Irwyn awoke, losing a thousand senses that were not his in the first place. Startled that he found himself stuck standing in the middle of a kaleidoscope - or close enough. Every color and shape were in constant flux in every direction, to the point it made his head spin until his eyes had to be quickly shut. Then at least he had a moment to think. The Dream, if Irwyn understood it, had spoken of the very origin of Life – and why it was called a Deception. An Aspect changed in their very nature? Was he understanding that correctly? The first Fae who also never really was? The purpose of that information confused him a tad - if it was meant to alert him to fae involvement, it would have been more sensible for it to occur before dealing with one.

  After Elizabeth had been banished, the remaining trio had indeed continued betting, albeit with much lower stakes. Maybe an embarrassing secret or two weighed against a small but potentially useful boon, such things. The last thing he remembered was being sent off when the fae eventually got her fill of entertainment. It was likely right then that he was dragged into the vision. Something was also off about the Dream’s events. Why would have Irwyn even seen it, even in the presumed previous life? Ignis had insisted that the events would be held secret even from other Aspects. And something was strange about the Father Flame himself, though Irwyn wasn’t exactly sure what, lacking more points of reference. It was just a strong feeling…

  //Not liking it? The scenery is actually nice if you have at least seventeen brains to process it.

  the familiar fae’s voice sounded, interrupting his thoughts. It seemed he would have to contemplate later. He needed his wits focused on whatever was about to occur.

  “Where are we?” Irwyn questioned. It seemed to be just the two of them. He turned around but found no trace of the fae. Though given the scenery, she might well have been standing in front of him and he would have missed her.

  //In a little lie to give Time the runaround.

  it did not help that the rocking voice seemed to come from every and no direction.

  “Does that mean… it’s frozen here?”

  //You are the Flame wielder among us, no. Heh. It’s a bit of deceit so that Time thinks it isn’t passing, simple as. Won’t last that long since it still kind of is, but we get to talk for a bit.

  “For what reason would you even bother with doing all that?”

  //I don’t want your friends getting suspicious. Especially that ambitious princess. Geh, she would get ideas.

  “Why would I not tell them afterward?” Irwyn immediately questioned.

  //Cute. But I enforce my secrets like anyone who isn’t a moron.

  “Ah,” Irwyn sighed in realization. That made so much sense it seemed almost obvious. Waylan had never once mentioned any experience with the fae, yet he was clearly familiar with their mannerisms. The best explanation was clearly that he couldn’t speak about them. “What do you want from me then?”

  //I was trying to solve how to make you progress, as I promised to. It’s been right befuddling for about a minute! Why even is your Soul hidden in a bubble?

  “I have just rough guesses,” Irwyn smiled, then added. “Might be so that it doesn’t kill me with sheer power? I don’t fully understand, or even partially for that matter. But Soul? I had presumed that this would be about Life rather than Soul though.”

  //The body has to connect to it somehow. And the Soul adapts to the body changing to an extent and the other way around. I don’t have to mess with it directly but if I accidentally break that connection… well, I am sure there are really nice facilities for the mentally not-present somewhere around here.

  “Very reassuring,” Irwyn deadpanned. He was quite sure she was joking rather than it being a real possibility. Besides being more malicious for no reason than he had come to expect of them, the rule about ‘not reducing chances of Name being claimed’ very much would also apply to him for all the fae knew. He was also not in the habit of questioning ancient immortal magical creatures on their abilities.

  //Are you really unaware who your father is?

  “Are answers to questions free now?” Irwyn tried

  //Beh, fine, question for question.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  she surrendered, though Irwyn suspected she actually preferred pushback based on the last several… hours? He was really not sure how much time they had spent gambling with the fae.

  “My condition is that I can refuse to answer,” Irwyn said. It was not exactly a ‘bet’ as Waylan had first established but Irwyn hoped the fae would let that slide. Before him was an opportunity but he had one or two things he really was not willing to tell, especially without knowing what he would be getting in return upfront.

  //Drat, not forgetting? Fine, fine.

  The fae grumbled but decided to let Irwyn have his conditions.

  “I have no certainty about either of my parents. The best speculation I have is that I might be descended from our Sun in some way, mostly based on my incredible talent and abnormal constitution from what I understand,” Irwyn answered the previous since the terms were set. Then asked his own: “Do you hold any grudge over how things have gone down earlier?”

  //No. It would be really petty to get actually angry at someone who is younger than most of my naps. I have gotten revenge enough for the sheer gall on her.

