Chapter 2: Hello Shapers
It's late when we arrive in Terrestia, and we're all tired. It's been a long day since we've slept, even if that day was spread out over three lifetimes. Rather than deal with the city at the moment, we head some ways off and put up the tent to get some sleep.
"Be sure to put a fireproofing charm on the tent," I say. "Don't want it to be burned down by the first rogue fyora that shows up."
"What's a fyora?" Cassie asks as she waves her wand and applies the charm to the tent.
"A bipedal red lizard that breathes fire," I say. "Stands about so high." I put out my hand around waist level. "I'll show you some when we get into town. They're common creatures around here."
As I head inside and curl up for sleep, I find my mind drifting back to Sardill's words. Understanding is a distant thing, however. I couldn't even understand the half of what the Book of Truths spoke of, and Sardill is enigmatic at best.
Did he really start killing me just to force me to do something? I don't understand. I really, really don't understand.
The next morning, we get up and have some breakfast. Fortunately, Cassie was sharp enough to bring along some food. I don't know what I'd do without her. Starve, probably. I keep winding up forgetting little things like making sure that we have enough to eat.
"Will we stand out around here?" Cassie asks.
"Probably not," I say. "Anyone looking at us will probably just think we're mages."
"Mages?" Tom says. "I assume that's what they call wizards around here?"
"Both words are used, so far as I know," I say. "I don't know if they have some distinction between them, or which is more common. I didn't actually spend a lot of time in Shaper lands. Well, I take that back. I spent a lot of time in Shaper lands making war upon the Shapers." I snicker softly.
"Didn't like the Shapers much, did you?" Gellert says, smirking.
"It's a long story," I say.
"You say that a lot," Tom says. "But I think we will have time for it."
"It's not like you'll need to tell us twice," Gellert says.
"I'll give you the basics now," I say. "Then we ought to try to get into Shaper training. That will take a while. Several years, really, I think."
"Wait," Gellert says. "If you hate the Shapers so much, why do you want to be one?"
"It'll take the best of my acting abilities to pretend to be a good, loyal Shaper long enough to learn what I want," I say. "And it's not just their Shaping abilities that I'm interested in. You see, Shapers spend several years training their minds. Mental conditioning, in order to absorb and retain knowledge rapidly, bring it to mind again quickly, make certain that they don't forget anything. They apparently spend very little time actually teaching, but more teaching how to learn."
"That... sounds like it could be very useful," Cassie says.
"Now you see why I wanted to come to this world first?" I say.
"Definitely a good plan," Tom says. "Now, the question is, how do we get into Shaper training?"
"Good question," I say. "We'll need to ask questions, try different things. Failing all else, if something goes too wrong, I can always kill myself and send us back to that morning to try again."
"You know, that's true," Cassie says. "Now that we're all bound to you, that's actually a viable option."
"Alright, let me give you the info dump," I say. "The Shapers are a magical sect that effectively controls much of the world of Terrestia. The only place outside of their influence is the Sholai lands, which they don't even know exists right now."
"Wizards rule over Muggles?" Gellert says, raising an eyebrow. "They actually succeeded at that, here?"
"Indeed," I say. "They also have some restrictions on learning magic, but the tightest restrictions are over the Shaping arts. Any non-Shaper caught even trying to use them is subject to swift death."
"What is Shaping, exactly?" Cassie asks.
"The ability to create life," I say. "With some concentration and magical goo called 'essence', they can Shape new creations of various types, completely obedient to them."
"Intriguing," Tom says thoughtfully. "Not just conjuration, but actually making permanent, living beings that they can control?"
"Exactly," I say. "A Shaper can only control so many creations, but it's these creations that make up the bulk of their army, work force, and livestock."
I lead them out toward the town to show them more, and demonstrate more clearly. I point out the different sorts of creations as we pass through, telling them the names of the beings and what they're used for. The tall, muscular red humanoids called battle alphas, used for shock troops. The acid-spitting worms called artilas. The surprisingly dog-like reptiles called roamers.
"And what are those mooing things wandering around the field?" Cassie asks. "Those don't look like any cows I've ever seen."
"Ornks, they're called," I say. "The most common livestock you'll see in Shaper lands. They're actually pretty tasty. You'll have to get used to eating them, though. Ornk will probably wind up making up the majority of the meat in our diet. Just hope that we're never so hungry that we have to eat vlish." I point off to a floating squid-like creature.
"Yeah, that doesn't look very appetizing," Gellert says.
"What about the small robed people?" Cassie says. "I thought they were just short humans at first, until I saw their long noses..."
"Serviles," I say with a touch of distaste. "Their most commonly used servants." I lower my voice. "Don't be fooled. Serviles are as smart as any human, even though they hide it for fear of punishment or death. But when we're in role, we will need to treat the serviles as slaves, tools, in order to get in good with the Shapers."
I head over to the jewelry store and get my gold bars converted into local coins in order to have some currency on hand. We then head over to the inn and book a room for the night.
"Just one room?" the innkeeper says. "Suit yourselves. Travelers, are you?"
