Домагой Курмаич - Mother of Learning

Zorian was starting to understand why Kirithishli had such strained relations with the current headmaster. He knew very little about the man, but what he did suggested he was very politically involved and… well, patriotic . And the country they were living in made its official position clear – there was no Old Alliance , because the Alliance of Eldemar never ended. It simply shrank. That this was a completely ridiculous claim was self-evident to citizens domestic and foreigner alike, but most found it easier to humor the politicians. Kirithishli apparently went a step further and denied there was a predecessor state to be an inheritor of in the first place. A fiery, opinionated woman that she was, she probably said something of the sort within the headmaster’s earshot. That must have been a fun conversation.

"Hey!" called a familiar voice. "Is Zorian here? I heard-"

"Don’t shout in the library, Zach," Zorian sighed. "Since you’re back to your usual exuberance, I’m guessing you’re alright now?"

"Yup!" Zach said happily, thumping his chest a few times. "Healthy like an oak. Got an hour to grab something to eat?"

"In case you haven’t noticed, I’m working at the moment," Zorian protested.

"It’s not an issue, Zorian, we’re mostly done for the day," Kirithishli pointed out. Then she leaned towards him and whispered into his ear. "Unless you wanted to get rid of him and I’m interfering?"

Zorian waved her concerns away and followed Zach outside. As amusing as it would be to see what Kirithishli would say to Zach to get rid of him, he actually wanted to talk to the boy.

"So how come you sought me out?" Zorian asked. He thought he’d have to hound the boy to get more information, but it seemed Zach had taken a liking to him. He didn’t know whether to be pleased or annoyed by that. It was convenient, but it increased the chances that he’d realize something was off with Zorian.

"You’re the most interesting person I know of at the moment, and the only other person who believes me about time travel except Neolu," Zach said.

"Neolu?" asked Zorian incredulously.

"She’s an avid reader of speculative fiction and mysteries and is very imaginative and open-minded," said Zach. "A naïve dreamer, her father would say. It was surprisingly easy to convince her I’m really a time traveler. I guess she wants to believe it’s true."

"Ah," said Zorian. He supposed that he knew now why Zach involved Neolu so much the first time he went through this month. He still didn’t know who the other girl was, though, and didn’t know how he might work her into the conversation. "How many people did you try to convince, anyway?" asked Zorian.

"All of our classmates and teachers, the headmaster, and the heads of every police department in the city. A couple of nobles and other influential people."

How… persistent.

"Not very successful, I imagine," Zorian guessed.

"That’s putting it mildly," Zach sighed.

Zorian frowned, suddenly realized something. Why did Zach try to convince all those people he was a time traveler? That didn’t sound like something a time traveler that came specifically to stop the invasion would do. It sounded more like something Zorian briefly considered when he realized how utterly over the head he was, but ultimately decided to scrap the idea because he expected the results to be more or less identical to what Zach got.

"Zach," began Zorian carefully, "what about those gaps in your memory? Are they…"

"They’re still there," Zach scowled. "I’m pretty sure they’re not increasing anymore though, thank the gods."

"Hmm," agreed Zorian. "So you don’t know how you achieved this time travel magic, then? I looked it up, and it’s supposed to be impossible, you know? As impossible as drawing a square triangle, in fact."

"Well it’s clearly not that impossible, is it?" Zach countered. "But no, I have no idea how I did that. If I did that."

"If you did that," agreed Zorian. "From your comments I’m getting a feeling you started these reverts as a common academy student. And I mean no offense, but the Zach I remember wasn’t really the kind of person capable of inventing any spell, much less something as concept-breaking as time travel."

"Eh heh…" Zach chuckled nervously. "You’re probably right. I used to be really bad at this whole mage business, didn’t I? But enough of such depressing topics, because I’ve got good news for you!"

"Oh?" Zorian asked curiously.

"Yes," Zach confirmed. "I heard you’ve been trying to learn combat magic."

"Eh!? Where did you hear that?" protested Zorian.

"Kyron told the rest of the teachers, the teachers told the administrative staff, the administrative staff told the janitors and other low paying workers, they told the students, and the students told me," finished Zach. "What does it matter? What matters is that I’m very good at combat magic thanks to the reverts, and that I’ve decided to teach you. Think of it as a reward for believing me."

Zorian gave Zach an incredulous look. He was going to help him out on his own free will? Just like that? No need for any plotting or subtle maneuvering?

Almost disappointing.

"What?" Zach protested. "It’s true, I really am good at combat magic! In fact, that’s the field I’m most talented at!"

Oh, now that’s a wonderful opening…

"Not that I don’t believe you, but how exactly did you get so good at combat magic?" asked Zorian. "I mean, mages are really stingy about sharing combat magic. Even with these… reverts… why would they share them with an academy student like you? Especially since you’re… uh…"

"Known to be irresponsible," Zach finished for him. "To be honest, I didn’t get the spells I know legally. I wouldn’t recommend my methods of acquiring combat magic to anyone who isn’t a time traveler. You tend to die a lot."

"Oh."

"Yeah. But you have me, so there’s that."

Quietly wondering what he was getting himself into, Zorian followed after him.

"Here we are!" said Zach happily, twirling around with his hands outstretched. "What do you think?"

Zorian studied the meadow in front of him, his eyes darting back and forth with suspicion. At first glance the area was just a large patch of grass surrounded by a ring of trees, but Zorian couldn’t help but notice signs of obvious neglect. The grass was too wild and tall, and the space between trees was full of young saplings fighting for their own place under the sun. It was a good place to practice combat magic at, but also a good place to hide a body in. In an even remotely normal situation, Zorian wouldn’t be caught dead following a complete stranger into a creepy, isolated place like this one. Oh how far his perspective had shifted…

"I wonder what’s keeping the saplings confined to that ring of trees," wondered Zorian aloud. "This meadow should be a copse of trees by now."

Zach blinked. "I never thought about that," he admitted. "You notice the strangest things, Zorian."

"I also wonder how a place like this can exist at all," Zorian continued. "I mean, we’re in Cyoria. Land is very expensive here. Why is someone letting this place deteriorate like this instead of selling it?"

"Oh, that’s easy," Zach said. "It’s my land. Or rather, it’s part of the Noveda family estates. It’s supposed to be a private garden for the Head of House, or something like that, so no one could do anything with it unless they had my explicit permission. But since I hadn’t even known this place existed before the reverts… yeah."

"Hm," Zorian agreed. "I guess I should have expected something like that. Your home is pretty close from here, isn’t it?"

"You know where I live?" Zach asked, surprise evident in his voice.