Millennial Mage

Tala opened a small portal into Kit—Irondale specifically—anchoring it to the side of their vehicle. It was barely bigger around than her thumb, but that was sufficient for her purposes.

With that in place, she looked to Master Limmestare. “Are you ready?”

“Unequivocally.”

She huffed a laugh and willed for the two of them to enter Irondale, coming into existence beside Lyn, Lupe, and Lisa.

Lisa seemed to have seen them coming, or at least he didn’t act surprised by their arrival.

Lyn was more than used to Tala popping into being beside her by this point, and simply smiled at her friend. Master Limmestare’s arrival might have surprised her, but if so, she didn’t show it too overtly.

Lupe stiffened slightly, causing her to whiten momentarily, even as her dress swayed around her.

The glass-woman gave a quick bow. “Mistress Tala. I did not expect you to be joining us. Master Limmestare, it is a pleasure.”

Tala gave a nod of acknowledgement. “It wasn’t the plan, but I was able to arrange things a bit differently to make it work.”

Master Limmestare bowed toward Lupe. “I am learning so much just being in your presence and observing your magics. Would you permit my joining of this tour for that purpose?”

Lupe smiled slightly. “I have no issue with that.”

Lisa nodded toward Tala in greeting. “It is good to see you again, Mistress.” He then nodded toward Master Limmestare. “You as well, Master Limmestare.”

“And you, good Lisa.” Master Limmestare gave an equivalent bob of his head.

Tala smiled and nodded in return.

Lyn seemed to feel no need to verbally greet Tala, but she did give a proper bow to Master Limmestare.

The three had been near the entrance to the garden which held the entrance to Lupe’s new home, and Tala took a moment to look around with her mundane sight even as Master Limmestare’s magical senses began to blanket the area, observing and cataloging everything occurring around Lupe.

They were—at that moment—only two blocks from the core of Irondale, the park being a mandated greenspace roughly the size of two blocks.

Eight such parks ringed the town center, each oriented longways, perpendicular to the radial roads running outward.

Irondale as a whole had an odd design due to Tala’s usual placement of the gate into and out of the city. The massive physical gates that would open when Irondale was anchored in place and allow for trade and egress were positioned on the side of the main square, and Tala did prefer to create the portal at that location. Thus, the roads to that central square were all designed as major thoroughfares.

Unlike any city Tala had ever seen, any and all comings and goings happened from that central point, rather than from the outer edges. Because of that, the defenses that had been incorporated—such as they were—were all centered there. The best way to conceive of the differences was that the city was effectively inverted from standard.

The streets that made up the circular gridwork of the city—looking much like a wheel from above, if with more circles regularly spaced outward along the spokes—were paved with unified, slightly textured stone courtesy of Tala’s control within Kit.

The homes and other buildings of Irondale were constructed in more traditional manners, even if Tala usually was involved in the creation of their foundation or basement, rendering that portion of the process trivial. Lyn had been working to help Tala strike a careful balance between helping the Irondale citizenry and allowing them to do for themselves, and the streets and buildings were a part of that balancing act.

The city center was constructed and designed to cater towards those who came in from whatever city that Irondale was currently anchored in, so that they could tour Irondale.

These ‘tourists’ were actually a huge source of revenue for the city, even though Irondale had only regularly been anchored in three cities so far. The fact that it wasn’t always there seemed to make the locals of Alefast, Waning; Bandfast; or Marliweather more eager to spend time and money within Irondale when they could.

Though, Alefast was decidedly the least prolific market for Irondale, partially because of the smaller population of that city, and partially because Irondale was there most often.

As a precaution and preventative measure, Tala had also begun to amplify the reality node attractions within the central square whenever she could, in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the visiting gated.

Thankfully, even in the worst case, there were relatively few gated, and they spent relatively little time within Irondale. That—coupled with the soulbound nature of the space allowing it to naturally repair over time—meant that the level of damage that did occur was quite sustainable.

Doing so took away from her similar work on her artificial lung, but as that had been on the back burner for a while now, delaying a bit longer shouldn’t really be an issue. Irondale’s integrity took precedence for the moment, and had done so for a year or so by this point.

She’d also stopped trying to increase her body’s attraction to itself using the markers that Mistress Holly had helped her add, because even when it did work, the results were only marginally useful. If it had been simple, she would have done it, but she’d spent six months at one point just doing part of one foot.

That simply hadn’t been a profitable use of her time when she had so much else going on.

But she was examining Irondale at the moment.

Because Tala had complete control within the space and was able to devour things to bring them in, she and Kit had been able to bring in old-growth trees as well as other well-established vegetation, positioning them along boulevards, giving Irondale a feeling of established majesty.

They had been careful to not take too much from any one location. So, unless someone had made a habit of cataloging the exact location of trees in the wilds, she doubted that any would ever be missed.

It was actually a funny thought, imagining some Archon—or arcane—pulling their hair out trying to figure out where particular trees had gone, since Kit left no evidence that they’d ever been there.

Her imaginings aside, the process was far from easy. Placing and moving trees was an exercise in precision and splitting her focus, beyond almost any other task she’d worked on, save the iron-wrought copy of herself that she was still working to perfect.