"Yeah," I say. "We've come a long way. Nodye Coast is very different from the eastern lands."
"I should hope so," the innkeeper replies. "Wild, lawless place. I'll bet you hardly had to go through any regulations to learn your magic. Don't expect that sort of frontier spirit around here, though."
"We're not going to get into trouble for knowing magic, will we?" Cassie asks.
"No, no," the innkeeper says. "Just don't expect it to be so easy to learn any new magic. And don't even think about Shaping."
"Of course not," Tom says smoothly. "We would never seek to impose upon the sovereign right of the Shapers."
The innkeeper seems satisfied at that, and we head back into our room. It's not a very big room, and only contains two large beds, but it will suffice for our purposes.
"Alright, one of you stun me," I say.
All three of them point their wands at me and strike me with red Stunning Spells.
"Gah!" I mutter as I come to. "I said one of you stun me!"
"Sorry," Tom says, grinning in such a way that it's clear he's not sorry at all.
"Alright, I'm going to go see about asking some questions," I say. "Feel free to mingle and gather information yourselves, just do be careful."
"We're always careful," Gellert says. "You're the one who's caused most of our problems, remember?"
I snort softly. "I won't even argue with that."
"We'll give you some slack for making us immortal and taking us to explore the multiverse, though," Gellert says lightly.
"And for being sexy," Cassie says.
I chuckle softly, and lean over to kiss Cassie. When I break off from her, I find myself practically pinned to the wall from Tom kissing me instead.
"Mmh," I say. "Not that this is an unpleasant distraction or anything, but I was going to go out to talk to the Shapers."
Tom laughs softly and slaps me on the ass. "Go."
I head out of the inn and look around for the Shaping Hall. That would probably be the large domed building off to one side of the town. Am I even allowed in there? I find one man in Shaper robes outside, and approach him.
"Pardon me, Shaper," I say. "Terribly sorry to bother you, but I need to ask a question."
"Go ahead," the man says. He is fairly young, and I imagine that he might have only recently finished his training himself. As such, he is currently tending to some creations in the pens outside of the Shaping Hall.
"Who can I talk to about Shaper training?" I ask.
The Shaper looks me over dubiously. "You're a little old for that."
"No, no, not for me," I say. "For my children."
"Ah. Are you aware that if you give your children up for Shaper training, you will likely have very little contact with them for many years?"
"I know," I say, sighing. "How old do you usually take students for Shaper training?"
"As young as we can get them," the Shaper replies.
"Six? Seven? Eight?" I ask.
"That would be good, yes."
"You see, I have four young children in my care," I say. "Their mother died. Tragically. I can't take care of them all myself. And it would be cruel to split them up. They are quite talented and intelligent, but very obedient. I'm sure they would be an asset to your order."
"Well, bring them in and we'll see," the Shaper says. "Not everyone who goes through the Shaper training actually succeeds at becoming a Shaper. But I see no reason not to let them try. They're young enough, after all."
I nod. "Thank you, Shaper."
I bow to him politely and head back to the inn. My friends are out in the common room, mingling with the others at the inn, chatting a bit with the locals. I wave my hand, signalling over toward them, and head back to our room.
"Did you find out anything?" Cassie asks once we're safely in private.
"We should be able to get into the training alright," I say. "We'll have to take on the forms of children aged six to eight for it, though."
"Well, that's alright," Cassie says. "I can have a third childhood, then."
"Probably won't be your last one," I say, chuckling.
As we're claiming to be siblings, I age myself down to six years old, to be the youngest. Cassie and Tom go for seven years, to be twins, and Gellert goes to eight, the oldest. I give us a look over once we're done. Tom, Cassie, and I could plausibly be siblings, but Gellert is blond and has a completely different facial structure. He looks nothing like the rest of us.
"Is anyone actually going to believe that I'm your brother?" Gellert wonders as we work on transfiguring our clothes to look like the local fashions.
"You could be the one with a different father that everyone pretends is really our full-blooded brother," Cassie suggests.
"Did that happen a lot in your family?" I wonder.
Cassie snorts softly. "You'd be surprised."
After stashing our wands away in our bags again, we head over toward the Shaping Hall. The same Shaper who I talked to before is there, still at work checking over the creations.
"Excuse me, sir," I say. Damn, my voice sounds so squeaky. "Our father sent us over here."
"Ah." The Shaper straightens and looks over us. "He sent you by yourselves?"
"Yeah," Gellert says. "But it's okay. I can take care of the little ones!"
"We're not much younger than you!" Cassie protests.
"Well, I suppose I'll have to take care of you children. I am Shaper Marzan. What are your names?" We introduce ourselves. "I just need to finish checking up on these creations. Have you been around many creations before?"
"That one's a fyora!" Cassie says, pointing excitedly to the red lizard.
"That's right," Marzan says, smiling at her. "And do you know what fyoras eat?"
"Uh..." Cassie says. "Ornk?"
"Indeed," Marzan says. "Fyoras eat meat."
