the process. Soon enough, all fourteen of the siblings were together with T, Rane, and Terry in the base of the teleportation tower.

 There were enthusiastic greetings and inquiring questions for and from those who’de from the Academy, but T grabbed their attention with a quietly spoken sentence, infused with a bit of power to ensure everyone heard despite the volume. “Come on, I have a ce reserved for us for breakfast. We can talk more there.”

 It was a short walk through the crisp autumn air, and the siblings continued their chatting even as they followed T and Rane.

 t and Mistress Ingrit had arranged it so that her siblings coulde visit her every four months or so. They would arrange the specific times in the future, but that was the future, and in this moment, T was with her siblings again.

 It promised to be a fun—if uneventful—day.

 * * *

 All the siblings goggled at the magnificence of the battle-view restaurant. Its well-appointed interior andvish disy of wealth in the form of wall-sized active-link Archive tes was overwhelming to those who knew just what such things should cost.

 T actually found it somewhat humorous to watch Latna’s eye twitch as they all rose up on the lift when she realized that each of the massive windows on the upper floors—facing over the walls—was also such a te, just one that could also be rendered clear.

 Even T didn’t know what that had cost.

 They went all the way to the top where they were greeted by several attendants and led to arge table that had been held for them.

 There were some odd looks from other patrons—all with much, much smaller parties—but no one seemed actually upset or otherwise negatively affected by things. After all, with the privacy magics in ce, theirrge group almost couldn’t disturb anyone else.

 T watched her brothers and sisters begin to look over the menu—the older ones helping Se and Olen—and smiled to herself at how excited they were for what was on offer.

 She cleared her throat, “Please, order whatever you like. If you can’t finish what you order, we’ll save it forter.”

 That sparked them to be really excited, and they all settled in for breakfast.

 Rane, Terry, and the siblings had just barely given their orders to the servers when Illie spoke up, “Now, I am sure that most of you already know him well enough, but I’ve only ever talked to Master Rane through a few brief Archive messages. Now, he’s courting our eldest sister?”

 Rane froze in ce—tea halfway to his lips—and he set down his cup before turning to look at the girl who had maneuvered to sit directly beside him, on the other side from T.

 T suppressed a smile. Mageling mistake.

 -Not that any of your siblings would have been that safe.-

 Nc?

 -...true. Rane should have sat next to Nc or Osip. I retract my objection. It was a mageling mistake.-

 Illie leaned in a bit closer. “So? Tell me everything.”

 Rane, to his credit, didn’t flinch away from the inquiry. “What do you want to know?”

 “Well, for one, when she was missing and we were all informed that she was most likely dead, you didn’t believe that. How did you know that she was alright? You messaged us long before she returned, assuring us that she was still alive and that there was a good chance she’d be back.”

 T frowned. That’s right… She turned toward Rane along with every one of her siblings.

 Even Terry opened his eyes and oriented on Rane, his head tilted to one side.

 Rane cleared his throat. “Well…” He swallowed even as he seemed to be considering. “I had solid reason to believe that she wasn’t dead, and I had faith that she would return.”

 “That’s what your message said, but what solid reason? Why did you have such faith?”

 He gave a shrug. “I’m sorry, but I quite literally cannot tell you. It would be in breach of the very means that allowed me to know, so I cannot say more.”

 Illie narrowed her eyes at him, but finally, shrugged in turn. “I suppose I can’t fault you for that.”

 Rane visibly rxed.

 Another mageling mistake. T almost smiled, knowing that Illie was about toe at him again.

 She didn’t have to wait long, “So, why are you courting my sister? Why her?” The younger girl leaned around Rane to meet T’s gaze. “No offense, of course, but it bears asking.”

 T smiled in return. “I can’t say that I’m uninterested in his answer.”

 Rane let out a long sigh. “And I can’t say that I didn’t expect something like this.”

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 Illie grinned. “So, you must have a ready answer?”

 “Of course.” He grinned in return. “She is beautiful, a powerful Mage, a meticulous thinker, willing to change her opinion when presented with new evidence, willing to put herself in danger for the good of others, and a skilled fighter.” His smile turned warm. “And those are just the things that are easy to quantify.” He turned to look at T. “It also helps that she wants to court me.” He chuckled at that. “That is the critical piece that makes the rest meaningful in the end. And, of course, any of those things in istion isn’t the reason. It isn’t any individual thing, but how they—and so much moree together to make her, her.”

