Font of Fertility Ch. 24

"Do you think you know what he's been working on?" Lindsey asked. "I've been trying to piece together some possibilities, but I don't have enough of a foundation to build any credible theories."

Esmerelda looked down the table at Lindsey, somewhat amused for a moment. "No, Houdini," she said. "And you shall not gain any secrets of the deep magic from me."

"Houdini?" Lauren asked.

"The sleight-of-hand charlatan," Esmerelda said. "He is still famous for his tricks of misdirection, surely?"

"Well, yeah," Lauren said. "But why call her Houdini?"

"You reminded me of him, when he sought me out," Esmerelda said, looking down the table at Lindsey again. "He was desperate for the secrets to what he called the 'deep magic,' as if it were something that could simply be taught. He even offered me sacrifices, but I turned him away. Magic is not something that can be learned - the formulae, the runes, the rituals, they are all knowledge that can only be ignited by the spark of someone who has Ascended."

"That's perfectly fine with me," Lindsey said. "I'm not looking to do magic myself. I'm purely in it to make sure Jerry is as equipped as possible."

Esmerelda smiled, and for the first time other than when Stacey called her out I saw the emotion cross all the way up into her eyes. "Well, good luck with that, Houdini."

The appetizers were crab croquettes that were ridiculously delicious even to me, who wasn't a fan of seafood very often. The conversation shifted a bit, and the girls began to dominate the conversation more as they tried to attack the 'make friends with Esmerelda' plan from different angles.

The problem was, Esmerelda was exceedingly good at avoiding talking about anything substantial even if she also wasn't big on small talk. She was good company, when she wasn't hinting at something dark or horrible, and if I were to guess I could have brought her home to meet my parents and they wouldn't have blinked an eye. She even looked around our age, though I couldn't be sure if that was on purpose for us, or just the age she generally presented as. I had to keep reminding myself that she was somewhere around 500 years old when she wasn't seemingly on the edge of sanity.

Lindsey tried to connect with her on history, having done research in advance, but Esmerelda made it fairly clear she didn't want to talk about the history of her territory or her own history in it. Shedid laugh pretty hard at the idea that Aliens had helped build the old monument sites and ruins, once she understood what 'Aliens' were supposed to be.

Apparently places like Machu Picchu, the Nazca Lines and Easter Island were all accomplished through magic and hard, long toiling, not aliens. She also hinted that several of the geological 'wonders of South America' were also her work, though not which ones.

Stacey came at her from the 'we're all just girls' direction, testing to see if she was up on modern pop culture like music and fashion. Esmerelda seemed only vaguely aware of some things, but very aware of others - though to be fair, I also was only vaguely aware of some of the things Stacey was referencing. Still, though, we got very little insight into her personal life even if she could drop some quotes from The Office or sing the start of that Backstreet Boys song.

Annalise was a little more tentative in her questions, though it was more from mild embarrassment as she asked questions about the magic community - this had been planned ahead of time, though Anna had free rein to ask about anything she wanted. It saved me from needing to ask the questions, which I was starting to regret feeling the need to protect myself from.

Again, even though Esmerelda assured her there was nothing to be ashamed of in her isolation from the Ascended communities, the Death Seat was relatively tight-lipped. She claimed that she didn't actually know much of the various societies up here in the US or Canada, though she was aware of those that were in Mexico but they were hers to wrangle now. She had several that she had needed to exert influence over down in South America, though she wouldn't expand on that as 'every time was different.' She also noted that both the 'Vampires' and 'Shapeshifters' in her lands were distinct from those across the ocean, but those in my territory would be a mix of both ancestries as Ezekiel had allowed colonization to be open to all Ascended as long as they followed his Proclamations.

Lauren, of course, had to be the most blunt of the girls in her approach and snuck in her line of questioning after a relatively innocuous one from Stacey.

"So, do you have anyone special?" she asked. "A boyfriend? Or girlfriend? We obviously wouldn't judge. Does a Death Seat, like, date?"

"Are you offering to take me on a date, Lauren?" Esmerelda asked with a knowing smirk as she lifted an eyebrow.

