Memoirs of Your Local Small-time Villainess

Scarlett sat at the table in her quarters on the Rising Isle, poring over a weathered old Zuverian tome. It was something she’d used on occasion to practice reading the ancient script, but now was the first time she could truly comprehend its contents. Mostly, though, she was reading to distract herself, an effort that was only marginally successful as her mind kept drifting back to the events unfolding in the empire.

The day had crawled by without word from Gaspar, leaving Allyssa and the others to stew in their anxiety over the ongoing attacks. Scarlett, while not worrying per se, couldn’t shake a nagging sense of unease. She despised the feeling of not being in control, even though she’d long anticipated the Cabal’s assault.

Enduring a dull, persistent throbbing behind her eyes didn’t help matters. The headache had continued plaguing her ever since Thainnith’s legacy was jammed into her frontal lobe. She’d tried resting at noon, but it had only helped so much.

With a sigh, she idly thumbed through the tome, allowing the once-alien symbols to crystallise into meaning. The soft rustle of turning pages filled the room, a soothing counter to her otherwise racing thoughts.

Without warning, a flash of light erupted in the center of the room. As it faded, a figure materialised — a woman with vibrant purple hair, draped in emerald robes and clutching a watch-like artifact in her hand.

“Ah, excellent. I’ve found the right place,” the newcomer remarked, her gaze sweeping the room before settling on Scarlett. “Pinpointing your exact location can be surprisingly tricky.”

“Miss Ward. I was not expecting another visit from you so soon,” Scarlett said.

“Yet here I stand,” Yamina replied, her eyes flicking to the tome Scarlett had been reading. “Oh, so you do understand Zuverian after all. I was wondering whether you were fluent or not.”

“I am.” Scarlett closed the tome and slipped it back into her [Pouch of Holding] placed on the table. “What brings you here, Miss Ward? Given the current situation in the empire, I assumed you would be otherwise occupied.”

The wizard nodded, a hint of weariness seeming to bleed into her voice. “The Mistral Observatory is in a frenzy, everyone scrambling to assess the situation on the continent. I have managed to steal a moment for myself and thought to pay you one last visit. I suspect opportunities may be scarce after today.”

Scarlett regarded her thoughtfully. “…Indeed. I will be returning to Freybrook as soon as I am able, making future meetings unlikely. That said, I have unfinished business here on the Isle. I will return when circumstances allow.”

She still hadn’t found the answers she needed related to Arlene’s quest, after all, not to mention all of her dealings with the council. They still owed her.

“Understandable,” Yamina said.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You still have not answered my question. What exactly brings you here, Miss Ward?”

The wizard fell silent, studying Scarlett for a moment before adjusting her glasses with a light touch. “It occurs to me that we haven’t had a proper conversation, just the two of us.”

“Considering that we only formally introduced ourselves yesterday, that is scarcely a surprise. We are barely acquaintances.”

A trace of amusement flickered across Yamina’s face. “I have many acquaintances, but I can’t say I’ve collaborated with any of them to infiltrate one of the Rising Isle’s most restricted areas.”

“Accomplices, then,” Scarlett said.

“I think I prefer ‘partners’,” Yamina countered.

Scarlett’s eyebrow arched. “I hesitate to categorise our relationship that highly this early.”

“No?” The woman’s eyes glinted behind her glasses. “Not even after I risked my position to grant you access to the Veiled Library? You’re rather cold, aren’t you?”

“Your risks are your own concern, not mine.”

To Scarlett’s surprise, Yamina laughed softly, shaking her head. “Hardly a real concern, actually. I’m not so careless as to put myself in real jeopardy.” Her expression sobered as she crossed the room, settling into a chair opposite Scarlett at the table.

Scarlett studied her closely. “So, what is it that you wanted to discuss?”

“That artifact you were handling earlier,” Yamina began, her gaze locking onto Scarlett’s. “What exactly is it?”

“…I am not sure what you mean.”

The wizard’s eyes flicked to Scarlett’s wrist, where the Orrery had rested before. “It seemed to alert you. Curiously, not long after, an attack of almost unprecedented scale was launched against the empire. I had no inkling of such an event, despite my skill in foreseeing significant occurrences.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

“Then would you claim you can read fate?”

Yamina hesitated, leveling a keen look at Scarlett’s words.

“Dean Godwin once mentioned possessing such an ability,” Scarlett added. “Given your association with him, I wondered if you shared that talent.”

After a pause, Yamina responded, “What Warley can do isn’t exactly ‘reading’ fate. Rather, he can sense when others deviate from it. Although I suspected that you were already aware of as much.”

The two of them regarded each other in silence.

“What do you know?” Scarlett finally asked.

Yamina had been paying special attention to her since their arrival on the Isle. Scarlett had speculated about the reasons, but she hadn’t yet found one that quite fit completely.

The wizard seemed to weigh her words carefully. “…My interest in you was initially piqued by your connection to Warley,” she began. “By then, your Zuverian discoveries had already caused quite a stir here. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I chose to employ more magical means to learn more about you, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I did expect that, yes. I assume you found something to further arouse your interest?”

