Amanda found it a little odd that Angel had taken Matt at his word, but guessed that she must have had some kind of suspicions about someone not being who they said they were for her to take what could otherwise be a very simple and obvious stalling technique so seriously.
“The traitor is Azrael, and according to my sources, she works for Yasmin.”
“Of course, that makes sense,” Angel said to herself. She thought for a moment before looking at Amanda. “All yours, bitch face,” she said and Ported out with a snap of air.
“Such a pleasant and nice young lady,” Amanda quipped. She turned to Matt and smiled. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He nodded.
Looking around the basement, she certainly felt a little sorry for Matt, his place had been trashed, including his impressive-looking computer system. She looked back at him and caught him staring at her. He looked away, probably a little embarrassed at being noticed.
“Hey,” she said.
He smiled at her.
“Your place has seen better days.”
“Yeah, it’s been ransacked.”
“You want to come stay at mine, at least for a bit?”
Matt’s eyes lit up, and he smiled up at her. “Yeah, sounds great, where do you live?”
“New York.”
“America?”
“Is that a problem?”
Matt looked about him at the ruined room and seemed to think it over before looking back.
“Actually, no, it isn’t. It’s kinda cool, actually. Can you give me half an hour to gather a few things?” he asked.
“Sure, I’ll be in your front room.” Amanda Ported upstairs and found a place to sit and wait.
She listened to him move about the house, popping in and out of rooms, and gathering up his things. She let him know he could come back at any time to get whatever he wanted, and before too long he was ready, standing with two hold-alls in his hands.
Amanda stood up and approached him. “You ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
“This will feel a little strange,” she explained, and before he could answer, they were suddenly standing in her front room.
Matt staggered backwards and shook his head, dropping his bags. “Jeez, will I ever get used to that?”
“You will,” she said. “You want to take a moment? Here, sit down.”
Matt let her guide him to the nearest chair, where he dropped into it and sat back. After a moment, he looked over at her. “So, we’re in New York now?” he asked.
“That’s right.” She indicated the nearest window that revealed the skyscrapers outside.
He didn’t move from the chair. Amanda guessed he still felt a little strange from the Porting, but he looked out of the window from where he sat.
“So, you called me Sophia before.”
“Sorry, yeah. I thought you were someone else,” Mat explained. “You look just like her, though.”
“I look like this Sophia?”
“It was nearly twenty years ago now. I was just out of uni and doing some travelling. While I was on the Island of Tārūt, I met a girl, she called herself Sophia, and… Jeez, it sounds so strange.”
“No, no, go on, I want to know,” Amanda pressed.
“She was pregnant, heavily pregnant, and she took me to a hotel where I helped her give birth. Well, helped is maybe too strong of a word, she did the hard work.”
“She gave birth?”
“…to a baby girl.”
“About twenty years ago?” she asked.
“That’s right. She’d be about your age….”
Amanda smiled at him.
Matt’s mouth opened in shock. “It’s you, isn’t it? You were that baby, and Sophia was…”
“…my mother. I think so, from the little I know,” Amanda said.
“Oh, my God, that’s incredible.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty freaky. So, go on, what happened after?”
“We left the hotel, she said her goodbyes, and thanked me before walking off. But I couldn’t just leave her, I had to help her. So, I went after her and found her in the middle of a wasteland where she floated up into the sky with the baby—I mean you—and that’s when the earthquake hit. In fact, I think she caused it.”
“I’ve read about that. There’re stories of a red-haired woman saving people’s lives, appearing all over the island simultaneously and making sure no one died.”
“She saved me. I got caught in the fissure, and she flew me out of there. I passed out and the next thing I knew, I’m in the middle of emergency services and ambulances and the chaos of a disaster scene.”
“And you never saw her again?” Amanda asked.
“No, I mean, I thought you were her, but obviously you’re not. So, do you not know your mother?”
“I’m an orphan. I was left on the steps of a convent in Ireland and was raised by the sisters there, I never knew my parents. I’ve found out a little more recently, but I still have more questions than answers.”
“I’m sorry, that must be tough,” Matt said softly.
“It’s okay, you don’t miss what you never had. Anyway, look, I’d like to talk to you about this again sometime, but let’s get you a room and I can introduce you to the others,” Amanda said brightly.
“Others?”
“My coven. Don’t worry, they’re all friendly.”
- The Arkady, Aetheric Craft, in Geosynchronous Medium Earth Orbit.
“Thank you, Trevelyan, for delivering this. You’ve been amazing, so you have.”
Trevelyan smiled back at the woman before him. “Always a pleasure.”
With a brief working of Magic, he appeared in the alleyway behind Amanda’s brownstone and looked up to the sky. He couldn’t see her ship, hidden away up there, but he smiled all the same before moving round to the front door.
Infinities’ Edge
New York
“Come in, Trevelyan, come in. It’s lovely to see you again. What’s the craic? Is it a social call?” Amanda asked.
“I’m afraid not. I’m here on Council business, but hopefully, you’ll be interested in this,” he explained.
