The Book Series

Hey! Remember me? Probably not... =P I'm Matt (not in the story)

If you've ever read a Nifty Story before, you know the rules, and can skip on down to the asterisks (that's the *'s for you newbies)....

(standard warning)

Since you're reading this, I can assume you've never read any of my stories or any of the others at Nifty, which is odd, since this is part of a series... Oh well, if you happen to be underage, I cannot condone your reading of this. If this type of material is illegal in the area you currently are, I cannot condone your reading of this. If you do not like this type of material, why are you here? Wacko!! Sorry if I sound a bit prudish by this, but it's standard procedure. Personally, I could care less if you're underage or it's illegal, so long as you enjoy it (and _don't get caught!).

Ugh, I hate that warning... sigh Well, time for my "Final Thoughts," well, more personal than final, but "Final Thoughts" has such a nice ring to it! I'm sorry this took so long to put out, those of you who are reading this... Don't lie! I know some of you skip on down to the story, 'cuz that's what I do too!

Well well, now we get to see how Rheanna fits into the story... or if she's gonna stay at all, eh? Oh, and countdown to sex! laughs

Okey-des! (which my friend informed me means "It's big!" in Japanese... I just use it as Okay, so don't think I'm constantly saying "It's big!" all the time... heh heh heh That's for my BF's to say... LMAO) On to the next part of the story!

Whoops, hold up! I forgot to mention. I know the story isn't as much about "The Book" anymore, and I can only say that I didn't put much thought into the title, and I'm sorry.

Okey-des, now on to the story!

-------- The Book --------

Chapter 8 : Reconnaissance

FYI... Last Chapter....

"A herald to the Merge is coming!" Matt finished, his light expression sobering immediately.

"Everyone!" boomed Judas in Power-amplified tones, "You are in danger, leave this village immediately, please!"

Everyone shuffled out of their huts and looked at Judas with curiousity.

"Did you hear me?!" he cried, "Get going!"

They just stared blankly.

There was a moment of disorientation for all, as vision blurred for a moment, and suddenly everything blacked out for a nanosecond...

...As vision cleared for all, there was a collective gasp.

Where a small straw and mud village once stood, there was now a stretch of a strange gray substance, surrounded by beautiful green pastures.

"A-a r-road?" stammered Judas in disbelief.

In the middle of the road was a strange metal object, roughly rectangular in shape, color red with strange circular objects on the front and back.

"A car!" exclaimed Matt.

A young woman, of around 20 years, stepped out. She had beautiful long red hair, and strikingly violet eyes.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she demanded, a wild look in her eyes.

--Okey-des, let's get onto the story!--

"Uhhh..." said Judas intelligently.

"I said, what the fuck is going on here?!" she all but screamed.

"No, you said, 'What the hell is going on here!'" Matt retorted, sniggering.

"You sonuvabitch!" she screamed, slamming her fist down onto her car.

"Calm down!" hollered Judas, "We're trying to figure that out ourselves!"

"Oh SHIT!" she screamed again, "What the hell are those!?" she pointed at the Dwarves who even now stared at her with round eyes.

The chief of the Dwarves said something intelligible in the Dwarven tongue, and the girl's eyes grew wider.

"What's he saying?" she stammered.

Judas heaved a great sigh, and Reached for Water. Matt placed a hand on Judas' shoulder, though, and stopped him.

"Let me," he said softly, "You need some time to recharge."

Matt faced the young girl, and, raising his arms, eloquently gestured. The trails of his hands glowed brightly until he brought his hand in front of him and clasped them together...

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As he completed the Glyph, a gentle breeze came from the earth, surrounding the young girl. As she looked about herself with wild eyes, the wind slowly became light blue in color. Her eyes began to droop, until finally she collapsed silently onto the road, deep in sleep.

The Dwarves, just now realizing that their homes were missing, turned to Judas with angry looks.

"What happened to our village?!" spat the chief, in his native Dwarven tongue.

"It's gone." Judas said bluntly. "You're going to have to find and make new homes."

"What is this sorcery!?" cried a villager, "Did you bring this upon us?!" With that, and angry muttering began among the ranks of the stocky little people.

"NO!" said Matt forcefully. "We're trying to stop this!"

The Dwarves, half-believing, were nevertheless quiet once more. Judas walked over to where the girl was lying, picked her up, and carried her back to where Draecon sat restlessly. Matt followed behind Judas, but before mounting, he turned back to the dismayed Dwarves.

"It's not much," he began sorrowfully, "But take this!" He reached into his tunic and pulled out a large bag of gold. He then tossed it to the feet of the Dwarven chief.

"Use it to found a new village!" called Matt as he, Judas, and the girl winged off towards the west, back to High Tower.

"Wake up already!" Judas stamped his feet impatiently. Back at High Tower, Judas had flexed his mental muscles and levitated them all up to their tower, rather than bothering with stairs. The girl lay on Judas' bed, and Judas was pacing back and forth as Matt stared off into space, thinking.

"Patience..." murmured Matt soothingly, "Not even a Dragon can shake off a Glyph of Sleep in under 2 candlemarks."

"Well, it's been 4!" Judas said, resuming his pacing.

