A Shot In The Dark

[Balthazar Black]

24 Saun 720

Now that the storms had begun to subside, Balthazar had decided it was nearing time for him to return to Scalvoris. Melrath was an interesting land with something around every corner for either Balthazar, Fuego, or Nimue be become invariably distracted by but none of it seemed to serve the greater reason why Balthazar had come to Melrath. He was looking for weapons, defenses, and any sort of magic he could use to improve the island. There were supplies in Melrath but nothing Balthazar found incredibly helpful. There was one thing in Melrath that Balthazar was interested in and it was never something he would have thought of pursuing if not for the many times he encountered it on his journey. Transmutation. A magic he did not quite understand that seemed to bridge the gap between the magic's Balthazar knew.

Yet what interested Balthazar most of all was that it was another physical magic. He'd done some dangerously useful things with every physical magic he had... he was excited to see what he would be able to do with this one. The offer had been unexpected but at the same time incredibly welcome. Victor was to meet Balthazar in the wilds- not quite where they'd been the last time but near. Balthazar had offered to wait until Victor had enough time to deal with the fallout of the storm they'd failed to stop in Noatun. Then again it was one of those storms that Balthazar had to wonder if he ever had a chance of stopping it. At least he wasn't part of the group that made it worst this time... like at Faldrass.

Now Balthazar waited for Victor in a secluded spot in the wilds. Victor had advised a private place and so Balthazar took time and care to find one he was certain no one would interrupt them at. Well... no one other than Nimue and Fuego who were practically bound to the mage. Balthazar had solved one problem by making Nimue promise to remain in the beneath until dawn in return for an adventure of her own direction but Fuego was always there. So Fuego sat on a rock waiting while Balthazar sat on the grass with his legs crossed doing the same.

Balthazar took slow, deep breaths as he tried to clear his mind of the anxiety that was creeping into it. Three sparks was difficult enough but four? Balthazar wanted the power but the cost could not be ignored forever. He knew he would need to further hone his mind if he wanted to survive what was to come so he put his focus in doing that while he waited for Victor to arrive.

[Victor Amielle]

Balthazar’s wish to acquire a Transmutation spark had come as a bit of a surprise to Victor, but he had never considered refusing him, not even for a trill. He had already proven that he could handle magic – his grasp of Defiance, Attunement and Rupturing was impressive – and he was reliable and would be a good initiate and ally to have, better than that man that had promised him so much, only to disappear from his life without saying a single word.

He had told Balthazar that an initiation would be best done in a private place, but he hadn’t meant that they meet in the wilderness. A building in Raelia would have done just as well (and it would not have scared the poor forest animals). There were no laws against initiating foreigners, even when you were a member of the Syns. He should probably just have told him that they do it in his house, but as it was, he made his way to the location outside the city that the other man had decided on.

Or rather, rode.

The Transmuter was, as almost always, riding his Stone Horse that took the form of a grey stallion. The Stone Horse was completely obedient which was a gift from the Immortals for a man like him that had comparatively little talent when it came to riding and was unlikely to ever improve much; and besides, it didn’t require food or a stable. When he was done, he could just turn it back into a statue and put it into his pocket (or on his mantelpiece, which was where it was when he was at home).

The weather was fairly pleasant – the storms had finally passed – so that he enjoyed the journey quite a bit. The last time they had met in the wilderness, Victor had been wearing armor. This time, he was dressed in the traditional attire of a Melrathi noble, a dark blue tunic with threads of silver and a thick sash, although he had brought his sword, just in case.

When he finally reached his destination and saw Balthazar sitting on a rock, looking fairly relaxed in spite of what was about to happen, a smile flickered across his face and he raised an arm in a greeting before he rode closer and finally dismounted. He doubted that the Stone Horse would run away, being what it was, but he tied it to a tree anyway.

“Balthazar”, he said to the other man – considering the situation at hand, he figured that it was time to finally address him by the first name – and sat down on rock next to him. “I see that you haven’t changed your mind. As I said, I’m happy to initiate you and share my spark with you as you have already proven that you can handle magic. There is just one thing I would like to discuss with you before we start”, he told him, took a deep breath and looked at him for a moment before he continued to speak.

