“Formation interactivity is a fascinating magical specialty,” the projection of Clive said. “I very nearly pursued it myself, but there was very little material on the field where I was trained, and a surprising plethora on astral magic. Which may not be as much of a coincidence as I thought, I realised after talking to Boris. You may have met Boris by now, in which case you should try and get him to reveal some of his knowledge because—”

“Clive…” Farrah’s voice came from out of shot.

“Sorry,” Clive said. “Where were we? Right, formation interactivity. If you’re looking to specialise in it, which I highly recommend, there are a variety of essence combinations that are appropriate, depending on what else you’ll be getting up to. If you want to mix in some adventuring, you’ll want something with some combat options, while—”

Emi shut off the projection as there was a knock on the door. She got up from her bedroom floor, picked up the projector and set it on her desk. When she opened the door, her father was outside.

“Rufus will be here in about half an hour,” he said. “Make sure you’re ready to go.”

“I was ready an hour ago, Dad.”

“Okay, Emi. What are you watching in there?”

“The magic instruction recordings Farrah sent me.”

“Not the recording your uncle sent you?”

“No, Dad,” she said with a scowl. “Now that I’ve finally picked my essences, I have so much to learn.”

“You’ve made the final decision on your essences?”

“Yes.”

“Again?”

“Shut up Dad!”

 He laughed, the grin slowly morphing to a look of concern.

“Your mother made me ask about the recording,” he said. “But she’s not wrong, Sweetie. Watching it over and over won’t make him come home any faster.”

“I said I wasn’t watching it!”

“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hand in surrender. “Taika is taking you for training today. I’ll call you down when he gets here.”

Emi went back into her room, grabbed the projector and plonked onto the floor, setting the device in front of her. She reached to resume the playback but her hand stopped halfway. After hesitating a moment, she took out the recording crystal and returned it to the carousel of them on her desk. She then took out the very first crystal, slotted it into the projector and tapped it to start. Jason's haggard face shimmered into being, with a forest panorama behind him.

“Hey, Moppet,” he said wearily. “I’m sorry I’m not there to give you this in person, but the Grim Reaper has recruited me to fight a giant space bird. Like the spaceship in Battle of the Planets, kind of, but I’m going to turn it into a person. It’s going to get real cranky when it figures out why.”

The projection of Jason let out an evil chuckle that turned into a tired wheeze.

“I know I’m not looking my best right now, but I promise you I’m fine. It’s just been a rough few months and this body is…”

Jason shook his head.

"All you need to know is that I'm becoming immortal. Proper immortal, so literally nothing can take me out. The bad news is that this means I won't be coming back to see you as soon as I'd like. The good news is that I'm definitely coming back. No power in the universe can stop me, and I've basically checked at this point. Before that, though, I have to go through a whole transformation sequence. Not a magical girl one, although I can't rule out inappropriate nudity. I'm going to be kind of a god for that angel-type folk you've probably seen by now."

He groaned and rubbed his temples.

"I don't have a lot of time right now. But since we won't be seeing each other for a while, I’d like to spend some of it telling you all the crazy stuff that’s happened since I last saw you. So, settle in and let me tell you what I did on my holidays.”

***

As he rode in the zeppelin over the city, Rufus watched a handful of messengers flying about in the distance. It was night and their wings seemed especially good at catching the moonlight. Not good for stealth, he mused, but certainly pretty.

Almost all of the young messengers from the transformation zone had chosen to stay in Asano Clan territory. They had been living with Jason's aura infusing the very land around them for most of their lives, and his spirit domains gave them a sense of continuity when faced with extreme change.

The locals had also taken some time to adapt. They had been through some profound changes in recent years, from monster surges to astral spaces to their home being surrounded by hostile vampires. Even so, having hundreds of angels as new neighbours was one of the more surprising quirks of Asano Clan living.

Rufus moved to run his hands over his head; an old habit that was no longer possible. His once bald scalp now sported a neatly trimmed afro and he ran his hands along the side of it instead. It was nothing like the ridiculous hair his brother had been sporting the last time they met. That mess looked like a topiary jester’s cap.

 His mind dwelled on an upcoming meeting with Velius. Rufus hadn’t spoken to the man in most of a year, since he informed Rufus of Gary's death. He had quietly investigated the man, though. In his identity as a fertility doctor, Velius was one of a slew of experts recruited by the clan to help the transformation zone refugees.

The experts were mostly experts in medicine and, as much as was possible on Earth, magic. Jason's spirit domain had filtered out those with ulterior motives, no few groups having attempted to slip in spies. Rufus’ concerns about Velius were not that, the Reaper’s servant far above such petty concerns. His fear was that Velius had an agenda beyond what he claimed.

From everything Rufus could find, Velius was earnest and diligent in his work. He was in a role normally carried out by the Church of Fertility and he seemed to know all of their magic that didn’t require divine influence. Rufus had been surprised that the prime vessel of a great astral being could spend so much time on Earth, the main source of his concerns about some greater motive. His worries had been allayed by, of all people, Jason’s precocious niece.

