"Yes," she replied, in her own language. "But I am not expert in their use."
"Some weapons do not require expertise. Colene has told me of guns."
"Of what?"
"Colene, describe a gun for Nona."
Colene, now dipping water from a pond that was probably no more than a puddle to this world, obliged with a mental picture of a small metal object with a short tube projecting.
"I can not fetch such a thing, for I know of none," Nona said. "I can make something that looks similar, if you wish."
"That won't work," Colene said. "They have to be made exactly right, and have bullets."
"Bullets?"
"Little bits of metal that shoot out."
"I do not understand how that could be a weapon."
Darius sympathized, for he found the notion confusing too. "No guns," he said. "Knives, spears—they should help."
"Illusions can be effective too," she said. "Often they can fool the animals, so there is no need for violence."
"Yes, Colene used an illusion to thwart Knave Naylor," Darius agreed with satisfaction. "Seqiro can do that, in a fashion. But his illusions are strictly in the mind of the person he touches, no one else."
"Yes, it is a marvelous power," she agreed. "My illusions are visible to everyone; I can not limit them like that."
"The two of you, working together, should be able to discourage almost anything."
"It is nice to be with Seqiro," she said.
Darius realized that Nona, despite her powers, was basically an innocent woman, lacking some of the hard edges Colene had. She hardly seemed the type to change a world. Perhaps it was just as well that she had fallen in with their party, because things were bound to get un-innocent soon enough. "Yes, it is nice," he agreed.
Colene and Provos returned with water. "But I could have conjured that," Nona protested.
"You're supposed to be resting," Colene reminded her. "I'm going to forage something to cook."
"But I can transform—" Nona started. Then Darius' warning thought registered: it was a thing Colene needed to do. So she compromised by transforming a hair into a fine tuber, then floating it quietly to a place where Colene would soon find it. Darius did not protest; he was in doubt about the safety of natural food here. It could be spoiled or poisonous, despite seeming all right.
They made a meal from the tuber, and this worked well, because it was by no coincidence of the type that became delicious when boiled. Then they formed a barricade-shelter by the base of a towering tree, walling the huge world out. It was large enough to include Seqiro. It seemed snug and safe, but Darius knew that any large animal could crush it with one foot. He still felt insecure.
Then he had an idea. "Nona, can you make an illusion that will remain without further effort?"
"Yes, as long as I am near it."
"Can you make an illusion of the base of the tree covering this shelter, so that it seems to be part of the tree from outside?"
"I can do that. Do you want it to smell like the tree also?"
"Yes! Excellent. That will camouflage us, so maybe we won't be bothered."
Even so, they decided to take turns awake, watching. There were peepholes in the shelter facing in four directions: east, south, west, and up. If there was anything suspicious, Seqiro was supposed to be awakened first, and if he verified hostility or hunger near, he would alert the others.
Fortunately there was no emergency, and they were able to get a fairly good night's rest.
Darius had the first watch. The others settled down, but Colene remained awake. It seemed she wanted to talk to him. Probably the horse remained awake too, connecting their minds. "Why were you hugging Nona?"
Oh. He should have known that she would not forget that detail, from the time he had been with the woman and horse. "I do not care to conjure more than one person at a time, so I had to carry her."
"Why not?"
"That is the natural safe limit of sympathetic magic," he explained. "A person can conjure himself or another person, but it is not wise to—"
"Back in your home reality, maybe. But here maybe things are different. Did you ever try more than one here?"
He was surprised. "This is possible. I shall have to try." He marked two circles on the ground, almost touching because there was little room. Then he brought out the Darius and Colene icons. "If you will—"
"Gotcha." She moved so as to stand wedged beside him in one circle.
He invoked the two icons, then moved them toward the other circle. He moved—and so did she. Now they were wedged together in the other circle. "It is different here! I can not transfer joy, but I do seem to be able to conjure simultaneously with assurance." He could tell by the feel of it.
"So now you won't have to hug Nona any more."
He looked down at her. "That is unfortunate." Then they laughed.
Nona took the next watch, and Darius lay down. But Colene remained awake. Darius could sleep when he chose, but was curious about Colene's next move. Was she going to tell Nona what she had told him?
Not so. "You don't wear anything under your tunic," Colene said.
"That is true," Nona agreed. "No one does, unless it is cold."
"Men don't either?"
"It is unnecessary. The tunic covers everything."
"What about when the wind blows hard?"
"It is not hard to keep a tunic in place."
"But don't your breasts sag?"
"Sag? Yes, with age. That is natural."
"Well, I have news for you. They look better and last better if they are supported. The flesh doesn't get pulled out of shape. Here, I'll show you." Colene pulled off her tunic, revealing her crudely torn and tied halter and pants. "See, I don't have nearly the stuff you do, but when I have the right uplift, it looks almost as if I do. And if I wear the right kind of pants, my tummy looks better too."
"That is true!" Nona agreed, intrigued. "And such a garment prevents the deterioration of age?"
"Sure. Let me show you the design, and you can make me a good bra and panties."