“When we sparred, a few trials ago, I told you that I already initiated someone once before. He was similar to you, in some ways, a powerful mage that already harbored several sparks and had mastered at least one domain. He did me a great favour, and I agreed to initiate him in exchange. He told me that he would be my ally, only in order to disappear without a trace when he finally had what he wanted. I never heard from him again. It is likely that a terrible fate eventually befell him, for the memory of him has been wiped from my mind. These trials, I can neither recall his name nor his face, and if it were not for my notes, I might have forgotten that he had existed at all”, he admitted and furrowed his brow for a moment as that was something that still irritated him on a regular basis.

“I do not require much in you in exchange for the spark, I only ask you that you send word every now and then after you have left Melrath – and that we meet, should we ever be in the same part of the world again so that I know how you are doing and how your magic has progressed. If this is not a problem for you …” he spoke and paused for a moment before he abruptly asked, “What do you know of the initiation into Transmutation and how it affects both mentor and initiate?”

[Balthazar Black]

24 Saun 720

When Balthazar saw Victor approaching on his stone horse, the mage grinned slightly. That was a fascinating creature and he could help but wonder if the stone could be molded by Defiance but he did not test it because he imagined that would both hurt the creature and upset Victor. He'd learned enough about how the Melrathi viewed magic when he went through all the Aesir's tests to ensure he would be a good little mage in their city to know that manipulating Victor's horse would probably not be a welcome expression of magic. Balthazar had brought the papers with him in case Victor wanted documented proof that it was alright for Balthazar to be in Melrath. As a fellow man of the law, Balthazar understood the difficult situation that having an criminal friend could put Victor in so he wanted to keep everything above the board.

Victor dismounted and Balthazar rose from his seated position, his mind as clear as he thought it would be able to get. Victor might have thought Balthazar was more calm than he should have been but the thrice initiated mage had a certain arrogance to him that made him think this initiation would be less trouble than those that had come before. He'd been buried alive, scattered through space, and introduced to an incredibly painful song... what could transmutation do to him? His sparks seemed to know what was coming and the roiled against the thought of making more room for another... well... some did. His Attunement spark seemed curious to learn- if it even could seem like something. It was hard to tell if Balthazar was just subconsciously blaming his sparks for his own emotion or if they were still to be considered parasites.

Were they imposing a will upon Balthazar or had the four of them all come to an accord to feel the things they felt together? Every trial it was harder and harder to tell. Balthazar was taken from his pondering by the voice of the Warlock who'd come to initiate him. Balthazar was eternally grateful that Victor had agreed to the initiation despite the dangers and so when the Warlock explained that he had conditions, Balthazar nodded and listened to it. Balthazar was willing to do a lot for another magic and Victor did not demand much. Yet something Victor said interested Balthazar.

"All memory wiped from your mind?" He repeated curiously as the gears began to turn in his head. What could do that to a person? The mage's mind wandered to the Immortal of Remembrance but he had no idea Vri would do such a thing to a person and so the though was quickly banished in favor of a resolution. "That sounds more than fair." Balthazar decided, "Though after this extended vacation, it might be a while before the Elements let me leave Scalvoris again so you may have to visit me."

As for the question, Balthazar shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know much of the initiation for Transmutation." He admit, "Nor how it will affect us."

[Victor Amielle]

“Everything is gone“, Victor confirmed, and the look in his eyes darkened for a moment as he tried to think about what had to have happened approximately two arcs prior again – only in order to find emptiness where the memories of his initiate should have been again. “I do not remember how he reacted to the initiation, and whether he handled it with ease or nearly died, and I do not remember how and why exactly he ultimately left either. Sometimes, it feels as if I have been suffering from hallucinations and going slightly mad”, he admitted, his tone of voice softening for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders as it would be counter-productive to dwell on that matter now. He needed to focus on what lay ahead.

“My missions for the Syns will likely eventually take me abroad again”, he remarked, a little less tense again, when Balthazar mentioned that he would have to visit him. “I would love to see Scalvoris again, I have to admit, and under more pleasant conditions than last time. I have fond memories of the island. I went to university there. I studied Arcane Theory”, he explained, in case Balthazar was wondering about that. “As for staying in contact, letters would work, for example, but if you are interested, I would not be averse to procuring an Echo Scroll for you before you return home. It would be faster and more reliable, and besides, you would save postage costs”, he remarked and laughed before the expression on his face abruptly grew more serious again. Victor loved to have a bit of fun every now and then, and he was not without a sense of humor; an initiation was not a matter that should be taken lightly though, no matter how experienced the mentor and his prospective initiate were.

