The First Archmage

(Gavin)

"Gavin?" Nies mumbles softly, waking me as he kneads my chest with his paws.

"Yes?" I respond, opening my eyes to find him still curled up on me, eyes closed. "Nies?"

"Sugar pops," he mumbles, stopping his kneading and flicking one of his tails, smacking his own nose. "Stop that, Oiz," he smacks his nose again. "I'm grounding you for that."

He's dreaming. I look around, spotting a Fairy watching me.

"How long has he been doing this?" I ask quietly.

"About twenty minutes," he shrugs. "Your god is cute."

"Thanks," I tell him. "You're one of the Fairies dating the silver-haired Serena, right?"

"I am," he looks happy that I remember that. I've been here for a month, now. Serena keeps hitting on me, which is the only reason I remember her name, but I do remember seeing him around her a few times. "I woke up around twenty minutes ago, and he was doing that. I don't remember seeing him dream-talk before."

"Nor have I," I gently place a hand on Nies's head and scratch behind his ears, causing him to purr in content and mumble something under his breath. "I wonder why he's doing this."

"I dunno," he shrugs, then tilts his head towards Warren and Michael. "Better than those two, though. Michael has a habit of shifting in his sleep, and accidentally throws Warren off a few times. You sleep right through that all the time."

Warren and Michael sleep in a multi-Fairy hammock, usually with three or four other Fairies. That's Michael's fault, though. In a shared quarters like this, his wolf nature takes over, and he wants to sleep with the warmth of others around him. With a 'pack'.

Which is probably why, at first, he would just grab Warren and pull him onto the hammock, along with whatever random Fairies he'd already determined were 'good'. If he weren't afraid of my might, he would probably try pulling me into the group, too.

I do not desire to stop among his people, because of that. It would be an insult to them if I did not sleep in a group.

Carefully, I pick up Nies, muttering an incantation, then float up into the air for a moment. I release my wings, then fly into an upright position and land on the ground gently, setting the Divine Being on my head.

"I'll be going for a walk," I tell him as the tigers move into position around me. "Going to find a place to see about learning Arcane without bothering people."

"May I go with you?" He requests. "I am not as adept at it as Prince Beck or some of the others, but I do know a few good places to practice the Arcane, and it helps when practicing if you have someone else around, to manifest their desires."

"That's why I'm bringing Nies," I point at the kitty on my head. "Instead of leaving him here, since he's still asleep. But if you'd like to come and show me where and hang around to watch and give pointers, that would be appreciated."

He smiles, then leads me out of the sleeping grove. He releases his wings and begins flying, and I move Nies to my arms and do the same, his tigers running to keep up with us. After roughly an hour of flight, the sun still a fair bit from rising, we stop in a grove well away from others.

"Here," he tells me, sitting beside the creek that runs through it. There's a small pond. "This is where I come to do my own magical practices, not many know this spot."

"Thank you," I sit down, placing Nies on my head once more.

"Something I've noticed," he says, then hesitates. I raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, I'm not used to being in direct communication with someone of your… status. Or his."

He indicates the god atop my head with a tilt of his own.

"You can say it," I tell him. "I won't smite you for it. Nor will he. He'll probably just demand food offerings."

"Something I've noticed," he says again. "Is that even though we all sit with our legs crossed, you always sit in a sort of kneeling position, sitting on your legs."

"Habit," I explain, realizing that I'm sitting the same way we had to at the temple. "Formed through having to sit this way every day during training for two years."

The Fairy thinks on that for a moment, then nods.

"Typically," he says. "When starting out, one needs to have another vocalize their desires before it can be drawn out through the Arcane. It allows you to grasp the desire. You'll need that, until you have Sense Desire.

"Before explaining that," he takes a deep breath. "There are seven Tiers to Manifest Desire: Minor Desire, Lesser Desire, Desire, Greater Desire, Major Desire, Ultra Desire, Godly Desire. The bigger the desire and more complex the desire, the more Arcane it will require to cast. The stronger the desire, the less it'll require.

"Sense Desire," he continues. "Allows you to sense the desires of others. The higher its Level, the more of a desire you'll be able to sense without them stating it, as well as the less Arcane you'll need extra to summon it through Sense Desire."

Which explains how Beck was able to summon so many things during the fight – he was probably manifesting their desire for me to get my ass kicked, and since they knew what he usually did, that made it easier. So many people wishing it would probably have reduced the cost heavily.