Now, that was an exercise in minutiae.

Even so, she and Kit were able to work together on the task of relocating plants or trees—whenever it was needed—and that made it possible.

But Tala was getting distracted.

Rust, she was getting distracted within her distracted musings. She was here to join the tour of Irondale.

Lupe, Lisa, and Lyn were about to tour Irondale in person, and she was excited to come with them. Master Limmestare was as well, even if his reasons had more to do with the glass woman than the growing town.

Lyn gestured out onto the quiet—but not empty—street. “Shall we begin?”

As the group began to walk, Lyn gestured to the trees that Tala was so proud of. “We have all the main thoroughfares lined and divided by trees so that traffic—both vehicle and pedestrian—can move in a uniform manner. It isn’t as necessary at times such as this, when Irondale is in transit, but when we are anchored, it makes the flurry of activity much less chaotic.”

Lupe was nodding. “When you are anchored within a human city?”

“Exactly, yes.”

Her eyes flicked to Tala. “And I will not be able to leave to explore these cities.”

Tala shrugged. “For now, no, but in the future, we might be able to work something out. The future holds a lot of time, and I won’t rule out the possibility.”

Master Limmestare grimaced slightly. “It would require a lot of advances in magic that I wouldn’t even know how to list out for research. Your kind are notoriously hard to contain or constrain in any way—and that’s the weaker, less advanced versions.”

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The woman nodded in understanding. “Whether or not it ever happens, I am grateful for this opportunity, for this wider view of Existence that you have already afforded me. It is more than I honestly ever expected to have again.”

Tala smiled. “Of course.”

They all oriented back on Lyn and the tour continued.

Irondalians waved or called a greeting when they passed, despite the odd nature of the tour group, and Lisa, Lyn, Master Limmestare, and Tala responded in kind.

After a few iterations, Lupe joined in with little waves or small, verbal greetings as appropriate.

After the tenth such encounter, Lupe glanced toward Lisa. “The humans don’t seem to find me strange, nor you for that matter. Are they that accepting here?”

Lisa gave a small, vulpine smile. “They are rather more accepting than I had been expecting before my immigration, yes, but I think some of that is the nature of this place.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. They are aware that this is an intensely magical town, and they encounter the truth of that every day. In that light, a few non-humans are a simple curiosity to most.”

“So, you’ve been accepted with relative ease?”

“Generally. Though, cordiality and lack of hostility are quite a ways from true friendship.”

Lyn smiled between the two, interjecting as she addressed Lisa directly, “Though, you have made good strides in that regard nonetheless, right?”

“Absolutely, Mistress Lyn.”

Lupe gave a slow nod, her neck whitening in the motion. “I see.”

From there, the group walked through the various sections of the growing town, Lyn talking about what various things were for, why they’d designed or laid them out in that way, how they were developing, and what they hoped for in the future.

The four ended the tour near the edge of the city where Lisa had placed the entrance to his home.

Lupe was intensely interested in the twisted door frame, taking special note of the depictions of Lisa himself in both fox-man and human form.

“You have a human form?” The glass woman seemed intensely interested in the answer.

“I do. It is one that I have perfected over long years. Partially because of that long effort—as well as my many years existing in such a form to most of the outside world—I wished for any who knew me by that shape to know I reside within this space as well.”

Tala raised an eyebrow in skepticism but decided not to comment. Lisa’s human form was so generic that even with her perfect memory she would find it hard to properly describe him. ‘A man’ was really the lion’s share of what could be said about him when he looked human.

Even so, that form was faithfully represented on one of the posts of his free-standing door frame.

Lupe seemed intensely interested for another reason, however. That was made clear as she looked down at herself and spread out her hands. “This form is… not natural to me. I have worked to make it relatable, but I would like for it to be less alien, less statue-like. Would you be willing to assist me?”

Lisa gave the glass-woman a long, long look, staring up into her clear eyes. Finally, he sighed. “I am not against such a possibility, though we will need to discuss payment. I had planned to keep an eye on you, and this will allow that more easily, but such is not sufficient recompense for my expertise.”

Lupe nodded quite happily. “Of course. I know that equivalent exchanges will be the norm going forward. Most biological races use some form or other of that, even if it is as basic as ‘you helped hunt, you didn’t’ with a division of the resources accordingly.”

Lisa grinned. “Ah, yes. Those who do not strive, do not survive, which inevitably leads to a quantification of that striving in intelligent races by one method or another.” He chuckled slightly. “Very well, would you like to step inside my home—such as it is at the moment—to discuss terms?”

“I would like that. Thank you.”

Tala wasn’t worried about Lupe claiming anything within Lisa’s home as—even though it was a four-dimensional construction—it was entirely within Kit. Because of that, it was firmly under Tala’s authority, allowing her to deny the advanced dasgannach any further material.

All that to say, she felt no need to comment one way or the other on the offer.

Lyn cleared her throat. “Then, on that note, I will leave you two to it. Lupe, can you find your way back to the park?”

Lupe raised an arm and pointed directly toward her glass slab. “It is there. I can sense the remainder of my self from distances far greater than this.”

