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build our youth for the future
Amentan Silvers and Vivids meet in Milliways.
Permalink Mark Unread

Well, Istevi had to admit that he didn't expect to go on forever without anyone finding out that he was cheating. The fact that it happened in an inter-dimensional hub disguised as an alien bar is more surprising than an inter-dimensional bar.

But after a lot of shouting, things are apparently at peace. At least, enough that he may take a break from his job as security without devoting that time to reconcile with either of his three girlfriends. Or be afraid that they will pick up a fight with him or each other.

He sits at a table and drinks, taking in the morbidly beautiful sight of stars exploding.

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Liarae has been having a bad few weeks. On top of the long list of bad decisions that led to sleeping with her employer, and the discovery of this which led to her being both fired and blacklisted in the security field, somehow, by said employer's father-in-law, she's also recently discovered that she is pregnant. 

With twins.

What kind of absurd luck does she have, anyway? Contraceptive failure is ridiculously rare, and twins, on top of that? This is the kind of contrived shit that only happens in trashy novels. 

But ridiculous or not, it's happened to her, and she needs to figure out what to do about it. Her options are limited, though. The credit auction has been and gone, and she can't afford an aftermarket credit. 

Practically speaking, she only has two options. Go to Arel for help... or terminate the pregnancy. Both of these options turn her stomach to even think about. 

Before she can think too much on them, her stomach turns for an entirely different reason. She gets up, reaching out to open her bedroom door, planning to head to the kitchen for a snack. 

However, the door does not lead to the rest of her apartment.

 

"...Excuse me, what?!" She demands of the unexpected bar room(?) on the other side of her door, and of the man sitting at a table nearby in particular. 

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"Hey, there. Don't turn away, please and hear me out. The place took your door temporarily, but it might be gone forever if just walk away. Please, come in and let me explain the situation?"

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"Um."

 

...She thinks she'll stay where she is, actually.

"The place took my door?" She shakes her head, leaning on the doorknob. "This is just... the stress, right? It has to be."

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"Stress about what?"

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"...A lot of things," she says, rubbing her forehead. "I was fired earlier this week, and no one will hire me in my field, and I'm pregnant, and I don't have money for a credit and the father might pay for it if I ask but I don't know what he'll want in return- and I don't know what his wife's father will do to me, if I ask- he's already ruined my life this much but I'm sure he could do worse-" 

She gets this all out in one breath, looking a half-step away from bursting into tears. She's been holding this in for a while now, and having someone ask just sent it tumbling out. 

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"Please, take a seat?"

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"Okay," she agrees quietly, stepping forward and letting the door swing shut behind her. 

She sits.

"What... what is this place?" 

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"I know it's hard to believe, but it's some weird interdimensional hub, it will occasionally replace the destination of a door to lead to inside itself. People from all over the multiverse show up and patronize the place."

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"Thats..." what, ridiculous? She shakes her head - assuming she isn't hallucinating, there's definitely something strange going on. Denying it won't help anything. 

"And it happened to pick up two greys from Eleseo?"

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"It happened to pick a grey from Eleseo and then his three girlfriends and after a bit it picked another grey. My understanding is that weirdly thematic days happen from time to time."

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"Three girlfriends?" Normally she wouldn't be wary of this - her brother has two girlfriends and they're all very happy together - but given her recent experiences.... 

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"Yes. It's no problem to you, directly, we are working things out." He is not at all comfortable talking about it. Or at least he looks like it. "The important thing is that we are hanging out here waiting for opportunities. The patrons are just as impossible as the place itself, and some might have things to offer to give and trade."

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"...I hope that works out for you, I suppose," it's not really any of her business, anyway. She shakes her head, moving on, "Opportunities for trade? I don't know what I'd offer in return for something which could give me enough... Aftermarket credits are expensive." 

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"You could take a job as security here and save up money - uh, time usually stops when the door is closed. For some reason in Amenta it's just slowed down, but way, waaay down. It has been a few minutes there, and we have been here for at least three days. And the patrons are very varied, from worlds with all kinds of technology, one might pay a lot for a pocket everything or something else that we find cheap."

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"Time is slowed?" She asks, bewildered. She shakes her head, "This is mad." She takes a deep breath, calming herself. This claim is easy to prove true or false. "If I go check the clock in my room, it will say that no time has passed at all?"

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"Yes. Well, about one thousandth of the time will have passed. But close enough."

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So she stands and goes back to the door, opening it and looking over at the old clock on the dresser beside her bed. 

It's the same time as it was when she checked it before she left the room. While she watches, it ticks over to the next minute, proving that it still works. She has definitely been inside for longer than a minute. 

 

"...Okay," she says, accepting this new reality. She shuts the door. "How do I get hired as security here?" She asks the other grey, sitting back down at his table. "Security is my field," she adds, and then introduces herself, "Liarae Aradin. I've never tried getting hired at a door-stealing, time-pausing bar before, though."

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He uses his thumb to point behind himself. "The countertop is a sentient magical artifact and manages - but doesn't control - the place. You should be fine for hiring, I am not security and got it. My name is Istevi Garon."

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"Nice to meet you, I guess." 

Okay. She will go up to the sentient magical bar and... ask about job opportunities? 

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The Bar will offer her a free drink. And explain the particularities of her job and its benefits: payment, a room, a backdoor. Food is technically not included, but the prices are reasonable. Threats are bound by mysterious probability to be something she can deal with, though this is not necessarily true while off the cloak, and she shouldn't intervene in such circumstances.

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She takes all this in, and folds up the napkin it came on to keep on her person in case she forgets anything. It's quite simple, so she doubts she will, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. She will take a free drink, as well. Non-alcoholic, but other than that she'll take whatever the Bar recommends. 

When is her first shift?

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She can start soon, but she can have a meal and a shower. Bar manifests her a working uniform. Not at all identical to the sort she used to wear, but recognizable as such.

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Oh good, she was about to get some breakfast before she wound up here. She'll go to her room to shower, first, and then come back to order something to eat. She waves to Istevi on her way out of the room, offering him a small smile. 

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Istevi smiles back at her.

It follows a few hours of tedious doing nothing and waiting for something, which is the norm in most security jobs.

Then Istevi comes in to both relieve her of her shift and. "Hey, another Amentan, a blue, come in. I explained things already."

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Despite the boredom, she's in a much better mood after spending a few hours doing paying work.

"Oh!" She stands from the security desk, "Gee, a blue. I guess it's nice to have someone who might be more qualified for dealing with all of this around. Are they from Eleseo, too?"

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Istevi nods and takes her place behind the desk. "Yes and yes, though, I got the impression she came in from Jakav."

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"Ah, alright. I'll go say hi, I guess. See you later!" She goes back up to the barroom. Where there is presumably a blue, somewhere? 

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The barroom is a bit fuller now, but she can easily spot the single blue-head person looking at her pocket everything with an abstract look on her face. She is pregnant, showing, but her belly is remarkably small given the time of the year.

It might also be noticeable that a noticeable fraction of the people in the room are visibly pregnant.

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...Istevi did say the bar sometimes picked people up according to a theme. 

She's not very far along, either. Is Milliways picking up late Spring pregnancies only, or something? It might be hard to tell either way, given that at least some of these people probably aren't Amentan. 

She is in a room full of aliens. She takes a moment to just let the absurdity of the situation sink in, and then shakes her head and makes her way over to the blue's table. 

"Excuse me? Istevi mentioned that he'd talked to you when he came to relieve me, and I said I'd come say hi. Liarae Aradin," she introduces herself. "Are you alright?" She adds, noting her expression. 

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"Oh, sorry. Just a bit overwhelmed. Hi, I am Isteri Moro."

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"It is a bit overwhelming," she agrees, glancing around at all the other patrons. She's struck by the strangeness of this again, her determined calm shuddering under it, so she looks back to Isteri, her eyes landing on the other woman's stomach. Her hand comes up to rest over her own, the slight curve only barely visible through her uniform. "How far along are you?" 

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Isteri smiles. "Four months. ...It's not an aftermarket credit. My family, suffered a loss at the start of spring."

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"Oh," she breathes, "I'm so sorry for your loss." Liarae sits down across the table from her. "...Mine will be, once I've earned enough for it here," she says, "Aftermarket, I mean. Assuming I can earn that much before I'm due, anyway," she adds quietly. 

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Isteri winces. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up pregnant without a credit?"

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She looks down at the table, "It was... I worked for a blue family, as security. One of my employers... I was stupid, and it's spring, and he told me his wife was okay with it. My birth control failed. I didn't mean to get pregnant, but now that I have them..." 

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Isteri nods. "That sounds awful." Pause. "Odds, are that there is a way to get out of this with a credit." She pauses, realizes that sentence's tone was not at all reassuring. "One way or another, there ought to be a way." She says more firmly.

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"I... suppose so? If all else fails I could still go to Arel, but..." 

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Long pause. "Arel who? Arel Eteo?"

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"Yes? He's the father." 

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"Ah. Ah, of course, this place. My father, is Janon, I think his latest nickname is 'the butcher'. He sentenced Arel's younger brother."

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"Oh." She's heard of 'the butcher', of course - there's hardly anyone who hasn't. She shrugs, uncomfortable, "I... I didn't know him. Reni Palan, that is, Arel's brother. I can't have been more than three when he died, and I only started working for Arel after I finished school last fall." 

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Slow nod. "I mention mostly for the sake of transparency." Then Isteri blinks and looks over at Bar like it just had said out loud something surprising. Says a curse word. "I was worried." She says slowly. "About the political tensions that the discovery of this place could lead to. An interworld passage of any kind? We are not literally the worst nation to have it - we are not Calado, at least - but..."

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"I wouldn't tell Arel about this place, even if I did have to go to him for help with the credit. I'm not sure what he'd do with it, but it probably wouldn't be good." She shrugs, "As for the rest..." she touches her hair. She's not really the right person to talk to about politics. "I suppose we should try to keep its existence from spreading around too much? If it was up to the government to decide, we might never get around to doing anything with it." 

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"Possibly, or at least. I want to think about it for a while. I am not a politics blue, so I just know enough to want caution. This place has tons of potential, but... whatever force thinks that getting multiple pregnant people, or multiple people that are cheated on... It paints a picture of something that uses vast power for either entertainment or alien reasons."

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She blinks, looking around the room, "I suppose it does sound bad when you put it like that. I did notice the first commonality - have more than just Istevi and I been involved with some sort of cheating, then?" 

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"When he described it to me, apparently there were at least half a dozen of cheaters in the room and the people they cheated on?"

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"Well, that's..." She shakes her head. "What a strange reason to collect people. Perhaps whatever runs the door objects to cheating and wanted them all found out." She pauses. "I hope this doesn't mean Arel will show up at some point. Or Ametsi - his wife. Istevi mentioned his girlfriends showed up after he did." Speaking of which, are they around somewhere? 

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"He mentioned them having separate rooms. But I do think I saw a green-haired woman going that way."

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"Ah, well, I wouldn't want to bother them if they're in their rooms. I just thought having more perspectives on this situation might help - especially if at least one of them is green? I didn't realize he was dating cross-caste." 

