Farrah stepped out of the portal onto sand. She was on a beach that ran from turquoise water up to rai. A trail went off though the trees and a pier led into the water where a cluster of bungalows sat on stilts. The beach ed around a goon, sheltering the over-water bungalows. Looking back over the trees, several small mountains were visible, waterfalls spilling off their sides.

  Jason stepped out of the portal to joihe archway then vanishing into the sand. She looked up at the clear sky, feeling the fresh sea breeze take the edge off the sun’s heat.

  “I feel odd,” she said. “Something is… my powers are gone.”

  “Yes,” Jason said.

  “But I don’t feel unfortable, as if they were being suppressed. They’re just… not there.”

  “When I was making this p, I didn’t pay specific attention to every little detail. It was more like creating a seed with certain parameters aing the ws of physid magic sort themselves out as it grew. There are a few pces I did pay closer attention to, though, and this is one of them.”

  “A prison?”

  Jaso out a wing ugh.

  “That’s a little hurtful, after the effort I put in. Does it look like a prison?”

  “Then why suppress powers?”

  “They’re not suppressed. They just do here. This isnd is named Refuge, and it’s what it says oin. It’s a pce where I, and the people most important to me, get away from all the travails of the os. It’s about letting go of the responsibilities that we have to deal with everywhere else. Here, we take things slow. No powers. You’ll even find that your speed and strength are capped, if you try to push them. Even my prime avatar is affected.”

  “I don’t know if Sophie is going to like that.”

  “She’ll get over it. Shade has been w on his cocktail game.”

  “Mixology, Mr Asano.”

  “Sorry. He’s been w on his mixology.”

  Farrah stared at Jason’s shadow.

  “Is he never not in there?” she asked.

  “Uh…”

  Farrah looked at her own shadow, then back up at Jason.

  “Just so you know,” he said hastily as he sped up his walking speed, “I’m still w on options to fix our bond. Overmind Jason is, anyrime avatar Jason is still here.”

  “Then prime avatar Jason needs a talk about boundaries and where his shadow familiar goes.”

  “Ooh, I bet the view from that bluff is excellent,” he responded, speeding up again.

  “What happeo taking things slow?” she called after him.

  While Jason’s avatar guided Farrah through the rairails, Jason delved into the magic of the bond linking them together. It was distinct from the es he had with his familiars, where he was the in of the bond. His e with Farrah had inated with her ability to bond with people, acquired when she resurrected as an outworlder. It had reacted with the ges in Jason until they noticed the bond and had ultimately chosen to enha.

  Now that Jason had a vastly powerful transdent aspect, his power was trying to make use of that bond. And, as much as Jason was loath to admit it, the more tyrannical aspects of his subscious were trying to subjugate her through it. That was not something he was going to put up with. He explored the magivolved, gaming out possible ways the bond could be maniputed.

  While he was doing this, Farrah and his avatar reach the main buildings of the is he’d created. The buildings were made from bamboo, wood and natural stone, ao maximise the feel of a rai grove. Several creeks and streams flowed under little bridges and even uhe buildings, and a river flowed nearby. Farrah spotted bungalows, indoor and open air lounges, a bar and a games room. In the open-front buildings by the river she saw oes and what looked like woode skis.

  “Jason, this is all very nice, but this is not what I’m here for.”

  “I know. I’m w on it.”

  “Aren’t you basically a god here?”

  “Nothing that limited. But it’s not like they put you through a two-week orientation course when you bee half transdent. I still have a lot to learn, and I ’t afford to make a mistake here. Not with you.”

  They made their way deep into the isnd. Trails of packed earth and fallen leaves gave way th-cut stoeps as they began a gradual ast. Finally, Jasht her to a grotto half set into a cave. Water spilled down over rocks, into a pool of pristier, from where it drained off into a little creek. The rocks were ft, and many were covered in soft-looking grasses and moss. he entrance was a gazebo of wood and bamboo, taining a piic table, benches and a grill.

  “I want t everyone here, in time,” Jason said. “I want this pce to be where we e to be together and fet about all the troubles the os sees fit to pile onto us. And I want to start by fixing something that I’ve put on you, however iently.”

  “You fix the bond?”

  “I have some options. The power disparity between us is a problem, I won’t lie. My power wants to make you obey.”

  “Then tell it no.”

  Jason grinned.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he told her. “Obviously, making you subjey will is uable. After looking for some kind of workable promise, however, I realised that just isn’t viable. So, if oremes will work, I wondered what would happen if we went the other way?”

  “Other way?”

  A system window popped up in front of Farrah.

  The [Astral Nexus] has proposed an alternative to your pending status ge.Your avaible options are [Voice of the Will] and [Defier of the Will].As a [Voice of the Will], you will have access to a measure of power belonging to the [Astral Nexus] while also being subject to its dictates.As a [Defier of the Will] you will have the ability to e influence of the [Astral Nexus] in various ways. The [Astral Nexus] will be uo harm you with its power or the magical abilities of its avatars. You will be able to e the prime avatar and undo aspects of its influeside of its domains. You will be able to isote areas within its domains, but not its astral kingdom, from its influehe [Astral Nexus] will have no ability to undo or revoke your authority to e its power.As a [Voice of the Will] or [Defier of the Will], you will be immortal. Your body and soul gestalt will not be fully destroyed but will take signifit time to remake itself withiral kingdom. Unlike a [Voice of the Will], you will not otherwise gain the access to the power of the [Astral Nexus].Farrah stared at the window for a long time.

  “What is this?” she asked finally.