"Not a shot," Lauren replied, taking my hand and grinning at me for a moment. "I'm a happily tied down woman. But with harems being such a thing with the Fertility seats, I just had to wonder if you other Seats get your freak on in the same way and just don't get power from it or anything."

Esmerelda sighed and shook her head. "I can't speak for the other Death or Life seats; they have their own tastes and desires. As formy harem, well... let's just say they're up to their necks in it." The way she said it didn't exactly make it sound like a euphemism and had me imagining a field of people buried up to their necks for punishment.

"Girl, please tell me you aren't on a century-long dry spell or something," Lindsey said. "That would be criminal, you arefucking hot."

And fucking crazy, I thought to myself. Not uncontrollably, but she was definitely not normal.

"If you want, you can bang it out with Jerry," Lauren offered, making me cough hard to try to interrupt her. She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. "No strings attached, obviously. And not magically enhanced like whatever Ndia does."

"Esmerelda, what Lauren is offering-" I started, but stopped at seeing the pure amusement in the other Seat's eyes. "It's on the table if you'd like," I corrected myself, not wanting to piss off the crazy-hot Death Wizard. "But definitely wasn't something I was expecting to offer."

"So this wasn't all a ruse to trip me into bed with you and your harem, Jeremiah?" Esmerelda asked with a chuckle.

"No," I said.

"Maybe," Lindsey laughed.

"No," I repeated, shooting a glance down the table at my girlfriend. "I have no doubt that an evening with you would be wild, but that's not what this is about." I gestured to the table, and in an almost perfectly timed moment we were interrupted as the waiters came in to take away the appetizer dishes and deliver the entrees; lechon asado with a side of heavily seasoned rice and beans, and fresh vegetables.

As the waiters left, I sighed and rubbed my temple for a moment as I shot a look at Lauren. She gave me one back that clearly said, 'What? It was worth a shot!'

"If this meeting isn't about trying to sex me up," Esmerelda said once we were alone. "Then perhaps it's time for you to come to the point of this meal, Jeremiah Grant. Or was this unnecessary to add to our deal in the Council?"

I took a moment to taste the pork, chewing slowly as I nodded, and then washing down the spicy kick of the food with a sip of my water. "The point, Esmerelda, was to get to know you, and for you to get to know us. I'm hoping that you and I can be more than just neighbours, but for that to happen there needs to be some trust. I already know that you weren't the one to attack me."

"And how do you know that?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously even while she slowly started to grin. I really couldn't tell if she was doing it to throw me off or if it was a natural swing in her emotions.

"Because the attacker said two words, and they were a quip," I said. "A stupid little joke to aggrandize their ego. 'He, me,' he said.He. And while I think you're smart enough to set up a misdirection like that, I also don't think it's your style."

Esmerelda was frozen for a moment, then while her grin remained her eyes opened fully and she nodded slowly, leaving her dinner untouched for the moment as she leaned forward with her elbows on the table, a complete separation from her earlier perfect aristocratic poise. "Interesting theory," she said. "And, for what it's worth, I will say itwasn't me, though you should never take anything another Seat says at face value."

"I know," I said. "Truth and lies. Real and unreal. I got it. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to... connect. I've already shown you my family and exposed myself. Now I'm hoping you'll do a bit of the same."

"And what is it you would like me to expose?" Esmerelda asked, her grin turning lecherous.

"What do youwant, Esmerelda?" I asked, still trying to just ignore the wild swings in her expressions and not get distracted. "As a Seat. As a woman travelling through history."

The Death Seat blinked in mild surprise, leaning back as she looked at me with hard, cool eyes that felt more real than a moment ago. I also could almostfeel Lindsey wanting to make a sex joke at the other end of the table, but she thankfully suppressed it and kept quiet.

"Let me ask you this, Jeremiah," Esmerelda said slowly. "With the power you have at your fingertips, what do you think you should do with it?"

"I don't know yet," I said honestly. "Before all of this started, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to create stories and worlds that would entertain people and make them ask questions."

Esmerelda nodded and pursed her lips slightly. "What you have inside you, Jeremiah, is the power to do that outside of a page. To rework the earth. To build the magnificence you see in your mind. To shape culture and change lives. The law of the Council is that we can do what we want in our territories, but that isn'ttrue. Not really. Too big an idea, too big achange, and the other Seats will oppose you."