“I already mentioned that an Ether Missile is involved in the initiation during our last meeting”, he remarked when Balthazar admitted that he didn’t know much about the initiation for Transmutation. “It is not at all like the Ether Missile that I hit you with during our spar though. A normal Ether Missile does not cause actual injuries, although it leaves the target in a certain amount of discomfort. What happens during the initiation is agonizing though because the Ether Missile serves as a vessel for the spark”, he explained. While Balthazar had risen from his seated position, Victor remained on his rock. He could think better and focus better when he was sitting still.

“Once it has struck you, your body will lose tangibility, as if it were being transmuted and begin to fade. You must meld with the spark and fight to remain in Idalos, otherwise you will be lost to Emea forever. The initiation into Transmutation is one of the most painful initiations that exist”, he continued. Balthazar was strong and powerful, so he was fairly optimistic that he would be able to handle it, barring a small amount of worry. The other man had already accepted several sparks into soul and was thus well aware of the risks of a magic initiation, so there was no point in going into more details than he had already done. Besides, he had to admit that he was looking forward to an initiate that he would actually be able to remember.

“If the initiation is successful, a bond will form between mentor and initiate. As long as we are close to each other, we will be able to exchange our ether and feel each other which is quite useful in combat, for example”, he finished. “So, if we meet again and find ourselves fighting another mountain spirit, things might go very differently”, he admitted. That was another reason why he hoped that they would continue to meet in-person, besides, his wanting to know how Balthazar was doing and how his magic was progressing (which was the most important reason by far, of course, he wished to have some sort of connection to his initiate this time, no matter how loose it might be). He couldn’t remember anymore if he had actually used that particular ability the first time and what it had felt like – and who had traded his ether with whom.

“Is there anything else you would like to know about the process before we begin with the first step, Balthazar?” he asked after a few moments of silence before he added, “We have the rest of the trial to do this here. I will not be required to return to the headquarter again until tomorrow, and an initiation should not be rushed anyway.”

[Balthazar Black]

24 Saun 720

Balthazar commit Victor's description of his amnesia to memory, resolving to look into it at a later time. If there was anything Balthazar could do to help Victor recover the memories he was missing, Balthazar would try. He had considerable skills that allowed him to find pretty much anything he set his mind to finding but some things were not meant to be found. Victor continued, mentioning how his work with the Syns would likely lead him overseas much like Balthazar's had lead him. Yet when Victor said he'd like to visit the island in more pleasant conditions, Balthazar grimaced slightly.

"Well I suspect that it will be a while before Scalvoris is in a better condition than the last time you visited. They're going to be reeling from the eruption of a while." Balthazar said, referring to the disaster when the Faldrass volcano had erupted. Balthazar had worked hard to help fix the damage that had been done before he left Scalvoris but there was still a lot of work to be done. "Though if the Syns could be persuaded that helping Scalvoris recover would benefit them in the long run, I'd be more than willing to try and convince them." Manpower was always good and mage-power was even better. "As for an echo scroll, I would appreciate the gift." Balthazar thought of synchronization and how the ability could allow him to pass messages to Victor but the ability did not quite work the other way around. Victor would not be able to reach Balthazar at will- instead he'd only be able to reach the mage when Balthazar was looking in on him. So the scroll was probably the better of the two ideas and Balthazar said nothing of the latter.

Then Victor went on to explain how the initiation would work and Balthazar listened closely because if he ever wanted to impart the spark onto another, he would have to know how it worked. Balthazar wasn't too excited to allow Victor to hurl another, supposedly much more painful, ether missile into him but he didn't have a choice. Magic always came at a price and that price was often pain. Balthazar would endure it like he endured all the rest of the pain he felt and he'd become stronger for it... or he'd be destroyed... he really hoped he wasn't destroyed.

"Everyone says their magic has the most painful initiation, but I suppose I'll know for sure in a few moments. I was buried alive to become one with the elements and heard a song that brought me unmatched pain as it bound to my soul. Rupturing wasn't actually that bad though. Tell me, as a powerful Dreamwalker and Rupturing mage, do you think I can be lost in Emea?" Balthazar asked curiously. He didn't understand Emea entirely but between Dreamwalking giving him the ability to open doorways into the Untold and from the Untold back to Idalos and Rupturing giving him the ability to well... open portals to places he had been, Balthazar had a somewhat foolish thought that he'd be able to find his way back from being trapped within Emea. Then again using his magic there would draw enemies to him... but he'd fought the Creep and a mountain in the shape of a man- what could Emea throw at him? After a trill he shook his head and waved his hand as if to scrub the thought off a board. "Never mind, my focus should be on remaining on Idalos. Confidence kills the best of men." Don't be confident, be smart- be prepared.

