Chapter 134: Double trouble

Chapter 134: Double trouble

“Not double trouble but twice blessed.”

Anon

I awoke refreshed and clear of mind. It probably helped that I had yet to start up any of my parallel processes and that my mind fortress was currently empty of any other versions of me. I returned to the fortress to see what would happen when I tried the skill again.

“Multiple Minds,” I said suddenly self-conscious now that I knew that I would be judging myself.

“Still talking to yourself I see,” Callen spoke as he appeared in front of me. I was in my core room once more.

“No worse than you are right now,” I replied. This was going to take a while to get used to. “What do you remember?”

“Everything that you do,” Callen replied. “I remember ending the skill, merging our minds, you reviewing my memories, while I reviewed yours, then taking a nap.”

“That’s a relief,” I responded. I had been worried that there would be some dissonance or discrepancy between our experience of the skill that would make us different and such difference, could given time, breed resentment.

“Yes, we are still the same individual. Just two of them at least for a while. I’m thinking one of us should set up parallel processes for our sensory skills while the other sees how our body is handling it this time around.” Callen suggested.

The easy thing about talking to yourself is you know what you are going to do next.

“Saisho wag guu, jan ken pon!”

“Aiko desho!”

“Aiko desho!”

“Aiko desho!”

The difficult thing about playing against yourself if it is always a tie. Or maybe not in a more complicated game but Rock, Scissor, Paper left us with the same choice each time. Despite attempting to out-bluff and outthink one another.

“I” ll see how our body feels, you set up the HUD.” I decided to end the game. Callen had chosen our actions I had chosen who would be completing them. Seemed fair enough to me and reminded me of my mother, brother and cake. Whoever hadn’t cut the cake got to choose the slice. It meant that you always tried to make it as fair as possible.

Leaving my body I completed a few sun salutations to stretch out any kinks and warm up my muscles while I waited to see if the headache would start up again.

So far so good. As I worked through my positions my ears filled with the quiet relaxing music that was sometimes played to work out too.

“Ha.” I laughed and finished my routine.

“Thought you would find it amusing.” A mental voice replied over the top of the music that was playing in my head. “I take it everything feels fine?”

“Yes,” I replied out loud.

“Think, don’t speak. It would be a bad habit to get into. People might just think we’ve gone crazy.” He calmly responded as if giving out Yoga instructions to reach the next level of meditation. I could tell he was teasing.

“Haven’t we?” I chuckled. “I mean I am talking to voices in my head.”The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

“Probably but worth taking advantage of. Come on inside.” Callen said but I could imagine him shrugging his shoulders at my response.

I lay down on the bed to make sure I did not fall over when concentrating and closed my eyes. I entered the mind fortress to find Callen still setting up the command centre and initiating the skills, “HUD should be up and running now when you next leave. Or we could swap and see how long we can maintain the skill before it starts to hurt.”

“Worth testing and certainly before the Archbishop arrives. But probably best to meet him as one. We only just got the Block Status skill so probably best to focus on that when he visits.” I nodded to myself.

“What will you be up to while I am wandering around?” Callen asked.

“I will watch for a bit then probably keep working on the grimoire in the library. If we can keep this up without it becoming too painful we should be able to have the time to plan properly. I’ll write a list. Have fun.” I said to Callen as he took control. It was weird to see my body stand up and leave the room without sending the impulses myself.

Cheekily, I visited the music room to set the parallel processes to play some jazz as we walked along the corridor.

“Oi turn it off, I’m trying to think out here.” Callen’s voice rumbled through the room. I guessed that was what I sounded to myself.

“Fine,” I shouted back to myself before moving on to the library. Jazz for me at least was not the easiest thing to read or write to. Time to get some writing done. I was building my Grimoire for spells and magic but I was also building a Skill Compendium and Multiple Minds would make another entry in my Tier 5 section. I did not have a lot to write about it yet but it looked like we were off to a strong start.

. . .

Callen made his way around their palatial home watching the preparations for the Archbishop’s visit being completed even though he was yet to arrive and the servants Lady Acacia had hired were unaware of who would be coming.