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"I only know because I asked where their entry points were and the neighborhood was telling. It might be prudent to give them and ourselves some time to think. Where is your door?"

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"Ah-" she gives her room number, "I think I might stay in the barroom for a little longer, though. I'll see you later?" 

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Blink. "I meant, sorry. I meant your neighborhood." But she writes that down in her pocket everything.

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"Oh!" She coughs, sheepish, and gives that information as well. It's a decent Grey neighborhood in Eleseo. 

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Isteri writes that down. Looks at her notes. And says. "Actually, I think leaving the barroom for a while might do me some good. I know dealing with this is my caste's job, but..." she trails off and shakes her head. "I will just give myself some alone time to organize my head. But you can come get me if the need arises."

And assuming Liarae has nothing to say against this, she takes her leave, looking awfully tired.

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The flow of bar patrons waxes and wanes, and a short while after Isteri had left, a Green comes down stairs.

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Liarae has no protests, "That's understandable, this is a pretty crazy thing to have dropped on your lap." She doesn't envy her. "I'll see you later." 

 

Oh, is this the green Isteri mentioned? She supposes there could be more than one, but she'll wave her over to the table she's occupying. "Hello, are you-" hm, she never got any of their names. She clears her throat, "One of Istevi's girlfriends?" She gives her an apologetic look for putting it that way, since it sounds like that whole situation is a bit rocky, but it's her only reference point. 

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Patiri purses her lips, but then puts a polite smile. It's not like Lia is guilt for what happened. "Yes, Patiri Kered. He mentioned another Grey came along, but forgive me, I just remember 'Lia' as part of your name."

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"Liarae Aradin, though you can call me Lia if you like. Sorry - he didn't tell me any of your names, or I wouldn't have asked like that." She looks around at the other patrons, "He mentioned you were sticking around to see if you could trade for anything useful. Have you found anything yet? Or met anyone interesting?" 

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"I have talked to some people, so did Istevi. There are some kinds of magic, but most appear to require to be born, conceived or spend awhile in the world of origin. Or study for years until there is any sign of progress. But I traded my pocket everything for a couple dozen times it's worth, and my old emergency pocket everything for this." She takes something out of her pocket, made out of crystal with elaborate braids of green and golden string, the crystal has a smooth hole through the middle. "It reveals if something is magical or not."

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"That's interesting. I guess it'll be useful for any future trades, too." She pulls out her own pocket everything, "I wonder if there's anyone around right now with something good to trade?" She looks around.

While she does this, the door opens to admit a new patron.

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-Oh! Milliways again. It's been a while. He steps inside, closing the door behind him. It's a pretty full house, too, lots of people to meet - he looks around for any familiar faces, and eventually notices one at a table a ways away from the door. A Linnea alt! That's interesting, he hasn't seen one of those before, unless there was one with a different face. He makes his way over to where the grey-haired Linnea alt is speaking with a green-haired woman. 

"Hi! You look like someone I know. Has anyone explained alts to you?"

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She looks up at him, "Hi? No one's mentioned that word, no," she looks to Patiri to see if she knows what he's talking about. 

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Patiri shakes her head. "Hi, please explain."

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"So sometimes you'll run into people who are essentially you, if you'd been born and raised in another world. Sometimes they have the same face as you, but sometimes they don't - I've met both, myself, and different sexes, too. These are called alts." He motions at grey-haired Linnea, "I have a friend named Linnea back in my world, she looks just like you, excepting the hair. She's a warrior, does a lot of guard missions, has four kids, though I've never met them so I can't tell you much about them." 

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"...I see." She stares at him for a long moment, "I suppose 'warrior who does a lot of guard missions' could describe my job? My name is Liarae. I don't have any kids, yet, though I'm pregnant with twins, right now." 

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"Oh, amazing. Have you been to Miliways before then?" She raises the amulet of magic detection and peers through it.

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"A few times, yeah! The first time was some kind of my-alts day at Milliways, and I've been here a few more times besides. I don't think I've ever met anyone from your world, though!" 

He is definitely magical! He himself, as well as several items on his person, and his vest, pants, and jewelry - which includes a pendant, two rings, and an earring. 

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"We're from Amenta. I'm... not really sure how to describe it. We have seven castes each associated with a colour, and our hair colours usually match? I'm a grey, we do military and policework and sports and some other physical activities." She thinks back to the few science fiction novels she's read, "Most of us are only fertile in the spring? It takes five years for us to grow from infancy to adulthood..." She looks to Patiri for any comments, notes that she's looking through the amulet, "We don't have magic," she adds, "As far as I know."

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"We don't. I had to trade for this. And he does. I am a Green, we do work that requires intellectual and creative thinking, like scientific research and the arts."

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"Huh," he leans against the table, "I wonder if our years are different? Most people back home reach adulthood around 18. Lifespan varies, among mortals - most Men live about 60-70 years, but some of the Mer can live for a few thousand. I've met a few people from caste systems in Milliways, but I don't know of anyone back home who does it. I haven't heard of everywhere, though."

He peers at the amulet, "I do have magic, it's true," he adds.He glances at Liarae, then back to her friend, "Do you want some? If you step out into my world our magic system will latch onto you. You can have some of my enchanted odds-and-ends too, if you want, though they'll need recharging eventually, and you'll need some materials and magicka to cast the spells for that." 

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Blink. "I would be very interested in magic. Assuming it's safe? Does it come with some drawback?"

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"It's safe as far as I can tell, though I've only heard back from one of the people I helped get it. No drawbacks, you just have a limited pool of magicka to cast from, which refills over time if you use some. One of the people I met didn't like the method most people use to learn spells? We have enchanted spellbooks which send you into a trance and then imprint the equations and manipulations necessary to cast a spell into your mind when you read them. I got her a book on spell-creation theory so she could figure it out the long way, though, so there's ways around that, too." 

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Patiri nods, excitedly. "What can your magic do?"

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"Lots of things! A lot of it is combat oriented, but our world is pretty dangerous as these things go, and you can build spells that aren't - it takes a while to do that, though, you can maybe manage a spell or two a year.

"There's five branches - Destruction, Illusion, Restoration, Alteration, and Conjuration. Destruction is mostly elemental magic - fire and ice and lightning are most common. Illusion is, well, illusion, along with some emotion and mind-affecting spells. Restoration does healing and purifying - removing poison and burning undead and such. Alteration is pretty varied, does everything from letting people breathe water to magic and life sight to calling up light. Conjuration summons beings and animals from other planes. Not sure if you'll be able to do the last one in another world, the person I heard back from wasn't interested in trying it." 

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Head tilt "Undead?"

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"Ah, yeah. Conjuration lets you raise and control the dead, too. Necromancy is illegal, but adventurers and such will sometimes run into the results of it in tombs or ruins. They're usually weak to fire and sun spells - Destruction and Restoration, respectively." 

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"Eep!" Patiri exclaims, and she jumps from the chair she has been sitting.

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Liarae makes a disgusted noise and pales a bit, leaning away from him. 

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He blinks at them, "Well, there's none here," he says, raising an eyebrow at the reaction. "My door leads to my rooms, in my house in Riften. No undead anywhere near there. And you don't have to learn it," he adds, "I don't even have any Necromancy tomes around to give you, if you did want to. I did mention it's illegal."

He doesn't keep the Necromancy tomes he has in his rooms, after all. 

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"Okay. Okay. Still, that was sure a lesson on how scary the multiverse may get. And I am still interested."

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Liarae nods in agreement, still a bit pale. 

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"I guess so, though there's worse things." He shrugs. "Alright, then. You wanna get this done now? As far as we could tell the magic attaches to a new person pretty much instantly, but I have to hold the door, so I'll have to get one of you to grab my tomes from the shelf in my study."

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"I don't see why not to do it sooner rather than later."

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"Alright!" He un-leans from the table, and turns to lead them back to the door. He pulls it open and steps to the side to hold it for them, waving them through with a bow, "After you," he says with a playful smile. 

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Liarae makes sure she steps through first - she is a security grey, only makes sense to have her go in before the green, just in case. 

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The room they step into looks like something from a by-gone era, constructed almost entirely of wood, aside from the stone fireplace to the left. The furniture is all wooden as well, and it along with the carpets and bedsheets on the bed all look to be hand-made. The bedsheets in question look somewhat mussed, and there are some clothes thrown over a chair near the lit fireplace, but otherwise the place is pretty tidy. 

"Congratulations! You have magic!" Gaemir tells them as the green-haired woman steps inside. "The study is just through there," He adds, gesturing to a door in the wall to the right, "The tomes are on the bookshelf just to the left inside."

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Patiri takes a moment and then follows after her, looking around. Before following the directions, she realizes, she is a completely different world and feels somewhat self-conscious for being among the first Amentans to do so. She wishes she had worn something nicer. Lia is at least in a uniform.

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Well, she hardly had advance warning, did she? Gaemir doesn't seem to mind, anyway, not that he's dressed for diplomatic contact with other worlds, either. His vest is still mostly undone, actually, and he's not wearing shoes, barefoot on the wooden floor of the bar - he'd just woken up before he came through the door. She can feel comforted that she's better dressed than her host is.

The study contains a desk, a chair, a shelf on the wall above the desk which is full of knickknacks, and four large bookshelves filled with hand-bound books. The one to the left contains dozens of tomes, all in one of five colours - orange, purple, black, gold, and red.

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Patiri collects the books. Looking at the covers, and remembering that the translation magic does not extend outside Miliways. They can find a work around to that.

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The covers all have a symbol and one or two words on them in foreign script. The symbols on those of the same colour all match. A flame for the black ones, an odd thing which looks like an eye or an upside-down gate on the purple ones, a stylized bird with what might be a flaming tail on the yellow ones, a half-leafless tree on the red ones, and a kind of triskelion on the orange ones. 

Lia grabs an armful as well, resisting the urge to open one to look inside just yet. Their host (who hadn't mentioned his name yet) had said something about a trance, and she doesn't want to fall into one while they're still in his house. 

It takes a few trips, but eventually the shelf is empty, all the books piled on their table in the barroom. 

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Yes, oof. That's more heavy lifting than she is used to, but still, magic books!

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Lia will definitely take most of the load, but there's a lot of books, yeah. 

"Alright, how do we do this?" She asks the man, "Also, what's your name? You didn't say."

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"Oh, sorry, I'm always forgetting to introduce myself. Camoran Gaemir - first one's a surname, second name's mine. I didn't get yours either?" He directs at the green-haired woman. 

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"Paratir Kered. The first one is my given one, the second one is a job name - biological research."

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"Nice to meet you!" 

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"As for learning the spells... Well, pick a book and open it up? You'll want to be sitting down when you do, though, it takes about half-an-hour to get through most of them and you don't want to be standing about while you do that. I can point you to the Novice books - first level spells - first, you won't have enough magicka to cast anything higher than Apprentice right now." He does that, leaning over the table to separate out the books in question. 

This leaves them with much fewer options, though it's still a lot. Two red books, Candlelight and Oakflesh; two purple books, Bound Dagger and Conjure Familiar; three black books, Flames, Frostbite, and Sparks; three orange books, Fury, Clairvoyance, and Courage; and two yellow books, Healing and Lesser Ward.

