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the gods of velgarth are NOT prepared for demon cam
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Jisa is so excited! Today is the BEST day! Her Uncle Van is home! He was fighting enemies on the Border, which is very exciting and cool, but it's even better to have him here where he can play with her. 

Yesterday he promised to go riding with her today, but then this morning he said he was too tired and could they maybe have tea in his room instead. And then he fell asleep. This is fine, though, because it means Jisa can SURPRISE him with the fact that she's a BIG GIRL now and knows how to read and write and lots of other things. 

She has some chalk and she's been drawing wards on his floor. She knows some designs, now, from bothering Sandra in her workshop when she's bored and Mama is too busy to talk to her, and she can pretend to be a real mage doing real magic. Uncle Van says she isn't going to be a mage even though she has potential, which Jisa thinks is deeply unfair, and she sort of hopes that if she just practices very hard then he'll be wrong and she will be a mage after all. Mindspeech is neat and apparently she's going to be a Mindhealer too, which is apparently rare and important although she doesn't really know what a Mindhealer does. But being a mage is the MOST cool. 

She sits on her Uncle Van's floor and draws big circles and little circles and decorates them and sings to herself under her breath. 

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- and he finds himself back in the doorless stone room in front of the silky alive-feeling crystal of the Heartstone, with Moondance staring at him in awe. 

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"- hey. Thanks for, uh, being a dream relay, this seems to have been important."

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"What happened?" Not just awe. There's fear there as well. Moondance's hand is shaking again, as he reaches to usher Cam back across the magical barrier that from this side looks exactly like a stone wall. 

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"- pretty much what I came here for. She wanted a word about what the problem is, and I should write Vanyel some notes, wake him or possibly Yfandes up to make sure they're understandable and they don't need me for anything, and then, uh, fly up very high."

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“What did she think the problem is - why does flying very high help, do you need to stay unseen…?”

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"Apparently there is a supervillain somewhere who likes mind-controlling people. I think if I am up above the atmosphere this will be much harder for him to do, and I'll still be able to maintain correspondence and drop care packages. It will be less fun but you can't have everything. But Van can't pilot the shuttle even if I leave it here for him, so I need to make sure he's okay making his own way home and give him some emergency instructions for in case the supervillain can grab me in space."

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"I...see." 

Going by Moondance's expression, he doesn't. 

"I– do you need anything from me?"

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"Show me where they're sleeping?"

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Moondance can lead Cam over to the ground-level ekele where Vanyel is sleeping. Yfandes is curled up a comfortable patch of moss nearby.

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"Thanks. You can go back to bed." Sigh.

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Moondance offers Cam an uncomprehending-yet-sympathetic look, and starts climbing the ladder to his shared ekele with Starwind. 

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Cam writes. He translates dismissal and summoning instructions, apologizes for his departure, explains how to write him a letter, renders an introductory phone manual into Valdemaran, and wraps all this and the phone and a few spare chargers for it into a tiny package. He wakes Yfandes.

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Yfandes wakes quickly.

And is also startled. :- What? An attack -?: 

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"No, no, nothing like that. I'm waking you because Vanyel always looks like he needs a lot of sleep, and, uh, I got what I came here for - Star-Eyed Goddess talked to me - and I wanted to explain to one of you before I go."

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:....Wait. What? The– the Star-Eyed Goddess talked...to you...directly...?:

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"Yes, it was very helpful. I'm going to operate from orbit around the planet for the foreseeable future - I can still get stuff reasonably well-aimed from there - and I am leaving this package of contingency instructions plus a device Van can use to receive replies from me if there's anything we need two-way communication for. Will you and he be able to get home okay from here, or should I wait till he wakes up and give you a ride back?"

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After a long pause -

:- Yes, we can, er, get home all right on our own. We've done it plenty of times before: 

(Well. A handful of times. But close enough.) 

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"Okay. If you need me for anything write 'letter to Cam' on a letter and I'll get it next time I check my mail, or use the phone - instructions for both are in the packet. Thank you both for everything."

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:You're welcome: 

For a moment it seems as though Yfandes may be about to add something, but she doesn't. 

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"- anything else before I go?"

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:...Vanyel spoke to the Star-Eyed, once: 

 

 

After another long pause: 

:- he, er, doesn't remember most of it - do your remember what you heard...?: 

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"...yes, I transcribed the whole conversation."

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:- Huh. I guess you're not just a normal mortal human, maybe talking to gods is easier for you: 

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"She thought I might feel tired afterwards but I don't. Maybe it's like that." Shrug.

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:Maybe: 

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