The bond that would form between the two mages intrigued Balthazar. He'd never thought of sharing his ether with another in any context other than flaying but if they truly could do that... well they would make quite the team. It was unfortunate they were sworn to different governments but perhaps they could be the beginning of a bridge between Scalvoris and Melrath. Melrathi were allies to the spirits and Balthazar had recently discovered and become the warden of a powerful Induk in Scalvoris... perhaps that could count for something? "That is fascinating," Balthazar replied to Victor, "but I don't think you did so bad against the mountain the first time."

As to whether or not he had any more questions, the nervous mage shrugged. "How bad are the mutations?" A jest, mostly, but Balthazar had become less human than he desired. It had become harder to blend in with the world and to do his job... but his desire for power always bested his vanity.

[Victor Amielle]

“I could actually talk to my superiors about it myself”, Victor remarked when Balthazar suggested that the Syns could help Scalvoris. “And if you are still here, you could accompany me if you want to. I do think that both of our nations would be able to benefit from such a thing”, he admitted. He really thought so, but there was one issue that bothered him slightly. In Scalvoris, they worshipped the Immortals, and they seemed to celebrate difference. Melrath had become more open-minded in recent seasons, but he had never met anyone who talked about his being blessed openly. Maybe such things could be put aside in favour of something bigger and more important though?

“Buried alive?” he repeated when Balthazar talked about his own initiation, his eyes widening slightly. For a moment, he wondered if the other man was joking, but he didn’t have a reason to make a joke or lie to him, especially not considering what they were here for. “Is that kind of thing very common among Defiers? One of my professors in Scalvoris was a Defier, but she never mentioned having been buried during her initiation. As for the painful song, that was Attunement, is that correct?” he asked before he fell silent for a few moments and furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

Could a mage as powerful as Balthazar be lost in Emea?

“I don’t know”, he finally admitted truthfully. “I do not know much about the world of dreams. Your being a Dreamwalker might give you an edge compared to others though. I agree though, let us focus on remaining in Idalos. It might never happen”, he added.

When Balthazar told him that he didn’t think that he had done so bad against the mountain the first time, he laughed before remarked, “Probably not. Thank you, by the way!”

He did not answer his prospective initiate’s next question right away, but sat there quietly for a moment, furrowing his brow. “They are … not that bad, at least not in my case”, he finally replied, having decided that the best way to handle this was to talk about how Transmutation had affected him personally so far. Some general information on Transmutation sparks and mutations would not be particularly helpful in this situation as far as he was concerned.

“My mutations took some getting used to, but at the same time, they allowed me to experience the world in a new way. The glow in my eyes that you have without doubt noticed is not only due to the Gleam Sight, an ability that I received when I became a Warlock of the Syns. I can see in the dark without a lamp now, to some extent, although my eyes are more sensitive in bright light. Furthermore, my senses work differently now”, he continued before he paused. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to explain that particular mutation as it was so strange. Balthazar deserved to know though. He deserved to have as much information as he possibly could beforehand.

He drew his short sword, a fine adamantite blade, and showed it to Balthazar, a gesture that might seem little out of context. “Do you notice how sharp it is?” he asked Balthazar and raised an eyebrow. “Most people would only feel the sharpness of a blade, or maybe see how sharp it is if they look closely enough. I can actually smell its sharpness now. I seem to have acquired a peculiar form of synesthesia. I enjoy it nowadays, greatly sometimes, but when the mutation first manifested itself, I was wondering if I was going mad”, he remarked and laughed, as if he had been exaggerating or making some sort joke. It was true though. For a while, he had seriously doubted his sanity.