"This is everything commonly available for Novices," he adds, "I'm not a mage by trade, I just use magic in my work sometimes, and I took to keeping all the Novice books around after the first time I wound up here." 

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Lia, after a moment of hesitation, picks out Oakflesh, settling down at the table to start reading.

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"Clever. Are books like these hard to make?" She picks Healing.

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"Mm, it's a subset of Enchanting. There's book on how to do it in this pile somewhere - you need to know the spell, and you need the correct equations written out in a book, and you also need soulgem dust. I've only got the one bag of it in my rooms, so you won't be able to make too many without grinding up soulgems, which are useful for other things, too, but I can get more pretty trivially later, so I don't mind giving you those." He glances over at Liarae, who's engrossed in the book already, smiles slightly, and turns back to Patiri. 

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"But you can still learn the long way?"

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"Yeah, you can figure out how to build any spell in a branch from knowing just one. If you have enough memorized and really understood it'll take less time, too. Maybe six months to build an Adept spell, for a Master. And you can learn spells from an unenchanted tome, too, you just have to have figured out what all the equations actually mean. If you learn enough the normal way, and use them a lot, you get a sort of a sense for that. It still takes days or weeks, though." 

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Patiri nods and smiles. She then will get into this book trance thing.

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It feels rather like when you get so engrossed in a book you forget the rest of the world exists for a while, except moreso. She loses the next half-hour almost entirely, and when she looks up she 1) can sense her pool of magicka, and 2) knows how to manipulate it in exactly the correct way to preform the Healing spell.

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Lia is already done with hers, and has cast her spell, staring in fascination at the lightly glowing pale aura covering her skin. 

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Magic! This is great! She can't immediately test her spell, but she magic! Patiri even checks with her amulet. Yep, magic. "This is great!"

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"It is!" 

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He laughs, "I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! Did you want to try your spell out? I don't mind being a test subject, though we might need to leave the bar area if I'm gonna give myself a cut or something. Wouldn't want to put anyone off their food," he glances around the room, "Or on it, if there's any vampires around here." 

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"Vampire? I think I can go to the infirmary, I am likely qualified for a job there."

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"Good point," he agrees, "You can ask Bar about that," he adds, nodding at the physical form of the person in question, "Though we might want to figure out what you're going to do with these books, first? Do you want to keep them all? I'll have to get one of you to grab my soulgem dust and my stash of soulgems, too."

"Oh, and, vampires are blood drinkers," he adds belatedly. "Exact specifics vary, but the ones from my world are under a Daedric curse - the Daedra are extradimensional beings, the one who created vampires is one of the most powerful ones, the Daedric Prince Molag Bal." 

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Patiri does not make a sound, but she clearly finds that disturbing as well. "We should get all the things out of the way, first. Grab what you're willing to offer. And we have rooms, we can keep the books there."

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Vampires are pretty disturbing, objectively, though they're not all bad. 

"Sounds good." 

He'll let them through the door again, pointing out the chest with his soulgems and a little bag of dust in it, as well as a smaller metal box.

"I'm not willing to give up all of these, but you're welcome to pick one or two pieces each?" He says once they're back at the table, opening the little strongbox and turning it around to show off the contents - a bunch of jewelry, everything from earrings to necklaces to rings, and a couple of diadems as well. "They're all enchanted," he adds. 

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"Oh. What do they do?"

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"Oh, lots of things-" He pulls a few out, setting them out on the unoccupied parts of the table. One of the diadems offers clarity of thought; the other enhances vision, allowing the wearer to see things at a great distance. Two of the necklaces fortify stamina, one increases the rate of magicka recharging, one offers some minor health regeneration, and the last lets the wearer move more quietly. The rings range from ones which aid fine motor control to minor luck enchantments to waterbreathing to elemental resistance. Most of the earrings enhance hearing, but there's a set of two which allow the wearers to hear what happens around their counterpart. 

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Out of those, her favorite is the clarity of thought, she wants the magicka recharging one and the regeneration ones to be on Amenta, because they sound like good things to have samples of, but she does not feel strongly about owning both of them. Does Lia want either one of them?

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Lia is willing to take the health regeneration one. She maybe wants to take a luck enchantment, as well, if they actually work? So Patiri can take the magicka regen necklace. 

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The luck enchantments absolutely work, he made those ones himself. They're entirely welcome to those four items. Once they've picked them out, he puts the rest of the jewelry back in the box, and closes and locks it again.

"Those won't run out of charge very fast," he tells them, "It takes decades for passive enchantments to run dry. Once they do, though, they can be recharged with the soulgems. Empty soulgems can be refilled, too. Ah, some people have found this disturbing, sorry in advance, but the way to do that is to cast Soul Trap on an animal as it dies. The spell captures their soul energy and you can then use it to power an enchantment."

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She picks up the items and does not find that particularly disturbing. "Sounds easy enough to manage in a decade. We didn't check the difference between our years. Oh, do you want anything in return?"

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"Oh no, I'm fine," he smiles at her, "I've got everything I need. This stuff is nothing I can't build back up in a few weeks, anyway. It's all replaceable." 

"As for years, hm, well we have twelve months, each with either 30 or 31 or in one case 28 days. Our days are 24 hours long, and hours are 60 minutes long. Minutes are 60 seconds long, and a second is roughly the length of time it takes to say six syllables." He's obviously run through this before.

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And after a couple calculations. "So, one of our years is four of yours."

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"Ah, I suppose that makes reaching maturity in five years sound more reasonable," he agrees. "Do you want to take some of these books up to your rooms, now? I think I'll head back home, soon, myself." He sees Milliways often enough, and he has plans back home, which will of course wait on him, but he doesn't actually want to wait very long. 

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Yeah, better if they do it now.

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He'll help them do that, then. It only takes three trips with Gaemir helping. 

"It was nice meeting you," he tells Patiri and Liarae once most of the books are up in the former's room. Liarae kept hold of two of them to read once she has a moment, Frostbite and Clairvoyance. "Luck to you both," he offers, "I hope we run into each other again sometime." 

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"Likewise." Patiri says with Conjure Familiar and Lesser Ward in her hands.

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"Thank you," Lia adds. 

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He beams at her, "Any time," he says. 

And then he's gone. 

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".. Well, I'm going to read these two books," Lia tells Patiri. "And then... go practise my spells outside, maybe?" She pauses, grins, "We have magic!" She laughs. 

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"We have magic!" She echoes.

And then they go read.

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Back into being absorbed into the books they go. Lia opens up the Frostbite spell, first. They pass the next half-hour in the trance. 

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Losing time like that is... not as bad as it sounds, definitely not-normal. Patiri's healing spell is more than enough to qualify her for the medical position. It even gives times for familiar summoning.

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Time passes.

(In Milliways this is not a constant same rate of progress, but it's at least a constant progression.)

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Surprises meetings happen.

Alongside, explanations and offers. Not to mention going outside, because they need space for to do something that they would rather have a level of privacy to do.

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They're not the only ones to have that idea. While Patiri leaves for her first shift in the infirmary, Lia takes her two books back to her own room and then steps outside, where she can practice her Frostbite spell without calling the wrath of her fellow security officers down on her head. 

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Lia then might spot Istevi an a person identical to him at the edge of the leg, the amentan is shirtless and with a pained look on his face, though the situation doesn't look hostile.

Down his spine, she can see from this angle, there are several markings.

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...Huh. Despite Gaemir explaining alts to them, she hadn't quite been able to believe it before. She makes her way over to the lake. 

"Are you alright, Istevi?" She asks, giving the alt a curious look as she speaks, "Hi, I'm Liarae. We're from the same world." 

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"Oh, I am alright this is Stephania. My alt, she was just helping me out."

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"Charmed. I am a witch, and we can do some minor blessings. Some of which are in the shape of tattoos."

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"They hurt about as much as a real one."

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"Hm, I don't have any tattoos," she tilts her head to get a better look, "What do they do? Patiri and I ran into someone who gave us magic of our own, but more couldn't hurt." She pauses, suddenly gaining a look of realization. "I can't believe we didn't think to get any of the others," she says, chagrined. "I guess, in the excitement of it all, we just forgot." 

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"Who is 'we'?"

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"Patiri. She came downstairs while you were on your shift, and we ran into someone who counted one of my 'alts' as a friend. He let us into his world to get us hooked up to the magic there and gave us a pile of books and some magical jewelry." 

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"One of his girlfriends that is mad at him, and might not exactly thrust the other two."

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Sigh. "Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway, are you interested in some magical tattoos yourself?"

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"I guess that depends on what they do?" 

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Stephania is happy to explain what they do, she also clarifies that some of her boost are in non-Tattoo form, though the tattoos do tend to last far longer.

Mainly, she can give boosts for healing, health, resistance to damage, resistance to curse, various things to cover specific health issues, general luck. None of the benefits are extraordinary enough to look like obvious magical intervention, but they are very helpful.

She goes on and explains what each tattoo represents, and eventually reaches one... "this one is for fertility and healthy children."

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Those all sound quite useful. When Stephania gets to the last one, Lia blinks, turning to get another look at the ones on Istevi's back. 

"What does the tattoo for fertility do?" She asks, "Just increase the chance of conception?" 

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The stylized branch is definitely there.

"It's fertility luck. Which include chances of conception, yes. Also, that the pregnancy will be an easy one, or have other favorable conditions like producing girls instead of boys, twins. It follows your preferences of what is lucky." She smirks and glances at Istevi. "Or have children with who you want to have children with."

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"Does it override birth control? ...You are going to tell them, right?" She asks Istevi. 

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"My girlfriends? ...Yes? I am not stupid."

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"There is disagreement. It increases the odds of birth control failing, but only if you'd want to."

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"At any rate. I will tell them, honestly, I am probably being too hopeful with still calling them my girlfriends."

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She nods. "Considering the way our credit system works, I wouldn't think you'd want to increase the chance you might have multiples," she says, hesitant. The more you have at once the less you can stretch the time you have babies over the years, after all. "Though, I suppose if we manage enough good trades, and work out how to best use the magic Patiri and I have now..." The idea of multiples, multiple times is... very attractive. If they had the money for it, she could maybe see some people choosing to stay with someone who'd cheated on them just for that. 

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"You will only have multiples if you'd rather. Which is sensitive to knowing the negative consequences." Stephania says with a shrug.

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"Even without multiples, if we manage to make a profit. It's likely we will want to trade, anyway, depending on the profit it could give us one or even two extra credits. Or the law might change. It's not considered a good incentive given that no one can plan around it."

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"It really isn't," she agrees. As a five year old having twins, even if she does manage to pay for the credit, it's entirely possible she wouldn't have been able to afford another one if she hadn't stumbled across this place. 

"So, if I all I want is for my children to be born safe and healthy, that's all it will do?" 

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"Exactly. It can't retroactively change things in case you change your mind, for some reason."

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"I'd like that one, then, if you're willing to give it," Lia tells her. "I don't know that I need to be protected from curses, but the others also sound useful," she adds. She fiddles with her luck ring. She wouldn't say no to more of it. 