  “We both know that I lose my way. I’m better, now, but the future is long and uain. You’ve always been the one I could trust when I couldn’t trust myself. That’s hard if you don’t have the power to stop me when I o be stopped. This would give it to you.”

  “You have so much power. You ’t use it outside of your private universe yet, but some day you will have that power.”

  “Yes. And you know I’ve been worried for a long time about not having a che that power. I’m asking you to be the ohat holds me to at.”

  “Immortality.”

  “Yes.”

  “True immortality.”

  “Yeah. You’ll outlive the sun. We have a sandwich to celebrate.”

  He wandered over to the gazebo, making his the short stairs. A tray of sandwiches was sitting oable, along with a rge pitcher and two gsses.

  “Not to pressure you or anything, but there’s some iced tea up here was well. It’s peach.”

  “Are you attempting to bribe me into immortality with a light lunch?”

  “It’s immortality. I shouldn’t have to sell it, right? But if you don’t like the immortality options, I sever the bond altogether.”

  “It feels like this should be more of a versation. Immortality isn’t a small thing.”

  “No,” he agreed, giving her a sad smile. “No, it’s not. I only missed fifteen years or so, and that was so long in the lives of my family ba Earth. I never inteo stay away so long. And that’s just a drop in the o pared to what immortality has to offer. People will live out entire lives while we remain unging. We’ll love them, for the time they have, and lose them. It won’t be small thing.”

  “You’ve thought about this a lot.”

  “That, and there’s a lot of books and TV shows expl the idea.”

  “Is it stupid to hesitate at the idea of immortality?”

  “Of course not. And that’s without even broag the topic of what this means for you and me. e up and have a sandwid we’ll hash it out.”

  ***

  Jason, Clive, Travis and the Cloudweaver were in a workshop, in the Yaresh branch of the Magic Research Association. They were seated around a table on which rested Jason’s cloud fsk. Jason flicked it and smoke started p out, bstead of the usual white. It formed a cloud that filled the room to the high ceiling before it stopped spreading.

  Points of light appeared in the smoke like stars in a night sky, silvery lines linking them together in steltions. As more and more stars and lines appeared, it went from steltions to a celestial spider’s web to something far too plex and deo be either.

  “Normal so far,” the Cloudweaver said as they observed the process. Then their eyes went wide as some of the points started ging colour. The dots of light and their eg liarted turning blue and e, slowly at first but rapidly accelerating. They glowed brighter as they went, making the observers lose track of specific points as the light diffused in the bck smoke. By the time it was do looked like a blue and e eye, glowing from within the dark.

  “Well, it’s certainly dramatic,” the Cloudweaver said.

  “It’s Jason,” Clive said. “It always works like this. We’re lucky the mirage chamber didn’t just bst a massive aura proje over the city. Again.”

  “I’m going to need my tools to get a better look at what’s going on here,” Cloudweaver said. “Did you say they have a mana spectrum prism matrix?”

  “They do,” Clive said. “They’re bringing it down now. I thought a localised refi differentiator would be useful as well.”

  “That’s a good idea,” the Cloudweaver said.

  “That’s my cue to leave,” Jason said. “It sounds like magic Star Trek in here. Have fun with your deflector dish, and don’t get too pokey or the fsk will smite you.”

  Jason got up and walked out, leaving the other three behind.

  “He was joking about the smiting, right?” Travis asked.

  “Probably,” Clive said. “It wouldn’t hurt to be careful as we go, though.”

  ***

  Jasohe trio to examine his cloud fsk, one of the st tasks before he and his friends packed up to leave. Much of the reunion group had already left, having their own preparations to make before the expedition to Earth. Jason had several stops to make, including rounding up the Earthlings iercost and anch the liween worlds, which he would do iorm Kingdom.

  Leaving the main workshop building, Jason headed for a nearby loading area. Normally used fing in supplies to the workshops, Humphrey and Neil were preparing a huge pile of goods. Once Jason got the fsk back, it would all be loaded into a cloud vehicle. While heading in their dire, he spotted Danielle Geller and ged course.

  “Danielle. We never had a ce to catch up properly.”

  “It seemed like you were having a busy week.”

  “Tell me about it. Adventure Society briefings. Parts one and two of the Clive sessions, which I’m assuming will tiil I die.”

  “Aren’t you immortal?”

  “Don’t remind me. I just vinced someone else to join the immortal club.”

  “Farrah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How is she?”

  “Asleep. The process of ge was ohing, then it was like her halted adva was unleashed all at once. Half of her abilities advanced simultaneously, which arently rough. She’s still a step or twold.”

  “But immortal now.”

  “She’ll have time, yes.”

  Danielle shook her head.

  “I remember when Rufus Remore came to visit me ioelling me he’d met an unusual young man. And now that young man is casually mentioning how he’s made a woman he once resurrected immortal now.”

  “It was the Reaper on the resurre, and circumstan the other thing. It’s not like I’m running around, handing out immortality tickets.”

  “Well, if you do, let me know. There was something you wao discuss?”

  “Some things I’d like your advi, if you spare a few moments.”

  “Certainly. Shall we take walk?”

  “I could show you my universe. It’s not as big as some, but I could whip it ht here.”

  They tur hearing Neil ugh and saw him pointing at them. A disgruntled Humphrey fished a gold spirit from his pocket and ha over.

  “I do believe that you just lost my son a bet,” Danielle said. “Probably best not to ask what about.”

  “Oh, I think I know.”

  “As do I, sadly. Fasated as I am to see your own little universe, it might be best to take a regur walk instead of nipping through a portal together.”

  “I think you’re right.”