The Bookwyrm

Calev groaned and put a hand to his head as the false memories tried to shove into the recesses of his mind again. No...no. None of it happened. You still have a purpose. He found he was able to trace the source of the memories. Eddie. Signaling to Aster to follow, Calev turned and ran to find Eddie. @Ookla the Believer @Ookla the Resolute @Ookla the Raveness

"Hm." Calev said. Mysteries upon mysteries... "Let's talk to her, when we have a chance."

Calev looked at his hand. "Magic...a strange thing, sometimes..." He sighed. "What are we going to do about Eddie?"

"Well, first, the fact that I didn't have them, they were forced on me. And second..." His eyes grew distant. "They tried to obscure my mission. Who I was, what drove me. Tried to re-write who I was." He turned and met Aster's eyes. "It was compelling. But...I can't abandon myself. Not even after all the pain I've felt."

Calev nodded and smiled slightly. Calev watched her leave, but didn't follow. If she's built a lie for herself, then she can't truly run from it...it's all going to come crashing down one way or another eventually.

"I..." he hesitated. He was planning on acting as if he did believe, to deflect suspicion and assimilate into the society, to try to figure out what had happened. But...maybe this way was better. "No," he said. "I don't."

He met her eyes. "What?"

The conflict tearing at him seemed to last for eternity. Then he remembered something Mother had said. "No, it's not easy. But we don't do things because they're easy. We do things because they're right." Was it easy to dwell in a false happiness? Yes. Was it right? ...That was unclear. But was it right to leave his sister in the hands of the Makers? No. With this resolution, he studied the memories that assaulted him. And slowly, carefully, he began to absorb them. Not as memories, but as information. Knowledge. He learned how the university worked, what classes he'd been "teaching", his relationships and how they worked. But he didn't accept them as truth. Not as history, but as a tool, to gain information, and eventually help these people break out of whatever prison they were in. *** Calev emerged from the cocoon, his eyes red and swollen from the tears.

The wrongness returned. It felt right, and that's why it hurt. How long had it been since he felt safe? Felt happy? The memories this time made sense. Yes, his family was dead, but he had friends...friends who loved him, helped him. He had a place at the University. He was the only Lightwielder there, so he actually got to teach a little, about distant worlds and alien magics. Along with classes he found engaging and interesting. He wanted to accept it...so badly... But the Makers. But Sevri... Could he really leave her? Maybe he could. Tears ran down his face, tears that no one could see. Why...is it so hard...to choose?

"I'm eighteen, by my own world's reckoning," Calev said before the cocoon ate him. "I don't know if that counts as 'of age' here or not."

Calev frowned, confused. "Align? Uh...the Lightwielders? Myself? I'm not sure what you're asking..." Calev hesitated, checking his mind for the influences of magic. He felt none, but...that didn't always mean it wasn't there. "Okay," he said. "Go carefully, though."

"I'm a Lightwielder, I'm from a world beyond this one, and I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on here." Calev tensed. "What do you mean by 'fix'?"

Calev frowned. "What artifact?"

"Gone...I don't know. I just..." Calev forced himself to relax slightly. "Something is very wrong here. I just felt years - years, Eddie - worth of memories, false memories, all being pushed on me at the same time. They were lies. But they fit with what this place seems to be..."

Memories...they were there. They were...happy. And they were wrong. Sevri was there. Happy. Laughing. Unharmed, untouched by a life of fighting, of her disappearance at the hands of the Makers. His parents, caring for them, getting him a place at the University, teaching him the nuances of his power, telling him the history of the Order, remarking on how lucky it was that they didn't need to fight like that anymore... But he'd seen them die. The memories were beautiful. They wrapped around him, told him that it was all okay, that reality was now perfect. But they were a cruel irony, a knife in the gut, compared to what he knew. Those years were a lie. With a mental shove, Calev shoved the false memories out of his mind. *** Calev stood up and scrambled back, staring at Eddie with wariness. His hand twitched, itching to Solidify the Blueprint of his handgun, due to the sudden sense of danger he felt. "What happened to you?" @Ookla the Believer

Calev gasped and collapsed to the ground, falling on his knees. Years? What is this... Years?

"Last I remember, we were on the train, in the snow, heading towards a place called the Moving Mountains. Then...there's a gap in my memory, and I just somehow ended up here."

Calev stood slightly confused at the...nonchalant-ness of the exchange. Wasn't she running for her life last I saw her?

"Eddie," he said. "Do you know what happened? What is this place?"

It was at this point that Calev walked in on the group. "Oh, thank the stars," he said, noticing familiar faces. @Ookla the Believer @Ookla the Raveness @Ookla of Ravens

Tenari crept across the roof of the Palace of Ministers. It was several hours past second sunset, though the light of the Far Moon was bright that night, so she had no trouble seeing. The light did mean she had to be careful about being spotted, which was annoying, though the tight black jumpsuit she wore was instilled with magic to keep eyes off her. Assuming she was careful enough. She was on a mission. Members of her organization, the White Phoenix, had assassinated the Minister of Control only three days before. The government, the Ministers of the country of Shen'ir, were corrupt. And this was only the beginning. However, the Minister of Control had a Dreamer. And Dreamers were powerful tools. Even if this one's original master had died, another Minister would claim him. And Tenari couldn't let that happen. She found a window and pulled out a dagger, using its blade to shatter it. She didn't care if she left evidence; this was going to be a quick job. Tenari ducked inside the Palace of Ministers and went to find her target.

It just...dragged. At least in the way I saw it, nothing was happening, and it didn't feel like Dune in the same way...it didn't feel like a continuation, and I wasn't invested.

What's going on in this thread?

I never finished God Emperor.

Ooh.