Chapter 96: First Dive into Eternity
{Back to my old schedule now! It looks like my promotion is coming to fruition, though the small business I work in likes to take their time with probation periods before signing me. On the Mr. Brightside, I just got the biggest check I've ever had. Ah, but I best not jinx it by saying more.}
Yuri inhaled without any sort of hurry as his eyes bloomed slowly with the morning's rise. Before even looking down, he smiled. On his right arm, long black hair obscured the taut and powerful dark back of his first lover, Tonilia. His arm was under her neck, and she held his forearm to her bare chest. To his left, the newest companion was facing him and his arm slithered under her neck covered in honey-hued hair before stretching down her back while she rested in the gap in his bare side, pressing her bare body to him and throwing her appendages over his bare body.
He didn't dare move.
It's been about a month since the day they defeated Miraak. Since then, Yuri had brought the group back to the mainland and they had continued their regular pace, albeit with a few new projects.
Firstly, the last Black Book was fully available for their use now. Waking Dreams.
Now the vernacular that Waking Dreams played around with sounded an awful lot like logic that bordered the realization of reality and its inherent unreal nature in the Aurbis, which Yuri had no intention to let the girls happen upon just yet. Not while they were still native to it. Since they had already conquered the land of Waking Dreams itself, all that was left for Yuri to do was completely comprehend the content and filter it before teaching it to them.
Mind magic. That was the gist of it. Strengthening the mind by manipulating other minds as a thief gets better with every lock he picks, shielding from outside forces and even deliberating between real and illusory without depending on the eyes, increasing processing power, the like. It was a comprehensive guide on breaking the mind of out its mortal shell little by little, and Toni and Yuri were all over it. Alera was hesitant at first for obvious reasons. The Sigil already protected her, so reading that book would only be for selfish reasons like intruding on others' autonomy, but Yuri convinced her via the logic that the Sigil may fail and when a master manipulator was the opponent, it was better to have it than not. Twist enough straws together, and you have yourself a Tower.
They would often practice by meditating in a circle and pressing their telepathic force back and forth between each other or taking their Sigil down and applying purely mental illusions to each other in the midst of sparring. As expected of Tonilia, she could probably crush the movie version of Professor Xavier like a goddamn egg pretty soon. No need to mention Yuri.
Later, Alera was told about the rituals Toni had undergone and, after some deliberation, agreed to be Yuri's next muse. This was the first instance where her lifespan would unquestionably be lengthened for a great amount, but as she had said before, Yuri was a different story than the mages she had heard about in fairy tales being used as examples to never play god.
Three weeks ago, she had woke up the same way Tonilia did when she was changed: Hungry, and much more powerful than she could have dreamed of prior to this day. Which led her to the question of if the other two were going easy on her this whole time? And how heavy could those weights on their wrists and ankles possibly be?
Yuri gave her one of the weights when she brought it up, since she now had their muscles and could handle it eventually, and she dropped it immediately! It actually put a dent in the floor of the practice area! If only she knew that Yuri was routinely using Gravity magic on himself with the weights. Not even Tonilia knew that, or she would ask for heavier ones! Luckily the Sigil now allowed for easy dress changing with those so they weren't in danger.
Yuri realized that buying weights whenever they outgrew them was uneconomical, so he taught himself to enchant them and applied a low-level circuit inside them to make them adjustable. Yuri was now convinced that Circuitry would be a lynchpin in a majority of the projects he was planning, including the Eye.
When Alera asked Yuri why magic had become so much easier for her after the heart installation, Yuri cited his own theories.
"You've been using Magicka for magic during our entire travels, right? That started to change when the Eternal Heart became involved."
"Changed? What are we using now?"
"Mana. Pure, unadulterated mana. The Heart is accepting Magicka because it is already pretty damn pure, before changing it into pure mana marked with your biological profile. In essence, the purer your mana is, the fewer hoops you have to jump through to apply your will and use it to create magic. And since it is literally in your veins, applying your will becomes as easy as breathing."
To this, Alera frowned and asked: "But what happens if I run out of Mana? Does my heart stop beating?"
"No, no. In fact, I would encourage you to empty your mana ever so often to train your capacity. Mana has already begun to seep into every part of you and operate alongside your lifeforce to keep your brain and other functions alive, meaning even if your mana empties it would take several days of being heartless for your body to start to feel it and your mana regenerates too fast to matter. Now if you lose your heart before becoming a spirit, you'll die like usual."
But what Yuri found out for himself, and hoped Alera would spot later, was that her vessel was already extraordinary and one of the five segments of her heart was already taking the dragon souls for its own to infuse it into her bloodline more readily.
"That next step for the Heart, you mean?"
"The next step I'm about to take. There's no sense delaying it any longer. I can feel it, I'm more than ready."
"So you're going to finally do it, huh? Take a step beyond mortality? I wonder what that will be like..."
