“You’ll find out, though; right?”
“It could very well be a normal human[.]”
“… So, you’ll find out who had access to the Axis Mundi… right?”
“… Of course.”
~
The bench beneath his body is cold and hard.
Part of this is because it’s the middle of winter, he knows. But the bigger part of it is because it’s dead: chopped down and sliced up, removed from both its roots and its life-giving earth; like a kidnapped kid.
Like Jasey.
Except Jasey isn’t dead. (Hopefully.)
~
Part of the reason Manus refuses to believe Jasey is anything but alive and well (enough) is his personality.
Jasey has always been something of a beacon to Manus. His brilliant smiles, bright laughter, beautiful eyes…
Everything about the young boy had always been full of life.
It’s why he can’t see him any other way.
~
The information they’re gathering lines up with this as well.
Red, as they’ve begun calling the supposedly male kidnapper, seems almost as taken with Jasey as Manus is: touring him around, treating him to comfortable housing, taking care of him…
He’s pretty much turned Jasey’s kidnapping into a spur-of-the-moment trip.
And you don’t do that with someone you’re going to kill.
~
You also don’t do that with someone you aren’t invested in.
No normal kidnapper (if a daemon kidnapping anyone could be seen as normal…) would ever do these things—go to all this trouble.
They wouldn’t…
Unless…
~
Manus is sick.
He can feel the unnatural heat in his veins just as easily as he can hear his friends arguing over his body. They’re struggling to get along without him, he can tell, and he wants to yell at them for being so obtuse while he’s literally out cold IN the cold; but he recognizes that they’re both scared and just lost their glue: Manus, himself, who’s been holding this whole expedition together by being their linchpin.
Of course it’d all fall apart without him.
Except it doesn’t. Jarl listens to the advice of Maria, the Head Nun of Bailenac’ringy, and seeks out Áesta almost immediately to apologize and bring him back so they can continue working together as a team (seriously: Manus needs to get some pointers from this Maria lady when he wakes up—SERIOUSLY).
It’s at that moment, when the two polar opposites are hovering about him, worried and caring about him, that Manus decides he needs to step up, too, and also do the thing he really doesn’t want to do.
Suspect his own kind.
(And Jasey, too.)
~
Pulling away from his own body is both easier and harder than ever.
It’s easier because, being ill, his soul is already more loosely connected to his physical form than normal. However, it’s also harder because, being ill, focusing on drawing himself out or pulling away from himself (that is: his physical self) is extremely difficult when his brain and mind and heart are all muddled up.
He can’t properly focus.
But he must. For Jasey.
As well as Áesta and Jarl.
Even himself and Hagen.
~
His arrival at/in the Nexus is a slow and quiet one.
The struggle to astral project while feverish is real and he almost fails to do it several times over. He flickers in and out of perception, there one moment and then not the other. It draws attention. A LOT of attention.
Manus might not be the most powerful mage, exactly, but he’s well known (mostly for his deal with Áesta) for being strong and steadfast: he’s not the kind of magic user that struggles or stutters with coming home.
And yet he is. (So embarrassing…)
~
In the few agonizing minutes it takes for him to fully enter the Nexus without dying, another appears.
They are not a magic user, like Manus and most of those around them, but a Sage: a wise user.
They are old, practically ancient (like Áesta), and not entirely alive.
Their name is Emem.
~
Emem used to be a Shaman in the Sahara desert.
She served many people, from royals to regulars, and transcended at the time of her death.
This is why they’re alive but also not and ancient enough to be on par with ethereals like Áesta or even God.
Why they chose Manus to be their protégé, so to speak, becomes a bit more obvious once you know that bit.
~
It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Manus smiles a bit shakily as Emem hands him a cup of sage tea. It’s an herbal remedy—an ancient spell—crafted by them with the strongest ability to heal. While not the most pleasant to drink, it never fails.
So, Manus downs it practically in one go.
“Y-yes. I—” He pauses to clear his throat, ignoring how amused Emem seems (they’re amused by everything, he swears), before continuing on: “I have a question. A-and I need it answered n-now.” He hasn’t the time—staying even this long is straining and he can’t die—he CAN’T leave/loose Jasey—not now not ever!
Then ask, young Power.
Manus’ mouth opens and closes, sickness and shock and sorrow and semi-unconsciousness stifling him, before he swallows the phlegm and bile stuck in his throat and finally asks: “Has any non-mage used magic?”
~
Yes.
Manus gapes. He splutters for a moment, too flabbergasted to speak, before blurting out: “YES‽”
Yes; the Elders have been trying to figure it out for weeks.
The young magician stares, something beginning to click in his mind. “… T-they have?”
Of course they have.
Manus wants to slap himself. Of COURSE! This is why the Elders blacklisted Bailecastle!
It’s not a mage!!!
It comes from your little Shantown—
(Wait, what???)
—before it comes from Bailecastle.
(… Again: WHAT???)
~
No normal kidnapper (if a daemon kidnapping anyone could be seen as normal…) would ever do these things—go to all this trouble.
They wouldn’t…
Unless…
Jasey…
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