"Did that happen to you?" I asked quietly.

She smiled bitterly and shook her head. "No, not at first. When I was a young Seat I had the freedom of isolation to do what I wanted. But when that isolation ended, when my works were a risk to the status quo of the others, they demanded I curb my desires. And while Ezekiel and I were of the same mind on some things, we were notallies." She took a breath and levelled a gaze at me. Then she pushed her chair back and stood, starting to pace on her side of the table while Annalise tried not to freak out at her moving around behind the fire mage. "What I want, Jeremiah Grant, is for the status quo of our world and the Council of Threes to be disrupted. Notended, I'm not seeking war or chaos. But they have become so interconnected, so reliant upon their own agreements and treaties to maintain peace, that they've abandoned our roles as Seats. Our true callings."

"And what calling is that?" Stacey asked.

Esmerelda smirked, just a little, as she paced over to Stacey and leaned on the table as she looked down at her. "We are meant to redesign the world," she said. "To refresh that which is stagnant. The evercycle of being - Birth, Life, and Death - is not meant to only be on an individual scale. This world is choking on the division of magic from the people. Science is reality, but our existence is notonly reality but alsounreality. Atlantis was banished from the world because they focused too much on theunreal and became a danger. Now our Council deals with the trauma of that by forcing the Ascended to hide themselves, removing magic from the population at large, skewing the balance of the world." She turned to me, still leaning close to Stacey. "Let me ask you again, Jeremiah - with access to unlimited power, are there not things that you would change about your country? Natural disasters increasing, poverty and mental illness on the rise. Addiction. Crime. Waste. Corruption."

I had to swallow. She was right. I knew, even without having graduated high school yet, that there were real problems in the world. Problems that governments couldn't just fix. But there were also risks. Horrible risks. She knew history better than I could and had seen more than I could imagine, but I had... it felt stupid to think, but I had the benefit of a writer's imagination. A reader's, too. A modern understanding. I had explored the depths of evil in my mind, and the shades of grey, to try and create good antagonists. Good stories.

It was a slippery slope to hell.

"This is a lot to think about," I said.

"It is," Esmerelda laughed energetically, then turned and planted herself back in her seat and speared a fork into her food. "And I've had centuries to consider. So I don't expect an answer from you now, or soon, on this. Eventually, Jeremiah Grant, in a thousand years or so, you and I will likely be somewhere in the middle of the Council instead of at the bottom. So dream about what ispossible, and not just what is."

Esmerelda turned in her seat and picked up the poster tube that she had been carrying when she walked in. She rattled it a little and smirked when she held it up. "The Rod of Ash and Hew," she said, then popped the plastic lid on the tube and let it slide out. The rod looked like it was made from some sort of hard stone, but seemed too organic to be carved by hand. It was about a foot and a half long, with water-like curves at the base and the flanged head. I could see it was covered in runes, but the thing at least seemed dormant.

"I'll take that," Lindsey said, standing up and coming around the table. Esmerelda nodded and handed the relic to her. Lindsey looked at it almost greedily, though I knew it was because she couldn't wait to start examining it - and those runes- carefully. She took the poster tube as well and, after a long moment of looking at the rod, she packed it away again.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" I asked. "And why trade it to me when I didn't even know it existed?"

"You can do whatever you want with it, though I suggest using it instead of trading it away," Esmerelda said a little wryly. "And I wanted you to have it for the same reason that Ayoub gave it to me - because a new Seat should learn about true power early so that you can better understand it."

"Ayoub?" I asked.

She nodded, her expression darkening deeply as she spoke. "The Life Seat that is empty belonged to him last. He was not old, like Ezekiel - he Ascended between Temüjin and I. His death... that's something to talk about another time, I think."

"Because that's not ominousat all," Stacey said sarcastically.

"Agreed," Lauren said. "How about instead of being mysterious you just spell it out, Ezzie?"

The nickname had Esmerelda raising an eyebrow, but Lauren didn't back down from it since the woman's dour demeanour seemed to leave her in an instant. "Fine," the Death Seat said, then glanced back over at me. "Ayoub Nicali's death seemed to be the same as any Seat who gives up their life, but I suspect he was killed. He was too young, and had too many plans for the future, to have succumbed to time."