"What are you checking for?" Tom asks. "You're a mighty Shaper. Surely you're not just feeding them."
Marzan chuckles softly. "I'm barely a full Shaper myself, but no, I'm not just feeding them. I'm also examining them for signs of disease and rogue tendancies."
"What does 'rogue' mean?" Cassie asks, putting her finger to her lip thoughtfully.
"It means they're uncontrolled," Marzan explains. "Creations behave badly when they aren't under Shaper control. They might even try to hurt people. So we always need to make sure the creations are calm and under control."
"What do you do if a creation goes rogue?" Tom asks.
"They need to be terminated then," Marzan says.
"You mean you kill them?" Cassie asks.
"Don't be squeamish about it," Marzan says. "It needs to be done for the safety of all."
"Oh, I'm not," Cassie says. "You just used a big word. Why not just say you kill them?"
"You and your big book words," I say.
"Well, I didn't think-"
"Shaper," Tom says, examining one of the creations closely. "This roamer seems pretty nervous."
"Hmm?" Marzan says, going over to look at the orange reptile. "What do you mean?"
"Well, look at the way it's breathing," Tom says. "More heavily than the other roamers."
"Huh, you're right," Marzan says. "Good eye. You might turn out to be a fine Shaper one day."
Marzan approaches the roamer and puts his hand on the creation's head gently, concentrating and murmuring a few soothing words. The roamer seems to calm down again.
"Alright, I'm done here for now," Marzan says. "Time to get you children over to the Shaper warrens. Somebody more important than me can decide what to do with you." He chuckles softly.
He leads us away, not toward the nearby Shaping Hall, but off to the edge of town and a short ways away. Carved into the side of a hill, there's a grandiose entryway flanked by half a dozen Shaper statues. Inside, we're led along corridors lined with crystals that light up when we get close to them, through a veritable labyrinth, and into what might be some sort of laboratory.
Marzan goes over and has a brief, hushed conversation with an older Shaper. He points to Tom at one point. After exchanging some more words, Marzan gives a bow to the other Shaper, and hurriedly leaves the room.
The older Shaper shuffles us along to another room, and we're examined, measured, and tested in many inexplicable ways. I'm not even entirely certain what they're looking for, but they seem satisfied enough.
"They have a surprisingly high affinity for magic, given their age," one of the Shapers says to another. "Are you certain that their father wasn't a Shaper, or at least a mage?"
"I believe Marzan said he was dressed like a mage."
"Did he say who the mother was?"
"I don't believe so." The woman, dressed like an Agent, turns to us and asks, "Hello, children. Tell me about your mother. Was she a mage, by chance?"
"She's dead," I say, looking at the floor.
"I'm sorry," the Agent says.
"S'okay," I say.
"She was a mage," Gellert says. "Dad always said she was real powerful."
"I see," the Agent says.
"Are we going to learn to be Shapers?" Cassie asks.
"Well, we can't say now whether you'll succeed in the training," the Agent says. "But you certainly have the potential. We'll be putting you in to begin your training shortly."
We're led off again and assigned to quarters. At least they're courteous enough to keep us together for the moment, although I have my doubts that that will last forever. Still, so long as we can get through the training, it will be worth it, I'm certain.
"How long do you suppose we're going to be training for?" Cassie wonders once we're alone in the dorm area.
"Years," I say. "Years and years."
"This better be worth it," Gellert says.
"If you don't think it will be, feel free to leave," Tom says lightly, waving his hand at him dismissively. "Run off and go someplace else. There's a whole world out there, after all. I, for one, wish to learn more of Shaping, however."
Gellert snorts softly. "No, I'm staying. It's not like I'm being imprisoned alone in my own fortress for fifty years or anything."
Cassie takes me aside a couple weeks later, whispers a privacy spell, and says to me, "You're acting too twitchy around the serviles."
"Huh?" I say.
"You've told us all about your previous adventure here," Cassie says. "But the way you behave around the serviles is... telling. It's like you're not entirely comfortable around them, not sure how you should be treating them. That's fine for now, as it doesn't contradict our role, but you're going to need to start treating them like a Shaper eventually."
"I didn't even realize I was doing that," I say with a sigh. "I thought my acting was better than that."
Cassie nods. "I figured as much. It didn't seem like you were taking on that role intentionally. Just be careful. Whatever you might think of the serviles or however much you hate slavery, we all need to act like Shapers sooner or later, or we'll never get anywhere."
I sigh. "Yeah. Thanks for letting me know my mask was slipping. At least it's still early enough that it won't be surprising to anyone that we're still a little uncomfortable around serviles. But I will definitely have to work on that."
Cassie grins at me, and gives me a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Now, come on. You promised you'd start telling us about your first time loop in Hogwarts tonight."
It's kind of refreshing to be able to go into detail and tell them all about the experiences I've been through, without having to worry about ever needing to repeat it to the same people again. I'm loving every minute of the fact that every moment we spend together counts. They won't forget me. They'll be with me for eternity. No matter how much time passes, I'm sure that I will still be ecstatic at that idea.