"What do you expect? She got transported to a totally different world! Of course she's a little tired. Why do you want her to wake so quickly anyways? It's not like she's important or anything. She's just a girl who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Judas just looked at Matt, half-disbelieving what he was hearing.

"I say we just take her back to her dimension, and convince her all of this was just a dream. There is nothing she can do about the Merge, so there's no point in her knowing anything about what's going on. As they say, 'Ignorance is bliss.'" Matt concluded.

Judas began tapping his foot halfway through his oration, and as Matt finished he gave a final <<stomp!>> and began his own tirade.

"Have you scanned her yet?!" he half-snarled. "Once you get past her Shields..."

"Shield?" Matt interrupted, "What do you mean, Shields?"

"If you don't know..." began Judas mockingly.

"No, I mean, isn't she from the Science world?" retorted Matt, a little stung by the comment.

"They're natural shields, and damn strong." Judas said, speaking in tones more suited for a kindergartner. "I strongly suggest that you scan her right now, I think you'll find something rather interesting about her..."

Matt was taken aback with his sudden outburst, but obeyed Judas w/o comment. He closed his eyes (he was not a very good Scanner) and searched for his "Energy," which was quite literally his consciousness. As he entered deep trance, he pulled away from his body, and settled upon the sleeping girl, delving into her mind and spirit.

What he saw, first and foremost, was despair. Black, thick and sticky. His mind felt dirty just by being near such despair. Pushing past that, he caught glimpses of her memory, fleeting pictures that danced across her consciousness. :Rheanna, eh?: he thought to himself. :Unusual name for a Terran.: What he saw then made him grimace in sympathy... well, as much as a spark of consciousness can grimace. This poor girl had had more than her share of sorrows in her life. Digging further into her psyche, he suddenly came across her Paths, which determined one's affinity to the various schools of Magick.

The first few he surveyed were nothing special. Her Tapping was nominal, next to non-existent. Her Runic and Somatic were dormant, as well as her Channeling. Then he came upon her Psionics... He froze, his "heart" quickening to an insane pace. She had Psionics up the wazoo, easily as much Power in this one category as he himself had in Runic and Glyph Magick.

Every Path of Psionics he tested were stronger than any he had ever seen, with the exception of Displacement, which allowed one to delegate one's body to a spirit or higher power. With these Psionics, she could easily subdue any Adept of the supposedly stronger Magicks. Her telepathy not only could read thoughts, it was of a strength that she could also impose her will upon others. Her empathy reinforced her telepathy, allowing her to read and project emotions at massive degrees. Telekinesis would be child's play for her, and Healing anything but a mortal wound a snap. She even had the rarest Power of all, Premonition, and she had it in abundance. No person, whether human, elven, or even the most Magickal of them all, the pixy, had ever had it in such prodigality. His mind reeled at the possibilities of such a Power.

*As an aside, I'll go ahead and explain some of these "Paths."

Tapping, the forte of Judas, is the ability to key into the various elements (Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water) and use them for various things.

Runic, one of Matt's strengths, is the ability to inscribe symbols and channel magick through them to very specific ends.

Somatic, the other of Matt's strengths, is the ability to weave symbols into the air, creating effects similar to, but weaker than, those of Runes.

Channeling is basically the amount of energy from an outside source one can contain.

Displacement is the ability to remove one's consciousness from one's own physical body. A complete lack of Displacement is known as "grounded," meaning not even a Psychic Nuke could remove one's consciousness from the body. An abundance of Displacement is known as "drifted," meaning the slightest Psychic "shove" could seperate spirit and body.

Telepathy, the reading of thoughts, and as said, the ability to convey them.

Empathy, the ability to sense emotions, and to emote them, forcing others to feel as one wishes them to.

Telekinesis, to move objects from sheer willpower.

Healing, duh!

Premonition, already discussed.

*He pulled out of her body in a rush, his physical body in a state of extreme agitation. He took a gasping breath and looked at Judas with round eyes.

"I don't believe it!" he finally managed.

"I know!" Judas replied. "She could be the answer to our problems!"

"N-no..." Matt said thoughtfully, after a moment, "She lacks Displacement, and that's what we need to contact The Hundred."

Judas stared blankly for a moment. "She has no Displacement? But she has such Psionics!"

"Yes, I know, but while she has all the others, she has absolutely no Displacement." Matt said firmly. "I checked the 'Lesser' Paths, she has Telepathy, Empathy, and even Premonition, but no Displacement at all."

"Damn!" Judas swore, pounding his fist into the table.

"Wh-wha?" it was Rheanna, who was waking on the bed. She was holding her head, and groaning softly. "Where am--" she looked around.

"Oh CRAP!" she cursed, "It wasn't a dream!"

"No, it wasn't," laughed Matt ruefully, "But what we're about to tell you is going to seem straight out of Mother Goose's arse!"

"So... what do you want me to do?" Rheanna finally said. The entire story had taken Matt and Judas 3 candlemarks to retell, and the sun was now setting. Rheanna had sat in silence the entire time, and had continued to sit silently for a good 1/2 candlemark after Matt had finished with their meeting at the Dwarven village.