"How does this work? I'm guessing you don't use tattoo guns."

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"I paint the tattoo on your skin and then I do a chant that binds the paint into you, it hurts, but it's harmless."

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"Hurting is fine." She can endure a bit of pain for this. "Would four be alright? Can I have the fertility one, the luck one, the damage resistance one, and the general health one?"

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"Of course, dear. I will set things up, while my alt will call the others and see if they are interested."

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Istevi will go do that.

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She watches him leave, and then turns to watching Stephania set up. "Do you need me to do anything?"

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"Mostly, stand still, though we can talk while I prepare things." She has a bag, with her magical stuff. She starts grinding some herbs into a paste.

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She'll stand still, then, and ask the occasional question about the preparations Stephania is doing. 

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She will gladly explain, but her magic - while systematic enough - doesn't sound like some sort of sensible system of law of physics.

They have enough time to go through nearly all tattoos. And when Stephania chants them into skin, it burns like acid, very intense, but mercifully brief.

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Patiri arrives alongside...

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...another green woman. She is very tall.

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Lia might not have noticed the change in expression, if Stephania wasn't more lively a moment ago. "Hello."

(The other two choruses hellos.)

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(Ow.)

If her expression changed, she didn't notice it. She might have still been a bit occupied looking at the magical tattoos, and recovering from the burn of getting them. She greets the two women as well, and introduces herself to the new one.

(And, wow, that is a tall person, especially compared to Lia herself, who is shorter than the average Amentan.)

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Zofin introduces herself. There is a long quiet pause.

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Patiri decides to break it.  She makes pertinent questions on how the various blessings and tattoos are supposed to work. And if Stephania knows about any weird interactions between them and aliens species. Or even different kinds of magic. The thing about working on personal preference sounds like can interact really badly with springing.

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Stephania answers those to the best of her ability. She does not expect any harmful interactions. If they suspect any... they can remove the tattoos and that will likely break or at very least severely weaken the magic effect.

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Patiri ponders for a long time and decides to get everything except fertility.

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Zofin will get everything, and asks to go first.

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She probably should have waited for Patiri before getting the tattoos, she realizes. She hadn't thought of any of those questions. Still, it sounds like her haste won't have any terrible consequences, this time. 

Instead of hanging around to watch idly, she moves to a space a fair distance away from the three of them and begins practicing with the Frostbite spell. That was her original reason for coming outside, after all. Her near vicinity becomes much more icy, shortly. 

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Eventually, Patiri comes over to ask how she is doing.

(Zofin just flees the terribly awkward situation as soon as possible.)

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Eventually, Isteri, but not Istevi's third girlfriend shows up, alongside Isteri. The blue gets tattoos of her own and eventually comes closer to watch Lia train the Frostbite spell.

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"It's difficult to aim it very precisely," she tells Patiri, "So far I've only been able to direct it at whatever I am pointing at, broadly." She demonstrates. The Frostbite spell produces a stream of ice at the patch of ground she is pointing to, flash-freezing the grass. "I... get the sense that I might be able to get better at controlling it, however. Just, it's going to take more than a few hours of practice to get anywhere with that." She keeps working on it, paying attention to the sense of her magicka reserves and stopping to let them refill before they get too empty. 

(She smiles at Isteri in greeting when she comes over to watch.)

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Isteri comes close and waits for an opening. "I am hoping that we - the amentans - could all get together and figure out a coordination plan." She sighs. "I am not sure we will be able to get Istevi's other two girlfriends to work with. At least one of them was not willing to talk, even to me."

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"Zofin might. I think she is just overwhelmed and introverted by nature."

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"Does she just need some space to think, or should someone go talk to her?"

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Patiri just offers a helpless shrug. "It was... all very shocking. Istevi was really good at making us feel loved." Then bitterly she says. "Maybe he was dating Green in hopes of passing on good actor genes."

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"Oh, dear. Okay. I think space to think might be good." She ponders for a moment. "Maybe write her, and the other notes. That would be less intrusive then a person to person conversation."

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She doesn't really know Istevi well enough to comment on his motives. "That sounds like a good idea, assuming the other - what's her name? - wouldn't mind that. It sounds like she's taking this much worse than either you or Zofin." 

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"Her name is Mura. We... had to retrain her from attacking Istevi. Security was around - a bunch of other people were fighting - and they gave her a warning and she managed not to get kicked out from Milliways."

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"Oh, that's... a little extreme, maybe, but if emotions were running high - oh, or is she Grey?" She'd just been assuming they were all Green, given that the two she'd met were. 

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"Green."

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"Every caste has people that react badly to being cheated on."

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"I suppose," she agrees, sheepish. "I guess I was stereotyping. Hm, who's going to write to them? Do we just want to keep them updated on decisions made, or are we including them in discussions? That might be a bit tedious, waiting for responses like that. Though, I still have my everything, I suppose I could keep them updated that way, assuming they have theirs and text messaging even works in here?" 

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"You can get wifi if the door is open... I am not sure if that's true beyond the barroom area."

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"I think... we should take decisions if they don't want to interact live, but we can rearrange that depending on how willing they are to cooperate. And we should sit down and discuss all our options that we can discuss before contacting them. I can write them."

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"Alright." Back to the bar? 

Hm, it's right there, but she casts Clairvoyance anyway, to see what it looks like. A trail of pale blue mist forms in front of her, leading towards the building.

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The two follow. "Good. It's probably wise to keep at least one of us in the bar area."

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"Ideally two, actually the more the better, but with two one can go away and warn the others."

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The barroom is a bit emptier than before, but they can mostly see the same faces. Noticeably, there is a young man with black crystal growing out of his arm in a way that looks rather painful, but his expression is more tired than pained.

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"I won't mind staying whenever I'm not onshift or sleeping," is Lia's input. 

When they reach the bar area, she motions towards the young man, turning to look at the other two Amentans, "That looks like magic," she says. "Though, maybe not a kind we want," she adds. On top of looking painful, growing crystals out of your body sounds... pretty gross.

Still, "I could go ask him about it while you two start on making plans?" 

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"That would be good." Eyeing the growing crystal with some weariness. "Thank you, don't be afraid to interrupt us if anything comes up."

They take the nearest available table.

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Nod. She goes over to the table the man is sitting at. 

"Excuse me. I'm Liarae Aradin. I'm... representing some people who are looking to trade what we have for magic, if you'd be interested in that?" 

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"Oh," he waves at the sit in front of him. "Does your world have room for a dozen or so people?"

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She sits, "I don't think we could do that, no," she says. "It would definitely be noticed, and we hardly have enough room for our own people, as it is. We have some technology native to our world, and two of us can do some magic of our own. What happened that caused you to need a place for a dozen people to go?" 

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"Long story short. My kind of magic can duplicate things, including people and on the way to a new colony planet me and a few others got stranded on a island with a crystal that will spit out a clone of us every so often. We haven't figured out how to escape."

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"Colony planets? You have FTL? If it's going to keep making more people we'd be even less likely to be able to take you, but with FTL we could maybe do it? Is there a way to make it stop making more of you?" 

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He shakes his head. "I am stranded on an island, remember? Space travel crystals are rare we don't have any, though a different person might be able to grow one. And we wouldn't bring the crystal that is cloning us, we would leave with two or three of our number to care and explain to future clones."

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Well, that's unfortunate. "I'm not sure how much we can help you, then," she admits. "I'd still like to hear about your magic?" She glances at the crystal growing out his arm, still somewhat discomforted by it.

"We might think of something we could do in exchange, if it seems worthwhile. We might also meet another helpful alt who might be willing to help."

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"We would be willing to trade our crystals for less, materials, medicine and even different kinds of food being the most immediate needs. We would like means to leave the island, but we know those don't easily fit through the door."

Then he starts explaining. The magical crystals are from his world, they can feed off the light of certain stars or from life being fed to it. Individual people can produce empowered (usually colorful) crystals with specific powers - usually just one, but sometimes a few related powers. If you embed a crystal on you, you can control it and it's powers. You can also make it grow controllably, and you can encase another object into crystal and then turn them into crystal while keeping its composition data inside the crystal, which can be used to create duplicates. Duplicating empowered crystals from other people is possible, but hard.

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"Those things we might be able to trade," she agrees. 

She listens to the explanation.

That does sound very useful. She has some questions, though - what does he mean by 'feeding life to it'? How does one produce crystals? Could the Amentans learn to do it? If not, will they be able to control them? What does the one in his arm do?

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Crystals can absorb energy from living things, though this is not dangerous unless you have someone actively use the crystal to more actively absorb life energy. Crystals naturally grow when exposed to light, thought at a very slow rate if it isn't the right kind of star. And also when they absorb life. One can take control of a crystal by touching it and willing it to take "root" into you. He waves his arm. Which lets you make it grow faster. Most crystals in his arm are his own, and protect the use from magic, though this one is from one of his clone-brothers, and it disrupts magic, while this one is from his clone-cousin (it's still dark, but with a red sheen to it) and absorbs kinetic impacts.

He is not sure if aliens can do his magic, but he would expect it to be all-or-nothing deal.

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Could they test it, before they make any trades? ...She's not entirely sure she wants one of those in her arm, admittedly. Maybe one of the others would be willing to try it? 

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They could leave it most of the crystals under the skin and it doesn't need to be the arm. Or not have the crystals inside most of the time at all, though it hurts more that way. And he will absolutely test it before the trade, it will probably take an hour to teach the basics on crystal manipulation either way.

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Them being in her arm specifically wouldn't be the problem, though if they were visible that would also be a problem. She could try it, though? 

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You can get it pretty discrete under there, Henry just prefers not to. And they could, yeah, it might take a few minutes to get it right... does she have anything to trade?

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She has her pocket everything? She shows it to him. 

She also has her new magic, though she's not great with it yet. She has three spells: Frostbite, which lets her pour cold out of her hands; Clairvoyance, which leads her in the direction of what she's looking for; and Oakflesh, which coats her skin with a defensive layer of magic. She can get the others, too, to see what they have, if none of that seems useful to him. 

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Could the Clairvoyance one be used to find the best way out of the island and back into civilization? He is interested in knowing about the others as well.

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It could, if there is one, she believes. She would have to physically go to the island in question, though, and follow the trail to whatever it finds herself to show them where it is. It should be pretty obvious whether that's going to work just by opening the door - it doesn't work if the door is closed, she checked - and having her cast the spell. If there's nothing, no trail will show up.

She can introduce him to the others as well, if he wants. They're just at that table over here.

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Sure... he can introduce her to his others, one of which is over there.

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An identical young man waves at her.

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Though, there isn't much difference between knowing one or all of them.

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She stares, a bit.

(She's only encountered the one pair of alts thus far, and she's still not used to the idea of two people who are essentially the same except for what differences their worlds cause, let alone clones.)

(Also. They're very attractive, despite the alien-ness. Or maybe helped along by the alien-ness. The potential differences are interesting. She does her best to shake these thoughts away, but it is spring.)

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She waves back. 

She'll lead the one she was talking to over to the table Isteri and Patiri are seated at, and the other one as well, if he'd like to come along. She'll give introductions, and a quick overview of their conversation thus far.