“And then there are these”, he continued, sheathed the sword again and rolled up one of his sleeves so that Balthazar could see the glimmering, slightly opalescent cracks on his arm. If he looked carefully, he might also notice the hint of a feather-like marking on the back of said arm, mostly hidden from view. “My only purely physical mutation so far that I received immediately after my initiation”, he explained and pulled the sleeve down again before he said, “You may not receive the same or similar mutations though. In fact, you probably won’t. I do not have the same mutations as my mentor. You do not have a lot of obvious mutations so far”, he observed, hoping that Balthazar wouldn’t mind his talking about it (some mages were a little sensitive when it came to their mutations, no matter what they were like). “So, maybe your Transmutation mutations will follow a similar pattern as your current ones”, he mused.

Vanity was a matter that was important to him as well, being a follower of Delroth. He did not care particularly what the spark did to his soul, but seeing those badly mutated mages and the cannibals in Niflheim had been an absolutely jarring experience (and convinced him that he had made the right decision back then; how could he have sided with people that attacked other people and took a bite out of them?) – and it had made him infinitely relieved that he had not suffered such a fate. He thanked the Immortals and the spirits every trial for it.

[Balthazar Black]

24 Saun 720

"That might actually be worthwhile." Balthazar said when Victor proposed they talk to the Syns together about founding a mutually beneficial relationship between Scalvoris and Melrath. They had larger issues for the moment at hand but it was something to consider. Balthazar shared Victor's concerns about the people of Melrath not being willing to embrace a partnership with a city loyal to Immortals but they were better than Etzos at least.

"All Defiers are initiated by being consumed by an element- well not consumed as much as surrounded. You can stand on a pyre and be burnt alive, cast deep into the ocean, thrown from a high place, or- in my case, buried in the earth. We learn we have to surrender to the elements and if we don't... they destroy us before the initiation is complete." Balthazar explained the initiation into Defiance in broader terms than Xanax had ever explained it to him. The only one of the initiations that had seemed feasible at the time was the initiation through the earth. Balthazar had to dig the hole Xanax buried in in and it took a whole trial. They talked about the initiation the entire time and so Balthazar had a decent grasp of how the initiation worked.

Balthazar gave Victor a small nod in regards to the Attunement initiation before Victor took a moment to consider Balthazar's question about getting lost in Emea. It was encouraging to know that Victor was uncertain about it as well but equally disturbing. If he did fail the initiation and was trapped in Emea but found a way back, what change would have occurred in him? He did not think he could fail and initiation without some grand disturbance to his being. So it was determined that the best course of action would be to simply avoid failure.

When Victor began explaining the difference between his mutation's and his gleam sight, Balthazar's eyebrow rose a fraction. No one- or at least incredibly few who were still alive, had seen Balthazar without the mask he wore over his Rupturing spark. It was convenient to live with that spark soothed for many reasons, the most recent of which being that his eyesight had been affected by the mutations in a way similar to what Victor had described. Balthazar could see in the dark at the cost of heightened sensitivity to the light as well but he didn't say anything of that or why his eyes did glow as well. Yet when Victor began explaining that he could smell the sharpness of his blade, Balthazar's brow furrowed. Smell sharpness? Now that didn't make any sense to the multi-magic mage.

"What does sharpness smell like?" Balthazar inquired, "Does the blade just have a stronger metal smell because it is sharper or?" Balthazar's voice trailed off slightly as he tried to consider what Victor had told him. He wasn't sure he would mind being able to smell how sharp something was- especially cause Victor made it seem so harmless, but he was still concerned about the large mutations that might lead to.

"I have more obvious mutations than you'd think." Balthazar said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly roused his Rupturing spark from the soothing and Balthazar felt the change trickling throughout his body. It almost felt like undressing in front of Victor which made Balthazar doubt himself for only a moment before committing. Cracks of a reddish-orange glow like lava began to spread up Balthazar's arms, stopping near his elbows. The cracks shined through the sleeves Balthazar was wearing but they were not the only change to manifest. When Balthazar opened his eyes, they had been completely replaced with the same red-hot glow and similar cracks stretched down Balthazar's cheeks. "I just... hide them. It's not always safe to look this way." He admit to Victor. A moment later, Balthazar took another breath and looked Victor in the eye. "Shall we begin? I have no more questions unless you can think of anything you would have wanted to know?"

[Victor Amielle]

Victor had always prided himself on being an intelligent man, a skilled researcher and linguist, but when Balthazar wanted to know what sharpness smelled like, he was at a loss for words. For a few moments, the Lysorian noble simply sat there quietly and furrowed his brow thoughtfully. Finally, he admitted,

“I do not know. It just smells like sharpness to me, although there are nuances, depending on the blade. I still remember what it was like when my senses worked normally, when I could only smell scents with my nose and feel if something was sharp with my fingers, but it is not like either thing. And neither is it a combination of what you perceive with your sense of smell and your sense of touch.”