 T found herself reddening at his words, and at the attention that all her siblings were now paying to her and Rane.

 Illie narrowed her eyes for a moment before nodding. “That is an eptable answer.” She then turned toward Nea. “So, ss? That’s quite the choice.”

 Tension that T hadn''t specifically noticed in Rane slipped away as attention moved from him. While he was seemingly prepared for a question like this, he had still been nervous.

 She found his nervousness a bit endearing; so, she reached over and squeezed his hand even as other conversations sprang up around the table. T spoke softly enough that only Rane and any others with enhanced hearing should be able to hear. Though, the restaurant''s privacy fields removed thetter, leaving only Rane as able to hear, “I liked your answer.”

 He smiled at that, whispering in return, “Good. That’s all that really matters in the end.”

 Without further whispering, they turned their attention to the meandering conversations already bubbling up around the table.

 * * *

 Illie and Nc were utterly incredulous as T told yet another—highly edited—ount from her time in the arcanends.

 The other siblings had heard most of these stories, but Illie and Nc had been at the Academy when T hade back, and they hadn’t seen her in person since.

 Even so, no one seemed to mind the rehashings, and as they gathered around the more intimate dinner table within T’s sanctum, T found that she enjoyed entertaining them with the retellings.

 The day had been full, but in a way that was almost entirely mundane.

 She’d introduced her siblings to her Defender unit-mates, taken her brothers and sisters up on the wall, watched Defender battles in the battle-view restaurant over breakfast, toured the city, and had lunch in a little, out of the way ce—which practically burst at the seams to amodate them all at once—but aside from the personal aspects to some of those things, anyone could have done the same.

 Even now, sitting around the dinner table telling stories was a deeply mundane pastime, the content of the tales notwithstanding.

 The siblings all had to get home, but they’d arranged for their departure to be flexible, and no one seemed quite ready to go just yet, even when T felt like she had run out of stories from the Arcanends that she was willing and able to tell them.

 Mita, her second oldest sister, spoke up then, surprising most of them given her usually quieter nature, “What about your work around here? Certainly you have some stories from your time as a Defender.”

 T looked around. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve already been talking a lot.”

 The siblings all mored to state that they didn’t mind that at all and that they wanted to hear the stories.

 When T still seemed hesitant, Rane smiled and interjected, “I am happy to help some. I haven’t been a Defender for as long as T has, but let me tell you. We’ve seen some crazy stuff.”

 Everyone leaned in, clearly epting his offer.

 “Let me see… Do you want to hear about us fighting copies of ourselves? Your sister battling with an Anatalin wolf whilstpletely uninscribed? Or a tale of twisted magics and a name locked to all but one gifted Mage, which gave an evil magician long life?”

 After a moment of silence, the younger siblings exploded with their own preferences. As soon as they had, though, they heard what the others had said. Some immediately switched to be like one sibling or other, and some reiterated their choice, now firmly set in their preferred choice.

 Battlelines had been drawn, and it seemed that there would be a bit of a show before the story.

 T felt herself smiling at the antics of the younger ones, enjoying the knowing looks of resignation on her older siblings almost as much.

 You know? I am so d that we did this. Thank you for all your help in making this happen, t.

 -Of course, T. You are most wee.-

 * * *

 T waited patiently as Alder Zat—the next oldest Zat child—teleported into her sanctum from the Academy after finishing the fall session of sses, hisst session.

 The young man shed his light winter jacket—the most that would have teleported with him—just after stepping off of the teleportation receiving circle within T’s sanctum. He’d clearly been wearing it at the Academy, but felt no need for it, here.

 T willed it to be dry, warm, and nicely arranged for his departure, whenever that may be.

 Alder bowed in thanks to T as his outerwear was whisked away, likely not actually aware that it was her direct doing, but still being respectful as he was aware that the sanctum was her home.