"Hopefully the Clairvoyance spell finds something to latch onto from the door," she tells them once that's done. "But there must be other things we can trade, assuming the crystals work for us," she adds.

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Patiri and Isteri will tell her later on their considerations. Introductions happen.

"I bet there is some kind of early celestial navigation how-to that we can acquire for you. Or ship-building. Or just about anything that's not as trivial to derive from first principles on a remote island."

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"Well, on a personal level, it sounds like we found a way to create gold."

(Henry nods.)

"If we can scale... well, I am not sure how to quantify how useful it is. Do you have any idea how rare a FTL power is like? If I understood correctly you need to find the right person?"

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Henry nods and then says. "I am not sure at all, but less than one a thousand? But I am not sure if it's one in ten-thousand or even less than that. Are either of you interested?"

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Isteri considers, winces, and shakes her head.

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Patiri is interested.

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And Lia had already said she'd try it. Should they check if the Clairvoyance spell works first, or test if they can use the crystals? (Honestly if it does latch onto something she might just lead them to it whether they can use the crystals or not. She's not heartless.)

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That's very kind of her and it sounds better to check first. If it doesn't work he will teach her just for the information that it doesn't work.

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It seems they're both being generous.

Well, she'll need him to hold the door, then. Assuming he does so, she can cast the spell. Is there anything for it to latch onto? 

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The door opens to a large hut, a very weird hut made of clear frosty crystal, wood and leaves. Some of those materials look melded together. And through windows she can see other people, more two of the man holding the door to her, three more of a strong blond man, and three people - two woman and a man - with no duplicates in her immediate sight.

The spell... does not latch onto anything. Henry sighs.

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He's not the only one who's disappointed. 

"...There's still Milliways," she tells him, patting his shoulder, "So many people have come in and out since I got here. There must be someone who can help you." 

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"We didn't expect to be that easy all things consider." He tells her. "Don't worry, people!" He yells at others before closing the door.

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Nod.

Well, they should at the very least be able to trade them some more food? The Bar sells it, along with drinks.

She's not sure about materials and medicine. That likely depends on where the others' doors let out - hers lets out into her bedroom, so she'd have to go through a wall to get anything outside of it. There is an infirmiry, though, if anyone has immediate need of medical attention - and Patiri has a healing spell, as well. 

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Isteri just moved in and has the house for herself, most of her stuff is in boxes, but the move offers a excuse for them to have vanished. And she has blue-levels of money, so she can fund things. And after a bit of negotiating, they settle on paying with a combination of money (put on the bar's tab), clothes and some Assemble furniture. She eventually decides to learn the crystal magic, but she looks obviously queasy about it.

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That's reasonable, and Henry will go through the series of mental exercises that enable the crystal magic use.

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She's glad they manage to work something out. She is a little concerned by Isteri pushing herself into this - she doesn't find the idea of it very pleasant, either, but Isteri seems worse off than she is. 

Lia listens to his lesson and attempts to perform those exercises. Are they more successful in this area than she was her attempt to use the Clairvoyance spell for him? 

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Yes, they are, after a few minutes, the crystals react to their will and after a few more minutes they manage to get to prickle their skin, which greatly increases the easy and control over the crystal's growth.

He then spends most of the remaining time trying to give them a well round educations on the various branches of the magical craft. It will probably take a long time before they manage to do anything but copying the basic materials of things, but they should eventually figure out how to get empowered crystals out of people and how to copy complex objects (such as people, which can be used for healing).

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Oh good! Access to this magic will fix so many problems. Hers in particular, assuming they can sell what they make. Someone in their group must have some idea of how to manage that without looking too suspicious, though. 

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Isteri can set something up, if no one comes up with a better idea. She tries very hard to not poke at the tiny bit of crystal under her arm. They thank their benefactor profusely.

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They are welcome, but now if they don't mind, teaching three people at once was kinda tiring and he needs some rest.

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Understandable. Lia thanks him as well, and offers her hopes that he and his people will find someone who can offer them the help they need.

(She does poke at the crystal a bit, or, she runs a finger over it lightly. Strange, somewhat unsettling, yet also somehow pretty.)

Once he's gone, she turns to the other two Amentans, asking after the brainstorming they'd done while she was talking to Henry. 

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They have mostly been taking notes of their Amenta-bound resources. Specially doors and contacts.

Isteri's door is in her new home, which is currently empty, her husband is away and staff yet to arrive. Her security team is outside, which means they should be able to stash things in the house, maybe even people, if the need arises, but leaving would draw attention from her bodyguards. She has full confidence that her bodyguards can keep her safe from assassination attempts, but less so with a secret like this.

In term of contacts, she is weary of getting her parents evolved, but she will be willing to do so, and... well, you don't get to lead a multi-year campaign against blue corruption without having contacts first.

They haven't decided if they want to go public with this, not without talking with everyone first.

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Patiri's door is her apartment, which she shares with a roommate that can't possibly be trusted to keep low-level gossip - let alone matters of national security - a secret. They can probably find a way to get rid of said roommate, but it might take some doing, first.

On the plus side, the apartment is rather close to the university where Patiri works and there is a blue friend of hers that is in there and that they may contact for help.

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Do they have any idea where Mura and Istevi's doors lead?

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No clue, they arrived before Patiri did.

She did overhear Zofin say something about a university's archives and maybe that's where Zofin's door is.

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That could be useful for getting people in and out, so long as the door itself is somewhere out of the way. Did they want to see if Zofin and Mura will accept messages? They could ask about their doors, then, and about their opinions on going public. 

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They haven't tried yet, but they are working on the message. Isteri wanted to talk to Istevi first, but Patiri suggested that they - not Patiri herself, but the other two - might prefer not to include Istevi in any plans. Does Liarae have any opinions on going public?

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...Not really. She really doesn't trust her judgement on something this big. Secrecy or publicity is fine with her, so long as she can still get a credit out of this one way or another. 

(She can see how not involving Istevi too much might be a good idea, yes, at least for now.)

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Patiri and Isteri nod gravely. "I think you two should each approach one of them to talk? Or at least I - and definitely not Istevi - should interact with either. Not for the next while."

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"Alright. Any idea which ones each of us should talk to? I thought I might talk to Mura, since if she blows up again I can probably handle her." 

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That's reasonable, Isteri will get Zofin then. She shares Mura's room number with Lia.

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So Lia goes looking for the room in question. And, once she finds it, she knocks. 

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Long silence, then. "Who is there?" Asks a tentative voice.

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"Are you Mura? I'm Liarae. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned me to you?"

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She half steps through the door. Blocking the view to inside of the bedroom, she is wearing a silky robe and has to cover herself for modesty. 

"You were mentioned, yes."

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What was mentioned might be an important question. She nods, "Alright then... Isteri, Patiri and I were discussing what we should do from here. With the resources we've gained from Milliways, and the information that Milliways exists at all. We... thought we should introduce ourselves, and ask your opinions on the matter." 

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"Ah." She apparently doesn't know what to say about this. "Could you give me a minute? I-" She steps further outside.

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"Honey? Where are you?" Istevi opens the door again and blinks at Lia.

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-Ah. 

Well, it's good they're making up? If... that's what is going on here. 

"Hi," she offers Istevi, before looking back to Mura, "I can definitely give you a minute," she agrees. 

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Yeah, that would be good. Istevi retrieves Mura and closes the door.

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Alright then, she will... idle in this hallway for a bit? If it takes them more than a few minutes she'll consider just going back downstairs, though. 

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It takes more than a few minutes, yes.

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Hmm... she'll wait a bit longer, but then back downstairs she goes, and back to Patiri. Is Isteri back? 

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She is with Zofin by her side. Isteri waves her over and introduces the two of them.

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Zofin is reserved, but manages to not crumble on herself.

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"Nice to meet you," she tells Zofin. "Mura asked me to give her a minute. I waited for a few, but I guess she must have needed more?" Maybe best not to mention what she was busy with. 

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"Were you looking directly at her? Time doesn't pass at same rate to everyone in Milliways."

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"Wait, what?"

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Tiny flinch. "Uh, I was told that it happens, unless you're directly interacting with the person."

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"-Well, I guess this place has proven to be able to mess with time already. Maybe I should go back up and knock again?" 

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Well, Mura picks this moment to show up by herself. She makes a line to their table, only taking a moment to shoot a look at Zofin, but continuing with more determination.

Without introducing herself she just sits and says. "I was told that you're planning on what to do with this place?"

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"Discussing the possibilities." Isteri says. "I am glad you joined us."

They explain what they already discussed with Lia.

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Zofin isn't sure what to should be done with Milliways (or at least looks reluctant to share what she really thinks), but if possible would rather not become famous over night because of it. 

Isteri reassures that should be easy enough to handle.

Zofin's door is at her university's archives, there is non-zero security, but Isteri thinks it's their best option if they want to sneak people out of Milliways.

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Mura came through the same door as Istevi. She shoots Lia glare as if daring her to say anything about earlier. They came in through Istevi's apartment, in a gray neighborhood, which she doesn't know much about, the building - or at least Istevi's floor - is a mix of residenctial and brothel.

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She's not going to say anything, though the glare gets a bit of a narrow-eyed look in return. Probably Istevi's building has a lot of traffic, then, though a few people might be able to come and go without much comment. 

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Isteri agrees with that assessment.

On the topic of keeping Milliways a secret or not. Isteri reasons that it's entirely possible more people form Amenta might get into Milliways at any moment. She thinks that whatever direction they decide to take they must account for that. She is also aware that their country incentives are such that it would be advantageous trying to get as much personally ahead through Milliways and then book somewhere else. She isn't going to judge if they have been motivated by that, but she will offer the notion that the best ways to use Milliways do involve going public eventually.

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She can't argue with that. It would be incredibly selfish to keep this from the rest of Amenta in the long run. How do they do that in a sensible way, though? A reveal of something this world-changing will have to be handled carefully to avoid starting wars. They might have to get Isteri's parents involved, unless anyone knows other blues with the right connections. 

(She can't deny that she's thought of taking what she's gathered here and moving to another world, if a better one is offered. She hasn't been considering it seriously since it became obvious that she would be able to afford at least this credit, though. She knows how to live in Eleseo, where moving somewhere else would involve learning an entirely new system.)

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Isteri is reluctant but eventually relents. But even then there still the practical obstacle that her parents are on the other main island of their nation. There is Patiri's blue friend, with the obstacle of Patiri's roommate.

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Maybe they can get Patiri to deal with that then.

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(In a small voice) Zofin offers the notion that time still is dillated between Milliways and Amenta so they have time to brainstorm.

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Reasonable. Meanwhile, they can take turns staying in Milliway's main bar area, ideally two of them at a time?

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Yes, that sounds sensible.

Did Patiri go back to her room? Lia can go get her so they can discuss dealing with her roommate before they separate again.

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Patiri did go back to her room. And she up to discuss how to work around the roommate.

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Oh good! Lia would also like to take another couple books while she's up here, too.

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While they're upstairs, the door opens again, admitting a new face. 

"-and the wedding's on the fourteenth of February, can you believe it, Lya, it's such a cliche!" He sounds delighted by this fact. "Chère wants me to be her man-of-hon-" he stops mid-word, blinking around the room. 

