"It is not a joke, it is not a trick, it is not a booty call. It is important. Trust me. Please."

"...Okay. I'll call a car. You're paying for it. Should be... fifteen minutes."

"Thank you. See you soon."

And then, after she's hung up.

"So, there's magic to discuss, and probably other things, but most of that should wait for Tseonur to get here. So tell me about the people. This 'last Godiria' and whoever else he has available. I've heard the name as an old city family in Uncle's day, but not that there was anyone left."

"The Godirias were the masters of soul magic - changing the properties of people's souls, including research into immortality. They'd be much better at what I'm doing for you than I am, and for a long time their family were some of my closest allies. They were force multipliers, able to hold back the Inquirium with themselves and a few allies. But twenty-five years ago, they all disappeared in a single night, except the youngest, Rai Godiria, who had barely begun magic training and, I thought, knew nothing at all of their secret arts. Probably I was incorrect."

"Rai refused to become my ward, and dodged the Inquirium - who wanted the last scion of their chief enemy dead very much indeed - for the whole quarter-century. From what I've observed, he is driven - some need to prove himself worthy of his family, or quixotic quest to restore them, I'd guess."

"The Godirias created the three seals that hold Gojira beneath the city and siphon its power, and only a Godiria can break them, at least without centuries of research no one would do, least of all me. He's very personally powerful - a master of aura magic, which confers immense toughness and close-combat ability - but if he dies, the city is safe no matter what the other two do. But they know that, and he's very charismatic - they are very loyal to him and will almost certainly defend him with their lives."

"Traumatized, probably, but maybe in a way that led to fanaticism? That often makes for a very compelling leader... I'll have to needle him in person to see if I can learn anything that could crack his confidence, most likely. His followers?"

"Two. Maren Prellea, also the last of a family, and Rafe Lannin, also the survivor of one of the Inquirium's greatest enemies."

"The Prelleas have carried the embers of a True Fire through their family for many generations - short ones, since it burns through their souls just like any other kindling. He's mastered fire magic and has enormous range and power with it. And he is utterly devoted to Rai. I don't know whether their bond is romantic, but they are as close as a married couple. It would be sweet, if it wasn't for what Rai's doing with his support. He may have some personal stake in their goal as well, but I know nothing about it."

"Maren's mother died of premature aging about ten years ago. His younger brother Ninno may still live, and I sensed something like him in the city recently. He is unlikely to be healthy, with his family's magic at such a young age."

"I see. I'm not sure it would help to confront the elder with the younger... Worth considering. Lannin?"

"Ambitious. Ruthless. He was one of the leaders of the Oro Conglomerate, a huge alliance of mages banding together for protection. But his boss dissolved the group, and Rafe wasn't able to convince enough members to stick together to keep it going or make a successor organization. I assume he's with Rai to rebuild something like it, or out of hatred for the Inquirium."

"He's a master of puppet animation, and can animate enormous numbers of simple puppets at once, rather than the usual maximum of a handful. In the past he could also animate the dead, and his zombies could act almost independently of his direction, but he didn't use that capacity when they fought me."

"Also not promising. I doubt we can offer him more of what he wants than Godiria. Is there anyone else I should know about?"

"In the city? Several definitely present, and some more who might be. None of them reliable allies, and most of them could be convinced to work with Godiria instead. If he knows they're present to ask. Oskar Pelfroi is a coward, but he has space-folding magic from an old family deal with something like a devil and he may be loyal to Almia. Lyn is an escaped Inquirium conscript who can puppet liquids, and will likely jump whichever way better promises her revenge. Luci Neila is an Almia native who can manipulate wandering souls, but she is possessed and that soul is unpredictable. Halam Jouen is a businessman who can accomplish impressive feats of animation in his own territory. He wants control of the city, and has been fighting me for it constantly. And Tamara Merudio is my most recent anchor for the city, confined to Almia in order to keep it from losing contact with the mundane world. She understnds the necessity but she may resent it enough to sacrifice the city for her freedom."

"I know of Jouen, he cuts deals with Uncle every so often. 'Neila' is familiar, too... Tseo may know Luci."

Keys rattle in the front door's lock.

"I might know who?"

"Luci Neila. Apparently she can do real magic, and might help us protect the city if I approach her right."

"Real... magic..."

Eleanora again drops her mundane disguise and lets her aura of power flow outward and over him.

"Almia is in danger from someone reckless, who would sacrifice the whole city for a chance at power to fight the mage-hunters. I failed to stop him, and won't live long. I need your help."

He looks at Tarsa. She nods.

"Okay. What do you want us to do, ma'am?"

"Before I fade, I can ignite your souls, and apply some further transformations to give you significantly more power and knowledge, but none of them are healthy for your soul. You'll lose pieces of your humanity. And because you're being ignited together, one of those pieces will be ability to separate - your magic will be weaker when you're apart, and if you tried to live on opposite sides of the city for long, you'd both become sickly. I could perhaps do that with a third person, but Tarsa said she'd only be willing to trust it with one other."

"Stuck to her, huh? Not my favorite idea."

"Call it enforced trust."

"...Good point. Okay. I'm in."

"There are a few different procedures I could carry out to strengthen you. Igniting both of you together will cut your natural reserves roughly in half, and the smallest sacrifice, splicing small soul fragments of past mages into your own, would merely restore that loss. Each successively more dangerous ritual would give a larger boost, and the higher the danger the better the ratio of power to loss; the most powerful basically-safe change would cut about four times as much from your soul and bestow about five and a half times as much power - that would be injecting you with the diluted blood of an ancient beast. I also know two rituals which would give drastically less raw power, but bestow other lasting magical advantages - one would make you regain your spent magical energy rapidly, and the other would call the spirits of long-dead experts to guide your learning rapidly, so that every spell and battle leaves you stronger. Difficult to arrange in the short time you'll have to fight the Godiria and his backup, though."

"Those do sound very useful. But I have no scale. Can we get some numbers here?"

She concentrates, and looks more human for a moment as she does. "...There are no units for this. The old Godiria family might have had something like it, but few have done anything similar. I've done a lesser rite a few times... But I've never tried to put it in human terms."

"It doesn't have to be precise, Eleanora. Just close enough."

"...Right. A normal soul with minor potential, ignited, could stretch to about seven chunks - call them 'alms' - of magic. Igniting you together will reduce that to three each. The beast-blood ritual would add four sacrifices and twenty-two alms, ending with twenty-five. Each of the special rituals would add a sacrifice and only two alms. If you took both of those and the strongest other treatment I could give you, you'd end with sixteen alms. If you chose one of the two specials and then the strongest I could give you, twenty alms."

"The discipline most mages begin with, Aura, would take fifteen alms to fully learn. The most complex of those I could gift you with, Animation, Illusion, or Life, nineteen. True mastery can't be attained with this rapid process, and probably not in the fortnight you have, but will be over time."