Echoes Of The Seven

It was extremely difficult for Eris to concentrate on the conversations at hand. That was particularly awful since everything being discussed was of incredible importance- that much Eris was certain of. A prophecy that Jaxie, Alex, the other party members and even some other random students all saw, which they assumed was about Eris herself? A dented magical helmet that Eris made for Alex sitting on the table while glowing bright pink, some lingering connection to the Obelisk still shining? An earnest debate as to whether the Syndicate should prioritize efforts in combating the Hollow, or attempt to go back into the Obelisk for the many opportunities there?

None of it mattered.

Jaxie was gonna have kids.

Jaxie was gonna be a dad. To two different women.

And one of those women was one of Eris’s tutors. Who was also sitting in the room as part of this conversation.

Eris’s eyes flicked over to Private Grace McMerkel, whose name Eris now fully committed to memory, if for nothing more than necessity. Black hair, soft brown eyes, lots of freckles dotting her pale skin, and even a pair of simple glasses that were not currently being worn but rather hung from the breast pocket of her dark blue uniform. Given the fact that she was Gifted, however, Eris assumed the woman did not actually need them- they were likely magical or had special enchantments. Perhaps something similar to Bailey’s alchemy goggles? Eris didn’t even have the mind to Inspect them. Her eyes were simply locked onto the mother-to-be while the conversation raged in the living room around them.

Perhaps it was a bit too casual of a setting for such an official meeting, but there was most certainly merit to two dozen people lounging around a function-over-form decorated living room. Professors Konderlacht, Kull, Peace, and Powell were all sitting on one beige couch. Eris, Jaxie, and Alex were sitting on the other. Two of Eris’s neighbours living in the (admittedly smaller) house next to hers took up their own seats, but only one had been intentionally placed there and that was Elmas. Eris’s dad simply brought his own chair with him given that it had wheels and could be parked right next to Eris on the end of the couch.

Gods, her father was her new neighbour, who was also living with Elmas and her wife while volunteering to help with the baby. THAT was weird.

The fully-armoured bodyguard Charlotte continued to stand at attention in the far corner, while the other three Deans took up positions leaning against the walls or standing beside Professor Konderlacht’s couch. Professor Resoto, Green, and Maidess. Nima, Meghan and Claire were also present, sitting on the grey-carpet floor with their backs against varying walls around the edges of the room. Meghan in particular had a ghostly, wispy wolf laying on the ground beside her that she was idly dragging fingers over the head of, though her hand seemed to be passing through it as much as petting. Then, the eight tutors that were assigned to teach Eris everything she needed to know about crafting were ALSO scattered around. Bailey was taking up the fourth and final spot on Eris, Jaxie and Alex’s couch, sitting beside the Knight. Baker and Smith were sitting over by the kitchen, with the smell permeating through the house proving that Baker- err… Smith was baking something.

It was still far too early to even try and remember their names, but the dark-skinned Stonecutter with the floppy mohawk, the short Weaver and the equally short Leatherworker were all sitting cross-legged on the floor around the coffee table between the couches. The tall, pale blonde Woodcarver that would have actually looked a bit like Claire had her hair not been more gray than yellow was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the second floor while listening to the conversation, and the final one was standing at attention, in her pristine dark uniform, back against the wall while she stayed silent. Occasionally though, Grace’s eyes would flick over to Eris and the two would lock gazes before the black-haired girl quickly averted hers.

Eris wasn’t ashamed to admit that her, Jaxie and Alex had pushed away that conversation until after they finished in their… revelry. Of course, in the naked, sweaty afterglow while they lied on the bed and waited for the ‘session’ to be finished so they could try and test a cooldown, that proved ample opportunity for The Talk.

Jaxie had given the rundown of the details. She offered to be a test subject for Eris’s penis potions, and one of the primary tests was to see how it was different from normal variations of the potion- in particular, the ability to conceive offspring.

Eris wasn’t going to lie, the idea of Jaxie in a lab fucking four completely random women made her feel something. Admittedly, most of that was arousal which ashamed Eris. The idea that Jaxie clinically fucked the brains out of four different women Eris had never met before while Eris was off gods-know-where made her weak in the knees. The worst part? Eris was just sad that she couldn’t even be there to watch it happen. Jaxie fucking Alex had been such an erotic scene, no wonder Jaxie liked seeing Alex fucking Eris so much.

Eris almost felt disgusted by herself that she enjoyed the thought so much. Parts of her were screaming that Jaxie had been unfaithful and cheated on her, but many more were saying that they had definitively established an open relationship so there hadn’t been any cheating at all. Even if there was, by technicality, Eris had ‘cheated’ on Jaxie first anyway.