"No need to wonder. You two will be coming with me. I can't do it in Avalon since the young realm might collapse or spread the hole I make in my inventory when I'm inside it even further, but I encourage you both to watch so you can be ready when you take that step."
Yuri wasn't going to guide them for every step of their path. In fact, he didn't plan on doing any more rituals for them at all. He could give them the educational, informational, or emergency protective resources they needed and monitor them from a distance in secret, but it was time for them to choose their own path with his foundation.
Back to the present, Yuri gently nudged the two of them awake and they silently opened their eyes.
"Is it time?" Toni asked, her heart beating excitedly even though she wouldn't be the one taking the leap.
Yuri merely nodded his head with a sense of gravity.
"You still haven't told us where we're going to watch you ascend?" Ally leaned up and stretched, followed by Tonilia.
"Haha, don't make it sound so dramatic. I'm not becoming God." He rubbed her curly blonde hair and Toni scooted into his other side to get the same treatment. "High Rock. I want to use this event to practice for a future plan and maybe get a feel for it. Plus, doing this by a Tower just feels right."
"Which Tower is in High Rock again?" Toni asked.
"The first one, Ada-Mantia."
"You certainly have a flair for the dramatic."
"No matter how many protective layers I cover myself with, there isn't a chance in hell I won't be noticed since this will likely tear at the fabric of Time. While I won't be approachable, you two are a different story. The local Direnni or the Psijics might pop out of the woodwork, so be ready to protect yourself or flee."
"Oh, we can take care of ourselves, baby," Alera affirmed.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Past the city of frequent contention between High Rock and Skyrim now known as Markarth, the trio flew at soaring speeds through the snowcapped mountains that separated Skyrim from High Rock before curving downwards. To the immediate South, a hazy golden horizon made Hammerfell's heading evident, while below them the green prairies and stream-cut valleys gave enough sustenance for infrequent villages to sprout in the Kingdom region of Bangkorai. As they moved further south, Evermore, the Capital of Bangkorai and one of the more metropolitan of the five kingdoms in High Rock, used Bjoulsae River which fed from the bay as a source of mercantile activity and thrived with old-English architecture and many spots of attraction. To the Northwest, the mountainous regions of Wrothgar, the original home of the Orcs and the first three versions of Orsinium, expanded across their view and threatened to puncture the same skies they traveled.
{Here's a map}
They traveled comfortably above and along the Bjoulsae river watching small dock towns pop up along either side of High Rock and Hammerfell as ideal towns to live for either party. Eventually, the river broke out into the Illiac Bay, revealing crystalline blue waters that opened a gap between the two provinces and held a set of isles aloft closer to the inner shore.
On the largest of these Islands, named the Isle of Balfiera, an ancient and grand Tower stretched leanly into the skies, displaying architecture that few could imitate and none could perfectly achieve. Vertical rivets garnished along the entire shaft of the Tower while at its apex, it unfurled into a pointed crown. At its base, a dome-like and grand cathedral bubbled grandly underneath a set of arches that began from the shaft and dived into the earth.
{Here's a pic}
Below the hillside dotted with autumn trees it gracefully extended from, the main city decorated the Tower as closely as they could manage while the Direnni Clan themselves, who had renamed the Tower at one point in history to Direnni Tower, sat on the same hill as it.
It was this very same Direnni clan that first noticed the approaching humans.
As the trio floated with downward momentum to suspend themselves directly above the first structure of Mundus, a smattering of Altmer and Bretons sprung from the woodwork of Upvale and their own villas to look up incredulously at the levitating people.
Now the citizens aligned with the Direnni Clan didn't fancy themselves as part of the Empire and wouldn't shout that it was illegal. In fact, they saw the most prominent members flying every day! But not even they would casually mount the Tower!
As they set themselves down in the crown and Yuri prepared wards to start, a Breton member of the Clan ran into the building to alert the purebloods who resided in it of the intruder post haste! Into the dome-like and highly governmental building at the base, he walked through the dark metallic-colored halls lined with brass and silver etchings and big enough to fit two elephants. He arrived at the end of the hall before a large rectangular doorway posted by two Direnni guards.
"State your business," One said casually.
"We have visitors lacking in respect! Three of them! Perching on the top of this very Tower!"
The guards exchanged a glance before nodding. This was indeed important news. How long had it been since someone disrespected the Direnni? How many paths of Magic had been birthed from these halls, how many great figures of history came from its bosom, how many centuries largely uncontested? Even when their Hegemony fell and the clan retreated to the Isle of Balfiera from the large domain spanning all of High Rock and parts of Skyrim and Hammerfell, nobody truly defeated them and their decline was a gradual result of overextension.
One of the guards clad in dark gray full-plate knocked his gauntlet on the door before a voice resounded in all three of their heads.
'Come in.'
The two guards and the merchant-now-messenger walked into a very intimate setting of Altmer having a family dinner. Warm candles and luxurious linens, bright silvery cutlery and polished and strong wooden chairs with expensive cushions combatted the This was only one of the Lord's halls of many in this Tower, but Lord Alvanir is only below the current patriarch in status and thus would stand to gain the most by dealing with outsiders like these or lose the most by failing.