“Well, do come in,” she said, feeling curious as to what the latest calamity might be. She led him through to the front room, where they sat down.
“I just want to say thank you again for everything you did yesterday. I really was in a bit of trouble, which I had no idea how to get out of.”
“Seriously, it was my pleasure. I only wish we’d found out earlier, and maybe the whole thing could have been prevented.”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” Amanda replied. “But thank you, I won’t ever forget what you did.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to keep reminding you.”
She laughed. “So, Council business, what is it this time?”
“Ever since the incident on the atoll, we have been monitoring that island. Checking in on it from time to time to make sure it’s left alone, only to discover that there’s been some activity there recently. We looked into it and we think, from the sources we spoke with and from our own observations, that there seems to be a team of Inquisitors there, and I think they’ve entered the time device.”
“The time device? That’s not good.” Amanda wondered what the hell the Inquisition was up to.
“The existence of that machine will always be a threat. I think we will need to do something to deal with it once this latest crisis has been averted.”
“You want me to go there?” Amanda asked.
“After what happened last time, with the confrontation there and the energy blast,” he said, pointing to her tattoo, “I think you’re the best person for the job.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
“Anytime.”
The fact that the Council had come to her literally the day after the events with the Legion and after finding out that she had indulged in relations with a known Nomad, spoke volumes
about how much Trevelyan, and by extension, the Council, still thought of her. She felt an upwelling of pride within her chest and a growing determination to do a good job and to show them what kind of person she really was. After how she’d treated her friends recently, Amanda had been trying to forget this whole Chosen One thing and get back to her usual self.
“Can I take anyone with me?” she asked.
“That’s totally up to you, but this is of utmost urgency. Waste no time.”
“No problem.”
“Amanda-san, here you are. Oh, Sensei Trevelyan, it’s great to see you again. Is everything okay?” Yoh asked as he walked into the front room. Amanda had been in the kitchen with Howie and Yoh when the doorbell had sounded.
“Good morning, Yoh. Yes, everything is fine, thank you. Amanda and I were just discussing something. In fact, you might be the perfect person to help us on this,” he said and turned to Amanda. “What do you think?”
“Certainly,” she agreed. “The Council has detected a team of Inquisitors on the atoll and they suspect they’ve gained entry to the time device.”
“As in, right now?” Yoh asked.
“That is correct,” Trevelyan answered.
“Then we’d best get there and see what we can do. What about Liz and Gentle Water?” Yoh asked.
“I’m not sure where they are. We’ll leave word with Howie for when they get back.” Amanda said and turned to Trevelyan. “Thank you, Councillor.”
“Good luck. I’ll see myself out. We’ll talk soon,” Trevelyan said and smiled.
“Sure,” Amanda answered, but noticed a slightly sad expression on Trevelyan’s face as he Ported away. Something about that expression didn’t feel right. It felt almost as if he were saying a final goodbye to her. She pondered it for a brief moment, but quickly put it to the back of her mind and walked back into the kitchen.
“Hey,” she said on seeing Howie. “Something’s come up, Magi stuff, and we need to go and sort it. We shouldn’t be long, but if Gentle Water and Liz come back, just tell them we’ve gone to the atoll on Council business to deal with some Inquisitors, okay?”
“Sure, I can remember that, babe,” he said and pulled her in for a lingering kiss, his powerful arms lifting her off her feet.
Amanda had spent time with both Maria and Howie last night. Having him stay the night had been a very welcome distraction, after what she’d been through.
Talking to him was a useful reminder of what she was fighting for.
She smiled at him as he let her go. “See you later,” she said and turned back to Yoh, who had busied himself by taking an interest in the far wall rather than watch Amanda and Howie kiss.
“Let’s go,” she said, as she gathered the local Essentia to her and concentrated on the beach of the distant atoll. With her destination in her mind, she used the gathered energy and projected her desire to be standing on that beach with Yoh into the Essentia.
The air snapped and she suddenly found herself standing on the beach next to Yoh.
Going from the relatively dim interior of her home to the bright sunlit tropical beach caused her to squint as her eyes struggled to adjust to the powerful light. She took a moment to herself as she blinked away the tears caused by the blinding light. After a few seconds, she started to get used to it and took in her surroundings.
Not too far ahead, a team of men and women, although mainly men, were moving crates of equipment up the beach. They were all dressed in tactical gear with Magical weapons strapped to their bodies.
She could only just make out the Magical signatures ahead of her though, as they were almost entirely overwhelmed by the distinctive temporal energy put out by the time device. With a knot of worry forming in her gut, she knew that the presence of that energy could mean only one thing, the device was open.
As she watched from her crouched position behind a giant rock, the last of the men moved the final crate into the tree line and disappeared from view, leaving Amanda and Yoh alone on the white sands.
“Come on,” Amanda said and started to jog along the tree line up the beach, cursing the heeled boots she was wearing. At least she had a short skirt on this time in the tropical heat, although the sweater kind of negated any benefit that gave her.
