157 - Living Home
“Tori?” Thessa murmured with a frown. “And who might you be?”
“You can call me a helper,” she said. “I’m also a caretaker for this home.”
Arielle narrowed her eyes, noting that the disguise in front of her wasn’t truly Vittoria but a soul clone of her. It had been the same one she used to pick Arielle up from school. That meant that Vittoria and Inara were probably somewhere else, and they had left her and Sir Spendulon behind for the visit. Arielle wondered why they didn't warn her before leaving. Did Vittoria want to surprise her? And also, what did she tell Inara about their sudden departure?
“Long story short,” Tori said to the group. “Arielle opened a channel into her soul, which made it easier for the demon to find her through the abyss. I’m keeping her hidden here. However, to ensure she stays safe, this place must remain unknown."
"We're not going to tell anyone," Brom said.
"It's not about you telling anyone," she said. "It's that the home bears a certain living signature. It's alive, and being inside it for too long means that you slowly start to become a part of it. That's how the protective mechanism works, by recognizing you as a part of it, and keeping out intruders or anyone who seeks to harm you."
Ari sent Vittoria a look of alarm. That was how it worked? Was her family becoming part of a tree? Was she?
"It doesn't mean that it's absorbing you," Vittoria clarified. "It just means that the home has been ensouled. Every living thing with will and judgment eventually develops a soul, and souls tend to form bonds, and when two life forms share a bond, you can sometimes trace from one to the other."
She walked to the center of the room, looked around her, and continued, "Most people cannot trace souls, particularly since the soul of the home is far too underdeveloped to really be noticeable, not even by most demons. However, bearing signs of those traces as non-magic users can attract demons to you, as it's a symbol of powerful magic. And some very powerful demons might attempt to use it to find their way here."
"So you're saying our being here puts Arielle in danger?" Torv's voice was low with alarm.
"No," she said. "I'm saying it might pose a very small risk to you, and an even smaller risk to Arielle, but given the fact that Arielle is especially vulnerable, we must take extra precautions.”
That didn't make sense to Arielle, given that Elric came and went as he pleased. Or did it not matter because he'd already been here before Arielle even knew Vittoria? Or maybe Elric would be harder to possess, being an Archmage. Did being mortals make her family an easier target for demons? Were they in danger now?
Also, why had Vittoria never explained this to her before?
Vittoria gave Ari an assuring look.
"It will be fine," she reiterated. “It’s only a small risk, and keeping the visit to just a couple of hours will eliminate that risk.”
Ari understood, but it wasn’t pleasant to hear.
Arielle's mother looked at her. “Is that true, Ari? Did you open a channel to your soul?"
She hesitated before she nodded.
Her mother released an exasperated breath. "Why would you do that?"
"I didn't know I was doing it. It was a mistake."
"A mistake? How does one make a mistake like that?"
"I didn't know that's what I was doing."
"That's the problem, isn't it?" Thessa ran her hand through her curly brown hair, shaking her head. "You can't know what you're doing because you're not a part of this world. I don’t know what I was thinking, sending you here. It seems you’ve only encountered one problem after another."
“With all due respect,” Vittoria said. “Having her in Fenway would have been even more dangerous for her.”
“No," Thessa responded fiercely. "She would have been safer in Fenway. She would have had us to protect her and wouldn't have gotten tangled with any demons or mysterious creatures giving her illicit treasures. She would have been a reserve, and would likely never have had to see combat. She would have read her books, grown up safely, and been happy."
Arielle pictured that life, and grimaced. That wasn't what she wanted, at least not anymore. Though she had resigned herself to that in the past, it sounded torturous to her now.
Brom must have caught her look, because he smirked.
“I don’t think she wants that, mother,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Thessa said emphatically. “She would have been safe, and that's the important thing. There would have been no demons and all manner of other creatures hunting her, and she wouldn't have to keep so many secrets to keep from being on the wrong side of a guillotine. My daughter cannot keep secrets. You of all people should know that, Elric.”
Thessa met Elric’s gaze, and something passed between them. Arielle stood awkwardly to the side, not knowing what to say. She didn’t want to live in Fenway as a reserve. Despite the danger and the risk she bore, her life was far better, and much more vibrant now than it was in the past. She would not trade it for anything.
Vittoria finally moved forward, standing in front of Thessa. It was odd to see Vittoria not towering over someone, but at her current clone's build, they were the same height.
“I don’t have children of my own,” Vittoria said. “So I cannot tell you that I understand how you feel. However, I do have a mother, and I somewhat understand how the urge to protect someone can become a destructive force in their lives.” She looked at Ari, then back at Thessa. “Trust that your daughter is in good hands, but also trust that your daughter can protect herself.”
“How would you know that?” she said.
“Because I know Arielle.”
“You think you know my child better than I do?”
“No. But I have spent a significant amount of time with her, enough to know that she is capable of defeating many of those that pose a threat to her."
“I doubt that,” Thessa said. “I may be from a backwater village, but I know enough about ascendants to know that–"
Her mother was interrupted without warning by an explosion of lightning that came out of nowhere and was thrust in Arielle’s direction.