“It’s something completely different, something new. Sometimes, I wonder if sparks experience the world more like I do now”, he remarked, but he did not elaborate on it as it seemed like a somewhat ridiculous theory to him, and he had no way to prove it, anyway. Sometimes, he wondered what had caused that mutation to manifest though.

“Your asking me to explain what sharpness smells like is comparable to explaining color to someone who has been blind from birth. My brain seems to process things differently now”, he continued before he apologized, “I’m sorry if my answer doesn’t satisfy you. If I could, I would let you experience the world the way I do and share some of my memories with you, but I cannot think of any way to do so.”

From the tone of the Transmuter’s voice it was obvious that he was frustrated by his inability to explain his mutation better. No matter what he did, he always seemed to fall short, sometimes by a considerable margin. Balthazar’s somewhat cryptic statement that he had more obvious mutations than he’d think distracted him though – and it confused him.

He narrowed his eyes and looked the other man over again, as if he wanted to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything. Balthazar looked quite normal to him though.

As he had already decided before, he looked more normal than most mages of his …

When glowing, lava-like cracks suddenly began to spread up the other man’s arms, when similar cracks proceeded to appear on both of his cheeks, and his eyes started to glow red, Victor abruptly stopped that train of thought and did a double take, blinking slightly. He had to admit, he had not expected that such a thing would happen, although he was of course aware of the fact that it was possible for mages to suppress their mutations through various means.

“I see”, he finally replied, somewhat slowly, but in a calm tone of voice and nodded. “I cover my arms for a similar reason. Some people seem to have a problem with physical mutations, although things have gotten better since I was allowed to join the Syns last cycle.”

When Balthazar asked him if they should begin, he met his gaze for a moment before he inclined his head sharply. He rose from his rock in one swift motion and pushed the thoughts that he had had before – and the uncertainty regarding his first initiate’s fate - into a distant corner of his mind. A moment later, he raised his right arm, gathered ether above his palm and began to shape it. He did not release the spark-charged sphere of opalescent light right away though, but looked into Balthazar’s eyes once more, the expression on his face serious.

A few trills passed before he abruptly forced the Ether Missile into the white-haired mage’s chest.

Whatever happened then would depend entirely on Balthazar.

[Balthazar Black]

24 Saun 720

Victor's answer would have been disappointing to a younger Balthazar but the mage before the Warlock knew better than most how a spark could change you. Victor's inability to explain the smell of sharpness only further convinced Balthazar that he was making the right decision. Nothing could change that Balthazar would forever wonder if sharpness smelled more like apple or oranges but he was excited to think that his sense would be changed again. Excited and admittedly nervous but with a few deep breaths and a mental trip to his happy place, Balthazar was feeling right as rain again. He was not ignorant enough that the dangers did not still eat away at him but he didn't want to turn back.

That was the hard thing. He could turn back... but he didn't want to turn back. He wanted to experience this magic he kept encountering. He wanted to master it like he'd mastered all the others. Knowledge was his curse. He always wanted to learn more. He made plenty of excuses about how the magic would be perfect for repairing Scalvoris but at the heart of the matter he was doing it because he wanted to master another magic. "I understand the feeling. I imagine it must be like trying to explain Attunement to people. Sometimes the only way to really understand a magic is to experience it."

Balthazar was glad Victor didn't have a more adverse reaction to his mutations. He often worried that most people wouldn't like them and he knew that they were distracting but the worst thing was what it did to Balthazar's vision. Everything was dialed up and that was why Balthazar's eyes were narrowed as if was was concentrating on something. Normally he wore a blindfold over his eyes during the trial when he wasn't soothing the mutation. He could use omnivision to see and it felt nice to not have the constant light giving him a headache. Most of the time he soothed the mutation though. He didn't use Rupturing as much during the trial anymore... but at night he was a lot more fond of it.

"You must be doing a good job then." Balthazar remarked when Victor said that people's opinion of physical mutations had been improving since he joined the Syns. Whether or not that was what he meant, the initiation began. Victor inclined his head and Balthazar took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. He focused on clearing his mind of any purpose other than accepting what was coming. Victor summoned the ether missile and a moment later thrust it into Balthazar's chest...