"Is it possible to manifest a wish," I ask. "Without it being stated and without Sense Desire?"

"It is," he nods. "But it's really, really costly, especially the bigger the desire and more complex the desire. Also, the more powerful powerful a desire is, the less it'll cost. So someone who wishes they had a rock, and someone who wishes their goat produced milk, might actually have the same cost, if the latter's desire is of a superior strength."

"Okay," I say, holding out a hand and focusing. He looks at me curiously. "Do you have Sense Desire?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Why? I doubt you would have acquired it already, Lord Gavin. It's quite difficult to obtain with years of practice and manifesting wishes, and this is the start of your attempts, yes?"

"Sense his," I indicate Nies with my other hand, and a moment later, his mouth forms an O. "Yeah, that. I don't need to have it stated or have Sense Desire to know his desires. I'm going to see if I can manifest his desires without either of those."

I return to focusing on Nies's desire for all things sweet and tasty. Specifically, hard candies, since those are small, and likely easy to manifest.

-8 Arcane!

New Skill!

Minor Desire: The power to manifest a desire of minor scale

A small piece of hard candy rests in my hand. It is white, a little more than half an inch in diameter, with red stripes around the edge, but not touching the center.

"I guess," I say. "Either I'm talented at manifesting wishes as a Fairy, or Nies's desires are just that strong. It cost me 8 Arcane."

"Sounds about normal," the Fairy nods. "And I'd heard rumors that your kind of Fairy had high natural talents for all of the magics we Fairies use. It would likely be both of those, though, judging by the strength of his desires. Also, not all of his desires deal with sweets."

"I kind of figured," I say. "He's got a girlfriend, too, and loves some of the other Divine Beings. Not in the way he loves his girlfriend, but more like as family and siblings, so dealing with them would also be reasonable. Then he's got his desire to have followers, though after my actions a couple of months ago, he's pretty happy with that. Then there's his desire to keep around me and keep chatting with me."

I pop the candy into my mouth. It has a cooling sensation. Is this a one of those 'peppermints' he talked to me about?

"Um," the Fairy hesitates. "Lord Gavin? He has more desires than just those… dealing with you."

"Dealing with me?" I ask. "Really? He likes my company, and wants to keep me around as long as possible. That's why he won't leave me until it's time for me to go back to my real Form."

-8 Arcane!

"Um," he hesitates, and I stare at him with all of the intentness that I can. "I probably wouldn't be able to sense them, if it weren't for how strong his desire for them are… but some of them include you being happy. He really, really strongly desires that you can be happy."

-8 Arcane!

"I am happy."

-8 Arcane!

"Nies doesn't seem to think so," he shrugs. "And he's a Divine Being. I'll trust his desires over your words.

-8 Arcane!

"Nies is weird," I say. "What are his other desires dealing with me that are so strong?"

-8 Arcane!

"He strongly desires you complete your Quests," he answers. "Find real happiness, find true love, and live a long, and happy life. The sorts of desires we can't manifest into reality, and usually can't sense, even if we have Sense Desire at Level 10."

-8 Arcane!

-8 Arcane!

-8 Arcane!

-70 Arcane!

Finally! That worked! And it looks like doing a bulk batch of his candies grants a small discount to the Arcane cost as well, which is nice.

"I smell goodness," Nies mutters from atop my head. He stands, then walks forward, falling onto the ground and waking with a start, having knocked my candies out of my hand in his tumble. "Whoa! Ah! Where am I? Candy?"

He licks one of them off the ground.

"Yummy," he purrs contentedly. "Minus the dirt, of course."

"That's your own fault, Nies," I say. "Considering they were in my hand."

Nies looks up at me, transforming back to his real form, scrutinizing me.

"Oh," he says. "You got Small Desire. Candies are good."

"Yeah," I tell him, then show him the one I'm sucking on, holding it between my teeth for a moment before sucking it back in. "Is this one of those 'peppermints' you were telling me about?"

"Yeah," he nods. "It is. This is a butterscotch."

He holds up a yellowish one, then pops it into his mouth and starts chewing. Weren't candies supposed to be sucked? Hard candies, I mean.

Since when does Nies follow the normal of things?

"It's back," Nies mutters. "Why is it back? I haven't sensed it in two weeks, and now it's back."

"Maybe it wanted to cuddle with the cute little kitty?" I suggest. "But now that the kitty's gone, it's upset?"

