Naihilus sat down at the school computer and stretched his fingers. He was trembling all over in excitement. It was…hard to explain why. Not because it was difficult to understand, but because it was…well, it was a little hard for him to put it into words. He signed into his student account and brought up his email. Sure enough, he had a message from Zalir. He glanced at the lab notebook next to him. No. He should read Zalir’s email first. That way, he would have more time to put his discovery into words.Zalir’s email was pretty straightforward—the other Litch was answering his questions, explaining some of the finger points of alchemy for him. He hadn’t had much time to see Zalir—neither of them were particularly sociable. They were introverts. They liked to be by themselves. A pre-planned discussion meeting would have taken too much effort to put together and would just have made the two of them anxious, especially Zalir. Emails were easier—Zalir didn’t have to stutter and Naihilus didn’t have to be awkward and off-putting. The arrangement worked out well, even if it did look bizarre to the outsider—two seniors sitting side by side, busily sending each other instant messages and emails. It was easier. Nai felt like he’d gotten to know the other Litch quite well in the past two weeks, despite only directly talked to zem once since their first meeting. Zalir was very intelligent, very helpful, and quite enthusiastic. Nai was happy to call zem a friend.
But there was so much more to it than that…
Nai read through to the end of Zalir’s latest email and hit “reply.” So…how to begin?
Dear Zalir,
Thank you for explaining the progression of the magnum opus to me. I still do not understand the process of rubedo, but I don’t think I ever will at this point—you have explained everything else so well that I can only conclude that I am too thick to ever understand it! Everything else seems to have clear symbolism and an actual process attached to it, but not so much rubedo. Thank you, again, for explaining it to me, though! Very helpful, especially your explanation of albedo.
In other news, I performed the crystal experiment yesterday. It took me forever to find the procedure—it was in a very old book on crystal magic. I think the book had been misfiled as well, but I cannot confirm it. I had to adjust some aspects of the setup, though—I couldn’t find all of the supplies necessary, but I was able to find enough, I think.
I put the crystals together and performed the spell with some quite spectacular results. Our stones went ricocheting away from each other—they were three inches apart and never touched! Quite extraordinary. The sound they produced was very strange. I ended up recording it on my phone and running it through an analysis program in the computer lab. According to the table in the book, that particular interval of sound, accompanied by the rocketing of our stones, indicates that not only are we, as we previously suspected, related to each other, but we were probably imbued at the same time as well! I think our stones got separated in the cache and that’s why we were awakened at different times.
Nai looked away from the computer screen to look at his notebook. He opened it up to the beginning of the section on his magical experiments. The pilimancy hadn’t worked—too complicated. There had been too much of a draft in every room he tried. This spell was much more reliable, if more than a little theatrical. He was glad his roommate hadn’t been around at the time—though Nai’s foxes had been, and he swore, they were still giving him funny looks for that disturbance. It had been a very loud and unpleasant sound that the stones had made, as if they themselves were repulsed by the possibility of incest. He’d written down all of his observations dutifully in the notebook, as well as copying out the spell and procedure and everything he’d changed for setup and materials.
He'd also made notes about his suspicions. Listed in the notebook was a series of observations. Both subjects display high levels of eumelanin of the skin; orange eyes; orange markings on the face; similar facial structures, especially around the nose and jaw; high levels of phaeomelanin and rubimelanin in hair. Differences: exact hue of hair, color of claws. And now Nai knew why he and the stranger looked the same. Their parents, long lost to the ravages of the Fifty Year War, had left them in the cache. Nai now knew that he had something most cache children never had: a family, one he had been imbued into, not just one he married into or made himself. It was a heady feeling, and Nai still didn’t know what to think.
He closed the notebook and looked over at the screen.
I’m not sure how to go forward at this point. I would like to meet up with you to return your stone to you—I think you’ll probably know better than I do how long it will take for the magic to fade out of it, but I think something with your magic in it should be in your hands.
What else to say?
Well, the truth, he supposed?
I’m really glad I met you, Zalir. I’m glad that we’re friends. From what I understand from my roommate, not all siblings are so lucky as to be friends with their family members. But I’m also glad that we’re friends just for the sake of being friends. I think you are a very kind and interesting person. I hope that being related to you won’t make our friendship weird, or change it for the worse, either. I’m curious to know what you think.
He finished the email and sent it, then packed up his things and went to lunch. When he came back that afternoon, he saw a familiar head of orange hair on the other side of the computer bank. Zalir looked up from the computer and waved, then pointed at zeir computer. The message was clear—I’m still reading your latest email. Naihilus nodded and sat down at another computer, logged in once more, and brought up the chat website that he and his new sibling used.
Zalir was already there. Just finished reading your email. So what now?
Nai hesitated, then typed in, I think nothing changes? We’re still friends, right?
Oh, yes, definitely! I hope? I’d certainly like to be your friend. I think I’d be better at being a friend than being a sibster.
Nai nodded, even if, looking at zeir own screen, Zalir couldn’t see it. I want to be your friend, too. But it’s nice to have the mystery solved. It was also a really fun experiment. Very exciting!
I’m glad you enjoyed it , Zalir typed back.
Yeah, Nai wrote. I’d love to repeat it again, though it would have to be with someone else.
That’s the scientific way—you repeat an experiment several times, just to see if it wasn’t a fluke. Who would you do it with, though?
Nai paused. Dunno. He paused, then wrote on another line, Maybe I could even do it for a living! xD
Zalir’s response took a little while to come, but when it did, it was thoughtful rather than amused. You probably could. You might need a lot of practice at it, though—not everyone is going to be as obvious as us two.
Yeah, Nai wrote. Then he added, Maybe I could hone my skills a bit—practice.
Zalir didn’t reply for a while. Nai glanced up at Zalir, who was watching the screen with a patient expression on zeir face. Oh. Zey were wondering if he was finished. Well, if zey weren’t writing anything yet… The process does need refinement, I think. I think it could be simpler, and faster, and there’s the obvious problem that it can’t be done with children, since they can’t imbue their magic. I dunno, I can’t stop thinking about how this spell works and how it can be improved. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so fascinated with something like this before. He looked up at Zalir in time to see the other Litch nod.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. That’s definitely good! I’m not sure how much refinement needs to be done, though.
Yeah, me neither. I’m not nearly as experienced in magic as whoever devised that spell. Nai hesitated. Maybe I need to get good.
xDDD Well, you could study magic. What are your plans for college, if you don’t mind me asking?
Hey, not at all! Um, I didn’t really have any plans for college. Didn’t really have any plans for after graduation. I guess it’s time to start thinking about that, though—I mean, I do graduate this year and all.
Yeah, probably time to start thinking about that, Zalir wrote back. Well, maybe if you studied enchanting? There are programs at the local community college and Leviathan university.
I was thinking maybe divination, since there’s an element of divination to the process. Though that isn’t to say I couldn’t study both. I could study enchanting at Leviathan, then transfer to Grendel to learn divination. I think there’s a program for double majoring at two universities, but I’ll have to look it up, that may be an old program that’s no longer running.
Both siblings looked up at each other at the same time. They smiled and Zalir nodded. The younger sibling typed something on the computer. Nai leaned back to read the message. Sounds like a plan! his sibling had written.
Nai smiled. See you at Leviathan, then?
See you there, big brother.
