Beyond?

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”

-Arthur C Clarke.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Valda***

It has been a week since our little family meeting. It went really well if you ignore the incident between Stella and Sola. They trashed three rooms during their fight. Valeria explained to me that Sola tried a move on Azir and since she deemed Stella as the lesser evil of the two, she warned her.

Apparently Stella wasn't too happy about sharing and reacted... violently. The noise attracted Helen and me. Of course Helen immediately tried to stop them from murdering each other. Which wasn't entirely successful. I was impressed that Stella was able to inflict serious damage to her older sister despite being the younger of the two.

Stella took a blue eye and a broken horn until Helen finally stopped the fight, but her sister was in worse shape.

Azir informed Helen that it's probably better to keep a close eye on Sola. My son seemed a little down, so I decided to visit him for once. I want to see how he is faring with his own house.

I enter my son's property together with Yoran. The warcat which Yoran gave to Azir immediately shows up and Yoran has a moment of reunion with the cat. He took care of it from the moment it was born, so it's not surprising that he is still tolerated by the cat. Sometimes I wish that I too was good with animals.

After he greeted the cat thoroughly we continue on our way and make ourselves known by ringing the bell at the door. It's evening and the classes have already ended. So they should be at home.

The door is opened by Stella and Valeria, which surprises me. Stella immediately steps aside to let us inside. “Valda, Yoran, you should have told me that you want to visit too. I could've prepared something.”

I smile. “Then the surprise effect would be lost and I wouldn't get to see how you are really doing on your own.”

Yoran nods. “Yeah, no worries. We aren't here to eat. I didn't know that you have a good relationship with Valeria?” His eyes wander around the room. It's just a small entrance area. One door leads to the first floor, but it is closed and there are several barrier spells attached to it.

Stella leads us up the stairs. In the next floor I find a similar door, but it isn't guarded that heavily. One floor further upwards we enter the living room and Stella offers us a seat. Everything looks neat and orderly. Obviously she and Valeria were drinking tea when we barged in. The house seems well organized, but there aren't many decorations.

I take a seat and Stella offers us the same tea. Nodding, I try to break the ice. “So you are doing fine? You had quite a fight with your sister.”

Stella smiles. “I have to apologize once more for making a scene. My sister and I aren't on the best terms with each other.” She sighs. “Sometimes I wish that we could form some kind of peace treaty, but it looks like she hates me for some reason.”

Valeria makes a dismissive gesture. “After seeing your sister I don't think that the fault lies with you.”

Stella nods. “I just wish that I hadn't overreacted like I did. It was stupid and selfish of me to let my anger out on Azir. But he could've simply forced her off of him! I would've believed him if my sister had made up a stupid story.”

Yoran nods eagerly. “So you had a fight with Azir and you consulted Valeria to find a solution. Hah, that reminds me of the fights I had with Valda. In the beginning she was really unhappy with my pets.”

I cuff him. “I am still unhappy with your stupid stables. The cats are okay, but the nightmares stink fifty metres against the wind!” Then I return my attention to Stella. “So, what happened?”

Stella starts playing with her fingers. “Well, I threw him out of the bed and he waltzed off into his laboratory and hasn't come out since...”

Yoran raises an eyebrow. “And that was when?”

“The evening when I had the fight with Sola.” Stella's lips turn into a thin line. “Like I said, it was childish of me, but I was mad at myself and him.”

“That was one week ago? And he hasn't come out since? What about school?” I ask furiously.

“He didn't attend!” Valeria answers quickly.

“I see. And you two didn't think it was necessary to return him to the correct path?” I set my focus on the two of them who pale immediately.

“I tried! But he sealed the door to his laboratory and I can't get in. Valeria couldn't open it either.” Stella gestures at the house. “My ability was useless too. I even tried to break through a wall and the windows.”

“Hooooh...” I squint my eyes while I try to remember something. Then I stand up and walk towards Azir's laboratory. “Children keep staying children. No matter how old they are.”

When I arrive at the heavily secured door from earlier I just stand there and look at it for several seconds while I try to sense the weakest point in the magical formation. Azir already tried to lock me out once. He was a little child at that time and became too absorbed in his hobby of building clocks.

I ordered him to go outside once in a while, but he refused like a stubborn child. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that he has the memories of an eight hundred year old archmage from another world. And from time to time he is acting childish, without a doubt.

I realize that such a long life can be a heavy burden, but that's no reason to act like a stubborn old man. Maybe his body is affecting him? If Valeria's report is true then his current body is quite different from what he would probably deem as normal.

On the other hand someone that old surely can't remember every single detail of his past. It's been two decades since he was... reborn.

He already spent a long time on this world and I tried my best to make him forget his past. So the reason why he is locking himself up is probably something trivial... like building clocks. Surely he forgot the time.

Finally I find the weakness I was looking for. The seal he put on his quarters is a little more sophisticated than last time. Probably he decided to refine it after I broke it so easily. Well, as long as he doesn't realize that I am not destroying his seal, but the magical formation which is holding it in place, he can reinforce it as much as he likes.