  Irwyn was certainly happy to hear that. A genuinely vengeful fae seemed like a real problem that would haunt them for decades. Even if she could not kill or truly hurt them because of the rule Elizabeth had previously exploited, it would be at the very least very inconvenient.

  //How old are you? Exact days if possible.

  “Over 17, nearing 17 and a half, very approximately,” Irwyn answered, confused just a bit by the question. “I did not know my proper birthday so I opted to celebrate it on Lumen’s Solstice. In the first place, the age I began the count from was just an estimation too. Why did you ask?”

  //Your body suggests you would be much, much younger. But it might also be the innate magic throwing a good guess off. Hard to count the age of Stars in mere singular years based on just their bodies, even if they are thrice transmuted down to mostly meat.

  Irwyn nodded. Johnson had briefly suggested something familiar. That was two ancient Life mages making the same mistake. Did they use the same method for the determination – and thus were misled by the same thing - or was there something more to that? The fae did not leave time for a deep contemplation.

  //What is your biggest secret?

  “I refuse to answer,” Irwyn immediately said. He had left the condition there explicitly for that.

  //Bah, figures. Then, how do you intend to achieve conception?

  “Hopefully through brute force and talent. Lately, I have been focusing on properly feeling my Soul so that I might figure out a way around the ‘bubble’. I was expecting to have a few months left to figure it out,” Irwyn confessed. “Maybe somehow bypassing said ‘bubble’ by operating from within? It is my Soul, after all – I already am inside. There also has to be some gap as it is not fully isolated from my body, which might be exploitable."

  Conception required carving concepts into the very soul. That presented unique hurdles for him, so Irwyn had spent much time contemplating it lately - even if it seemed decently far away just a day ago. First off was the ‘bubble’ or ‘egg’ surrounding his Soul. It would be extremely dangerous to rupture it from what Johnson had said and thus only a last resort - if Irwyn even could force it open. Then, of course, ‘carving’ the concepts might be considered ‘creation’, colliding with that ancient Oath. Irwyn believed it would not as ‘magic’ should be explicitly excluded from it but it was worth bearing in mind.

  “What is your best suggestion?” he then decided to inquire. Why not seek advice from the much more experience being next to him? It was certainly worth a question.

  //Just carve the concepts into your body instead! As I said earlier, the Soul adapts to the flesh changing. Concepts permeate both, if usually starting from the other side. With your sheer talent things should work out fine - Fate will smooth the imperfections out.

  “Fate?” Irwyn asked, unsure why that even came up. He certainly did commit the advice to memory though.

  //My turn. Have you ever spoken with an Empyrean - a Star, that is?

  “No. Not as far as I am aware,” not in this life. He contemplated repeating his question about what she had meant by ‘Fate’ but he already had a good guess - since his Fate was clearly potent it would favor him and nudge chance to help him deal with imprefections. Instead, he had a very different question. Maybe an even a dangerous one. But the vision had to have been for a reason and the Fae had their hard rules. A risk, but not unreasonably large, Irwyn reckoned. “What does the number 3774 mean to the fae?”

  //Where have you heard that?

  The fae instantly snapped with sudden intensity.

  “I refuse to answer,” Irwyn did not flinch, already expecting some kind of reaction. “It is also still my turn.”

  //There are always exactly 3774 fae in the universe. This is a deep secret even many of us do not know.

  the fae calmed down immediately. Still, there remained the hint of an edge that had been absent before to her voice. She was not demanding an answer as Irwyn was afraid she might. It would not have been catastrophic had she chosen to force him - otherwise he would not have dared ask - but Irwyn liked his secrets close to the chest… or probably somewhere else, the fae could likely see there.

  “In all honesty, I was not sure it would even be important,” Irwyn said. Much could change since the literal beginning of Time. But it seemed relevant as something from the vision he felt like he could ask about. And now his mind was spinning with the implications of that. How many different fae had he seen in just their own Realm so far? “I… apologize if it was insensitive to inquire?”

  //Now I am all the more curious about you… And wary of answering any more questions. I believe it is time we parted ways. Goodbye. May we meet in a few decades when I am free of this place.

  Well, Irwyn certainly hoped having a lot of attention from the fae would not be a negative in the long term. Because if he hadn’t been marked before those words, he certainly was after.

  Follow/Favourite/Rate 5 stars.

  I also compel you to join my DISCORD server.

  Have you considered obtaining advance chapters on my Patreon? There are over 20 and rising.