The rest of Eris was just confused as to what that meant her relationship with the impending kids was. Did that make her an aunt since her and Jaxie were technically sisters, or did that make her a step-mom? A mother-in-law? Wait, probably not those last two. Eris was pretty sure she’d need to be married to Jaxie first for those two to count and that hadn’t happened yet so it’d probably just be-

Eris froze.

Yet. It hadn’t happened yet. Eris hadn’t married Jaxie yet. ‘Yet’ meant it was going to happen eventually. In her thoughts, Eris had said yet.

No, surely she just meant ‘if’ she marries Jaxie. However, that thought sent a sour taste in her mouth. ‘When’ tasted so much better. However, it also brought a sharp increase to Eris’s heart rate.

When she was going to marry Jaxie. They were going to get married. She wanted to. Oh gods, she wanted to. She always assumed they would be together, but actually marrying her? Having that thought clanging around her skull made her feel weak everywhere except the hand Jaxie was holding. Gods, it was so warm.

Holy crap, they were going to get married.

They were going to get married someday, and then they would be happy and love each other and then have kids, but not kids that Jaxie had with other women which was weird but also kinda hot- they would be kids of their own and then Eris would have sons and daughters that called her and Jaxie ‘Mom’ and they’d grow up and have their own kids and then her and Jaxie would be all old and wrinkly but still in love while they held their grandkids and spoiled them because old people were allowed to do that and even though they probably wouldn’t be able to have sex anymore her and Jaxie would curl up with each other every night and live peacefully and oh gods Eris was going to get to be with the love of her life forever and it was going to be perfect and-

Eris didn’t realize her breathing was catching in her throat until it was a wheeze- and until Jaxie looked over with a raised eyebrow. “Ell, you okay?”

That made all errant conversation in the room cease- not that Eris was paying ANY of it attention. Bailey, from the other end of the couch beside Alex, leaned forward until she could see Eris and they locked eyes.

As Eris scrambled for breath, Bailey leapt out of her seat. “Ah crap, she’s having another panic attack.”

Dad, naturally, panicked himself. “Eris? Eris honey, it’s gonna be okay. Everything is fine, you need to calm down!”

Alex also looked like she wanted to help, but settled for awkwardly reaching over Jaxie’s lap and resting her hand on top of where Eris clung to Jaxie’s like a lifeline. Bailey however, she acted without hesitation or apparent shame of her actions.

“The worst way to help someone calm down from a panic attack is telling them to calm down, just so you know…”

She plopped herself right down so that she was sitting in Eris’s lap, looking down at the poor girl and even lifting her chin so the two locked eyes before putting both hands on her cheeks.

“Alright, Eris. You know how this goes. Focus on me; in for four, out for six. Nice, deep breaths.”

‘I- I’m okay…” Eris tried. Bailey shook her head.

“Are you? Because you don’t look okay. You’re practically sweating, Cutiepie. Come on, just breathe with me.”

“Sweetie, it’s okay,” Jaxie squeezed Eris’s hand lovingly. “You don’t need to be worried about any of this. We’re all here with you. I’m with you, and I’ll be with you forever.”

Okay, maybe guided breathing wasn’t the worst idea anymore.

Thankfully, it didn’t actually take too long with Bailey’s gentle administrations for Eris to finally get clarity returning to her system. However, that simply left the humiliation and embarrassment that Eris just had Bailey sitting on her lap in front of over twenty people, soothing her with gentle words, hands on her cheeks and prolonged eye contact.

And, of course, the fact that she had a panic attack because of how excited she was at the idea of marrying her girlfriend. THAT made her cheeks burn redder than the skin of an overripe tomato. Eventually, Bailey slid off Eris’s lap but rubbed a gentle thumb over Eris’s cheek before letting go.

“If you’re nervous about the idea of going to the frontline against the Hollow, it’s okay. Everyone gets scared, but you’ll be safe.”

“W-what?” Eris managed. Going to the frontline? What in the world had they been talking about while Eris was lost in her head? Thankfully, Jaxie clarified with another loving squeeze of Eris’s hand.

“You’ll have Carmine to protect you along with multiple others, and even then, you won’t actually be on the front. You’d be in the base camp making supplies and stuff for the soldiers with the rest of the crafters. The only people actually taking a risk are gonna be us trying to get some levels.”

“That is under the presumption that we choose to prioritize our efforts in sending Miss Kadell to the front line,” the older Dean, Professor Peace said. “Although Jasmine, Alexandra, Claire, Nima and Meghan would all benefit greatly from their increased level progression, which would then in turn tremendously benefit Eris herself, it would delay our opportunity to try and understand more about the Obelisk or Eris’s capabilities in general.”

