Mage Tank

“Normally, immigration is an extensive and intrusive process,” said Varrin. “Hiward is a comparatively small nation, and given the presence of the Creation Delve and the general quality of life that its citizens enjoy, there is a high demand for immigration. Hiward keeps it tightly controlled and monitored.”

“Normally,” I said. “I presume I’m about to hear a ‘but’.”

“But,” said Varrin, “Delvers are desirable citizens to have, which makes it easier. Even so, there is always the risk of an immigrating Delver acting as a spy or something of the like for a foreign power. So, normally, even immigrating Delvers are subject to a level of scrutiny.”

“Normally,” I repeated.

“But,” said Varrin, again, “my family owns a thundry, and has autonomy over who we allow to immigrate into our own territories.”

“What is a thundry?”

“Big plot of land,” said Xim.

“How big?”

“It’s roughly one fifth of Hiward,” said Varrin.

“Damn,” I tried to think of an Earth equivalent to what he was telling me. “Is that like a duchy?”

“The Littan equivalent would be a duchy, yes.”

“Wow.” I wondered why the Littan term translated to something I understood, but the Hiwardian one didn’t. “So you’re saying you can get me in without much trouble?”

“Either my mother or father can,” he said. “I just have to figure out how to convince them to do so. I could tell them the truth and trust in their understanding and discretion. You are already in their good graces for what you did inside the Delve, insomuch as you can be without them having met you.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked. He pondered that question for a long moment.

“I trust my parents,” he said. “I believe they are good people. Harsh, at times, but that is demanded of them by their station. By getting them involved at this level, they would be courting a degree of… I don’t want to say treason. It would be an abuse of power.”

“Even though you have the discretion?” I said.

“They would be using their discretion to immigrate an individual from an unknown nation for the express purpose of avoiding the exposure of your alienage and subversion of Creation Delve entry procedures.”

“When you put it like that, I guess it sounds a bit improper.”

“I could make you a Third Layer citizen,” said Xim. “That’d be no problem.”

“That would invite different questions,” said Varrin. He rubbed at his chin. “It’s not as though he looks like he’s from the Third Layer. Still, those questions would be easier ones to field. He’d need permission to reside in Hiward.”

“You Hiwardians have a strange desire to make everything inappropriately complicated,” said Xim.

“Would that be a big deal?” I said. “It’s not like I have a huge attachment to Hiward. I haven’t even been outside yet. Maybe the weather sucks.”

“If you don’t like Hiwardian weather,” said Varrin, “you will not like the weather in the Third Layer.”

“He’d survive,” said Xim. “He’s got the Fortitude for it.”

“Wait, what kind of place is the Third Layer?”

“Does your culture have a concept of hell?” said Xim.

“Yeah. Different types, but yeah.”

“People here say it’s like that. It’s an exaggeration though.”

“It was literally regarded as a hell layer,” said Varrin, “up until a century ago.”

“It feels like a lot of things happened a century ago,” I said.

“It’s roughly when the Delves were discovered,” said Varrin. “But let’s avoid the history lesson for the moment.”

“Does it hurt to live in the Third Layer? I was raised Southern Baptist and they think hell is a lake of fire where you burn for all eternity.”

“There’s a lake of fire,” said Xim. “But it’s not like anybody swims in it. That’s where the Hunger lives. Besides, everywhere hurts to live in if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” said Varrin.

“Please,” said Xim. “You trip on a rock and break your arm, you don’t go around screaming “This world is hell! I’ve fallen into damnation! Waaah waaah!” No. You learn not to trip over rocks and you go on with your life.”

“Rocks aren’t able to animate your nightmares and feed off the fear they cause.”

“Just stay away from nightrippers. Same thing. I mean, by the gods, this world has ducks.” Xim shivered.

Varrin rolled his eyes.

I needed to find a duck.

“Arlo, it looks like you have a couple of options then,” said Varrin. “Trust my parents with your secret and risk cooperating in an illegal scheme to make you a citizen of Hiward. Or, become a Third Layer citizen, which would likely require you to reside in a hell layer for some length of time.”

“Xim, are there any legal issues with my background in the Third Layer?”

She laughed.

“Legal issues? No. There would be no legal issues.”

“Uh… are there any laws in the Third Layer?”

“We have ritual, rather than law. Things aren’t nearly as convoluted as they are here.”

I didn’t know what that meant, and I was having misgivings about living somewhere any culture considered hell. Then again, maybe it was boss. Like an endless BABYMETAL concert.

“I think I should visit the Third Layer before I make a decision.”

“Sure!” said Xim. “But, you’ll have to wait a month.”

“Why a month?”

“Moving between Layers requires the favor of Sam’lia, which shouldn’t be spent lightly,” she said. “My family likes to take their time here when we do. I also have to spend a month in prayer and give offerings for using my transformation. I’ll be stuck in the temple while my family vacations.”

“This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing I should put off for that long,” I said.

“You currently have no political backing,” said Varrin. “No government invested in your well-being in the event that you’re abducted or extorted, or for foreign governments to fear when targeting you. I wouldn’t wait long in your shoes.”

“So then, trust Varrin’s family to protect me while we commit a criminal conspiracy to hide my alien superhero origin story, or become a citizen of hell?”

“It’s not a hell layer,” said Xim.

“That about sums it up,” said Varrin.

“I appreciate your offer, Varrin. I don’t want to put your family at risk and I especially don’t want to end up being taken prisoner if the sham is ever exposed. I think my chances of falling into the hands of a nefarious organization bent on extracting portions of my brain for experimentation would be more than marginally higher if I were a convict or outlaw.”

“I see,” said Varrin. He looked both relieved and disappointed.

“Awesome!” said Xim. “You can join my tribe then.”