"...Lya, when did you turn your house into a bar? And how didn't I notice it last night?" 

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"What?" Asks a familiar voice, as an equally familiar face comes into view, apparently coming up a flight of stairs on the other side of the door. "My house is not a bar, what are you- oh." A near-identical copy of Liarae steps into the bar, nudging the brown-haired man out of the way. "What on earth?"

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Isteri glances over and notes the alt. "Hi, it looks like this is the first time at Milliways, don't panic. This is an inter dimensional bar that appropriated your door until you leave back through it."

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"-Well, I wasn't expecting any sensible answer to that question, but that wasn't among my guesses." She steps the rest of the way into the bar, closing the door behind her and grabbing her brother's arm to tug him over to the table the blue-haired woman is sitting at. "Inter-dimensional bar? Are you all from other dimensions, then? Lands of the blue- and green--haired people?"

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Brandon pulls his arm out of her grasp, slipping it around her shoulders instead as he looks around the room, before focusing on the people she's talking to. "We had some place to be," he mentions, "That door was the one leading to the rest of Lyra's house. Are we going to have to dig out of the basement?"

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"The name is Amenta." Isteri tells Lia's alt. To the man with her. "Once you leave the door returns to work normally, though it might not come back ever, so this can be a unique opportunity. Time might be stopped or slowed down in your world."

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"Oh, really? Well, if it's slowed enough I guess we could stick around for a bit. Is there a way to tell from inside, or do we just need to toss a sock through the door and see if it's still falling when we open it again?" 

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"The second thing. It's not usual for time to slow down instead of outright stopping. But it's happening to us - the amentans - so it sounds worth mentioning."

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"Are you not gonna mention her alt?"

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"Alt?" 

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Brandon pauses on the way back to the door, also curious about what this means. 

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"I was getting there," Isteri says. "Alts are - as it has been explained to me - different versions of a person from different worlds. There is someone called Liarae here in Milliways, who looks like you, minus the alien hair."

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"Alien hair! I guess it is, from your perspective." He ruffles it, "It's such a fetching shade, but I think I might look good in blue," he muses.

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"Go check the time thing," she tells Brandon, rolling her eyes (he goes), "Well, I'm Lyra, and that's my twin, Brandon. Where is this person who looks like me?" 

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"She went to fetch someone and should be returning shortly."

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"Do you have any magic in your world?"

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"Alright. Magic? Well, we have Gemini." She holds up a hand and produces a delicate, hollow sphere of ice, "I have cryokinesis," she explains, "All twins have powers back home." 

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Blink. She glances down at her belly. "Just twins? Triplets as well?"

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"What sort of powers?"

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"Oh, yes, all multiples. You're having triplets, then? Congrats." She looks over at the other woman, "Bonuses vary," she tells her, "But everyone gets the basics."

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Brandon comes back in time to hear the latter question. "Time seems to be paused or moving so slowly as makes no difference," he informs the table, before adding to Lyra's explanation. "Basics are peak human condition, sympathetic healing between twins - or triplets, or however many - multiples can talk to each other over any distance... I'm missing something, what am I missing?" 

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"Conjoined twins get their own bodies?" Lyra offers. "Bonuses can be pretty much anything - well, no mind reading or things like it, and I've never heard of a copying power, but outside that the sky's not even a limit."

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"Conjoined twins?"

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"It's a rare condition. That makes the twins bodies not separate properly."

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Isteri - who is in fact with multiplets right now - makes a face. "Gah. Well, do you have any idea if the magic is shareable? Or it only works for your species?"

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"No idea. We're not even sure where it came from. A few decades ago, twins - multiples -  just started manifesting powers at 16." 

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"What age are you? And what age does your species reaches adulthood?"

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"I'm twenty. Legal adulthood in my country is 18 or 19, but opinions vary. I think I read somewhere that we mostly stop growing around 25." 

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"Average life expectancy is around 75, I think?" Brandon adds. "Anyway, 16 is like... the earliest adult age. Though I think people might consider 14-year-olds adults in some ways in some places, too."

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Isteri frowns thoughtfully. "It sounds like you spend less time as adults than we do... Do the powers ever have negative side effects? Making people age faster or something?"

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"I've never heard of anything like that. If you stretch yourself too far you can get tired or maybe strain yourself somehow, but that's about the extent of negative effects."

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Isteri nods, and after some math they figure that their years are four times shorter and humans live half as much. "So, we are here mostly to see what kind of magics we may get. And in at least one world we know to have magic that transfers over when you go in there. Would you be willing to see if your magic can be shared?"

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They share a look, and then both nod, "I don't see why not," Lyra says, "You just want to step out into our world for a bit to see if it transfers? Though, I'm not sure how you're going to tell if it has or not." 

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"Patiri, the Green that your alt is fetching has a thing that detects magic. Oh, and I am with triplets, I figure if your magic is detectable at all it will show them becoming magical. Oh, and she herself is with twins."

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Blink, "Really. Huh. Do you know who the father is?" 

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Lia comes through the door to the upstairs rooms at this moment, pausing when she recognizes the alt of her older brother - and, after a moment, herself. 

"I wonder when we'll run into an alt of you?" She comments to Patiri, before making her way over to the table. 

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"You know. I still have no idea how I would react."

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"His name is Arel- oh, she can explain it better."

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"I've mostly been running on stubbornness for the past few hours. This is all still very strange.

Still, she heads over to the table.

"Arel? What about him? Hi," she adds, "Liarae Aradin."

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"Lyra Starr, and my twin brother, Brandon. I was asking about your children's father. I haven't met anyone I'd want to have kids with, myself."

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"It wasn't entirely intentional. He's not in the picture. I have an older brother named Adon, who looks just like you," she adds to Brandon.

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"Really! Not a twin?" 

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"No, I'm three years younger than he is. Do you... have? An Asara and Ibrae?"

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"Asara and - oh, I suppose Chère - Shera - and Braeden? My girlfriends, yes. They're getting married in a few months," he adds, face brightening. 

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"Are you the one with the magic detecting item?" Lyra asks Patiri. 

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"I am." Patiri takes out the amulet. And peers into it. "Yeah, magic."

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"We are hoping their twin-based magic can be transimissable."

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"Huh. Well, I guess it's good to have that answered. We haven't been able to explain the science behind it yet.

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"Twin-based magic?" 

Lyra explains. 

"Oh, wow. That... it would be incredible if it is transmissible. It's convenient that two of us are pregnant with multiples, too," she adds. 

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"Well, no time like the present! We'll hold the door for you - watch your step, though, we came in from the basement stairs." 

Door holding!

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Isteri gingerly walks through, looking around at Patiri.

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Patiri  is looking through the entire process. "It worked, you didn't have magic, now you do." She pauses and squints. "I am pretty sure your children got the magic, but it might be the case that you also, have it? Or not quite it, the potential for it?"

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"Might be that any future multiples you might have will be Gemini, too," Brandon suggests as Lia steps inside as well. "Do the rest of you get that second bit if you come inside?" He motions at the door invitingly, "No reason not to test it." 

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"Oooh." Patiri has a go. She offers the amulet to Lia to watch through.

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Zofin will also try, looking the entire time like a deer caught in the headlight, but she does try.

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Mura also does.

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And Lia looks at them through the amulet. 

"...Um. It looks like you did get the 'potential' magic, if I'm reading this right, but." She stares at Mura and Zofin's middles through the magic detector, "...Those fertility tattoos Stephania gave us must be very potent." 

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"What?"

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"It looks like you're pregnant," Lia tells her, voice as gentle as she can make it. "With... twins, at least. The Gemini magic is as strong around you as it is around Isteri. You as well," she adds to Mura. 

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She runs away.

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Zofin... just tears up.

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"What... what the hell." Patiri takes the amulet, quietly apologizing for the rudeness, but then inspecting Zofin, then Isteri.

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"Pure blue sky preserve us." Isteri mutters.

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Lia watches Mura run off, worried, and considers following, but Zofin is still here. She steps a little closer, wanting to offer comfort - she knows what it's like to suddenly find yourself unexpectedly pregnant by someone you have very mixed feelings about. 

"He told me he was going to tell you he'd chosen to get the fertility tattoo," she offers Zofin a little helplessly, "-do you want a hug?" 

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Lyra and Brandon step back a bit from the scene, trading uncomfortable glances. Brandon motions after Mura questioningly.

Lyra shrugs and goes after her. At least she probably won't make things worse?

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Stepping back sounds like, the diplomatic thing to do.

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"He did. I... we- I don't know... I know I am still springing and... and..."

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She gets a lot of understanding nodding in response to that, "I get it," Lia assures her. She is still offering a hug, but she's not going to push it. 

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Zofin accepts it, once she notices.

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Hug. Warm and comforting hug.

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They should probably stop standing around in the doorway. Brandon clears his throat, gaze turned away from the four women standing just inside his sister's basement, "Maybe we should take this somewhere a bit more out of the way," he suggests. 

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Yeah, yeah, Isteri will move them all upstairs to her room, which is... well, paid with the sort of money a blue can spend in an inter-dimensional inn.

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It's a nice room, but they're all a little too distracted to appreciate the decor at the moment.

Does Zofin look up for talking? Lia is also willing to just get her settled on a soft surface with a blanket or something and either leave her be or hug her some more. She certainly would have appreciated hugs when she found out. 

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Zofin is not really up for talking. She will accept hugs and quietly sob.

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Lia will keep hugging her, then. 

...She kind of appreciates the excuse to hug someone, herself. Is she crying a bit too? Certainly not noticeably, if she is. 

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Brandon notices the crying, and is a bit frustrated by the inability to do anything to show his displeasure to this Arel guy, and to whoever hurt the other woman, as well. He'll distract himself by offering any further explanations Patiri and Isteri request on the topic of Gemini. 

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Patiri is not very focused, given the sudden reveal. Her questions are sort of insightful but also sort of distracted.

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Isteri keeps to the practical questions on what sort of powers gemini have.

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Brandon will answer questions, then. Bonuses can be roughly anything besides mental ones - no mind reading, no empathy, no memory editing, no psychic screams - and power-copying-or-altering-powers. Individual multiples tend to have bonuses which work well together, or at least don't get in each others' way. Brandon can manipulate his internal temperature and sprout fire and ice over his body, but no matter how hot or cold he gets Lyra can always touch him without hurting herself, and he can always touch her ice constructs without melting them. 

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They will keep on asking. And Zofin will keep on sobbing.

(Maybe they will figure out a way to save their world from overpopulation without all this interpersonal drama getting on the way.)

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(That'd be a trick.)

Time passes. The Gemini twins decide to stick around for a while, speaking to more people in the bar and letting a fair number of them through their door to acquire the ability to bear Gemini of their own. Lia splits her time between spending time with them and with Zofin, working on her magic, offering what suggestions she has when some portion of the group gathers to work on plans, and sitting in the bar watching for more opportunities for acquiring useful magic and other resources. 

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Istevi, when pressed on the topic, says that he did not actively intend to have twins.