“Quite the opposite, actually. There was surprisingly little to discern about you.” Yamina leaned forward slightly. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with divination magic as a school, but it is far from precise. It’s often unreliable, in fact. However, experienced practitioners can glean valuable insights if they know what to look for. It’s not exactly reading fate, but sometimes it does allow us to glimpse fragments, especially if the subject is closely tied to fate’s weave.” Her eyes bore into Scarlett’s. “What was curious about you, Baroness, is that despite numerous divinations before and after your arrival, the results were almost always utterly mundane. If my spells are to be believed, there’s nothing that sets you apart from your appearance, save perhaps the company you keep.”

Scarlett found that interesting. Was that how she was perceived by divination in this world, then? Not as a conspicuous anomaly or an imperceptible void, but as unremarkable and easily overlooked? Did that mean someone would have to be looking into her specifically to even have a chance of detecting something was amiss?

“Under normal circumstances, I might have left my investigations there,” Yamina continued. “But I felt compelled to meet you in person, to confirm my findings.”

“That is why you approached us at the Arcanum Spire,” Scarlett said.

The woman nodded. “Precisely. And that, Baroness, is where you truly captured my attention. Because contrary to what any divinations might suggest, you are far from ordinary in presence.”

“How so?”

“For one, you do not carry yourself as others do. Though I suppose that could be attributed to your status as an imperial noble. But more notably, the lingering tenor surrounding you indicated that you were anything but simple.”

Scarlett’s brow furrowed slightly. “Tenor?”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Are you not familiar with the phrase?” Yamina asked, a note of surprise in her voice.

“Not in this context, no.”

Yamina touched her chin thoughtfully. “‘Tenor’ in this case refers to ‘arcane tenor’, a term used by mages to describe the residual mix of mana and other energies that cling to individuals and objects after interacting with different magics. You could say it’s an imprint left by you on the world.”

“I have never heard of this concept before.”

“Very few can perceive it, so it’s rarely significant.” The woman tapped her gold-rimmed glasses. “These glasses, for instance, carry enchantments so incomparably intricate they likely surpass the value of most noble fortunes in the empire. Yet even they cannot fully capture the nuances of an individual’s tenor. It may well be impossible to do so completely.”

“I…see,” Scarlett said, her frown softening. “And what have your glasses revealed about this ‘tenor’ surrounding me?”

“Oh, many fascinating little details. Mages often overlook how much can be inferred from mere traces of interactions. In your case, what stood out were signs of exposure to at least one potent mana source, or repeated interactions with an incredibly potent artifact. Possibly both. There were also traces of magic use that would be considered highly unusual for a mage of your purported level.”

“I assume you are referring to my ability to use both true pyrokinesis and hydrokinesis?”

“Precisely.” Yamina tilted her head, her gaze analytical. “Simply put, after meeting you in person, it was clear you were far, far from an ordinary individual. Yet, all divinations pointed to the contrary — a paradox that I found particularly curious.”

“And what are you trying to imply?” Scarlett asked.

“I’m not entirely certain yet,” Yamina admitted. “But I sense that some of our goals might align, beyond our shared interest in the Veiled Library’s secrets.”

Scarlett eyed her cautiously. “You may be right. However, do not expect that to mean I will reveal my own secrets freely.”

She was somewhat unsure about what Yamina’s slight deviation from fate meant, and it was better to be safe than sorry in that regard. Unlike with Godwin, where her options had been limited, she saw no reason to be overly forthcoming here.

“Of course,” Yamina said, a hint of a smile now playing on her lips. “I didn’t expect you to simply hand over the answers to your particular mystery.”

“Good.”

Scarlett did recognise that this also meant she couldn’t expect Yamina to reveal her own secrets, but that was a trade-off she’d have to accept.

The woman’s attention shifted as she produced a small crystal ring from her robes, its slow, pulsing blue light casting a soft glow. “I’m afraid that’s all the time I can spare for now.” She rose, moving to the center of the room before turning back to Scarlett. “I hope we’ll have more opportunities to talk in the future. Do look for me when you next visit the Isle.”

“I will,” Scarlett replied.

The wizard paused, her hand hovering over the artifact that she’d used to teleport here. Her eyes locked onto Scarlett for another second. “You might find it interesting to hear that there was one detail from divinations that stood out from the rest, though I can’t claim to understand its significance.”

“And what might that be?”

Yamina offered a mysterious smile. “When you return, you may want to pay a visit to the Hall of Echoes.”

With that cryptic remark, she activated her artifact and vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

Scarlett stared at the now-empty space, left pondering the woman’s parting words. She’d already intended to visit the Hall of Echoes eventually, but as far as she knew, there wasn’t anything there that she needed.

So what was that about?

Shaking her head, she set the matter aside for the time being and returned to her earlier tome. The hours slipped by as evening approached, until a slight vibration from a communication artifact resting on the table caught her attention.

Glancing over, she saw that it was blinking insistently. Setting aside her tome again, she reached out and activated the device.

Gaspar’s voice came through, heavy with exasperated fatigue. “Baroness, there are matters we should discuss.”