"BAILEY. WE FINALLY MEET."
Amos recognised those eyes. He saw them leading him to Ink. The voice was the very same from the forest.
"You!" he said.
Amos felt the immense power emanating from the figure in front of him like pressure from a fire hose. He wasn't able to form anything other than monosyllabic words.
"Who? What?"
His teeth were gritted. It felt like he was being pushed away and pulled forwards at the same time. Like two great invisible hands trying with all their might to tear his body in two.
"MY APOLOGIES."
The woman closed her eyes. The power subsided and Amos gasped, his lungs no longer crushed by that force. His senses returned to normal and he was able to perceive the woman.
She was old - stooped and greying. She leaned on a wooden cane inscribed with runes and other tiny markings. Her robes were long, folds of cloth layering over each other. When she moved, they rustled and overlapped fluidly.
The woman smiled at him, her round face splitting into a spiderweb of wrinkles and deeply etched laughter lines. She opened her eyes and Amos braced himself for the pressure to return, but it stayed distant. It never left, just lessened. Waiting at the edges for its master's call to return.
"Sit," she said, indicating the ground. Her voice no longer had a booming quality and resembled normality.
"You owe me an explanation," Amos said, choosing to remain upright, "Many explanations."
She nodded, then asked, "Are you in a hurry?"
Amos thought of Ink waiting in Yakob's bed. He thought of his parents - Leila was probably watching over Kien while he rested. She wouldn't sleep herself. Wouldn't be able to.
"No," he said. The elderly woman provided an opportunity for answers. She seemed to be acquainted with the magic of this world and benevolent, for now, at least. This was more important than his fickle obligations. Amos was sure his soul would agree.
"Good," said the woman, "No doubt you have many questions, Bailey. I am here to answer them for you."
"Yeah, no shit I have questions. First off, who even are you? How do you know who I am?"
"Let us speak calmly, child. I have no quarrel with you, do not give me reason to. My name is Xaemarra. I brought you to this world when you died."
Amos' jaw slackened. This was definitely more important than his new family.
He sat down in the water, heavy. "You brought me here?" he asked, "Why?"
"Luck," she waved a hand, "Fate. Is there a difference?"
"It was an accident?"
"Hardly, child. Allow me to enlighten you. Your old world - Earth of the Milky Way - is devoid of the divine, to my knowledge. When I brought you across the boundary, I learned that much. Here, on Holvarth, our Gods have not abandoned us. They meddle, influence, interfere in the affairs of the world below them. We lowly humans are but servants of their will. They grant us what you may call magic."
"To the Drai?"
"Indeed," she said, "But the Emperor of this land is a man ruled by hubris. Emperor Maur II cast off the shackles of power ordained by the Gods and sought his own. He perverted the usage of mana and broke the laws of nature."
"I don't understand, how does this relate to me? I'm just a normal person. Or, I was."
"The Emperor wishes to obtain immortality. He has not yet succeeded, but he may have done so if not for you."
"What did I do?"
"When you died, Emperor Maur II was conducting an experiment. At the exact time of your death, there was a surge of mana that I redirected to the boundary between worlds. The mana latched onto your soul, and pulled you across to here."
"But why did my soul take Amos' body? Why not anyone else's?"
"You choose," Xaemarra shrugged, "Fate. Luck."
"How can you just do that? With mana and speaking in my head and..."
Xaemarra smiled.
"You're Drai."
"I am a 6th rank Total Lunar Pisces Drai, to be precise."
"What does that even mean?" Amos blinked.
Xaemarra sighed, like she had to explain this multiple times a day. "Drai powers are determined by the sign you are born under after observing an eclipse. I'm a Pisces. Consequently, my powers fall under the school of Continguration: The manipulation of probability, time, and connections. You will understand the rest, in time."
Manipulation of probability...
So my reincarnation wasn't luck. Or it was, but influenced by her powers?
I wonder what powers my star sign would grant me...
Amos' mind was reeling. He attempted to categorise the new information on Drai as soon as he received it, staring off into the distance for a while. Xaemarra just watched his face. Then he processed what she had said:
Pisces... Eclipse...
"You made Shanty send that letter!" Amos realised.
"Indeed, child."
"Why? Why not just speak to me as you are now? Or in my head? Why make Shanty send it instead of yourself?"
"Shanty's Eclipse Modifier is better suited to that task. As to why I sent the letter: I want you to join us."
"Join you?"
"Bailey is no more. There is no returning to your life before now. You will witness the upcoming eclipse and, once you do, you will remain as you are or become changed. Those who remain unaligned are at the mercy of Emperor Maur II."
"But still..." Amos frowned, "Why speak directly to me now?"
"You found something that wasn't meant for you," Xaemarra shifted uncomfortably, "You were told to stay away from the forest."
"What, Ink?"
"You named the Vessel 'Ink'?"
"What's the Vessel?"
Xaemarra looked at him with incredulity in her eyes. "The pale man with the spiral tattoos? You did remove him from the forest, did you not?"
"Um, yeah," Amos said like a schoolboy being scolded. "Was I not supposed to?"
"No," Xaemarra drew the word out, insinuating the stupidity of the question. "It was a project for your brother."
"Isn't Yakob joining the Trenmir? Don't they hate you guys?"
"There is only so much information I can divulge while you are not aligned with us, child. While Ink - as you have deemed it - is in your possession, you must keep it safe. That is the reason for this visit."
"So if I join you - become Drai - then what? I leave my family every other month like Yakob and work on mysterious projects with you?"
"Precisely. The first project would be to bring the Vessel to us."
They want Ink... Why?
Shanty said he was 'a special boy'...
Amos nodded. He had one more concern: "Will I go crazy if I become a Drai?"
"That depends," Xaemarra said, "Can you withstand the whispers of Gods?"
"My soul said either weak or strong Drai go insane."
"Amos' soul, you mean?" Xaemarra looked intrigued. "I thought it had been destroyed. How intriguing."
"No, we speak whenever I come here."
"I must inform you," Xaemarra said, "I'm not truly with you. This is a projection cast by your own mind, influenced by my mana. Would you kindly inform me where the dead speak to the living?"
"There's only so much I can divulge before I decide to join you," Amos said, mocking the elderly Drai for withholding information earlier. She smiled at his wit.
The image of the old woman wavered slightly, like a glitching hologram. She clutched her cane and tapped a few symbols, the blue light flowing into them exactly the way Shanty had done.
"I must take my absence now," Xaemarra said, concern creeping into her eyes. "Meet me at the Avidia Institute if you decide to join us. Be careful of the Vessel."
"Wait!"
Her body faded slowly. The voice went first, unable to respond to Amos' protestations. Then, Xaemarra began to lose her physical presence in stages. The water seeped inside of what appeared to be a very real person. It appeared to be remembering she wasn't actually there and returned to where it was displaced. Then, Xaemarra disappeared completely. Amos was left alone in the realm of death.
I had so many more questions for her!
What powers would I get if I become a Drai?
Would I be putting my family in more danger by becoming Drai? The Trenmir might start hunting me, but trouble seems to follow wherever I go anyway.
It would be better to have powers, right?
I won't go insane... Not while I have people to protect!