He may know many tricks, but he doesn't know all of them. That much is obvious. I cover my index finger in mana and stab it into the wooden doorframe. The glowing magical circles and seals on the walls and the door disappear, falling apart and dispersing like mist.

I nod, this old me has a few years of experience in handling mana. There are still some things Azir could learn from me. Stella and Valeria gasp behind me. “How did you do that? We tried for over a day without any result.”

“Ohohoho.” I hold one hand in front of my mouth while I break the door open. “I am still the clan head of the Zait. If I couldn't get past my son's seal I would lose my confidence in being his mother.”

I open the door and step inside. What awaits me is a dark corridor with many cables running along the walls. Something like a fist-sized, metallic spider skitters towards me and I attempt to step on it, but the thing evades sideways and runs up a wall and to the ceiling. From up there it glares at me accusingly. Then it turns and runs off while sticking to the ceiling.

Walking along the corridor I take a look into the rooms to my left and right. Inside I find many different machines and artefacts. Most of them don't make any sense to me. “Looks like he was very productive during this isolation.”

“He did something like this before!?” Valeria calls out. “When?”

Yoran answers from behind us. “I think he was six... or was it seven? You were too young to remember it Valeria. He turned his room into something like a dungeon within a day. Though it's much worse this time. I wonder where he got the materials from?”

Stella gives off an insecure laugh. “That might be my fault. He often comes to me with a shovel of dirt and asks to transmute it into one metal or the other.”

When I look into the next room I find Azir lying on his back. He is on the ground on top of a thin, metallic disc and snoring quite loudly. The disc has a radius of about two metres. Yoran switches on the lights and we take a look around the room.

Aside from the disc in the middle of the room I find several copies of it leaning at the wall to my left. To my right is a big silver mirror and the other side of the room is occupied by a long working table. The left side of the room, which should have a set of windows, is taken up by several big chalkboards with formulas.

Suddenly the small spider rushes through between my legs, carrying a glass of water. It jumps onto Azir's chest and pours the water into his face. Then it escapes while he shoots into an upright position.

Without thinking he grabs a tool from the collection around him and throws it at the spider. “Little monster! Just wait until I get my hands on you! I'll take you apart! I should have never given life to you!” Then his eyes fall onto us.

I cross my hands in front of my chest while putting on my best motherly expression. “Explain!”

He looks down at the ground, obviously in deep thought. “I thought I would try to wind the time forward in order to avoid Stella's bad mood. Obviously it didn't work as planned.” He pulls a clock-like device from his pocket. “Wow. Seven days! It seems like it is still not working properly. Hmm. I thought I had repaired it.”

Stella walks past me and kneels down besides Azir. “You used that device to speed up the time? Can I see it?”

Azir hands the device to Stella. “I took it back with me from the other world. It never worked properly, but it can speed up or slow down the time around you, which is like putting yours-”

*Crack!*

“~Ups.~” Stella keeps smiling at Azir. “I am sorry. I didn't expect it to be that fragile.”

He nods, while he tries to keep smiling. “It's no problem, I can repair it.”

Stella's aura turns really intimidating from one moment to the next. “So you tried to do something dangerous to avoid a single day of punishment?” The device crumbles into dust within her hands. “Ah... my bad. It's so hard to keep this ability under control while your emotions run wild.”

Azir places his hands in a praying position. “Erm... It's okay. Like I said, it never worked properly.”

Stella pulls him to his feet and points at the disc under their feet. “What's that?”

He answers as fast as possible. “That's not dangerous at all. It's a teleportation circle which can be linked with others of its kind. Even someone who isn't proficient in teleportation magic can use it. You just have to step onto the rune which indicates your destination. Then you pour mana into the magical circle on the disc.” He looks towards the other discs at the wall. “Originally I wanted to make just three, but then I got carried away and built one after the other. It annoyed me that it takes so long to visit my family. Of course I could teleport on my own, but this makes it much easier.”

Stella raises an eyebrow while looking at the device. “Your family's mansion is in another city. Somewhere behind the horizon.”

A heavy silence falls upon the room. Azir built a device which rivals the City Gates! I told him many times that he shouldn't reveal knowledge like that! Well, Stella would've found out at some point anyway.

He looks up and slaps his hands together. “That's right! The mirror! It shows someone's memories! Now I can prove that I am without fault!”

He attempts to walk over to the mirror, but Stella holds him back. “It's fine. I believe you...”

A giggle draws my attention and I turn towards the noise, just to find my husband touching the mirror. What I see in the mirror is his point of view while I am lying naked under him on our double bed. I am a younger version of myself and obviously moaning in pleasure. Though the device doesn't give off any sounds.

Yoran looks towards Azir. “Son. Do you mind if I take that for- *Slap*

I bend down and grab my unconscious husband at his clothes. “Azir, Stella, please excuse us for a moment.”

.