This one hurt much more than the last one.

At first, the familiar sensation of the ether missile hitting washed over Balthazar and he thought it wouldn't get worse- then in the next moment his three sparks roiled violently in reaction to the introduction of a new sibling. That was not the cause of the pain, it merely added to the pain that began when Victor's ether missile began tearing Balthazar apart. In those moments Balthazar learned what it felt like to be transmuted into something else. His body began to glow more brightly and it took on a sort of transparency. Balthazar didn't notice that his body was becoming more and more transparent, he was too focused on the pain. His eyes were snapped shut and one hand clutched at the side of his head while he screaming in agony.

The new spark tried to edge its way into Balthazar's soul and the mage fought to let it in. Tried to relax and accept the spark into him but there was little room in the mage's crowded soul. He'd been standing when Victor threw the spark into him. Moments later he'd been kneeling, and now a barely visible Balthazar writhed on his back in pain as the sparks fought for their piece of his soul. Make some damn room! Balthazar continued to writhe for four bits, his opacity shifting continuously throughout the bits. When he became more visible his screams seemed to fade as if the end was nearing only for him to suddenly convulse again and become transparent again.

After four bits the only pain left felt like his body was burning- a lone spark resisting Balthazar's will. His oldest spark had always been the most stubborn... but in the end it gave way as well and Balthazar's body solidified on the ground, breathing but seemingly not conscious.

[Victor Amielle]

After he had fired the Ether Missile, Victor made a step back in order to give Balthazar some room while the spark made its way through his body and into his soul. He had to admit that he was curious about the process. He remembered what his own initiation had felt like, but he never actually watched an initiation and watched someone’s body being transmuted before – at least, he couldn’t remember it anymore. When Balthazar’s entire body began to glow more brightly and turn transparent, the noble’s eyes widened, but he was not concerned, not yet. He was fairly calm – and confident that Balthazar would make it through the initiation, with little effort. He had agreed to initiate him for a reason.

A moment later, Balthazar suddenly started to scream and drop to his knees, and Victor began to grow a little more tense. He was still not truly concerned yet though. The initiation was agonizingly painful. He had screamed as well, back when he had been initiated. He had barely been able to bear it, in fact. Watching Balthazar writhe in pain was hard, but he did not turn away from him, not even for a single trill. There was nothing that he could do for him – Balthazar would have to make it through the initiation on his own – but he could at least watch him as he lost a little more tangibility with every passing trill.

He owed him that much.

When the convulsions got worse, Victor started to realize that things might not go according to plan after all. He had always thought that Balthazar would have an easier time than most because he had already survived several initiations, because he was a powerful and experienced mage. Maybe the opposite was true though. Maybe possessing several sparks actually made the initiation harder, more dangerous and more painful – because your body and mind had already been changed extensively, because there was hardly any room left inside your soul, because your sparks fought for dominance.

He made a step towards him and then another one before he stopped again abruptly as it occurred to him that touching him might make everything worse. Maybe both of them would be pulled into Emea if he held onto him and tried to help him while he was barely visible. He knew very little about Emea – and what he knew, that dream about a blonde falconer kneeling by a pond, a veil that connected entire worlds and a city made of shimmering crystal that could never exist in reality – just added to his confusion and uncertainty.

For that reason, he simply talked to Balthazar instead and told him to focus on his voice, first in Common and then in Rakahi and the Ancient Tongue, because he wasn’t sure if it actually mattered what he said, as long as he gave his initiate something to focus on, a connection to the world of Idalos, something that might help him find the way back a little more easily. When the screams ended, and Balthazar’s body finally solidified again, he breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, when he realized that the other man was not moving, his heart skipped a beat though, and he felt cold all of a sudden.

He rushed to Balthazar that was lying on the ground motionlessly and knelt down next to him. For a moment, he was worried that Balthazar might be dead, that he had killed him – he had fired the Ether Missile that had done this to him, after all - but when he placed two fingers against the side of his neck and noticed the steady rise and fall of his chest, he realized that his heart was still beating, and that he was still breathing. He was alive. But why was he not moving? He remembered that he had moved right away after his initiation, although he had been sore all over, and exhausted, as if he had run for miles.

He reached out to him, touched him and tentatively asked, “Balthazar, can you hear me?”