The First Mage

Pacing around the office, I went over everything mentally, while Hayla kept working and Aelene waited more or less patiently for Berla to arrive. I didn’t know how they would react to the things I was about to tell them, but I had little choice. Hayla couldn’t find out about this another way, or I would be in trouble. And yet, while that should probably have been my biggest concern, I worried about what Berla would say just as much.

Technically this isn’t my fault... But it’s still something we will have to deal with...

Tomar would’ve become a father, and in turn, I was now essentially soon to be a father. At least that’s how it would appear to any neutral observer.

How do you even broach that subject... “Hey, Berla. Remember that time I accidentally eloped with your cousin? Ha, ha! What a funny, little mistake, right? Well, there’s also this other woman now...”

As weird as it was, however, I was fairly certain that she would be able to accept the situation, and I switched focus to thinking about what to tell the others. It was the right choice to send Bren to get Berla, as this gave me time to consider all angles. I soon came to the realization that there was only one path forward that didn’t have a high risk of blowing up in my face.

My mind made up, I came to a stop in the middle of the room and carefully glanced at Aelene for what felt like the thousand’s time. She sat on the couch, her arms crossed, and her gaze cast downwards. She appeared deep in thought as well, perhaps wondering angrily what kind of guy she had gotten herself involved with here.

Hayla meanwhile was rather relaxed, even though she seemed to understand that I needed to talk about something important with them. Something that involved two other women, with one of them evidently mad at me already. For the time being, she had just gone back to work without a care in the world, however.

A few minutes later the door opened and Berla stepped inside. Smiling, she scanned the room and asked, “What’s wrong, Tomar?”

“Ah, hey. I need to talk to you three. Uhm, maybe take a seat?”

Looking at Hayla and Aelene, she now frowned ever so slightly while walking over to the couch and plopping down on it. As if on cue, Hayla put down her quill and focused all her attention on me.

“You look pretty nervous. Is it that bad?” she asked.

“I wish I knew...” I said quietly. “I guess we’ll see.” After taking a deep breath, I looked between them and began. “Aelene and I learned about something today that might affect all of us, but before we talk about that... I believe I need to explain something to you two.” I turned roughly in the direction between Hayla and Aelene. “This might sound like a joke at first, or like I’ve gone crazy, but I assure you that it’s the truth. I’m not Tomar Remor.”

Confused, Hayla cocked her head.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Aelene asked, irritated.

“This is Tomar’s body, but me, the person inside it, is not him. Actually... I’m who everybody knows as Lilly.”

“Lilly? As in Lilana...?” she asked, now seeming more confused than angry as well.

“No, not Lilana... I used that nickname of hers when I was with her... I know that this will sound wild, but please hear me out for a moment.”

And so I began to give them roughly the same explanation that the guards had already gotten from me before. That the “divine messenger” was a person inside other persons, how I was initially with Lilana, and how we made the plan to help the people of Alarna. I went on to talk about how she lost her life, and that Tomar just barely managed to save mine by pulling my soul over to him. At this point I then had to go one step beyond what our guards knew, because we hadn’t told them about Tomar yet.

“Everything went well at first, despite the circumstances, but three days ago we collapsed on our way back to the temple and lost consciousness. When I woke up again later that day... Tomar was gone.”

I paused briefly to let this information sink in, though the two didn’t seem ready to just accept what they just heard. Aelene in particular was eager to follow up.

“You’re telling me that Tomar is not here anymore?” she asked, staring at me pointedly, as if to say, “I’m looking straight at you!”

“I understand that this story might be difficult to believe, but it’s the truth. The person you talked to recently in this body wasn’t me. Not until five days ago...”

Aelene’s eyes suddenly widened as her eyes darted back and forth, putting together the pieces. “Lilana... she was so different when we met again. That... wasn’t her?”

“No. She was there, but for the most part it was me you were talking to. I asked her if she wanted to speak to you directly, but she didn’t know what to say. Maybe this isn’t the greatest moment, but... I want to tell you that she felt bad about whatever happened between you two. She only realized what she had done after the fact.”

“And the reason you have been acting so differently...” she stammered.

“Yes. It’s because I’m not him.”