The dean with the blonde mohawk/mullet combination grunted disapprovingly. “If her items really are as powerful as Geriege and Elmas say they are, then having the opportunity to get a few extra swords, healing potions or even a couple cups of coffee to fighting soldiers is going to be something else.”

“Yeah, but you also have to consider a different fact,” Bailey chirped up, adjusting her thick-rimmed glasses and leaning forward in her seat. “Sure, she has absolutely insane bonuses, but that is entirely to Potency and Durability and pretty much nothing else. A sword she makes is gonna be sharper and sturdier than one made by the best Metalsmith in the entire Syndicate, but that’s it. It won’t have any other kinds of effects. No proper stat bonuses, no additional enchantments. Actually, there won’t be any enchantments at all except for ones that’ll spice up the bedroom and make the battlefield a heck of a lot weirder.”

The female dean with the brown poofy mullet, Professor Maidess, nodded.

“Miss Geriege makes a very honest point. Anything Kadell creates is going to be the simplest version it could possibly be, even if the raw stats end up making the creation more fundamentally powerful than anything else. With the apparent randomness of her Lust enchantments and the oddities it seems to require, that only makes the items even more situationally useful and thus unreliable.”

“That may be so, but a powerful healing potion is gonna save a life no matter how simple it is…” Professor Powell crossed his arms while he muttered. “Basic or not, Eris’s creations would be a game changer. Plus, having her and the others on the front lines would make Eris level up so fast that all those skills she doesn’t have would be knocking on the door in no time. In a week, she could have all the versatility that our best crafters have, and raw bonuses that eclipse everything we could even consider.”

The short haired Professor Resoto sighed. “Another extremely good point, but there is much that can be achieved with Kadell remaining here in Marrix. For example, a number of Artificer artifacts from before the Sundering are being delivered within the next few days, all of which Kadell should be able to Inspect. There may be more than a few that provide something invaluable to our war effort should we distribute the items to the correct individuals.”

“Or we could find out that it’s the world’s most powerful toilet paper,” Powell said. “And it could be useless- or too damaged by time to even function at all. There’s a reason the Syndicate could never learn what they do, even beyond the fact we can’t Inspect them.”

“And identifying those artifacts is only one facet of her benefits in staying in the school,” Resoto rolled her eyes. “It allows her to train and learn with her mentors in a safe, controlled environment with whatever materials she could possibly need provided to her by the Syndicate. Furthermore, it allows more efficient testing of her capabilities, and closer research into the magic of Artificers or Echoes in general.”

Blonde-mullet-dean Greene raised his hand with a cocked eyebrow. “Can Eris not stay in the school while her Wonders go to the front line and gain level progression? That way she can do whatever research you want her to, but also increase her own capabilities through the efforts of her party?”

The room fell silent. Eventually, Konderlacht cleared her throat. “That… is a possibility.”

“Cookies are done!”

The comment almost gave Eris whiplash from the tone change. Twisting her head, she could see the curly-haired baker stepping from the kitchen into the living room, holding a metal baking sheet obviously just pulled from the oven, yet doing so with her bare hands and no sign of discomfort. Atop the sheet were perfectly circular, perfectly golden-brown discs of dough featuring blue splotches speckled throughout. And the smell, gods, the smell.

“Vanilla Blueberry Delight. One of my original recipes. Try one, but careful. The pan’s hot.”

As the baker- even wearing an apron that Eris wasn’t sure was in the house to begin with- started approaching the group, Professor Maidess sighed. “Ophelia, now isn’t the time for-”

“I’d love a cookie, thank you.” Professor Peace cut off the woman, even giving her a side look that seemed to portray the statement of ‘Don’t you dare.’ That then sparked a few moments in the paused conversation as exactly two dozen fresh cookies were divvied up between the two dozen people. Everyone got one, including Maidess who seemed much less reluctant on the treat now that she was holding it in her hands and could most definitely smell it even clearer. It was Professor Resoto that audibly swallowed her first bite and cleared her throat before continuing the conversation.

“If nobody is objecting to the Wonders going towards the front line to try and level up for Kadell while Kadell remains in Marrix, I believe that should be our course of action. If nothing else, it offers us the opportunity of ensuring Kadell’s progression while entertaining the very real possibility of having more than one Echo on our side in this battle.”

This time, it was Meghan who spoke up from her sitting position petting a spectral wolf. “Didn’t Pattycake get turned into literal soup… and also get left behind in the Obelisk?”

