"That's... cool, but..."

"Yeah, it seems... isolating. They can touch people with teekay, but I don't know how much they can... get a real hug."

"Yeah. I hope, uh, art preservationists or whatever aren't too disappointed that I don't want to be flat."

"It's your choice, not theirs. Also I consider everything we talk about here private unless you give me permission, a lot like a therapist. They won't know, it's none of their business."

"Okay. What are the last couple?"

"Just one left-" fire wrapped in flesh, sensations of crowds "-Ah. Phlegethontes, fire-bloods, they're not that rare. A phlegethon is fire wrapped in flesh, and they can feel the heat of life around them, all the people nearby. They look normal in warm dry places, but they steam a little in humidity and in the cold their eyes and flesh go pale and clear and show the fire underneath. They're magic-extroverts, gain mana whenever they're in crowds, especially mortal crowds. When they die, the fire runs wild, and keeps going until it takes a life or it gets fed a heart - easier than you'd think to do safely, some people resurrect easily."

"Huh. I mean, I don't want to die any time soon but it seems maybe kind of rude to set myself up to burn down a convention center or whatever."

"Yeah, getting in danger just as you're gaining mana could be pretty terrible."

"I'm kinda leaning singy birdy person. Is there anything you don't like about it?"

"Honestly, no. Some people like being able to go out in public and not worry about hiding - like, I can't get into a hot tub with mortals - but it doesn't really bother me, several of the other Earths are un-Veiled and there are tons of pocket dimensions with magic towns, so I just get most of my close socializing with them. Neutrals and daeva are the ones you'd pick if that's a big deal for you, though phlegethontes also work outside, like, snowball fights. I didn't give all the magic details for Neutral and Daeva, should I?"

"Oh, go ahead."

"Neutrals are like mortals, but age at half the rate or less, and don't get cancer or random tiny malfunctions that can be fatal like strokes or heart attacks. They only need to sleep about six hours, but can sleep longer and often do - they charge mana from sleep and about seven hours brings them from empty to full. Daeva don't have a natural reincarnation method but they don't age and they're really tough, Captain America kind of thing. They get mana from strong emotions - either pointed right at them, or just being in a crowd. An hour in a Taylor Swift concert and they're full, or spending that time with someone who really loves - or hates - them. And - this is important particularly for these two - true immortality is purchasable. You can make it if you're a really good alchemist, and there are a bunch of witches who have that as their primary income stream, selling true immortality to Neutrals."

"Do the angels have anything to say about all this immortality, come to think?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd have heard if they were against it. They don't spend much time on - doctrine, in my experience. There are demons and monsters and Outsiders endangering humanity and magihumanity and they care about encouraging virtue, that's part of the rituals to summon them, but not so much about details of our lives. God doesn't talk much, and He doesn't care about the differences between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, let alone particular sects within them. They're all accepted by the celestials and the Watchers."

"Huh, I don't know all that much about what's different between Muslims and Jews but the, um, the Jesus part, is pretty important as I understand it? Does Jesus talk to people?"

"Jesus does not talk to people. No one knows where Jesus is. And lots of people don't believe Jesus was the son of God, or that he existed or exists. It's pretty common to doubt that the little-g god we call God was actually involved in the Bible or Koran or any of the events depicted there, there are even people who doubt that and are still Watchers."

"That is confusing. Can my priest be on the list of people I tell?"

"He can be, and also I can put you in touch with an appropriate priest behind the Veil unless you're some really obscure denomination they only have in-" she glances out the window- "Chicago, that I've never met before."

"No, just regular Roman Catholic. I like my priest but would probably really stall the confessional if I went and told him all this."

"He might also not believe it, that happens. Seal of the confessional makes it safe to try, though. I can definitely find you some Catholic priests who are witches, sirens, or both. Probably in a couple hours."

"Okay, I'll save it for them then. Man, does the Vatican know?" she giggles. It seems rhetorical. She pokes at the "classes".

"At least one of the un-Veiled Earths has its own Vatican, so..."

There are three classes. They are 'red', 'green', and 'blue'. The green one has a lot of other nodes connected to it, some in groups and some alone, with other things tied to them. But the first one she touches is blue. It feels studious, and while she's touching it, she can see some of the larger web off in the distance shade bluish, and feel easier to reach, smaller dots becoming less distant. There are two big clusters of complicated webs, and about half of the larger one pulls closer. These feel cerebral, orderly, and so does the 'blue' node itself.

"This is Academic witchery. Academics improve their magic by study and experimentation, a lot like a science class."

Besides the feeling of focus and understanding, mapping out reality in your mind slowly every day, Rebecca can feel a sense of shortcuts and optimization - doing more with less, whether with the (hypothetical/prophetic) feeling of watching a steel cauldron boil or one of carefully writing symbols into leather and silver with gold dust and incense, or of planning out a portal or ripping a fragile one into the air quickly.

"The shortcuts this is trying to show you manifest as doubling what you make, or halving one of the costs you spend to get it. Time or mana, usually. It only applies to things that have a strong tie to academic magic, but that covers a lot of the stuff that gets traded around."

Also, she can feel two dim lines trailing from the cluster, ready to reach out to anything, filling the whole of a complex branch. But it wouldn't be a normal connection, in some abstract way.

"That one's hard to understand. Basically, it gets you two types of magic, mastering it to the limit of your capabilities with no cost from your natural energy, but they still will take just as much time to learn. That's probably about three years of dedicated study for each."

"My - natural energy?"

"Right, I should explain that. Every witch has a certain amount of natural potential energy. Unlocking different schools of magic to different degrees take different amounts, and most of the process of awakening you is deciding where to channel that energy. Things you don't choose to awaken you can improve later - how is based on your class - but you won't be able to do everything, and some things will be easier than others. Your class, and the elemental affinities of your race, are what affect those choices of what's easier. There's also some absolute limits - the complex magic comes in ranks, and you can reach rank four; I'm about average and can't get past rank three. Do you want an example?"

"Yyyyes please."