Lana returned to camp with the map folded tight against her chest.
It felt heavier than paper should.
The forest was quiet now—crickets and cicadas testing the evening air, insects waking in cautious waves—but the quiet didn't calm her. It never did. Nothing unexpected reveals itself. Not after she learned that quiet could mean waiting.
The map was drawn in pale ink, lines pressed rather than written, like something traced by water more than hand. Landmarks were marked by impression, not names. Rivers without labels. Hills without scale. She could not make what from what.
Gia's work. It was clear it was done with obvious intention not even the dignity to mar where they were, she was a bratty yandere.
Lana stopped at the edge of the clearing.
Auther was sitting against a fallen log, his injured arm cradled tight to his chest, breathing shallowly like the air itself had offended him. Viola was nowhere in sight.
Good.
She didn't trust herself to speak to Viola first.
Not with this.
"Did the potion help?" Lana asked she was not used to cassual conversations yet
"Yeah I feel way less shitty than before."
"That's nice to hear."
"Did you find anything?" Auther asked without looking up.
"Yes," Lana said. Then hesitated. "And no."
That got his attention. He glanced up, jade-green eyes sharp even through pain. "That's usually the dangerous answer."
She sat beside him, keeping a careful distance. "I think I know where we are."
She handed him the map.
Auther unfolded it slowly, as if expecting it to bite. His eyes traced the markings, brows knitting. "This isn't cartography," he muttered. "It's… intuition pretending to be geography."
"What's Geography?"
"A word for natural features saw it in a book once."
She knew he was lying she didn't know why though.
"I don't trust it," Lana said quickly. Too quickly. "I mean—I don't know if it's lying, but I don't know if it's honest either."
He looked at her then. Really looked.
"Where did you get this?"
She swallowed. "From someone I shouldn't trust."
"That spirit is going to keep you in a bird cage at this rate." He said looking at the map.
Auther folded the map again and handed it back.
"You should take it to Viola."
Lana stiffened. "Why won't you?"
"Because if I do," he said calmly, "nothing changes. She listens to me when she shouldn't, and ignores you when she shouldn't. If we're doing this for five years, that dynamic will rot us."
"That's not fair," Lana said. "She respects you."
"She tolerates me," Auther corrected. "Big difference."
Lana frowned she knew he was looking for excuses but so was she. "Then how do I approach her?"
He shrugged with his good shoulder. "Don't let her shake you down."
"That's it?"
"She uses intimidation the way scholars use footnotes," he said. "It's not malice. It's habit. Treat it like an emotional restraint, not a weapon."
"That sounds… overly simple."
"Most true things are," he said. Then winced as he shifted. "Doesn't make them easy. You'll realize just ho feisty this woman can be."
Lana stood there for a moment longer, then nodded.
"Alright," she said. "I'll try."
Viola's tent smelled like oil and iron.
She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, rapier balanced across her knees, sharpening it with slow, deliberate strokes. The blade caught the light with every pass, clean and unforgiving.
Without looking up, Viola spoke. She knew who it was
"Her name is Linda."
Lana froze at the entrance.
Viola glanced at her then, blue eyes unreadable. "My sword," she clarified. "Linda."
"Oh," Lana said softly. "That's… nice."
"The name belonged to my adoptive mother," Viola continued, returning her attention to the blade. "Twenty-three years. I've replaced the grip twice. Reforged the edge three times. Paid more coin than she was ever worth to keep her usable."
Her stone rasped against steel.
"Blacksmiths always complain," Viola went on. "Say it would be cheaper to buy new. Stronger. Cleaner."
Lana stepped inside. "But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Viola finally stopped sharpening. Looked at her directly.
"Because some things don't get replaced," she said. "They get maintained."
Lana nodded slowly. "Alchemists throw away apparatus all the time," she said. "Cracked glass, warped metals. It's easier than fixing them."
Viola raised a brow. "You sound like you disagree."
"I do," Lana said. "I keep every notebook I've ever used. Even the burned ones. Even the pages that don't make sense anymore."
"Sentimental," Viola said flatly.