I took a deep breath.

“You’re sure that’s fine?”

*****

“He’s from another dimension,” Xim said as she shoveled a forkful of the local equivalent of beef into her mouth.

I’d been invited to join her family for dinner, which was hosted at a private venue bought out for the night to celebrate her Creation. A few servants stood nearby in the shadows, but they were all citizens of the Third Layer as well, and Xim didn’t seem to mind the possibility of them overhearing.

“That’s very nice,” Xim’s mom said, as though Xim had just told her I was nothing any more remarkable than a mechanic, or a chef. The woman’s dark horns glittered in the candlelight as she cut a bite from a leafy vegetable. Her name was Xorna, and her soul glowed a magnificent gold with veins of silver woven into it, the base layer looking like a series of blooming and decaying roses. There were also subtle striations of violet running throughout the Delver layers, something I hadn’t seen before. The level floating above her head said eighteen, and her presence emitted far greater pressure than Lito’s or Myria’s had. She also ate her food with much greater delicacy than her daughter. “What dimension in particular?”

“Uh, I don’t know if it has a proper name,” I said. “Earth is the planet.” Xorna frowned thoughtfully.

“That sounds difficult.” She chewed the vegetable, smiling in approval at the taste.

“Is being from another dimension… normal in the Third Layer?”

“No,” said Xim’s father, Drel’gethed. His Delver level and aura matched Xorna’s, but the base of his soul looked like innumerable eyes, all of which gazed into me. His voice was deep and smoky, and wispy tendrils of black energy moved over the meat on his plate, leaving only bone behind. He looked at me with a pair of violet irises, far more human in appearance than the rest of him. The specks of white on his skin shifted and twinkled like stars. “It is not a strange thing. We are not from this layer of reality. Like you, we are travelers. You are merely from a more distant land.”

“That’s very open-minded of you.” I took a bite of my food. It was delicious, and as soon as the first morsel hit my tongue my stomach roared to life. I hadn’t eaten in at least twenty hours, unless you counted chowing down on a concentrated chip of mana eating. The stress of the day had so far pushed back my hunger, but with my fight-or-flight impulses switched to the ‘off’ position, my body loudly pronounced that Fortitude was not a replacement for food. I immediately began tucking in to the meal, though with only about sixty percent of the enthusiasm of Xim. I still didn’t want to be rude, not that either of her parents seemed to mind Xim’s Kirby impression.

“Why do you want to become a part of our tribe?” Xorna asked, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

“Legal issues,” said Xim, before downing an entire goblet of wine in one go. She held it up and a servant approached to refill it. “Thanks!” She took another big swig, then went back to attacking her plate.

“As much as I’d like to say it is for a more noble reason, Xim’s right,” I said. “I believe my extraterrestrial origin will cause me difficulties here in Hiward, and in Arzia at large.”

“The Hiwardians love their laws,” said Drel. “They make things complicated. They think the world is chaotic. They attempt to exert control. These laws do not help. They are only a burden.” Xim nodded vigorously as Drel said this.

“I was actually a lawyer in my old life,” I said. “I can appreciate the utility, but agree that it often becomes bewildering to navigate.”

“Laws serve those who understand them,” said Drel. “Laws oppress those who do not. Those who write the laws know this. They use this to their advantage.”

“I think I can get on board with that idea.”

The man seemed to have put a lot of thought into the nature of legal structures, despite his own society being governed by a different system altogether. He floated up from his seat and drifted over to me. I looked up into his penetrating gaze as he loomed, and took a bite off my fork.

Drel looked down at Grotto, who hovered just above my shoulder. The Delve Core returned the look, and I could almost feel electricity crackling between them.

“I like your companion,” Drel said as he looked over the mini-c’thon. “It exudes a sense of power. It is more than it seems. It will join the tribe as well?”

[This is a great man,] Grotto thought to me. [He has a discerning eye for the quality of an individual. You may tell him that I would be honored to assist in ruling over his territory. I will, of course, accept a humble position to begin with. Perhaps the governor of a minor region, such as a small country or vassal state.]

“Grotto is my bonded familiar,” I said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll come with me wherever I am.”

[That is not what I said. Inform him of my conditions!]

“This is good,” said Drel. “He has an ancient scent. Like the seed of a mighty Irgriana tree.” He looked down at me. “The tree grows broad. It grows great thorns. It consumes many dreams. The sap distills into a lovely spirit.”

“I’ll have to try it some time.” I absently wondered what dreams tasted like.

“The liquor sends First Layer denizens into a coma. You are strong, though. Perhaps you will have sweet night-terrors instead.”

“Oh. Maybe I won’t have any.” Then again, what did nightmares taste like?

“That would be a shame. You are not of this First Layer. You are of another. I would like to see what happens.”

He drifted away from the table into the shadows and whispered something in the ear of a servant. The servant bowed and left the room, taking another pair of attendants with them. Drel returned and gestured for more servants to approach. They came forward, picked up the table, and carried it away, taking half my dinner along with it. Xim grabbed her own plate off the table and brought it to her lap, finishing up the last few scraps on its surface. Xorna let her meal go, barely touched, but smiled as she sipped from the goblet she still held.

“Does it have to be right now, dad?” Xim asked. “Arlo didn’t finish eating. I didn’t finish eating.”

“Your hunger will not shorten your life,” said Drel. “The seconds passing are gone forever. Arlo shall join the tribe at this moment. I have decided, and no more time will be lost.”

Xim sat her cleaned plate on the ground and raised her eyebrows.

“He likes you,” she said. “He wants your roots to enter the tribe as soon as possible.”

“I’m… flattered?”

“Oh, I meant to ask before,” said Xim. “You’re not weird about nudity are you?”