"Yes. Then I will make them for myself."
Darius knew that Colene was doing this so that Nona would no longer expose her torso when she changed tunics, or bounce as obviously when she walked. That was just as well; he had found Nona's body to be most distracting, whether viewed from a distance or held close. He had tried to do the proper thing, and not look, but the responsibility to hide her private flesh was really the woman's. It would be better yet if both of them wore full female diapers, but he knew it would be useless to suggest that. The women of other cultures simply lacked the appropriate modesty of those of his own reality. Colene exposed herself deliberately, to taunt him, and Nona did so because she felt it was all right when washing among friends; both were driving him moderately mad.
He allowed himself to drift to sleep, while Nona used her magic to make the type of garments Colene wanted. He was glad that Colene was taking a positive approach. He did not care to risk her negative approach.
When he woke, he found a pair of undershorts beside him. Colene had arranged for him to be clothed under his tunic too. He put them on without comment.
NEXT day they set out for a suitable Megaplayer. They did this by helping Nona to gain a local familiar, which was a large (to them) bird, then conjuring themselves as a group to the promising sites the bird spotted. Several such jumps took them onto a larger head of Jupiter, where farms were spotted. Nona had a certain sense about which native person might be amenable to their approach, and Seqiro verified this. But it was Provos who was decisive: she did not remember the first prospect, or the second, or the third. Darius trusted her memory, so they kept searching until Provos acquiesced. So it was that they came to the house of an artisan who lived alone.
This was an older man garbed in green who carved intricately in wood and stone. Plaques, statuettes, and linked figures filled his shelves. There were several musical instruments of exactly the type and size
they had seen by the seaside cliff on Oria. The giant's mind was open; he responded immediately to Seqiro's first questing thought. Just like that, they had communication with a Megaplayer.
"We need your help," Darius said to the man.
"I hear you, but I do not see you," the giant responded, looking around.
"We are from Oria, a smaller world. We seek to bring the anima."
"Then show yourselves."
Nona made an illusion picture, so large that the man could see it without difficulty. It showed the group of them.
"A man, three women, and a horse, all in little-world scale," the giant said. "This is not the way the animus passes."
Nona stepped forward, in the image. "I am the ninth of the ninth," she said. "I can bring the anima—but I need the help of the Megaplayers."
The giant considered the image. Darius, viewing it with a man's eye, knew it was impressive. Nona was about as pretty a young woman as could be found, in form and feature. Colene's advice about the supportive undergarment now caused Nona's bosom to manifest magnificently despite the unflattering tunic. She was also nice, and Seqiro was sending the impression of that niceness to the giant. Even though there was such a disparity in size that she could never be a romantic prospect for such a man, such an image and impression had to be highly conducive. It was for Darius, who was as surely barred from her as was the giant, for different reason.
But the man waggled a finger at them wamingly, now looking directly at them where they stood on the sill. "Do not seek to use your magic on me," he said. As he spoke, he floated up, not far, but it was clear that his feet no longer touched the floor. A knife appeared in his hand, became a hammer, and floated back to its tool-box.
"You are a despot!" Nona exclaimed, astonished and dismayed. "But you are not in black!"
"I am a man," the giant replied. "Call me Angus. Not all of those with magic choose to be despotic. Some prefer to be creative. I wear green because I am uncommitted to any class or creed."
That was evidently true. This man lived alone and was a craftsman, though he was not compelled to do or be either. He had no concern with status; that was why Seqiro had not picked up on it. But his magic and his mind made him dangerous. He could destroy them in an instant, if he chose.
"I am Nona. How can I convince you?"
"I know something of this matter," Angus said. "I have no special commitment to the existing order, and am wilting to see it change. But the man could be doing the magic, and you may be a pretender trying to deceive me. You must demonstrate your special power of anima."
Nona hesitated. "But I do not know what this is," she said. "That is why I have come to you."
Darius hoped that this confession did not destroy her credibility. It was true that a despot man would have all the powers of magic Nona could show, so that only in the absence of the others could she demonstrate it. But it would not be wise for them to separate. The giant might simply make her captive in a cage secured by magic, and none of her talents would free her then. Of course Darius would be able to conjure her out, but that would prove only his magic, not hers.
"The true harbinger of anima will have the power of music," Angus said.
"I can play!" Nona said. "All my life—"
"This is more than training," Angus said. "This is the most subtle but powerful magic, apart from the invocation of the anima itself. It is the power to persuade any person of any world to do your will. To serve you voluntarily, and never betray you. Play that music for me, and I will serve you. I will not do so otherwise."
"But I can not—would not want to compel—"
"You would give up your destiny?"
"No!"
"Then put it to the test, little woman. Play."
"But I did not bring my instruments!"
Angus arched a brow. "You lack the magic of compaction?" The hammer reappeared in his hand. Then it shrank, becoming a miniature of itself. When it was so small it would fit Nona's hand, it floated to her at the sill.
She caught it, surprised. "I can't do that." She reconsidered. "That is, not that way. I could transform it into something else which is larger or smaller, of a different substance, then reshape it, but it would not be exactly the same in detail."
