Certain elements of aether were considered parallels to one another: Fire and Water, Air and Earth, Light and Shadow. These parallels made it easier to draw from one to produce the other, due to their opposing natures. Scholars believed this had something to do with where they fell on the known spectrum of aether. It was theorized that pure aether could be broken down into elemental… fractals? Shards? Something like that.
It was pure aether that flowed through our veins alongside the blood, and so it was pure aether that we returned to the Source whenever we mortals passed on. The aether used in arcana, however, was but a fragmented version of this pure, primary source of power and life.
Professor Larkin had explained it better, but I had admittedly been distracted.
Essentially, what I knew from Amaretta was that elements were merely parts to a whole when it came to aetheric energy, and certain elements worked best together, the spellwork was stronger when you used them accordingly.
That wasn’t to say that you couldn’t draw from Fire to produce Earth arcana—aether was omnidirectional in that way. It was just easier to produce results by using parallels, and for mortals? We needed all the help we could get compared to the Aetherborne.
When I reached one of the dining halls on campus where the Studium offered basic daily fare for students, I was a bit bored with what they had available.
I was a bit bored in general, really. After the lecture in the Wyldwoods, Laurel had invited me out to some networking event at the Biblyos tonight, but I told her I had other plans. It was a lie, of course, but the idea of rubbing elbows with a bunch of sons and daughters of the noblesse made me itchy. I likedLaurel, but she felt more like an exception—almost everyone else that I had encountered so far had been more of the same from my experience on the ship. Not that I had exactly gone looking for anything beyond a few stray conversations with my classmates so far.
As I deliberated over the leafy, spinach-heavy main course, the sudden impulse struck me. Why not skip the salad offerings, and pass the remainder of my evening by partaking in one of my favorite hobbies instead? Obviously, I wasn’t the most social of creatures, but I did love to observe others from afar. And it was a perfect night for people watching.
I knew there was a tavern just a few blocks south, so I took off in that direction, buzzing in anticipation.
It may sound like a dull thing, just watching other people go about their evenings. But I found it fascinating—particularly in new places, and Sophrosyne was still quite new to me. I had so many patterns, turns of phrase, and common habits to learn from the locals.
Perhaps I felt drawn to this as a hobby because I often felt so different, so other in comparison to… anyone else I knew. I had felt that way for most of my life, even before my strange Resonances had manifested—though if that didn’t confirm it, I wasn’t sure what else would.
It was as if I was missing one small, but integral piece of being a human. So it had become a habit, a game almost, to mirror certain behaviors and try to slip into some semblance of normalcy. If I could parrot those around me well enough, I could surely pass myself off as somebody perfectly average. Just another Conduit.
Nobody would suspect that I had something to hide. Nobody would suspect I was different. Not in the ways that mattered.
I wasn’t about to go down that rabbit hole, though. To The Clover it was.
When I reached the tavern, I knew I had made the right choice. It was toasty warm inside, with a blazing fire in the center hearth of the large room, filled to the brim with busy, raucous energy. Various groups of people shared flagons of ale amongst themselves, talking, laughing, dancing, arguing.
This was exactly what I was looking for. I made my way through the crowds to seek something other than spinach for my evening fare. Leaning over the counter to catch the attention of the barkeep, I ordered a simple meal of meat and potatoes, waiting to retrieve it before finding myself a small, unoccupied corner table and settling in. Over a slow sip of cider, I began my observations.
A burly man across the room was trying to impress an attractive older woman leaning against the wall, and I watched intently out of the corner of my eye. I had been caught staring one too many times in the past, so I had learned how to be subtle about it. The older woman was clearly skeptical, but not entirely disinterested in whatever it was the man had to say. Meanwhile, he was preening and overconfident, finding the subject at hand to be most impressive.
With enough practice, it was easy to read people like this. It showed up in the crook of a smile, the glimmer of an eye, whether they were leaning in or out, what direction they were oriented towards. Body language had always been fascinating to me, and I had grown rather skilled with its interpretation over the years.
I snorted under my breath when the burly man ordered himself a shot of liquor, only to set it aflame before taking it down. Why was I not surprised he was a Fire Conduit?
I had set my attention on the older woman, ready to interpret her particular reactions to the Fire Conduit’s showboating, when suddenly someone bumped into my chair hard, leaving me eye level with their groin and cursing under their breath.
“So clearly, I was—ow,fuck!”
“Um, sorry?”
I could hardly see whoever stood before me because they were still so… close.
“No, no, that was my fault, I apologi—Oh.”
Oh?
I looked up at whoever was speaking.
Oh, indeed.
It was that damn guardsman. He was out of uniform, but I would recognize that face anywhere now. I nearly had it memorized. Gods, that was embarrassing to admit, even to myself.
“I would expect a captain of the Elder Guard to be a little more aware of his surroundings,” I said with a sly smile, taking a sip of my drink.
He raised his eyebrows for a moment before returning the smirk and craning his neck towards the two men he’d been conversing with just a moment ago.