Lillene

Enjoy!

Now that Liam was himself again, the next step was obvious. It was really two steps, wasn’t it? 

Serenity turned to Liam. “I need to see that building. I should also check on Mike and … who else was out there?” 

“Team Two,” Liam muttered before he focused on Serenity and spoke up. “We were originally supposed to head back there today but with the collapse that didn’t happen; we’re only looking at clear buildings at the moment. What construction equipment we’ve managed to get to A’Atla is all on another project.”

That had to be the project Serenity’s mother had mentioned, the one that his father was concentrating on. Serenity wanted to see it, but that was secondary to dealing with the Night Fire. “Can you arrange things so we’ll all go tomorrow? I can check everyone at the same time. We might need some time for…” Serenity wasn’t certain what to call what he’d just done, so he waved at the room. “I might use the fast method.”

Blaze laughed at that. No, it was really more of a snicker; Serenity suspected he was looking forward to watching someone else experience “the fast method.” That was probably fair, since Serenity knew that he’d make certain he was available to help.

Liam seemed to think about it for a moment. “Yes, I can probably do that.” He pulled out his phone and was clearly startled by the time. “You mean in the morning today, right, not tomorrow tomorrow?”

Serenity blinked at the repetition then checked the time. After four AM … yeah, he should have realized it was technically the next day. “A few hours from now if possible, yes. It can wait until tomorrow if necessary.”

Liam nodded and tapped at his phone. “Should I tell them to expect Serenity or Tom Cooper?”

Serenity almost said Serenity reflexively, but he made himself think first. The fast way was essence-based, but no one should be able to tell that. The real question was two-fold; first, which form did he want to use to fight the monsters he was probably going to create? Second, which form did he want to get the credit or blame for it?

The second question answered it. If he didn’t want it known that both could clear away Night Fire, there was only one choice. Too many people had seen him carry Liam into the chaplain’s office. “Tell them to expect Tom Cooper.”

“Add me and Ita,” Blaze interrupted. “We shouldn’t be needed, but it’s better if we’re there and I’m certain Ita wants to see this.”

Serenity didn’t get much sleep that night. 

It was probably more accurate to say that he didn’t get any at all.

Despite having to quickly shift back to “Tom Cooper,” Serenity was in bed not long after he sent Liam off. It didn’t help; he couldn’t sleep. The fact that he’d ended up in a vision where he finished his task and apparently used some of the Faith he still didn’t understand completely when he was trying to do something simple bothered him too much.

What if something similar happened and it didn’t work out so well? For that matter, what if he’d needed to stop? He had no idea whether or not he’d have been able to or what stopping in the middle might have done to Liam.

What he’d done wasn’t the problem, not directly. No, the real problem was the fact that he didn’t have control. He didn’t know how he’d triggered the vision or whatever it was; more than that, he didn’t know how to prevent it in the future. He didn’t even know how to make it happen again if he needed it or what else he could do.

The fact that it could break curses made him think of Rissa’s mother, of course, but how could he justify trying an ability he didn’t understand on his future mother-in-law?

No, he needed help. Training, really, only he didn’t have time right now. He’d have to get what he could for now and come back and do it right when he had time.

His list of things to “come back and finish” was long and getting longer again. He’d cleaned it up some while on Asihanya, but really getting his arms around it was going to take decades. In many ways, it was a good thing; there was nothing worse than not having anything to do. Serenity could remember when he didn’t have a reason to try; he’d much rather be too busy than hopeless.

Serenity rolled out of bed and slipped out of the tent. He might not be able to sleep but he didn’t want to wake Rissa or Jenna. 

That train of thought didn’t go anywhere good. He needed to find a way forward. The best path right now was to get help, but who could he ask for help with being a god?

Serenity chuckled as he thought about the “normal” candidate, the person who’d in many ways led him to godhood. Lykandeon wasn’t exactly available to help, since he was dead by Serenity’s hand. Serenity doubted he’d have been willing to help even if he were available. Admittedly, Serenity probably wouldn’t have accepted it; not only was Lykandeon a slimeball but he was a completely different sort of deity than Serenity wanted to be. Serenity didn’t store his Faith in a World Core and he didn’t scavenge the life of his own people, much less lie to them.

No, Serenity needed a real god, one with experience. Death came to mind first, but once again didn’t seem like a good option. He was far more compatible, but he was also completely in line with his own nature. Death wouldn’t have this issue.

That left the other gods he’d met on Tek’s space station or Psyche. Serenity struck both Coyote and Tyche off the list immediately; Coyote was a trickster and Tyche liked messing with Serenity. He even had a Title because of Tyche’s meddling.

Tranquil Conviction was actually probably the closest to Serenity’s situation, but he seemed like a poor choice. Serenity knew that other Sterath would be offended by the fact that they were beaten by someone “lesser,” even in a match where the “greater” side was prevented from using its full strength. He suspected that Tranquil Conviction didn’t feel that way, but he still couldn’t trust the Steraths’ premier deity of strategy. 