While Aelene quietly thought this over, Hayla used the chance to ask a question, calmly and analytically. “Lilly as we know her is gone then?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Lilana, the girl I was with, died to that beast... As you can imagine, we didn’t want to make this public, so... we said she was out there, doing research.”

“I was half-right then,” she mused. “The person in control was always the same, but it wasn’t Tomar who used Lilly as a proxy. It was you. Ah... Ah!” Her happiness about coming to new conclusions stood in stark contrast to Aelene’s depressed expression. “That’s what ‘Split One’ refers to!”

Oh... A million IQ move. Let the girl alone in this room, with Tomar’s file at her fingertips... I can hardly blame her for snooping around.

“I don’t know exactly what that term is used for yet, but yes, I assume it refers to a being that hosts multiple people in one body.”

“Hm. I have one more question,” Hayla said. “If Tomar saved you five days ago, and it’s been you ever since, am I right to assume that you’re my fiance? I mean, the contract is still intact after all.”

“That’s right...” I said, with a smidge of annoyance. “Tomar was there during our conversation, but I was in control at the time.”

“I see. Well, that’s not so bad then.”

It was perfectly natural that she wanted to know how this might affect her, and the rational part in me didn’t blame her for glancing over the fact that two people died or disappeared for good, but I was still somewhat miffed at how casual she was about this. The one who reprimanded her for it was someone else though.

“How can you talk like that!?” Aelene yelled, shooting up from her seat and stepping closer to her. “He just told us that they’re both dead! That Tomar is... He is... gone... You Rulers...” she spat.

“I’m not happy about it,” Hayla said calmly, “and I do feel sorry for whoever was close to them, but do keep in mind that I apparently didn’t know them. I interacted solely with him.” She pointed at me. “I apologize if you find this heartless, but to me it’s easiest to accept it and move on.”

Despite the varying reactions, I was once more surprised by how easily they were accepting my story. The circumstantial evidence was on my side, everything pointing towards it being true, and Aelene already noticed that Lilana and Tomar had behaved strangely, but I was still always wondering how much acceptance I should expect from people. Would I believe this so easily? Would someone else from earth? Was it this world? Or maybe that these two were already familiar with some of the craziness surrounding our group? I didn’t know. Though even if they accepted the story, it didn’t necessarily mean the reality of what it meant was easy to swallow.

Aelene demonstratively averted her eyes in anger, turning away from Hayla and towards me. Staring at my face, tears began to gather in her eyes. “Is he really gone?”

Instead of starting to babble about how I wasn’t absolutely certain about anything anymore, I decided to slowly nod in confirmation. I had figured that a little bit of hope might help a little girl, but in this situation, in Aelene’s situation, I felt it was more important to face the apparent facts.

Suddenly, her breathing grew more rampant and her stare intensified. “Did you kill them?”

My eyes widened in shock. “No! God, no! If anything I wish Tomar would’ve been able to save Lilana instead! I...” My head dropped. “I wish Tomar had been the one to...”

I had been living on borrowed time, and that these two paid for me still being here could only be described as unfair. An injustice I was carrying around like a bolder.

When I looked up at Aelene again, she appeared understanding, looking at me thoughtfully. “This isn’t right...”

“No, it’s not.”

“It will never meet him...”

Berla had monitored the conversation with understanding, about me needing to tell them this partial truth for some reason, but also worry about where this was going. At Aelene’s last remark, her ears perked up.

“It?” she asked.

Another sigh escaped my lips. “Now that we have established who is who... as well as when we were who... The reason we’re here is that Aelene and I learned something today. She came here for help because mana was gathering around her belly for some reason, so we visited Shadi. She is pregnant, and Tomar is the father.”

This was the big one. A moment that would potentially change my outlook on life. If, regardless of my explanations and all rationality, Hayla saw this as a betrayal, I’d be in hot waters, as the contract would punish me for it. Hoping for the best, I peered at her, but I wasn’t met with a frosty stare. Not even a cold one. No, instead...

“Marvelous!” Hayla said.

I looked back at her in total confusion. “Huh?”

“Will it become like you two? A mana user?”

That was when it really sank in that Rulers have quite a different view on the world than I expected.