Chương 63: Thesaurus

In the science class, Ryichsur was as good as his word. I sat in the back and listened as he started actually detailing the class, catching up on syllabus and rubric and all the other things one normally does on day-one of the class. I drew some papers from my pocket dimension - a feat that still draws awed stares and surprised gasps from onlookers - and started doing some sketches. The layout of the caves last night was strange to me seeing it all from a different angle.

It occurs to me now, well after the fact, that I should be drawing out some maps, schematics, tactical plans or whatever. Sooner or later the war is going to go there, either with Hearstwhile soldiers on the offensive, or the counter-offensive. Whether it's to cut off a flow of attackers, or to cut off a lane of retreat, or to make an attack deep behind lines, there's eventually going to be dozens of soldiers and warriors moving into that space.

And when that happens, having some maps made up is going to save hours or days of prep time, and probably several lives besides. Those military leaders really do love their maps. First draft is a rough draft, I'm fudging the scale as best I can and using only approximate shapes. On the south side, the several alcove areas where the pipes would outfall to Hearstcliff. North of that, a vast empty open lake that was almost entirely dead, just plain murky water, stale and deoxygenated and slightly toxic.

Far to the northwest and northeast, the two major settlements of this region, with all the richest fishing and farming in between them. I could only roughly circle the mud-stacks where millions of monsters were waiting for their chance. My skin chilled when I thought about it. It had been a great exciting storyline in a video game that I was not stuck inside of. But now I could not help mentally measuring how many miles lay between me and... that.

It was a good enough start for now, I would amend it with details and scale later on, and take those notes for a more exact version. Hopefully some extensive scouting would help put the war on a positive footing. Occasionally I would look up as the teacher gave his lectures, and gave a small nod at some point or another. He was good-looking enough, but he really was not much of a public speaker. Every time I gave him some small affirmation it seemed to bolster him.

Unlike me, he had actually been a real child prodigy, and most of them are at the very least somewhat neurotic. Being a child thrust into adult communities and demanded to perform at that level is really not good for someone, psychologically. The rates of suicide are pretty high. I was able to sidestep most of the stress because I was mentally in my twenties when Natalie was born. I had spent my thirties in the body of a prepubescent princess.

Mentally I was approaching middle-age, and I was attending an elite academy that treated itself like a college but graduated students at eighteen. There's a very good chance that I'm the sanest person in this whole damn school. Dong. Ding. Books rustled, feet stomped, voices raised, doors squealed. The sounds of one class ending and the next begins. I took my work, gave the teacher a nod and a wave, and then stepped into a radiant doorway and like that I was gone.

I stopped at the dining hall because breakfast was three hours ago and lunch was two hours away. But today, I was not the only one who knew about the grab-and-go snack tables set up at the entrance, I saw a few other students there, three guys and a girl, and I almost bumped into them as I stepped out to grab a small plate of crackers and cheeses.

"Don't mind me," I said with a grin, and stepped back into the void without space. After years, this place still does not fully make sense to me. It's called the void, and the goddess and the System both agree on that. But there's no sense of emptiness or darkness you'd associate with a void. Everything is close and tight and blindingly bright, like the whole world is pressed right against my skin, like the magic that lets me survive this space is a membrane wrapped tightly around myself and my things.

When I conjure void, it does not feel like I'm creating an emptiness that draws air and matter into it- it seems more like a hypercompressed state that is generating extreme gravity. And really, that's the opposite of a void, right?... Well, unfortunately there was nobody I could ask, because nobody on this planet knows anything about neutron stars or collapsed singularities but me, and all I've got is what I remember from occasionally watching a sci-fi movie.

Two viewings of Interstellar makes me the greatest theoretical astronomer in the world. Stepping out of the mystery hole was as easy as it was inexplicable, and I headed for my history class. The teacher and I were already off to a bad start here, but since I knew it was genuinely impossible for me to fail this class I was less concerned than I normally would be. Sometimes it's a little hard to treat all this with the same perspective as the other people around me.