"Speak," A gaunt-faced man at the head of the table intoned over the quiet family dinner that his two children and wife did not enjoy having interrupted.
"Y-Yes, sir. There is an intruder. The Tower is being perched upon."
To this, the family once again gained interest. Even disbelief. Alvanir himself looked up like he could see through his ceiling and his eyes finally caught something.
"I see. Two of them. But they don't seem to be doing anyth-"
"Three."
Alvanir flexed his powerful eyebrows and looked again at the messenger. "Pardon me?"
"Three, sire, there are three of them."
His frown deepened. "You're certain?"
"We all saw three of them arrive, sire. I am certain."
"...Then we have a problem. Guards, assemble my nephew and Lord Kelfex to meet me up there. Let us see what this is all about. Forgive me, darling, I'll be departing early."
"Nonsense, dear. Do what must be done. We will wait."
Minutes later, Alvanir and a younger and similar man in dark cloaks both with signature long blonde hair, alongside a Breton wearing dark battlemage armor, were rising along the shaft of Ada-Mantia as their hair billowed behind them from the speed of their flight.
"It's been a long time since I've had a good fight, Al! Let's take the glory for ourselves!" The Breton named Kelfex from a side branch who rose to a very prominent position in the Clan shouted over the winds.
"I couldn't feel one of them. I assume neither can either of you. That must mean trouble. Be careful."
"It means a coward is what it is!" But Kelfex brushed it off.
Alvanir and his nephew shook their heads simultaneously just as they reached the top and looked down immediately at the crown, bearing three people.
In the middle of the crown, a man who looked like a perfect cross between the Bretons and the Altmer of the Direnni Clan hovered in cross-legged meditation while an orb of nearly translucent blue essence wrapped around him. His eyes were closed and his hands were cupped together while his thumbs arched over the cup. To the meditating man's right and left, two Valkyries looked upon the arrivals coldly, waiting for a wrong move.
'How did I miss him?! That man is a damned beacon! Is he even mortal?! I heard of a few outrageous things happening in Summerset, perhaps this was the culprit?' Alvanir quickly thought to himself while questioning what category the man belongs to. He also inspected the ladies guarding him. 'They don't seem...human. The Redguard in particular has twice my Magicka, which shouldn't be possible from her race or apparent age. Don't tell me immortals are popping from the woodwork?'
The nephew and Breton were a bit more loose-lipped.
"Who are you people?! Don't you know to visit the masters of this land before using it?!"
"What is your purpose here?" Kelfex noticed that both women had their hands on pristine blades ready to draw, so he did so himself slowly to not agitate them.
But Yuri had not taken the dive yet and was merely getting in the right state of mind.
'Ada-Mantia, made not by man or mer, but by the Aedra. I have come here to meditate on its construction, on the cosmology by which it was cast and the ultimate secret it holds. The inside may have been long claimed as your hold, Clan Direnni, but the entire structure and the meaning itself were far too grand for you to ever claim. I have no need to inform you.'
A voice, calm and placid yet overpowering like a deep ocean with a mirror surface echoed inside the three heads who had just arrived. Alvanir was the most incredulous, once again. His defense was broken like a wet paper bag and it didn't even hurt him before the voice retreated like it never existed.
"Your point may stand from a philosophical angle, but how do we trust a mage of your stature came here to purely meditate?" Alvanir took the lead while folding his arms, addressing the man in the bubble.
'If I fancy a formal visit to your lands you will be the first to be informed. In the meantime, you may do as you wish. But I do warn you, these ladies are not decorations. Do anything uncouth during our currently protracted visit and you will wish you hadn't.'
At this, the two women beside him smirked with obvious pride before returning to their earlier gravity.
"Hmph. Do anything uncouth yourself and we'll see who wishes what!"
Alvanir knew that many a wishful thinker made a pilgrimage to this Tower in the hopes of successfully performing one of the Walking Ways or stumbling upon enlightenment. But this was the first time he had the notion that this pilgrim might succeed. That, and of course, he did not fancy contending with these beyond-the-pale foreigners if he didn't need to. Continuous observation would be maintained for now, but he had friends in high places and favors with the Psijics if need be. He wouldn't be alone to deal with the monsters if things went south.
With this, Yuri returned to the edge of the metaphorical cliff he was preparing to jump.
That's right, not a formulaically defined process or a set of steps, not an enchantment, invocation, formation, or even a spell. This was a single blind leap. Jumping from that cliff and diving into the waters of his soul, conquering anything that it might have to surprise him with, for better or for worse.
Yuri summoned a familiar impulse he could no longer ignore... and
He jumped.
{Getting real close to chapter 100. Think it's gonna land on a good part of the story, hopefully. If not, I'll make it an R18 chapter to celebrate.}
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