He did, however, wanted to have all advantages that they could get. Or at least that's what he claims.

Istevi will mostly avoid his now definitely exes. A mutual sentiment, only Patiri can stand stay in the room with him for any length of time, and the interactions are cold.

(Everyone eventually learns how to use crystal magic.)

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One day a tall blond young woman in a lavish dress walks in Milliways and claps to herself when she sees the barroom instead of the location of her door. She walks in practically skipping.

The air around her stirs unnaturally for a closed room.

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Liarae is one of the people in the bar when she comes in. She'd looked over when the door opened, and the stirring of the air had kept her eyes on new visitor. There's... something almost familiar about her? Something in the shape of the face, maybe. And the height. She shakes the thought away, waving the woman over to the table she's sharing with her current 'shift' partner. 

"Hello," she offers. "Welcome to Milliways. Have you been here before?" 

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"I have! But I was younger and it stopped after I got my Prime powers. Hi! I am Farienne Dochenza."

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"Liarae Aradin. Welcome back, then. I guess we can skip the explanation, if you've been here before. Prime powers? Is that what that wind was?"  

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"Yes. Five people from specific five families in my country get it, each prime is associated with two forces - air and spirit in my case - and a personality archetype. And blessings," she waves at a set of three symbols on her collar, Lia might notice it's repeated elsewhere on her person, "which we draw to get a hint of the future. I got three surprises earlier this day and..." she waves at their surroundings.

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"Interesting! Only five at once? What can the others do? And, can other people draw the blessings, or just the Primes?" 

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"Only five at once, when a previous Prime dies, another manifests, always related but it goes by personality. The primes are: Elay for Air and Soul - that's me; Hunti for Wood and Bone; Sweela for Fire and Mind; Coru for Water and Blood; Torz for Earth and Flesh. Anyone with birth blessings can draw blessings, which are called that because they are three blessings draw to you a few days after your birth by someone - typically your father - but a Prime can do it whenever."

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She looks closer at the blessings Farienne is wearing, "And you can do divination with them? Huh. Would you be willing to draw mine? Though I suppose that might need some set-up we don't have here." 

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"Yes. And I can draw your birth blessings. Or of anyone that you want to." She pulls a fountain pen and a notebook out of her lavish-but-still-sensible-to-have-pockets dress. "We usually typically use coins with three of each blessing, but as long the draw process is random it works. Looking for a coin doesn't work. Using a limited set of coins makes it less accurate, which you can be used for more specific questions at the cost of less information. It's possible to use the information to change the possible future, but the blessings do take some of that into account." She is writing down all the blessings.

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She watches this, nodding in response to the explanation. "You need a bowl or something to draw them from, right? Here-" She empties out the last of the chips from a large bowl on the table, setting them on a napkin, and then offers the bowl to Farienne. 

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She nods. "It's hard to draw from a pile of anything without some of it spilling on the ground, but still works." While she works she will go explaining the possible meanings and interpretations of each blessing, and advises to generally think of drawing them as receiving a message by someone with a limited vocabulary. Also, even non-Prime but-still-blessed people are somewhat aligned to the five elemental categories, no one fits perfectly and there is a lot of subtly to it.

Then finally, she draws the blessings.

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Resolve, Honour, Love. 

"Huh." Lia considers them for a long moment, before looking up at Farienne. "What do you think?" She asks. 

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Farienne thinks. And points each blessing in turn.

"Resolve. You're willing to stick to a path despite hardship and consequences, or at least consequences to you personally. You're not willing to stray because it's going to be difficult."

"Love..." she closes her eyes for a moment, "I think your life is defined by it, not necessarily that you are going to have it or even give- no wait, I think you will give love... I think the main thing I can take from this is that love will define your life. Both for the better and worse?"

"Honor. Willingness to defend your own personal morals and what you think is right, even when it's not easy... or not at your benefit? Possibly the benefit of others who can't help themselves? It interacts a lot with Resolve. I think."

She then squints at Lia. "I think you are a Hunti, with a bit of Elay. Huntis are very convicted and certain in their beliefs, often to the point that they are stereotyped as being unpleasant to be around, they are more willing to break than to bend. Elay... have our heads in the clouds, we care about abstract ideals, like honor, true love and reaching for happy endings."

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Her eyes widen a bit at these descriptions. "Oh... Yes, I suppose that does describe me," she agrees quietly. She rests a hand on her belly, and smiles a bit wryly, "I don't know how much I believe in true love anymore," she says, "But a happy ending does look to be in reach, at least, with all this magic around."

"Would you like to meet the rest of my group? I think they'll all be interested to learn what their blessings are, as well. We can trade you some of our own magic in return, too, if you'd like?"

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"That would be great!" She half-stands and leans across the table to hug her.

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Goodness! Hug! Lia laughs a little, surprised, and squeezes her back.

"Most of them are upstairs," she says after a moment, pulling back, "But Istevi was down here, he just went to the washroom. We should go fetch him before we find the others." 

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They find him on the way to the washroom.

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Once again Farienne claps to herself and then hugs Istevi with a loud "Eeee!"]

"You're an alt of my dad."

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"What?"

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"Oh! Well, that explains it. I thought she looked a little familiar," she tells Istevi. "This is Farienne Dochenza," she adds, "I met her while you were gone. She's a Prime, which in her case means she has air and soul magic, and I suppose she's your alt's daughter - I'm guessing with the Zofin alt?" She gives Farienne a questioning look. "Does that name sound similar? Alts mostly seem to have similar names."

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"Oh, is she tall blond- or I guess not blond." She says looking between their grey hairs. "Shy and bookish?"

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Istevi only reaction this is lifting his hand to touch Farienne's face and look at her with an awed expression.

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...Okay, that's sweet. Lia feels a little bad for him, now, given all the hostility between him and his ex-girlfriends. Not that it isn't deserved. 

"Yes, that about describes her," she agrees, pushing the thoughts out of mind. "She's green - our society has castes, a person's hair colour usually matches their caste, green is science, art, literature, and so on" 

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"She works with books in a museum." Istevi says absently, still with the same expression.

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Farienne notices something about their mood. "Okay. Could you fetch her and the others? While I talk to him?"

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She looks between them, nods, "Yes, I can do that." She'll leave them alone for a bit.

Upstairs, to Isteri's room first, in case some number of people are already in there. 

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Zofin is there, she has recovered a lot in the past days and her reaction to this news is... definitely a bunch of conflicted feelings, but she doesn't start crying.

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That's good. And both of them are interested in this kind of magic. They send Zofin ahead and fetch the other two. Oddly enough, Patiri and Mura ended up closer to each other than anyone else in this awkward situation.

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Soon, they all reach downstairs. The barroom is mercifully empty.

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(Liarae knocks on Lyra and Brandon's door as well, but they don't answer. She assumes they must be sleeping. Hopefully they'll come down to join the group before Farienne leaves, if the mysterious mechanisms of Milliways time allows.)

Downstairs, Liarae will acquire some food from the bar, asking for and fulfilling drink requests from the others while Farienne draws for them. 

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Farienne does that - after hugging her mother's alt, of course. If she finds the situation at all uncomfortable, she doesn't show much.

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Istevi already got his blessings sorted as Fertility, Beauty and Surprise.

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Zofin's are: Contentment, Serenity and Patience.

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Patiri got: Patience, Resilience and Power.

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Mura draw gives her: Certainty, Strength and Resolve.

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While Isteri is blessed with: Fertility, Wealth and Power.

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Farienne is then happy to give her (very educated guesses) at what each blessing means.

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Well, the two Fertility blessings are no surprise. Neither is Istevi's Surprise blessing, or Beauty - it's even in his name. Lia can see how all of the blessings fit each person, actually... It's pretty uncanny. 

"You mentioned that we can do other things with the blessing coins, right?" She asks Farienne once she's done offering her guesses. "Some kind of limited divination?"

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Farienne nods. "You can draw a blessing from a bowl like this one, and the blessing will representative of something from your near future. I drew three surprises before coming here, to give you context. It's the broad strokes, but still useful."

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"And it can only be done with these forty specific blessings? What if some are missing?"

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"Forty three, eight for each of the five elements, three additional ones. There is a country in my world with a slightly different set, but we don't know if it was a cultural drift due to isolation, or something weirder. No one managed to do on purpose afterwards. The draw picks the best blessing from the set you have, the most correctly informative, so an incomplete set is less informative, but still informative. And also why we usually do three full sets per bowl."

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"Okay... I am going to be blunt, how can you be sure this is not just superstition like how in our world people try to predict the future through oysters."

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Farienne giggles. "Well, I don't know if that works in your world. But in mine when a blessed person try to draw for a non-blessed the coins will do weird things, like appearing in alphabetic order, or show the drawer's own birth blessings, or draw all the ghost coins in the bowl first. Ah, ghost coins are what happens when the coin is so worn that you can't tell what it originally meant, unless you're me. They sort of represent... the opposite of the blessing? If I had draw a ghost joy to someone I would expect them to be very miserable and sad."

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"Huh," she will definitely check on that, it's not like this is any less plausible than the chunk of crystal inside her arm right now and far less painful. "Could you erase a coin and make it into a ghost on purpose? And put only a specific kind of ghost coin per bowl and thus know what the ghost coin was by elimination?"

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"Oh, yes that would work. You're brilliant like your daughter."

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Mura abruptly stands up and leaves.

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Awkward. 

Does this mean the Istevi in Farienne's world did the same thing as the one in this world? She's not tactless enough to ask.

...Is Zofin okay?

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She looks more sorry for Mura than for herself.

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"Maybe, you four... three? Might want to talk to each other privately."

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"Four. I mean, I do want to have the conversation that we all know we want to have. Sorry, Lia and Isteri."

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"It's fine. We can test the divination while you do that." 

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"Thank you."

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"Thank you."

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Isteri smiles and takes Lia by the arm to a short walk away.

Once they are far enough. She lets out a sigh. "Gah! I can't believe that we found a source of multiple kinds of magic and interpersonal relationships are making it complicated."

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"Seems to be a bit of a theme," she agrees. "I wonder if talking to an alternate of one of their children is going to help or make things worse?"

She shakes her head, "Should we go upstairs and see if Lyra and Brandon are awake? Trying to draw for someone unblessed sounds like the simplest way to test if it actually works." 

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"Either the girl got her mother's inability to lie, or she is even better than her father at putting a face and manipulating people. So..." Shrug. "I will take anything that isn't this soap opera drama." Upstairs they go.

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The twins answer the door this time and, after getting the overview from the two Amentans, agree to the experiment. They are refreshingly free of soap opera drama. 

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Lia sets up the bowl of blessings which they'd brought from downstairs, "How do we do this?" She wonders, shifting through the paper blessings with one hand. "Just... think of a question and draw?" What happens if she tries to draw with Brandon's immediate future in mind? 

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"I think it always gets your immediate future, but you can make up your mind about what you are going to do with the information and it can be somewhat directed by that?"

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"Hm... Alright." She tries just drawing for Brandon, no question in mind. 

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Beauty, Beauty, Beauty. Change, Change, Change. Charm, Charm, Charm....

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She snorts, once she realizes what's happening, and keeps going until she reaches the third Determination. 