For them, it's crucially important to stay on the good side of each teacher. Me, I've got rough numbers for how much of this is going to be rubble within four years. It's hard for me to feel as though an extra-credit assignment is the end of the world. It's like I'm the opposite of a teenager. I sat down at a desk in the back of the room, still munching on crackers topped with a soft cheese spread.

Not bad really; this school did treat the students well, and it was good to see that some of our tuition money clearly was being spent to keep things comfortable and enjoyable. Maybe not luxury to the standards of a certain earl, but - actually, wait, the food I ate in prison was better than this. Never mind. The food at the school is just okay, no more than that. And then some creep dropped into the seat next to me. God, what is it with today? It's like everyone wants -"So why do they call you Vendetta?"

the creep asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"That guy keeps yelling it because I killed his father," I said, and I let my voice communicate the full weight and might of how much I did not want to talk about this.

"And I was declared not guilty on the grounds of the Vendetta Defense. I think it's his way of letting me know that if he were to kill me, he'd consider it the same kind of justice."

"Is he trying to kill you?" the creep asked, with the sort of matter-of-fact curiosity that you're not supposed to use in front of people who might get killed. I shrugged.

"I think he's trying to either work up the nerve, or to intimidate me enough that he can feel like he's beaten me without resorting to violence," I shrugged.

"He's not said so, that's just my read on the situation. Only so many ways you can interpret the situation when someone keeps challenging you in public like this."

"Hmm," he said. He nodded.

"That does sound about right. How do you do. I'm Rabert Frantlin." He extended a hand, palm horizontal for a handshake instead of the usual palm-up princess clasp that people usually offer me. I took it and gave a firm grip, single shake, and released.

"Natalie Harigold," I said. He nodded.

"Meadowtam Harigolds. Nhullit Frantlins." Ah, his family was associated with the Nhullit House of Dimnitas. Widely regarded as "those bastards from Dimnitas". He continued.

"There are many in the Federalist faction that seek alliances among the Development faction," he pointed out. I smiled tightly.

"I would not know. I've been outside of inner circles for a few years." He winked. Why the fuck did he wink at me? Anyway, the teacher started calling roll, so that ended the conversation. I did not give a damn about the rest of the class, I just held onto the textbook and the test schedule and treated this as downtime. With a fifteen-hour class schedule and a side-gig adventuring in the deeps, I needed to pick my rest breaks. Dong. Ding. Ding. I walked out of the building, and walked slow.

I strolled towards the geography building, enjoying the warm sweet breeze around me and only me, underneath the eerie starlight from the counterfeit cavern sky. Feet behind me, the owl's hearing picked it up immediately. I stretched my more exotic senses out and I could feel Nathan approaching. That was the affinity, after all.

"Nathan," I said, as he fell in beside me.

"Sister," he said, nodding.

"What you did for Belisa-""-needed to be done," I said.

"I thought you would say that," he said. He seemed resigned, almost disappointed. He probably wished I'd done it from the goodness of my heart and not just serving the needs of the future. I could tell him that I'm sorry. Sorry, brother, I'm still trying to steer a plot that you cannot see. I am still obligated to build a story that we can all survive. I can still see the short-term sacrifices and the long-term consequences.

"Sometimes," I said, trying to keep my tone light, "the things that need to be done are the right thing to do. Those are my favorites, you know."

"What would happen if you did the right thing every time instead?" So much for keeping this a little lighter. I considered my answer.

"How many people need to die before it stops being the right thing to do?" He was silent for a long time.

"I could never answer that."

"I have to," I replied.

"That sounds sad."

"I am often sad," I admitted. He held out a hand. I took it. A minute later we were under the awning and up the stairs, and I had to let go so I could climb to my class while he turned towards his. Sometimes a minute helps you get through the day. I try to take comfort from this moment but it's hard because I can already feel my betrayal closing in. Yheta was waiting at the table, and Elica blushed all red as she saw him sitting there. Well, it looked like she's going to be pretty quiet for the rest of lunch.