Eris felt the room grow a few degrees colder in the beat of silence that followed. The cookie she had yet to bite into stayed perfectly warm, hoever. Resoto sighed.

“Pravala is dead, yes. And although her presence in this war would have been a tremendous boon in our favour, I was not referring to her specifically. After all, has it not been all but confirmed that multiple other Echoes are within the Obelisk’s prison realms at this very moment? Not only being kept alive and safe by their Wardens, but also within very easy reach should we choose to extend a hand?”

Eris blinked, her throat going dry.

“You want me to go back into the Obelisk?”

Resoto held up a hand. “Merely a suggestion of a potential path we can take. You entered Pravala’s prison realm entirely by accident. I can only imagine where you could go if you held intent. Geriege and Elmas brought the Skeleton Key back with them, so you would already have your way out.”

The dark-skinned girl with the mohawk sitting on the floor swallowed down the rest of her cookie, which she seemingly devoured, then raised her hand.

“Yeah, except for the fact that the only reason it worked in the first place was because she supercharged it with a metric ass-load of Ichryte, which we don’t have anymore since most of it disintegrated. Plus, it’s already a miracle that the Key didn’t kill every single one of them the moment Eris used it. It certainly should have.”

Eris blinked. “Uhh, what?”

The girl turned, training her green eyes on Eris’s. “Yeah, you heard me. That Skeleton Key of yours is about ninety-eight percent of a Magus bomb. Considering the power you’re apparently swinging around, it probably could have levelled half of Marrix if it went off. And it should have.”

A mental image of an explosion rocking through the underground kingdom shook Eris to her core. A shockwave that shattered every inch of the castle that was built, with clouds of dust that couldn’t blow into the sky being forced through miles and miles of mining tunnels. Unexplainable heat that reduced Eris to ash in less time than it took to even consider the possibility that something had gone wrong, and all those lives snuffed in the blink of an eye. Her palms went clammy.

“Really?”

The girl nodded. “Oh yeah. That trick you did- pumping magic into something and condensing it on itself to warp the effect and trick it into doing something it isn’t supposed to? How the fuck do you thing Magus bombs are even made?! We take runestones and force the magic in them to flow when they have nowhere to flow to. That builds up the pressure. When that pressure gets too high, it pops and sends all that modified, unstable magic everywhere. Literally the only reason you three and every single other person in that prison isn’t a dusty memory right now is because you’ve got tens of thousands of Durability percent bonuses and that shit somehow managed to withstand the magic you put in.”

“I just… I thought it would- wait. What about the Obelisk?” Eris’s vision snapped halfway through her sentence, coming to complete focus with wide eyes. “If we’re understanding it right, the Obelisk is taking magic from the Echoes inside of it to power itself and condensing it to trap Akkaru’um. The exact same way I used the Ichryte to power the Key and get us out.”

The room went silent yet again, and Professor Kull rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Are you now implying that the Obelisk, which you stated was at two percent Durability and is on the verge of destruction, also has the potential of being the most powerful Magus bomb on the planet that could go off if it does end up being destroyed?”

The Stonecutter sitting cross-legged on the floor wiped some of the cookie crumbs from her lips. “I’m gonna admit- I didn’t think about that part. Can we pretend I didn’t say anything?”

“No.”

“Well then, I’d like to apologize for putting the thought in everyone’s heads that we’re sitting next to a bomb that may or may not be strong enough to wipe out the entire continent.”

“Not helping,” the short Weaver with dyed green in her black hair groaned. “Really not helping.”

Beside Eris, Jaxie let out a deep sigh. “When it shits, it pours.” She then took a bite from the cookie in her grip and Eris saw her eyes widen so fast it was hard to figure out if it was from the cookie of it someone just punched her in the gut. “Holy crap, that’s incredible!”

Well, if they really were sitting next to the biggest Magus bomb on the planet, there wasn’t really a whole lot they could do about it, no matter how terrifying the thought was. What Eris could do something about, was confirming whether Jaxie’s statement was true or not.

Eris shrugged and bit into her own cookie, being met with an ocean of taste. There were floods of vanilla and forests of blueberry bushes, all being compacted into a warm, almost gooey chewyness that melted in her mouth and saturated every tastebud like a hug on a cold day. It was almost overwhelming, yet equally soft. So much that it was, without a shadow of a doubt, the single most powerful thing that Eris had ever tasted. Yet just enough that it felt like her tastebuds were being glorified and not incinerated. The shudder went through her entire body, and Eris almost completely forgot about the somber conversation happening.

Jaxie wasn’t wrong.

It was a damned good cookie.