"Try it, Nona," he said. "Restore it to proper size."
She looked doubtfully at the hammer, and concentrated.
The hammer expanded.
Nona was so surprised she dropped it. But it hovered as if caught by an unseen hand; Angus had used his magic. It remained as it had been when her hand left it, about twice its prior size.
She took it again, and it resumed its growth. It became as large as she was, and larger, so that she no longer supported it; instead she merely touched it while it floated. When it was a monster four times her body length she removed her hand. She had done it.
"So you have that magic," Angus said, as the hammer floated back to him. "But is it yours—or the man's?" He glanced at Darius.
"My magic differs," Darius said. He brought out his icon, marked two circles, designated them in his mind, and moved the doll from one to the other. In this manner he conjured himself to the sill on the opposite side of the room. "I am here," he said from behind the giant.
"That was not illusion," Angus said. "Now I am impressed. There is no magic of this nature on this world."
"I am from another reality. Our magic is sympathetic."
"You also have the mind-talk?"
"No. That is Seqiro, the horse. He is from still another reality."
"And the old and young women?"
"From two other realities," Darius said. "One remembers what is to come, and the other deals in science, which is another specialized form of magic."
"You are a remarkable group!" Angus exclaimed.
"But we need your help, for our separate reasons," Darius said.
"Let Nona play, and I may be persuaded," Angus said.
"But I have no dulcimer," Nona protested. "I can not make one that would work; I lack the craftsmanship. Had I realized that I could do the magic of compaction—I did not know it was possible—I would have brought it along. Do you have one that—?"
"I do not," Angus said firmly. "But if I did, I would not lend it to you. The instrument must be of your world, for your magic to work with it. All folk are linked to their worlds, and draw on the magic of their worlds, even when on other worlds. If you are anima, you are anima for your world only; the rule differs for my world."
Darius realized that that made sense. Nona was magical because she was the ninth of the ninth, and that surely was the requirement for Oria. It would not be for Jupiter.
Nona was appalled. "But to go all the way back for my dulcimer—"
"There may be an alternative," Angus said. "I am something of an archaeologist, my interest being in tracing the routes of the diaspora of original mankind. On occasion there are items, left behind. There is a site not far from here which I have worked intermittently, as my interest allows. There may be a suitable instrument there, in the section I have not yet done. My illusion pictures are indistinct, but I think there is a dulcimer. If you can fetch it without disturbing the rest of the site, you can use that one.""
"Why not just conjure it here?" Darius asked.
"Because the site would collapse into the hole left by its vacancy," Angus said. "That would not be expedient excavation."
"What does a collapse matter?" Darius asked, perplexed.
Colene interceded. "It matters," she said. "I was on a dig once—it was only a one-afternoon class, sort of, but I learned some things. They don't want to disturb anything until they survey it in, or it messes up the tally. They can learn things from the context, like what's above and below it. But if things get hopelessly jumbled, that's no good."
"The one from the science world," Angus said approvingly.
"Very well: no disturbance," Darius said, still not quite understanding the importance, but pleased that Colene had made an impression. "Where is t
his place?"
"Follow me," Angus said, floating toward the door.
"Wait!" Darius cried. "Only Nona can fly. The rest of us have to conjure."
"Then come here," the giant said, holding out his hand.
Darius looked at Provos. She was already nodding, anticipating his query in the way she had. It was safe.
He conjured them in turn to the waiting hand, stepping each icon there: Provos, Colene, Seqiro, and himself. He might have done them as a group, but he remained in doubt just how safe that was, and there was no need at the moment. Nona floated independently, ready to follow.
Angus closed his hand gently about them. They each stood the height of one of his fingers: Darius matched the middle one, Provos the index, and Colene the little. Nona would have matched the next smallest finger. The horse's head was higher than any, but that didn't count: Seqiro had the giant's other hand to himself, being too big to share the first one.
Angus floated out and up, with Nona trailing. They flew over the tremendous trees. "Like an airplane," Colene breathed, unafraid. Provos also seemed to be enjoying the experience, remembering its safe conclusion. Seqiro could tell from the giant's mind that no harm was intended. That left only Darius nervous, though he tried to conceal it. The travel along the filaments had been like icon conjuring, under his shared control, but this was different. If he should fall—
He felt a hand take his. Colene, offering comfort. As she had when they had first met, in her reality.
His love for her manifested explosively. She was young, and often hard to adjust to, but she was the one. Once they made it back to his reality she would not be his wife, but she would be his love. What a blessing that would be!
He felt her love returning. They were connected, by Seqiro's ability, and she had received his feeling. That was all they needed.
Angus descended. The flight was ending, and Darius had entirely lost track of it.
They settled by an overgrown hillside. The mountain was honeycombed with caves, many far too small for Angus. It was becoming clearer why excavation was no easy matter; the giant would have to remove everything from the front of a cave to get at the back of it. But they, being so much smaller, could enter and go directly to the spot they wanted.