"Practical," Lana corrected. "You can't improve a system you discard."
Silence stretched.
Viola studied her for a long moment. "And why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to be the second notebook I make."
Viola did not reply the silence was tactical or she was just stunned not many people wanted to be her friend, all those who did wanted to use her. She didn't what to make of Lana.
Lana hesitated. Then pulled out the map.
"I found this while gathering herbs."
Viola's eyes flicked to it. Sharp. Assessing.
"That's a lie," she said immediately.
Lana didn't deny it.
Viola stood, taking the map, unfolding it with practiced hands. "You underestimate me," she said coldly. "Don't mistake restraint for stupidity."
"I don't," Lana replied. "I just didn't think where it came from mattered more than what it is."
Viola snorted. "Most people apologize when they're caught lying. You know I could spice your head cleanly in half if I wanted."
"I wasn't sorry," Lana said quietly. "I was careful and the only reason we are going there...is...is because of my eyes so find a better threat next time." she said even softer the words were processed just after they left her mouth.
That earned her another look. Viola smiled she liked her guts no matter how much it shriveled later.
Viola studied the map in silence. Minutes passed. Then more. She paced. Compared landmarks to memory. To instinct.
Finally, she exhaled.
"We're in Duke Carma's duchy," she said. "North of the capital. Farther than I'd like."
She folded the map once. Then handed it back.
"Thank you," she said. "You've earned one page."
"One?" Lana asked before she could stop herself.
Viola smirked faintly. "To make a notebook out of me," she said, "you'll need to fell a mightier oak than that of Auther."
Lana smiled. Just a little.
The explosion echoed through the trees.
Lana ran.
She found Auther in a scorched clearing, gasping on his knees, the air around him shimmering with heat distortion. Burn marks scarred the earth in branching patterns that stopped just short of cohesion.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
He looked up, face pale, lips tinged blue. "Trying," he wheezed, "to make lightning."
"…Why?"
"Because fire's inefficient," he said. "And because the queen didn't teach me."
"Why not?"
"Too much mana movement," he said. "Would rupture my veins."
She frowned. "Then why heat?"
He dragged in another breath. "Air holds potential. Heat excites it. If mana transforms into elements, it doesn't do it from nothing."
"Where did that crazy thought comes from?" Lana asked she knew he would lie, he always did.
"Mana can't be as ambiguous as to turn into anything without a medium think of it why is it that only a mage proficient in fire magic can use lightning or one in water do ice. Mana needs a reactant and how the mage reacts with the environment is how mana will react so if I want lighting I would need to..." He explained quite fluidly, Lana also felt profoundly short sighted, how could mana do everything thinkable yet people are limited to attributes.
His theory caused the cog works that is her brain to want to see his theory in practice.
The real phenomena was thermal ionization, he was explaining it in a form that she would be least cautious of.
I did not expect to use physics and chemistry nearly this much after retiring early turns out it can be quite fun. I just can't get the charge density right what am I doing wrong?
"Show me," she said.
"I can't," he admitted.
"Try anyway. Failure is the greatest teacher." Unwittingly quoted a certain scientist he knew.
He did. Using her mana eyes she saw how mana moved in his veins something met it and erupted into a ball of flames blue in color it almost turned white.
The flames floated into the sky and heated the entire sky, it spread too thin.
"I think...I'll try to do something about it." Lana said as she went away head full of thoughts.
When she had gone he tried again this was his third try he could not give up till the fifth one.
Suddenly after his third attempt he fell on his knees he had no idea what was wrong he had not noticed the way his fingers became pale blue, it was night how could he. His body shook. He collapsed forward, coughing violently.
Fuck, how could I not realize it sooner mana needs a large amount of oxygen to be lit mechanically...I can't breathe.
He hit the ground in a loud thud
His skin was cold. As if death was a real thing not just a foreign concept.
He slammed his fist into the dirt weakly. "Another limitation," he rasped. "Whose idea was it to make sure I'm this helpless am I really in some chess game?"
His vision blurred, that night he did not sleep in his tent he lay there lifeless.