"You suspect one of the other Seats?" I asked.

She hesitated. "It would make the most sense, but there are other possibilities," she said.

"Other Ascended?" Annalise asked. She'd been quiet through most of the conversation, absorbing everything, but at the sound of a potential threat, she leaned forward a little. "Someone like my father?"

"Your father would not have been a threat to Ayoub," Esmeralda scoffed, and I tried to ignore the hopefully unintentional insult since hehad been a threat to me. "But yes, another Ascended or a group of them is the next most likely. Ayoub was a warrior, though, greater even than Marcel or Temüjin in skill and training. He held little territory because he cared nothing for politics and everything for self-perfection of mind, body and spirit. His death would have been an assassination from an angle he would not expect."

"Ezekiel's... was not," I said. "I'm certain of that. He left notes."

"I know," Esmerelda said. "I saw them."

"You-" I almost asked 'you did?' thinking Ezekiel might have shown her. But then I realized that, if the two of them had been friendly in their isolation policy, Ezekiel might have trusted her more than Ndia or Genghis Khan. "It was you?"

"He hoped it would be, to be fair," she said.

"God damn it," Lindsey sighed from down the table. "Can we at least get the books back?"

Esmeralda smiled serenely as she looked over at Lindsey again. "No, they're mine for now. Maybe I'll trade you for them someday. Otherwise, you're on your own to try to unlock those secrets. It's how we all have to do it."

Lindsey shot Esmerelda a dry look and flashed her the finger, which just made the Death Seat snort a little and crack a grin.

"Alright," I sighed. "The rod. What does it actually do, if you won't lend me any manuals on how to use it?"

"It's an old tool, but powerful," Esmerelda said. "A thing that can only be created by more than one Seat working together, so the sort of relic we haven't created in thousands of years. You feed in a negligible amount of power, and you can control earth, stone and minerals at will. Move mountains, create islands, dig gorges. Build things, erase things. Cause earthquakes, or still them. I haven't tested it, as the results would be disastrous, but I suspect you could call down the moon with it if you wanted to. And not all, but many, Ascended would also be able to use it. Not just a Seat."

Lindsey looked like she was split between cradling the poster tube like it was a baby, or treating it like she was holding an unstable nuke. Maybe both at the same time.

"I'm not telling you what to do with it, but you should try using it to do something. For you," Esmerelda continued. "Indulge yourself, even if it's a secret." Then she finally took another bite of her food, frowned and then looked at Annalise. "Do you mind?" she asked, gesturing at her cooled plate.

"Uh, sure," Annalise mumbled and waved her hand over it, the meal heating back up in moments.

"Thank you," Esmerelda said, then she pivoted to look at Stacey as she assumed that aristocratic poise again while she started to eat. "So, Stacey. Tell me more about this competitive rowing - it sounds much like self-imposed slavery at the oar, to me."

Stacey took a moment to flow with the conversation pivot, but soon the girls took over the conversation again and I let it weave around me. Esmerelda had dropped some bombs in between her emotional fluctuations. I took a brief respite from the conversation to try and start sorting everything away in my head for later, but I knew I didn't have the time to do that fully. It was a constant problem I had with the magic world - too many questions, too many unknowns, to really even get started. I'd joked with the girls before about not having a Hogwarts to Harry Potter-style learn about the world, but it was really frustrating me deep down.

If I was living in a story, it would be a mess of a first draft. The 'mentor character' was limited, I wasn't on some journey outside of my little bubble - I was stuck living at home with my parents if I wanted to keep my life, and all of my options for experienced allies to learn from were either as clueless as I was or fucking crazy. If I were reading my life as a story, I would think the author didn't have a clue and needed to scrap the whole thing and start over.

But it was my life,not a story, so I couldn't expect things to follow the narrative flow of Tolkien or Harmon or anyone else. Life wasn't a story, or a journey, or whatever philosophical metaphor people liked to use to try and make the ups and downs feel warm and fuzzy. Life was a wilderness where the only thing you couldn't do was rewind your steps, and it was full of danger.