That only left Tek and Psyche. Psyche had helped Serenity once before and invited him to visit, but that and legends were all he knew about her. Well, that and the fact that she was apparently living in Canada now?

Psyche might actually work out. In fact, she looked like a good option compared to Tek. Tek was obsessed, hyperactive, overly focused, and probably dangerous to be around. She was also caring, at least when she noticed the need to be, and seemed to believe strongly in paying her debts. She also seemed to like Serenity.

The real key was that Serenity liked her. She reminded him of himself in a lot of ways, even if she was far more innocent. He wanted her to stay that way.

Well, there was one other factor. Serenity was pretty certain that no matter what time of day or night it was, Tek would take a phone call. Happily.

Tek answered before Serenity heard even the first ring of the ringback tone. “Serenity? It’s good to hear from you, but why can’t I … oh, there you are. That’s weird.” 

“I’m on A’Atla,” Serenity started to explain. He stopped when he saw Tek standing in front of him. “How did you do that?”

The steampunk-clad goddess spread her hands in an expressive shrug. “I am where technology is. Even magitech. It makes things easier. I thought you’d like to talk in person, anyway.”

Well, Serenity couldn’t say he minded it, though knowing that she could appear anywhere if he drew her attention was a little disconcerting. To be fair, Ita could do the same thing, yet she always respected Serenity’s privacy. The two situations weren’t identical but there were definite similarities.

Tek tilted her head to the side. “So why did you call?”

“You don’t already know?” Serenity grinned at Tek. She’d already started making him feel better and he hadn’t even gotten any advice yet.

Aide, can you send Tek any recordings you have of the situation with Liam?

With or without the images from the vision?

You were able to get some? Serenity was happy about that. With, please. It’ll make explaining things easier.

Serenity was able to watch as Tek watched and listened to the events with Liam. He was certain she didn’t have to actually display them; she’d based his own computer interface on her own, after all, even if she didn’t have to have someone like Aide manage it for her. It was probably another way for her to make him comfortable.

Well, either that or she was doing it because it fit her image, or maybe to mess with him. Serenity couldn’t be certain. Whatever the reason was, the effect was that he actually started to doze off before she finished watching.

Serenity was startled back into wakefulness when Tek started to give a running commentary of the vision. She seemed to approve of his speed and decisiveness but had some negative things to say about his choice of defense; apparently, he should have used individualized force fields instead of a tunnel. Serenity suspected that Tek just really liked the idea of individual force fields and hadn’t considered how much of a pain they would be to manage.

She actually cheered when the ape fell, then again when he deflected the Night Fire away. She was quiet through the rest of the discussion, then looked up at him. “I can’t tell you much about the black heat. It’s sticky and shows up in odd places but it doesn’t have a very strong interaction with technology. I can’t really affect it and it can’t really affect me. I think all I can really tell you is that it doesn’t transmit over technology at all well.”

That wasn’t a question that had even occurred to him, but it was definitely good to know. That information alone was worth pulling Tek in already. “That’s not what I wanted to ask, but thanks,” Serenity started. “That’s helpful. I wanted to know … I used Faith, right? That’s what the Voice indicated.”

Tek chuckled and grinned, then stretched. “Looked like a pretty typical fugue, yeah,” she agreed. “I use them a lot, they’re great. You get what you’re trying for even if you’re not sure how to get there, plus they’re quick. Quick is good; tech’s always changing. I have to watch it or I’ll be obsolete!”

Serenity couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Somehow I don’t think that’s happening any time soon. So how do you start a fugue or end one? What happens if you’re interrupted in the middle? How do you even know how much Faith you have or what you can do?”

Tek took a deep breath, like she was going to give a long answer, then said one word. “Practice.” She waited for a moment, then her lips twitched once, then again, and then she laughed. “You should have seen your face!”

Serenity sighed, looked down, and shook his head. 

“More seriously, practice is a lot of it. You’ll only enter fugue when you have enough Faith and feel strongly enough to use it; as young as you are, I’m surprised you had enough. Stopping in the middle is generally safe, as long as you don’t lose focus on what you’re doing, but restarting can be difficult…” Tek talked for hours; she didn’t stop answering Serenity’s questions until his alarm went off and informed him he needed to get up and get ready for the day.

In many ways, using Faith reminded Serenity strongly of Intent-based casting. It was enough to make him wonder if there was a way to make Faith-based spellforms, but that was something that he could only put on his list for the future for now.

It wasn’t until after Tek was gone that Serenity realized she didn’t seem at all surprised that Serenity had used Faith and was therefore in some sense a minor deity. 

Lillene

Yes, Serenity left Althyr off the list of deities. He doesn’t realize Althyr is Dragon… a fact which will amuse Althyr to no end when he figures it out. It will, of course, amuse Coyote even more.