I transferred my tray to the other hand and took her by the elbow in a friendly grasp, helping her along. She had started to slow down, lost in her thoughts as she stared at the most awkward and off-putting man I know.

"Hello Yheta," I said, steering Elica into a seat.

"You remember my friends? Vancy, Larianne, and Lady Elica?"

"I do," he said, smiling at me as we sat. He had eyes only for me. Elica had eyes only for him. She was barely aware that I was there. He was barely aware that she was there. Vancy giggled, Larianne rolled her eyes dramatically.

"So, second day of classes, so far so well?"

"Everything is well enough so far," I said.

"But my goodness, this place does seem to generate some rumors!" Yheta laughed.

"It did not seem that way before, but the last couple of days have been rife with them! Maybe I just never paid attention before, or perhaps there's just a lot more going on this year." It's definitely both of course. Vancy was cutting noodles into small pieces like confetti.

"Oh yeah! There's some really good ones! All kinds of mysterious goings-on! Some kind of panic because the water stopped last night! A whole bunch of waterwheels are jammed up now and stuff, and the miller's guild is accusing the gearworks guilds of doing, I dunno, some kinda stuff, and now there's a bunch of slander and definition lawsuits-""Defamation," Larianne corrected.

"Yeah!" Shit. That was me. The city was designed so that the water never ever shut off for even a minute. There are probably a lot of fountains that are backed up now, siphons that ran dry, valves that got stuck. Y'know, stuff that isn't obvious when it's just you and a giant steel pipe. Seems like everything in the world is connected to five other things. I'm supposed to be the one that figures things like that out because I've got all this future knowledge.

I'm the one that can tell that helping Sicimmi Safis when she's getting bullied by Quinnifred Horvin is going to prompt a nasty covert little espionage war between House Pinking and House Grennick. And yet, I had no idea that there's going to be a slew of defamation lawsuits because I needed to walk in through an outfall pipe. I'll bet there's forms that I was supposed to fill out for that.

"That's big news in the city," Yheta said towards Vancy without quite looking her way.

"But closer to home! Stiff competition for Student President, and it looks like this is going to be one of the fencing team's best years in a long time. Some nasty interdepartmental strife right now between some of the deans, which may rumble all the way up to the Houses themselves- Pailser and Skyback coming into tension, and that's not going to be good for Pailser! Some kind of split going on in the Natural Philosophy department, but somehow it's very secretive, nobody knows exactly what's at stake.

It seems the Freckentop crown-princess is in trouble with her family, something that needed her pushed out of the limelight, but nobody knows exactly what! There was a big blowup in the music department yesterday, Enefiat Trazom the cello prodigy is pissed about the musical program for the year, and it was all fire and lightning until one simple class transfer settled everything. Artistic temperaments you know.

There's at least one landed noble here that is undercover as a commoner, and you best believe that has started some speculation. And all of that is besides the stories floating around about you and your brother!"

"Oh gods," I chuckled.

"That's gotta be a landslide just between the two of us. We do sort of make a stir."

"What do you mean by that?" Vancy asked. Yheta chuckled.

"Ever since anyone can remember, the twins have been the most exciting thing everywhere they go. Nathan the charmer, the planner, the wit and the confidante. No better listener, no better friend, with a heart bigger than his whole castle. And Natalie, the precocious, the inventor, the genius. Talking early, walking early, creating whole new branches of natural philosophy, designing machines. All that before she learned magic, even!

She was always creating new songs and new games, there's always something new to see around Natalie. And her brother, the thoughtful one, the observant one, who can look right through you and still loves all people as brothers." Vancy turned to me.