Instinctively, she blocked it with a shield, redirecting it outside the open door. It was then followed by seeded bullets from one part of the wall, aimed at Arielle, which she also blocked. They vanished just as quickly as they appeared.
“What’s happening?” Her father jumped into action as a sword pierced through the ceiling, aiming for Arielle.
Arielle blocked it with air and it vanished too.
Vines burst out of the walls, weaving around the other bodies in the room, wrapping around her limbs, and she air-sliced them with ease before they vanished.
She took a breath and waited for the next attack, but it never came. In the meantime, her family had surrounded her, with their weapons drawn in anticipation, their eyes on every corner of the small living room.
Vittoria stood calmly, with Elric shaking his head in her direction.
“What was that?” Celie demanded. “What’s happening?”
“I’m proving a point,” Vittoria said. “As you can see, Arielle is fully capable of dismantling and deflecting many high-level attacks. She is far more skilled than you give her credit for."
"Wait, you did that?" Torv looked pissed as he advanced on Vittoria, but she didn't back down.
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"I did."
Her lack of retreat seemed to confuse Torv, enough to stop his advance, as he contemplated what just happened.
"And Arielle..." He turned to his daughter, and one by one, her family did the same, giving her a look like they were seeing her for the first time. Arielle used her emotion-reading spell to discover that Celie and Brom were impressed, but her parents' emotions were more complicated.
"She isn't even winded," Torv murmured, and Ari shrugged.
“She rarely is," Vittoria said. "We will have more sessions on how to defend herself, but she will only get better and more powerful with time. And as much as we try our best, the way to keep her safe is not to hide her, but to train her for what might come.”
“You mean…she really did all that?" Thessa’s eyes darted around as the signs of damage in the room began healing.
“She can do even more,” Vittoria said. “Especially after we’re done training her.”
"That’s impressive,” Thessa said. “But her magical skill isn’t my only concern.”
“I know that. Which is why we are working on her other…aspects too.”
“Meaning?”
“Arielle is different from most people. She sees the world differently, and sometimes that can be to her detriment. There are things that she needs to learn in order to keep people from manipulating her. We’re working on it.”
Thessa still appeared doubtful, crossing her arms over her chest, and then she looked over to Torv. Torv held her gaze, the anger on his face vanishing completely.
"Well, they seem to be doing a good job,” he said slowly. “Our daughter has changed, in more ways than one. She's a lot more confident than before."
“She might have been safer if we kept her home and kept her magic a secret."
"You said it yourself, Thess. She’s terrible at secrets.” Torv finally put his weapon away. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have now. It’s all for her safety, after all." His gaze flickered to Elric, who nodded. That seemed to assure him more than anything else.
“After we take care of the demon, I’ll ensure that she goes home to visit you for at least a few days,” Vittoria said.
Thessa sighed deeply, her expression resigned. "Alright. Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” Warmth appeared on Vittoria’s face. “I’m glad I got to meet you. It's clear Arielle has a lovely, protective family behind her. You raised an amazing young woman.”
Arielle blushed, and Brom snorted, so his father smacked him on the back of the head. Vittoria held Thessa’s gaze as she held out her hand. Thessa stared at the hand for a long time before she finally took it.
After that, Vittoria and Elric left them, and the family spent a couple of hours catching up.
Arielle told them about school, classes, and everything she had done at the academy in chronological order, leaving out the parts involving Vittoria and her missions. She spoke about everyone she had met, taking special care to detail her friendship with Lyra and Maus. She also explained her extra lessons with the dean and her research with Valeria, and her rune studying with Telip. She tried to cram all the information she had in the little time they had, but it was clear that her family each took special interest in different parts of her story.
Torv was curious about her combat classes and how she was doing in those. He also asked several questions about Riorke and Wulfric, and Arielle's feelings about them, until Thessa nudged him in the side and told him to drop it.
Celie was far more interested in the time Arielle spent with Lyra and Maus. She seemed happy that Ari had made close friends, and mentioned that Greta's sister was now a caretaker for their grandmother.
"Greta still misses you, by the way," Celie said. "But she's doing well. She’s in training to be a keeper, and we see her often. She will be glad to hear that you are also doing well in school."
Arielle was happy to hear that, and happy to know that Greta no longer felt any guilt about what had happened between them.
Her mother paid special attention to things like the attack in Khor (which Ari told them about without telling them she was the raven-masked girl) and the abyssal creature that had invaded their school (which Arielle also didn't tell them that she had initiated).
Brom wanted to know about the abyssal and other creatures she had met or learned about in class. He especially wanted to know about the dragon. As they sat in a circle on the floor, Brom slowly sidled up to him and even laid a hand on Sir Spendulon's back. Sir Spendulon lifted his head from Arielle's lap to consider Brom, who froze as though waiting to see if the dragon would exhale fire.
But all Sir Spendulon did was sniff in his direction, sigh, and lay his head back down.