“What’s the plan? How are we dealing with these guys?” Yoh asked.
“Not sure yet. I’m kinda making this up as I go along,” she replied.
“Excelle…”
The way Yoh’s voice suddenly cut off, brought Amanda up short and she had the sudden feeling that Yoh wasn’t by her side anymore. She stopped and looked behind her. Yoh was less than ten meters away, but he was frozen in mid-air, with his mouth still open, partway through the last word he’d said to her. At the same time as Yoh had stopped moving, so had everything around her. The sea had stopped lapping against the beach and the palm fronds had stopped moving in the breeze. The world had frozen and everything now sat in silence.
The only explanation for this was Magic—Time Magic so powerful that it could freeze time and yet allow Amanda to keep moving, separating her from the timeline that had just been paused.
But she hadn’t detected anything, no Magic at all.
She spun around, looking about her, trying to see if anyone was close by. Was this an attack of some kind?
She peered into the tree line she stood close to, but saw nothing. Turning back to Yoh, she stepped back in shock to see… something, hovering in the air beside him.
It looked like it had a body of billowing blackness, like a cape made from some kind of energy that fluttered lazily in the wind, distorting the air around it. Amanda couldn’t feel any air moving around her though or see any folds or anything in the cape. It looked more like a hole in reality.
Deep within that hole, she could make out the rough features of a male-looking face, as lit by a harsh light from above.
“What the feck…” she exclaimed in surprise.
“Amanda, don’t be alarmed. I mean you no harm,” the thing said.
Her immediate reaction to anything like this was always to boost her Aegis and to ready herself for an attack, and this was no different, but she found that her Magic didn’t seem to work. She did everything as normal, but nothing happened. In fact, she found she couldn’t sense or even see any Essentia, as her Aetheric Sight also failed her.
She looked back up at the creature that hovered before her. “What are ye?”
“You and your kind know me as Weaver,” it said. The voice was deep and melodious, with an odd pitching effect that gave it a curious otherworldly quality.
“You’re… a Weaver?” she asked, cautiously with a growing fear in her chest. The legends of the Weavers were well known, and so were the tales of what they did to Magi who abused Temporal Magic. These guardians of the timeline were not known to be forgiving.
She had no way of confirming if this was, indeed, a Weaver without her Magic, but there wasn’t a good alternative explanation for what was happening.
“I am,” it replied.
“Are you here to punish me?”
“I’m not,” it said. “Quite the opposite. I need your help.”
“My help? What can I do to help you?” she asked, feeling even more surprised. What could she possibly do to help a creature as powerful as a Weaver?
“More than you could ever know, but for now, you only need to prevent a Paradox by going back in time to deal with the Inquisition.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mary Damask is sending her team of Crusader Knights through the device to 750AD, and their plans might tip the delicate balance of the scales and create a paradox. Only you can stop this.”
“Me? I’m sure I’m not the most qualified to do this. Why me?” Amanda asked.
“Because you’ve already done it.”
“What?”
“I cannot force you to do anything, but if you do not agree to this, it will create a paradox of catastrophic proportions and could lead to terrible consequen
ces. This act that I do now, is merely to close the circle. It all rests on your choice, here and now. Will you help me?”
Amanda blinked, shocked by the implication of what the Weaver had just said. She didn’t quite understand what he meant by ‘already done it’, but she also had no reason to doubt the words of a Weaver. As she processed his request, she realised it was still waiting on her answer, and she sucked in a deep breath before answering.
“But of course, what can I do?” She was still afraid, but as the Weaver spoke, she started to become more and more excited about what she was being asked to do. She had a million questions, especially about time travel, but she got the feeling that now wasn’t the time to ask them.
It was always one of those concepts that toyed with your mind, with the idea of a time paradox being particularly mind-bending.
Gentle Water had once explained it to her and the memory came flooding back. They’d been sitting before the fire in her Irish cottage one night during her early training before she’d ever even met any other Magi and he’d talked about Temporal Magic.
The example he gave her went something like, if you went back in time and killed your mother or father before they conceived you, then you would never exist. But if you didn’t exist, then you couldn’t go back in time to kill your parents. But if you didn’t go back in time to kill your parents, then you would be born, and you could then go back in time and kill them, but if you did that, then you wouldn’t exist… and so on, round and round.
There were plenty of ideas surrounding time travel and what you could and couldn’t do, and what would cause a paradox. Theories suggested that the fallout from such a paradox could potentially destroy the universe and the timeline, but no one really knew because the Weavers prevented such things from happening. Or so it seemed, to the best of the Magi’s collective knowledge.
“I will send you back to the moment before the Inquisitors appear in 750AD. You must stop them before they disrupt the fight that Mr Black is involved in with Horlack nearby. No Inquisitor can get near that confrontation. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” she said, feeling the weight of the responsibility that now rested upon her shoulders as she remembered her father's tale about going back in time to free his family from Horlack’s control.
Magi Legend Page 92