"Wait, Natalie's really smart?" Oh boy. Yheta loved talking about me almost as much as he loved dragging me around to talk only to me. While I ate and tried not to react, he spent the half-hour regaling with stories. From childhood, from adolescence. All the work I did in prison, and in the few weeks outside of it. He was quite unable to read the room, and he kept going right up until he finally noticed his sister sitting close to my brother, and he finally jumped up to go break those two up.

The only thing that he does love more than staying close to me, is making sure those two don't get close. That is his primary purpose in the story, after all. In his wake, the ladies stared at me. I looked at Elica.

"Sorry about that. I'm probably his only friend in this school. As long as you're around me, he's going to keep coming around." Elica thought about this but did not lash out at me.

"I'll keep you close," she said with a smile.

"He's got a really nice voice, doesn't he?" He does not, by the way. Vancy was looking troubled.

"Natalie, is that why none of us have classes with you?" She did not say exactly, but I took her meaning.

"Sorry, yeah," I said, deflating.

"Vector calculus, post-grad level natural philosophy, advanced literature, the works. Even my history and geography classes are accelerated." She looked relieved.

"Oh that's good then. I was worried that there were classes even more remedial than mine, and that you were taking those." Larianne shrugged.

"I assumed you were kept isolated and took solitary instruction so you wouldn't be a danger to anyone." Elica rolled her eyes.

"They're both so dramatic. I thought you just skipped classes. As soon as I found out that you can just vanish, I knew that I would never sit for a class if I could do that." Vancy stirred her confetti-noodles around again.

"So you're really smart, and your brother sounds great too."

"He's the nice one," I said, shrugging.

"He makes it easy to like him. I made up for it by being interesting so people would pay attention." But sometimes, the nice brother is going to need a kick in the ass to keep him moving. Vancy looked disappointed.

"What do you mean!? You're nice too!" I was about to answer but someone else beat me to it.

"You there! Vendetta!" I sighed.

"Sometimes, Vancy, I'm not very nice at all." And then I stood up, and I turned in place to face the pack of three that was advancing on me, making a scene, making noise, making me deal with their bullshit again. The one in the middle was still red-faced and blotchy, with a thick torso and a big, energetic stride. His arms crossed in front of him with each stride, back and forth like a speed skater even when he's just walking through the school's student center.

His two sidekicks never seemed to speak, one of them was tall and thin with a birthmark on one cheek, and the other was medium height but just as thin, with a very fashionable haircut that did not suit his features at all.

"I've been hearing about you-" the talker started, but I cut him off.

"We're not going to do this again," I snapped.

"Yelling at me like this ends. Making a scene in front of everyone, that ends. You don't have to be nice to me, we're way past that. But I'm not going to be hounded from corner to corner, hour after hour, by such a loutish, raffish, slovenly insouciant! Your crude, boorish eructation has demeaned us all for the last time, you addlepated fart-breathing lummock!" He recoiled onto the back foot, and I advanced.

"Your blighting crass yawping, hectoring slapup that you are! Some filching mechanical's pillock byblow trawling grief like this, you have smirched all peace and prestige from these halls and grounds! The vitriolic emesis of your puerile pique has sullied all ears and days, and if you need a buttonhook's aid for your billowing lips to find marriage at last then I'll fucking stitch you up myself." I conjured from steel, and drew from the air a long curving needle that glinted in the lamplights of the dining hall.

And when I let go of it, you really could hear the pin drop, and bounce, in the breath-holding silence after.

"Or," I said, aware of how my voice was carrying, "you run." They ran. I turned, and went to sit down. It took a good minute for whispers to start, and the tone of the cafeteria's hubbub was still quite subdued. Elica stared at me with wide, proud eyes.

"It would've been kinder to kill them where they stood," she said, beaming. Larianne had a flush on her cheeks.

"I really thought you were going to grab a knife and stab them!" Vancy had a thesaurus in her hands and was feverishly flipping pages, her lips moving as she read the entries to herself.