"I switch out of that when I'm awake," he says. "I'm only in it so I can sleep with you, since you're insistent on using a single-Fairy hammock."

"You could join Michael, Warren, and their sleeping buddies."

"They are neither my Hero nor females," he states, as if that should have been an obvious reason not to.

"There are plenty of female Fairies who'd be happy to have you sleep with them at night."

The Voice laughs, and the Fairy looks like he's struggling not to, then a moment later, his eyes widen in surprise.

He just got Acting, didn't he?

Nies pouts, looking at the Fairy. I mimic tickling, and the Fairy frowns. Nies turns to look at me just as I tackle him and start tickling. The Fairy is hesitant, but he joins me as Nies giggles and tries to wrestle with me. His lack of real victory tells me he's enjoying it, since he's not using his real strength against such a weak Fairy as me.

Once we calm down, soaked in sweat, the Fairy and I wash off in the creek as Nies climbs onto his tiger, sighing from 'exhaustion'. That was probably more effort he wanted to put in, but he enjoyed it, and that makes me happy.

Once we're clean, we dry off using one of my Spirits' fire magics, dress, then begin to walk back to the palace's grounds. On the way, I focus on manifesting something new, something else I know Nies loves.

-27 Arcane!

Something soft and fluffy, but also hard, forms in my hands. It's pink, and somewhat sticky. Nies sniffs the air from beside me, then looks over.

"Cotton candy!" He exclaims. "You can try it without me bringing it here, now!"

I take a bite out of the stuff. Wow, is it sticky. It's also really, really sweet, and good. I shouldn't be surprised by it being sweet, though, since Nies likes it.

"What is this?" I ask.

"Spun sugar," he answers. "Also, you're supposed to pull off pieces and eat it that way, not take out giant chunks of it."

"It's really sticky."

"Yeah, it is," he nods. "The fun part is licking off your fingers and lips after."

"Want to try some?" I offer a little to the Fairy, who nods, tearing off a small chunk and biting into it. "How is it?"

"I like it," he answers. "What is it?"

"Cotton candy."

"Cotton can by candy?"

"It's spun sugar," Nies shakes his head. "It's just called that because of how it looks."

"But it's pink," the Fairy and I say.

"Yeah, it is," Nies nods. "If it actually looked like cotton, people wouldn't eat it."

The Fairy, Divine, and I eat the cotton candy as we walk, and when we're nearly there, Nies stops walking. The Fairy and I do, looking over to him.

"Are you just manifesting my desires?" He asks.

"Are you just now figuring that out?" I ask, and he huffs.

"I want some sticky buns."

"I want to know how my team is doing."

They're doing well, actually. Kade is still preparing for his trip to the islands, while Tyler is nearly ready to return. He's also close to unlocking his Psionic energies, though I think he'll do it when he returns to the royal palace and claims his crown.

"Kade and Tyler?" Nies asks, thinking. "Kade's currently having sex, and Tyler is killing monsters."

"Kade's having sex?" I raise an eyebrow.

"It's a three-way."

"Be serious, Nies."

The Divine huffs.

"Kade's cuddling a wolf," he gives in. "It's a really cute wolf, and it's his Familiar. The wolf is of a magical nature, with some dragon in its heritage. It's durable, powerful, and perfect for Kade. They're both asleep. And no, they aren't having sex. Kade really needs to get a sex life, though. But with a person, not a wolf. That would be disgusting. But he won't, because he's hung up over this guy."

This guy?

Instead of elaborating, Nies sighs, returning to being lazy, because that was too much talking for him.

What did he mean by that?

After seeing you again, Kade fell in love with you all over again. He admires your strength and determination, even if he doesn't fully understand it, and he still finds you attractive.

He does know that a relationship with me will never happen, right?

No, he doesn't. He isn't aware of your circumstances.

I'll let him know, when I see him next, that he should give up on me.

Perhaps the full explanation of why you are so loyal to Jozan would do as well? He still doesn't understand it, even if he's regained his loyalty, after your 'intervention'. Also, Tyler definitely doesn't need help, now.

How long before he returns?

I'd estimate it to be around three weeks or so before he returns to the palace itself.

Then I have some work to do, before he returns. I will go to Oberon and give him some of the information from my Grimoire on Aether, as a thanks for allowing me to stay here this long.

It's part of the agreement to train you, and you've already given him much, by deciding to allow him to take out Christopher instead.