"Alphabetical," she reports to Isteri. "Definitely not a natural result. Try it?" She offers her the bowl. 

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Isteri accepts... and after a moment thinking. She draws nine without looking then she scrambles those around and lines them up again.

Endurance, Endurance, Endurance, Flexibility... "This is ridiculous." She says, but she is smiling.

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The other three are all pretty amused by this, too. "It is," Lia agrees, laughing a little. "Try drawing for me instead?" She suggests. 

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Isteri gives an uncharacteristic giggle and takes all the blessings back into the bowl, shakes it and...

"Surprise, Endurance and Courage?"

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"...Well that could be read as ominous," Brandon comments. "Try drawing for yourself," he suggests, "-or does Lia have to do it, either way, let's see if they match." 

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"I am not sure it makes that much of a difference." She does try to draw for herself. Endurance, Surprise and Change. "Huh, maybe we should ask Farienne what she thinks about it?"

 

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"That's probably a good idea," Lia agrees with a  concerned frown. "You two can get blessings drawn, as well," she adds to Lyra and Brandon. 

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"Oh, that should be interesting! I wonder if we have the same ones." 

Back downstairs they all go. 

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Downstairs they go. The light is dimmer. The decor has changed to black and purple with various plastic decorations of things like spiders and glow in the dark skeletons.

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Farienne excitedly waves at them. "Hey, we went outside for a moment and this happened!"

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"Looks like Halloween," Lyra comments, going over to poke at one of the spiders. 

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"A holiday in our world," Brandon explains, "Spiders and skeletons are part of the aesthetic. Kids dress up in costumes and go door-to-door asking for candy. We're a bit too old to get away with it," he says with a dramatically wistful sigh. 

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Huh. "It's a little creepy," is Lia's comment on the matter. "These are my alt, Lyra, and her brother Brandon," she tells Farienne, coming closer to the table. "We were wondering if alts get the same blessings - though, first, we wanted to ask you what you think of the set of blessings Isteri drew for us." 

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Farienne ponders over the blessings. "Huh... Endurance is... rarely good, and combining it with Surprise makes it more so. Let me draw Lira and Brandon's blessings, and then we can get a clearer picture. Alts don't always have the same blessings..."

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Love, Loyalty, Charm.

"Well, I'm not surprised," Brandon says.

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And Lyra gets the same thing as Lia - Resolve, Honour, Love. 

"I guess I have something to look forward to," she muses.

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Lia hopes that works out better for Lyra than it did for her. 

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While that happens Istevi shows up. And also other patrons in Halloween costumes show up.

Surprise and double Endurance. Brandon gets Surprise, courage and contentment in different orders.

"What does this means?"

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"I don't know," she drew to herself surprise, kindness and serenity, "it's not good, something that affects Amentans in particular."

Either an actual werewolf just walked through the door or that's a really good costume. The werewolf is somewhat alarm-looking but is not attacking anyone.

In retrospect some of the other patrons have very good custome as well.

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"-Is that an actual vampire?" Lyra asks Brandon, motioning to a particularly pale person across the room. 

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He squints at them, "I have no idea. It could just be really good fake blood?" 

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Gaemir had mentioned vampires. Lia shuffles further away from the suspected vampire, giving them a wide-eyed look.

"...What other kinds of things are associated with 'Halloween'?" She asks the twins. 

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"Oh, witches, black cats, monsters, skimpy costumes, zombies," He hums, "It's the night of magic and mystery and monsters," he adds with a shrug.

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Isteri is just looking around terrible alarmed. She holds her belly like she is expecting to be stabbed there. "Is... what-"

Whatever she was going to say it's interrupted by the sudden loud music.

The twins recognize the 1982 classic starting chords of Thriller.

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And a few seconds later, zombies, including one dressed exactly like Michael Jackson start showing up.

"That... that looks like a rotting corpse." Istevi isn't sure how many people know this, he knows mostly because he had an uncle that liked to test if people had the stomach to be police detectives. "A dancing moving corpse."

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"They look like something out of a music video back home," Brandon says, a bit tense. On the one hand, Thriller, on the other hand, the Amentans sure do look very alarmed. On yet a third hand, he's not sure if the zombies are sentient enough to follow the non-violence rules of Milliways. 

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Lia is more than a bit tense. She is pale and a bit green in the face, but she does shift to stand a bit in front of Isteri. "What- Why- They're just costumes, right?" Not that this would make the situation alright

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Farienne stands up, and Istevi holds her arm and pulls back. "I didn't get any Endurances. I should be fine." A brief moment. "You're hurting me."

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Istevi lets her go with visible effort.

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Farienne approaches a zombie, not the Michael Jackson one. "Hello, sir. Are you alright?"

The zombie dances and something about his chest intrigues Farienne, she has to circle around the creature to keep looking at it, which causes the zombie to be between her and the others.

She leans down and the thing she was intrigued by was a hole in the zombie's chest that she is now peering through. She is also in the middle of the zombies.

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Lia makes a high-pitched squeaking noise, her voice caught in her throat, and covers her mouth with her hand. She backs up and, grabbing Isteri's arm, half-tugs, half-herds her back towards the door. "We need to- we need to leave," she gets out past the nausea. 

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Brandon is less alarmed than Lia is, but still pretty alarmed! He steps after Farienne, tone somewhat urgent, "Hey, Farienne, could you come back over here, please?" He's flickering a bit around the edges, little wisps of flame wafting off his skin and hair. 

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(Lyra starts building an ice barrier, starting at the edges of the room, building up slowly enough to let Brandon and Farienne get behind it if they come through the center.)

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"Yes." Isteri tells Lia, her voice sounds like it has been squeezed out of her throat. "We have everything right? Or at least a copy of everything past my door?" Then with even less composure. "We have been here for days. How- stuff like this might have been walking around the entire time!"

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Her father alt's father braves the middle of the zombies and the only reason he doesn't drag her back is because she is cooperating.

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"Uh... I understand that these are scary. But they really ought to be safe. I once had a lovely conversation with just a skull."

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Lyra completes the ice barrier once everyone in their group is on this side of it. 

"I don't know what kind of zombies these are," she tells Farienne, "Some of them are very dangerous. Presumably security will deal with them if they get violent, but. Well, they don't seem to be talking, either way." 

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"I know! Yes, we have everything - we'll all need to take decontamination showers - I'm sorry, can you get the door?" She looks over to Patiri and Zofin, and then to Istevi, "We need to leave right now," she calls over to them. 

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Zofin and Patiri are not verbal enough to agree, but they obviously agree.

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Isteri gets the door. Zofin and Patiri bolt through.

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"Mura! We- I should grab Mura!"

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"Damn it," she hisses, holding just in front of the door while the others go through. "Lyra, can you-?" 

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Lyra shifts one side of the barrier, giving access to the hallway without leaving the closed off space open to the rest of the room. 

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Istevi wait a second, and then there is a gap between the zombies, he dashes through it. He is not touching anything, definitely not the zombies.

He passes safely. That's the upside.

The downside is that the zombies - impeccably choreographed to the rhythm of the music - are now advancing on them, climbing on the tables and trying to climb the wall.

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Well, the wall will become a full-length feature, then, stretching from floor to ceiling and growing thicker as well, just in case. 

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Brandon steps closer to the door to the hallway, watching down it with flame flickering more uniformly over his body. "You can go," he assures Lia, "We'll wait for him, as long as the barrier is holding - and it should." 

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Lia hesitates, looking past him at the hallway door, but - the thumping of the zombies against the barrier makes her flinch - she nods, steps back into Isteri's home - and lets the door fall shut.

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Isteri collapses on the floor.

There is nothing that they can't do but wait. However, long it will take.

She still is trying to catch her breath when her pocket everything rings.

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Inside Milliways there is a Pop! In the middle of their shelter and a witch - pointy hat and all - is suddenly there. "I am sorry, but I will have to ask you to leave. This thing you're doing is hurting a guest."

She points at the ice barrier, or to be more precise at a spot in the ice barrier where they can see the werewolf with his tongue stuck.

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"-Ah. Sorry, we were a little startled. By all the zombies." She looks over at Brandon (the werewolf's tongue gets released).

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"We promised to wait for someone," he tells the witch, flames flaring up a little bit as he crosses his arms. 

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"Deflammo." The witch waves a wand. The flames go out. "Or I can just make you leave." Another flicker of her wand and Brandon is invisibly bound. 

"Please. He didn't mean to."

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Lyra steps towards her brother, alarmed, "Hey! We'll leave, we just wanted to know they'll be safe." 

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"My dad's alt. He will worry if he doesn't see me safe."

"Fine. You two go and I will protect her."

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She looks to Farienne, and then nods, grabbing hold of her brother's arm. "Can you release him?" And, assuming she does, "Thank you. Stay safe, Farienne. Come on," she tugs Brandon over to the door, opening it and stepping through. 

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The witch releases Brandon with a wand flourish. And lets them step through the door. "Bye!" Farienne says absently.

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Elsewhere, Istevi is running franctically towards Mura's room and only barely has the presence of mind to not knock down the door. He knocks frantically. "Mura we need to leave!"

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Mura recognizes that the tone sounds alarming, but this is Istevi and she is practicing that painful crystal magic and she has to yet get the hand of keeping the thing inside her without being too painful to bare. She "spits" the onyx-like thing out of her arm. She opens the door irritated. "What?!"

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Istevi grabs her free hand. "This place is polluted! There are monsters downstairs. We need to leave."

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Mura let's herself be dragged, barely feeling the pain in the still sensitive arm.

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Downstairs, the barroom is just how Istevi left it.

Which is to say, a nightmare of rotting corpses dancing to alien 80's music. Farienne is by the door with a woman in a pointy hat, the ice barrier is already gone. "Dad! Everyone is fine and back! You can just leave!"

The witch has a long-suffering look and just nudges towards the door. The Prime opens it and goes through.

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Mura is just... making pathetic disgusted noises.

The witch has not seen the remaining two doing anything that warrants being kicked out of Milliways, but figures...

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...Now both Istevi and Mura are flying through the air. They stop abruptly at the door, upside down. There is even a car break sort of noise.

Istevi grabs the handle and opens it wide and they return their trajectory, falling on top of each other in Istevi's room.

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What causes Mura to get up is the notion that Istevi is polluted. And she bolts upright.

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He gets up a second later. And searches for his pocket everything, finds it. "Okay, decontamination showers instructions." He starts playing and watching. "I don't know if there are special instructions if you're pregnant..." he says absently, while removing his clothes.

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Something about that sparks a terrible and certain suspicion in her.

She has his kids. That's ought to be the only reason why he went back to her.

And in a sense it doesn't matter if it's true. There is so much to hate about this polluted unfaithful man. She is already holding a sharp object, the black crystal, which she knows it's supposed to have anti-magic properties. She steps around Istevi while he is pulling his shirt up and aims for the fertility tattoo on his back.

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Isteri is on the phone for a while. "So, they are both refusing to say anything, except that they are both polluted? Okay... call the paramedics, I am just a landlord blue. Oh, good. Yes, I do know them and please do not harm either. I will... I will make some calls."