 It had been two months since T’s siblings visited and since then, they’d been in far greater contact. Honestly, T hadn’t realized how much of a barrier had been between them before her invitation and actualization of the teleports removed it.

 But this wasn’t a time for her siblings. She and Terry were here with the Zats.

 Alder looked around with wonder at the clear ‘outsideness’ of his surroundings. “Well, this is spectacr.”

 “Wee, Alder.”

 He bowed again in her direction. “Thank you, Mistress T.” He smiled. Master Simon and Mistress Petra had been sure to be far more clear in their messages about who T was, to avoid another incident like what happened with Anna. “It is my honor to have such a reception.”

 His eyes flicked to Terry even as the terror bird regarded him critically.

 “You must be Terry. It is good to meet you, too.” He seemed wary as he spoke.

 Terry fluffed himself up before trilling in contentment and closing his eyes, much to Alder’s clear relief.

 T smiled. “I am happy to have you. Come, your family is finishing up dinner preparations.”

 As they began walking, T searched for something to speak on.

 She could have just willed them to be at the table for dinner, but she could see that they weren’t quite ready to receive Alder yet, so she decided to take the more mundane route. “Was it a pleasant teleportation?”

 He chuckled. “It was, but I must say, I’m a little concerned to be around iron again.” He shivered. “I know there won’t be much in here, but out in the city? The guards have so much of it, I can already practically feel my own magic trying to invade me, even without inscriptions.” He smiled wryly. “Though, obviously, that’s all in my head. I haven’t ever even experienced it firsthand.”

 T blinked at him. “Iron? Do you have an allergy? An aversion?”

 “Oh no, nothing specific. I just dislike it as much as every Mage. I’m sure you understand.”

 She blinked at him again, her brain reframing and remembering what it was like to interact with Mages who felt that way.

 -Lyn has never really said she feels differently, you know.-

 Yeah, but I just sort of assumed that she’d gotten over it… or something.

 -That’s not a very kind assumption…-

 Well, she was mainly concerned about me leaving iron about, and I literally can’t do that anymore.

 -...fair.-

 T just smiled at the young man, contemting dropping her illusion and showing him all the iron that she had about her person.

 -That would be mean… funny but mean.-

 Instead, T simply motioned him toward where the rest of his family was waiting. “Indeed. This way.”

 Soon enough, Anna wasughing with her brother, checking up on some of her friends and acquaintances who had still been at the Academy when she’d left.

 T leaned back and listened to the Zat familyughing and catching up.

 Segis and Metti had warmed up to their older brother, despite him having left shortly after Metti was born. Annathas—and Hanna before her—had begunying the groundwork for loving, fun siblings returning from the Academy, and that likely helped a lot.

 Mistress Petra was doting on her son, much to his consternation.

 Master Simon was joking with the young man even while subtly inquiring as to his prospects on a master.

 All told, T was a bit overwhelmed by how much they were not like her own family.

 She tried to get on with her siblings, but the more she considered it, the more she realized that theck of the parental figures really changed the dynamic. She would have to be mindful of that when her siblings visited.

 Regardless, she simply enjoyed being a part of the family meal.

 There was much that she wanted to learn for when she had family meals of her own.

 One day… far in the future.

 Anna was excitedly exining how she, herself, was progressing as a mageling. In fact, she expected to be raised to full Magehood in just two more years. By that point, her training in the mundane arts would beplete, and her foundations in magical healing would be fully solidified and unified with those non-magical methods.

 That really floored T, if she was being honest.

 Two more years of being a mageling… she just couldn’t imagine it. Fedir will be making his choice about the Academy about then.

 -You had a very unusual path, T. Anna is actually an example of a rather speedy rise for a healer. To be fair, that is a more knowledge-heavy profession, given all the treatment ns and disease and recovery theory and such. So, her choice requires more training before she can be raised. Your own time as a mageling would just have been to gain experience and confidence under a seasoned hand… along with the filling in of knowledge gaps in general, but you already know about that rather extensively. Useful? Absolutely, but not required to do the job.-

 T grunted at that, though quietly enough that it was lost among the family’s exuberance. Instead, she took another long drink, and settled in to watch, and hopefully learn something.

MillionNovel

Chapter 443: Family Visits