I would still like to ensure he knows I am an ally, O Mysterious Voice Who Will Not Tell Me Who He Is.

Still not going to. Maybe one day, Gavin, but not now.

How do you know, for sure, that I'm going to die?

All die, in the end.

So I won't become a Divine, then?

Do you want me to tell you what kills you?

Is it becoming a Divine?

Nope. Your death will be in the next few years, and it will be a mortal death.

Then no, I don't want to know. I'm sure I could circumvent that, but if it's something like 'a Dragon's breath will kill you', then I really don't want to know, because though I'm stubborn and will do whatever I want, and even though being told something like that would normally make me prove it wrong… it would make me hesitate when I face such situations, seeing as it comes from something that can hide from Nies.

He doesn't respond.

It's a Dragon's breath, isn't it?

No response.

You do realize that that's confirming it, right?

How in the 'verse did you just say the exact thing that will kill you?

So a Dragon's breath really will be my death?

Yes. It will consume you, burning through your very being. However, the Dragon will still die, and the people you are trying to protect will survive. That said, your goals will be met: Jozan will be restored soon, you will remove the Boundary of Sages, and your Order will finally establish a headquarters, all before this happens.

The next time I fight a Dragon, I may be hesitant because you couldn't cover your ass.

Sorry. I can promise that it isn't the next time you fight a Dragon, though, even if that's a full-fledged Dragon. You manage to kill that all on your own.

Is it the time after that?

Not going to tell you how many Dragons you kill before one kills you, Gavin, other than you kill at least one before then.

Alright…

We reach the palace and make our way to the dining hall, where we feast on a nice breakfast. After, I speak with Oberon, telling him that I will be leaving soon, as I am needed back in Jozan for some things.

"So it's time, then?" Michael asks as he and Warren approach us. "To return?"

"Yes," I nod. "Some minor things need to be checked on before Tyler returns, and it's almost time for him. You two stay here, though."

"But-"

"No, Michael," I hold up a hand, interrupting him. "Warren has been away from his people for too long, and I don't want to be the reason he's gone again so soon. In addition, with my own power and Tyler's, combined, along with the resistance's and my peoples' own powers, those who are loyal to Turas won't be able to stand a chance. You and your peoples' power is no longer needed, though we do still welcome you as allies."

Michael starts to say something, but Warren taps him on the arm. He leans down so the Fairy can whisper something to him, ears twitching, and then nods, looking at me reluctantly.

"Very well, then," he says. "Please inform me if I or my people may be of assistance. I will inform my father."

"Thank you," I tell him, then look to Oberon. "As I have a source of Aether knowledge similar to your source of Spirit knowledge, I felt that I would gift you some of this knowledge of Aether, as a gesture of goodwill and good faith, from both Jozan and from the Order of the Violet Flame. May we speak in private?"

The Fairy King nods, then leads me away from others, into a private room. I pull out my Grimoire, and we discuss various magics, until we settle on the ones to give him. Once that is done, I revert back to my True Form and extend a hand to him.

"Thank you," I say. "For allowing me to study here, and for forgiving me."

"You are most welcome," he takes the hand, having already been taught the gesture by me, and we shake. "And you are welcome back to this realm whenever you so desire."

"Thank you," I tell him. "I have a twin, once identical, before the System gave me absurdly higher stats, and an elder brother as well. They, too, possess knowledge of Aether, though Dylan, my older brother, specializes in Rifts over other forms, the last I spoke with him. That has been years, though. Perhaps one day, the two of you can get together, and share your knowledge."

He's learned a little bit more, the Voice says as Nies gives me a hug from behind. Though he still primarily studies and manipulates Rifts. Your Order has quite the following, because of your actions and theirs.

Thank you, Odd Voice.

You're Welcome.

"I should be going," I tell the Fairy King. "I need to stop by my brothers, first, to see how they're doing, check to make sure Noah made it home safely, and then do a couple of things in Jozan."

"Good luck," he responds. "And may the Divine watch over you… and now I remember that they already do."

He looks at Nies, who is still hugging me.

"Nies?"

"Yeah?"

"How long are you going to hug me?"

"Until I die."

"Do I need to call Ekre?"

"He'll probably just give up before even trying."

True.

I ruffle the god's hair, then tell him I should be going, and he reluctantly detaches himself from me.

"Goodbye," I tell the Fairy King once more, then depart.