He purred as Brom kept petting him, making the boy grin.
“I cannot believe I’m touching a dragon,” he said. “Sannick and Baur will never believe this."
"You can't tell them," Celie said. "Remember?"
"Oh right." Despite the censure, he still seemed happy and continued to pet Sir Spendulon, much to the dragon’s pleasure.
During the last few minutes, the group split up.
Celie and Arielle took a tour of the room, while Brom remained petting the dragon. Thessa and Torv went to stand on the porch, looking out into the desert.
"So," Celie murmured as they walked over to the bookshelf that Inara had organized. "My little Ari is quite the fighter now."
"Yes," Ari said. "What about you? Are you still an assassin?"
"I suppose. I haven't taken any jobs in a while, though."
"Why?"
"Because I haven't had to. Thanks to the wealth you've given us."
"Oh." Celie traced her hand over a wooden trinket with carvings on it as Arielle asked, "Do you miss it?"
"Assassinating people?"
"Yes."
She thought about it, her expression flattening. "I suppose. Not the act itself, but the purpose it gave me, the identity. I'm not sure what I am now."
Ari understood. It would be like her not being a mage anymore. She wouldn't know what she was without magic. "How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kill others often."
Celie blinked and turned to her. “Are you looking for specific murder tips?”
"No." Arielle shook her head. "I killed a troll once. To save people. And then I felt really bothered afterward." She had also killed a demon and hadn’t felt as bothered, but maybe that was because it could come back to life. "Brom said that he and Mom feel the same way, but you never did.”
“I did too.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, although probably not as much as they did. Brom gets physically ill from killing. I just get a little…”
“Bothered?” Ari volunteered.
“Yes.”
“How did you deal with it?"
“I just got over it. I had no choice. It was either that or Brom would have to double his work, or mother might have to go back into the field to take over my quota. I didn’t want that.”
“How did you get over it, though?”
“My mentor,” she said. “In the assassins' guild. He sort of reoriented my mind towards that. Taught me a way to suppress my emotions."
"How?"
"It's hard to explain, and I'm not sure you need to learn that. You just need to learn..." She trailed off because Torv was walking in their direction.
“Go talk to your mother,” he said to Arielle.
“Why?”
“Because she needs it.” He shot her a meaningful look.
"Oh, okay." Without further ado, Ari left Celie's side and went over to where her mother stood on the porch, with her arms crossed. The sun was setting, and a breeze rustled her hair into her face, but she brushed it back. She didn't act surprised at Arielle's appearance, although she didn't look in her direction.
“Father says I need to talk to you," Ari said.
Thessa scoffed. "Of course he did." She turned away first, turning her face to the sky.
And then she turned around suddenly and pulled Ari close, inhaling her hair. "I don’t know, Ari, but I have a bad feeling about all this.”
"Why?" Arielle squeezed her hands into fists, counting down in her head. Even after five seconds passed, she made herself remain in her mother's embrace, holding her breath as the discomfort built.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's just a mother's intuition, or maybe it's because madness runs in our family."
That was disconcerting.
Thessa finally let her go, stepping back with her hands on Arielle's shoulder. Ari released a breath.
“What else runs in our family?” Arielle asked. “Why do I have the skills that I do?”
“Your brother asked me the same thing not too long ago,” Thessa said with a smile. “The truth is that I don’t know.”
“Are we hybrids?”
“Hybrids?" She shook her head. "No. At least I don't think so."
“I met a hybrid once, and he told me that I was a hybrid too. He said he sensed it.”
This appeared to come as a surprise to Thessa. She took a deep breath and shrugged.
“Truthfully, I don’t know…” She sighed. “I never knew my father, but I don't think whatever this is comes from him. I told you one of your grandmother's sisters had some magical ability, but it faded after childhood.”
“Where is she now?"
"Passed on, but she left the village as a young woman, running away with some river nomad. Your grandmother always said that she was airbrained, and seemed to prefer spending her time in the forest with animals rather than being with humans. She wasn't much of a warrior, and your grandmother had to fulfil the quota for them both. But she was kind, or so I hear." Thessa tilted her head in thought. "Your grandmother says there were a few like her in the lineage. When this is all over, maybe the two of you can have a conversation about it. I tried asking, but...let's just say she'll probably be a lot nicer to you."
"Okay," she said. Her grandmother had never been cruel to her. She had a straightforward, abrasive personality, but never explicitly mean.
"The second hour is almost up," Thessa said.
"Yes," Ari concurred, and her mood dipped. She didn't want her family to go. She wished she had more time with them, but was grateful also for the little time she'd already spent.
Her mother hugged her tightly again, and Arielle stiffened but tried not to complain.
"I'm just scared, Ari," she said. "Scared to lose you."
“You won’t lose me.”
"Is that a promise?"
"Yes." Just then, she had a vivid recollection of the vision she’d had in the dean’s office, of being at the High Ascendant's mercy, of his warning telling her that if she did not prepare adequately for her future, she would not survive it. "I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure that you do not lose me."