***

Emi knew more about Jason's activities on Earth than anyone bar Jason himself. While Jason had omitted the more gruesome details, she had eagerly devoured knowledge about his adventures and especially the magic involved. This extended to Farrah and, while she was with them, Dawn.

The result of this was that Emi’s overeager and meticulous interrogations had given her a better understanding of avatars than most. She knew telltale physiological differences between an avatar, an essence user and a normal person. Anything from how often they blinked to how their skin reacted to sudden temperature changes could be an indicator.

Her assessments had the precision of a polygraph machine, meaning none whatsoever and any accuracy was basically luck. Nonetheless, as the princess of the Asano Clan, she found herself ignored off to the side in rooms with many of the clan’s most important people. When she found someone who kind of creeped her out and she couldn’t pinpoint why, she knew what to look for.

At first, she quietly freaked out. She was fifteen years old, knew magic was real but not what the limits were, and had a list of people she suspected were secretly puppet people for some unknown force. In the absence of her uncle or Farrah, she was uncertain of who to take her suspicions to. At that stage she had been uncertain about Rufus, yet to build the connection she had with Farrah.

As for her family, she wasn’t sure they would believe her. In the last few years, magic had turned out to be real, there had been a monster apocalypse and now they were living in a city made of clouds in France. Despite all that, her family were all too often stuck in what she thought of as ‘Earth sensibilities.’

Earth sensibilities were what she considered thinking predicated on a pre-magical world. Things were changed now, forever, and old people were utterly failing to realise that. It’s like they hit thirty and were incapable of accepting new ideas. Emi was aware that every teenager ever had considered their parents wildly wrong and out of touch, but she was the one that was right. If only they could just see it.

In the end, she had gone to Taika. He, in turn, immediately dragged her to the modest cottage Rufus had chosen for himself. When she started talking, Rufus didn’t dismiss her as a teenager. He didn’t talk over the nervous and rambling explanation that didn’t sound convincing to even her own ears as it tumbled out of her mouth. He sat and listened, his unnervingly direct gaze never flinching from her face. She wanted to look away but couldn’t turn from his dark, compelling eyes.

When she was done, she felt like a defendant awaiting the judgement of a court. Rufus sat without response, finally breaking eye contact as he considered her words in silence. Taika, a comforting presence beside her, gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. Finally, Rufus spoke.

“That makes a lot of sense,” he said.

“It does?” Emi had asked, as if she hadn’t been the one to bring the whole thing up. Rufus laughed, his eyes seeming to see right through her.

“Yes,” he said.

Rufus then explained about great astral beings, in a way that was less colourful but made more sense than anything her uncle had told her. His explanations were easy and clear, like a good teacher. He told her about their relationship with Jason and the linked worlds, all knowledge she had touched on but never really known. Then he told her about what the great astral beings were doing with the clan, helping the transformed people.

“It makes sense that they are using avatars,” he said. “I had been worried about such important people spending so long here on Earth, doing this.”

“Because it would suggest they’re here for more than what that doctor said to you?” Emi asked.

“Exactly,” Rufus said. “But if these are just avatars doing a side job while their real selves are out doing whatever it is they do, it means this isn’t some Jason-style cosmic nonsense about to start up.”

He let out a long breath and gave her a warm smile. Suddenly, he wasn’t so intimidating.

“I haven’t told anyone this,” he told her. “Taika knew some of it, but your family isn’t ready to deal with things on this level. They don’t understand what level it’s on, and I fear they would try to do something about it. Which they cannot. So, I’ve been keeping the activities of these avatars quiet. If they’re benevolent, it’s all for the good. If they’re not, only Jason could do anything about it, and he’s busy.”

“I understand,” Emi said solemnly. “Earth sensibilities.”

“Earth sensibilities?” Taika asked.

Rufus laughed again.

“She’s right. The people here are still too caught up in how their world used to work. The problem with having older people in charge is that they are slow to adapt.”

“Exactly,” Emi said.

“And the reason they’re in charge anyway,” Rufus said pointedly, “is that young people lack the wisdom that comes with experience.”

“And part of that wisdom is knowing when to keep a secret,” Taika told her. “What we’re talking about here is proper adventurer stuff. Hidden knowledge of the universe. Rufus is trusting you with this, and that’s trust your uncle earned for you. Now, you have to prove you deserve it all on your own.”

Emi couldn’t stop grinning as she walked away from Rufus’ cottage.

“You seem happy,” Taika said.

“He didn’t treat me like a kid. No one but Farrah and Uncle Jason do that.”

“What about me?”

“Yeah, people treat you like a kid too.”

“Hey!” Taika exclaimed in fake outrage as Emi laughed maniacally. She stopped when they reached his car.

“Can’t we fly?” she wheedled.

“Why would I fly you home when I then have to come back and drive my car back?”

“Aren’t you strong enough to carry the car? I’ll get in and you fly back holding it.”

Taika tried saying no in the face of innocent puppy eyes he knew hid the face of an evil genius. Instead, he let out a defeated groan.

“Your mum is going to poison my food for this.”