“Good. I am available should you need anything further. Good day.”

Lupe bowed. “Good day.”

Lyn then turned and bowed to Master Limmestare. “Take care, Master Limmestare.”

“And you, Mistress Lyn.” He then gave Lupe a nod of acknowledgement. “Thank you for allowing me to accompany you.”

“Of course.”

Tala smiled and gave a nod of her own to the other four. “I will take my leave as well. Good day.”

Lupe, Lisa, and Lyn all wished her well.

Master Limmestare bid the others goodbye, receiving similar expressions in return.

Then, Lyn strode away, Lupe and Lisa strode through the archway—disappearing from sight—and Tala willed herself and Master Limmestare back to the superficial, to Zeme and their still traveling unit.

* * *

Tala and Rane sat in her sitting room—adjacent to her dining room—within Kit, looking out on her sanctum.

She had a mug of coffee in hand, and he was sipping on some mint tea.

He’d been glancing her way every so often, so when he finally broke the silence, Tala wasn’t surprised. “So, the wedding is only a few months away, if we’re going to be traditional in having roughly a year-long engagement.”

Tala gave a slow nod. “It is, yeah.”

“...So… Do we want to make plans?” He had a sparkle in his eyes. They had been making plans, and setting things in motion for months now, but it was still fun to pretend.

She shrugged, going along with the pretense. “I was thinking of having the ceremony in the sanctum with the celebration in Irondale.”

“That makes sense. There are a lot of lovely parks, even with the lake moved to be closer to the outskirts rather than near the center. Being within Kit, we don’t have to be concerned about the weather, either. That’s a great idea. I like it.”

Tala continued in a faux bored tone, fighting to keep a smile from her lips. “Traditionally Archons’ wedding.”

“Of course. Colors?” He grinned, not bothering to hide his enjoyment of the fun.

“I like blue.” She stared into his sapphire eyes meaningfully.

His smile widened further, meeting her eyes in return. “I’m partial to red.”

She chuckled at that, breaking her stoic facade. “That’s the reverse of what most would expect, but I like it. The colors will be blue and red, then.”

“That sounds great.”

“This is so simple. I don’t know why people say planning a wedding is hard.”

“Guests?” His demeanor mellowed a bit at his own question.

Tala sighed, then, her mood worsening slightly as well at the more serious sub-topic. “As small as possible, but that’s still not going to be small.”

He grunted acknowledgement. “Our unit and various Archon friends and acquaintances.”

“Naturally.”

“Key figures from Irondale and Alefast, Waning?”

“That makes sense.”

“Your siblings and their spouses and children?”

“Of course. And yours?” She raised an eyebrow in genuine inquiry. They had skirted this part of the guest list in the past.

-I hope you know that I’m irritated that you expect me to be taking notes.-

I mean, I can just remember later and make my own notes, but you’d find that boring and inefficient.

-...Fair.-

We’re still open to your suggestions.

-I know, my stance remains the same.-

Alright, let me know if that changes.

Rane sighed, then nodded. “It will be nice to see Chloe and Master Dafnis again. I’m not very excited about Furgal, but it would be… rude? Yeah. It would be rather rude and drama-inducing not to invite him. He won’t come of course, but not inviting him wouldn’t work.”

She nodded along. It was as expected. “Of course, of course.”

He smiled, then. “And my parents and Master Grediv would both be appropriate to include. What about your siblings' parents?”

Tala hesitated. She appreciated Rane’s round-about asking, but she knew that he meant her parents. “Honestly… I don’t know. I feel like some part of me will regret them not being there, even though I’ve explicitly chosen to avoid them for years now.”

“Do you think it’s time to reconcile?”

“What do you mean?” Her tone was carefully neutral, but Rane seemed to sense the danger of the moment regardless.

He held up his hands in a forestalling manner. “I don’t mean accepting them as your parents once again, nor really investing in a relationship with them either. I think I mean having an adult conversation, and honoring what part they did play in your life—in helping to forge you into who you are—even if only until you were twelve, and even if not only in good ways.”

Tala felt herself smile, not at the idea, but at how carefully and thoroughly Rane had articulated the idea. He had clearly either rehearsed what he wanted to say or deeply considered the various aspects to the point that he was able to express it rather cleanly. “I understand what you’re saying… Maybe?”

He smiled. “Whatever you prefer. I’ll support your decision about your family.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a quick kiss. “And I’ll support your decision about yours.”

As he pulled back, his smile returned. “Thank you. But regardless of what you decide, I think it is incumbent upon me to insist that Terry be the one giving you away.”

Tala laughed, then thought about it for a moment. “You know? That’s a really excellent idea.”

“I thought so, yeah.” He nodded sagely, “Though, truthfully, I think it’s traditional for soulbounds to be involved in that part of Archon weddings, if there are any soulbounds of the couple.”

“That would actually make sense, yeah. It’s a joining of souls, so soulbounds will matter incredibly.”

“Yup.” His face became stoic. “Now the really hard question.”

“Oh?” Tala felt hesitant. What could this be that was more serious than her siblings’ father?

He leaned in, meeting her gaze with sudden intensity. “What food should we have for the feasting?”