"What do you mean, 'what do you want me to do?'" asked Matt, dumbfounded.

"I mean, what do you want me to do to help you!" Rheanna explained, as thought speaking to a very simple child.

"We don't want your help." said Judas coldly, "We have no need of a Psionic, however powerful."

"What do you mean?!" cried Rheanna. "You need all the help you can get!"

She suddenly paused.

"What do you mean, Psionic?" she asked suspiciously.

"You mean you don't even know?!" Matt was stunned.

"That's even worse!" said Judas, "If you didn't know, that means you can't have had any training! An untrained Psionic is a threat to all!"

Rheanna stared down at her bed, then looked up, defiance making her violet eyes sparkle.

"I'll get trained, then!" she snapped, "If I'm a 'Psionic,' then I can just absorb all the training I need, right?"

"It doesn't work like that, little girl," snapped Judas harshly, "Besides, like I said, we have no use for a Psionic here. We'll just send you back to your Realm and you can go back to your normal life."

Rheanna began to cry, and Matt and Judas grew discomfited. They stood there awkwardly as Rheanna cried into her hands for a moment. Suddenly, as if tired of herself, she slammed her hands on the bed, and looked up at Judas again, this time defiance mingled with genuine anger making her eyes flare in the dying sunlight.

"There's nothing for me there." she said bluntly, "I have nothing left. I was on that road running away because I lost my job and my home."

Judas and Matt stood awkwardly again as a silence followed.

"I'm helping you, whether you want me to or not." she continued stubbornly. "If nothing else, I am one less hysterical person that you'll have to deal with when this 'Merge' occurs."

"She has a point." Matt said with a smile. Matt had actually been on Rheanna's side from the start, but felt that Judas' antagonism would be a good test of character if this girl was going to truly be any help.

Judas sighed, and made a sign of agreement. Matt took Rheanna's hand, who looked up at him with a hint of fear.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, a little suspicious.

"To get your training." Matt replied simply.

"Now what?" Rheanna asked Judas. She looked radiant in her new crimson robes, signifying that she was a full-fledged and trained Mage. She, Judas, and Matt stood before High Tower, the sun just now rising in the east.

Three weeks had passed as Rheanna received her training from the Masters of each Psionic. Thus far, no further Mergings had occured, but Judas and Matt were always on guard, and spent much of their time studying old tomes, that they might create a list of the deities they must contact. Now, Rheanna was trained, and there would never be a better time to find their Mouthpiece for the deities.

"We fly." Judas said, smiling. He beckoned to the stableman, who pulled out 3 Wyverns. One was Draecon, who was red, but the other two, one silver and one blue, were strangers to Matt.

"What is this?" asked Matt, recognizing Draecon, but not the other two.

"These will be your mounts!" Judas chuckled. "Saves some wear and tear on Draecon."

"They're beautiful!" giggled Rheanna, running up to the silver Wyvern. She stroked the beast along the neck, and smiled broadly. She mounted just as a novice would, she tried to hop on. Matt and Judas laughed mercilessly as she got up, overbalanced, and fell onto the other side. She blushed a furious crimson, and tried again.

And again, and again, and again...

Finally, when it looked like she was about to burst into tears, Judas came up, took her hand, and guided her onto the proper niche in the Wyvern's back.

Matt and Judas mounted their respective mounts, and with a nudge, sent them winging to the east.

"Wait! How do I make mine go!!" Rheanna called after sadly.

"So what am I Scanning for?" Rheanna asked, airborne. The two had pulled a reversal, and explained how with her Telepathy, she could instruct her Wyvern with no trouble at all. Now, in the sky, Rheanna once again was a bit lost.

"You're not." retorted Judas. "You can't displace. We must do this manually, Matt and I."

"Then what am I here for?" asked Rheanna, eyes large.

"You're here in case a Merging occurs." Matt explained, "Then, you can calm any innocents that get caught in the way."

"Oh." Rheanna sulked.

Judas gave her an odd look, but suddenly the phoenix talisman rose up and pointed north.

"Let's go!" he cried, winging Draecon in that direction.

"Whoa." The area was... white, very white.

"Brr..." said Rheanna, shivering slightly.

In response, Judas called forth a small fire in his hand. It rose from his palm, and gradually grew larger, until it was the size of a basketball. Rheanna sighed with relief, and flashed Judas a smile.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she said, jumping up and down.

Matt shook his head, a rueful grin on his face, and motioned for her to calm down. "We're looking for..." he paused, looked up, thought for a moment, and finally turned to Judas.

"We're looking for anyone who might have been Merged to this side." Judas said, stifling a giggle.

"Are there no inhabitants here?" asked Rheanna.

"No, this was just a desert before the mini-Merge, and-- What are you laughing at?"

"Mini-Merge?" giggled Matt.

"Well it is!" said Judas crossly, stamping his foot, "It's not a big Merge!"

"Ok, ok!" Rheanna managed between fits of giggles, "Now what were you saying?"

"Well, it was just a desert, so the few inhabitants that were here have probably died from the cold by now!"

"Rather morbid thought," commented Matt, "Bu--"

"Help me!" the plea was quiet, and sounded quite far off...