From the quiet conversations, he overheard the majority of them felt that it was just another practice run for the family at being Adals. The weekly family events and their follow-up ones for them were very popular and part of their enthusiasm for working for us. Not only did we have hot water on tap, magical lighting and flushing toilets but we also had entertainment.

. . .

“So this is the Western edge island of the Ponentian Archipelago.” Archbishop Grigori commented as they sailed towards the towering cliffs. The True Bearing had made great time initially but the captain had failed to take into account the strength of the south-flowing current and they had ended up south of the isle.

“Aye, yer honor, Wester Ponente.” The helmsman confirmed. Still struggling to send them further north to find the harbour they had been promised existed.

“The walls are rather intimidating.” Archbishop Grigori said as he looked up towards their tops.

“Humble pilgrims.” Archbishop Grigori responded loud enough for Aravan to hear within even though he had not yet arrived at the door to welcome them.

“Penitential pilgrims can find succour at . . .” Aravan’s words died in his throat as he opened the door to the look of shock and horror on Cleo’s at his words.

“Humble pilgrims we may be but circumnavigational not penitential Priest Aravan. Were you not aware of our arrival?” Archbishop filled the silence and covered up the snickering of the other children unaware of what precisely had gone wrong but sensing it nonetheless. There was a certain perverse pleasure in watching those with authority mess up when you would not have to bear the consequences. It was not so fun when you did or they could turn their anger onto you.

“Your excellency.” Aravan bowed apologetically in welcome. “Welcome to our humble house. Your arrival must have outpaced your letter outlining your arrival. Post is few and far between this far out from the compass continent we sit on the edge of the horizon.” He quickly backtracked.

“And where may we find succour?” The knight of the compass questioned dubious of the level of succour they might receive in the Church of the Lodestar at such short notice.

“Why here of course.” He gestured for them to enter. While hastily pushing a purse into Cleo’s hands and staring pointedly towards the closing market. “This way please.”

The children, sensing the scene was over, turned to run back to their stalls and inform their parents of Cleo’s imminent arrival and sudden immediate needs. Having packed up we watched as the Knight followed Aravan into the church with his retinue following on behind with the final knight closing the door behind them.

I grinned at Aleera, “That was worth the wait.” Drama I was not involved in was so hard to come by in a medieval world there was never anything to watch which made each moment of it that much more memorable to watch provided you weren’t in the middle of it.

“Did you hear what he started with, penitential? He’ll be kicking himself for months after that poor opening.” Aleera added as we strolled back to our stall to head home.

“Penitential?” I asked questioning a word I knew not.

“It is about as opposite as possible from the pilgrimage the Archbishop is making. Penitential means a Pilgrimage of Repentance over some crime. It is a form of atonement for your actions.” Aleera explained a word I had yet to come across.

“Bet he is regretting that then.” I agreed as we reached our stall and started pulling it towards our old home and the northern exit of the market square.

We were stopped at the exit by an overburdened Cleo. “Wait, Aleera, Kai. Wait!” he called. He had worked his way around the square clockwise from west to east but by the time he reached our empty area, we had already finished packing up and headed north cutting across the square and passing by the market square’s well.

We waited as he ran to catch up before we could disappear around the corner out of site.

“How much?” he asked as he fought to catch a breath from his frantic race around the market grabbing goods.

“How much for what?” Aleera asked sensing a profit to be made.

“For all of it.” He gestured at our boxed-up produce.

“All of it?” I expressed surprise. Did they not have a larder in the Lodestar Church?

“How much do you have?” Aleera pounced on the poor man.

“This much.” he hefted a bag I doubted he had even counted over to Aleera. “I need it now the cart as well to carry it.” He said as he placed the other bags he had already bought on top of it.

“Just a minute man, allow a girl time to count it.” She said as she tipped the gold church-minted coins with their distinctive compass star markings out onto her palm. It was worth easily ten times what we had left to sell after a day at the market he was not receiving our best.

“All of it.” She started with her opening ask. Haggling a skill that counted towards her metier.

“Done.” He quickly agreed, cut her off and reached for the cart.

“But just the goods, not the cart.” She interrupted as she concentrated on filling the purse back up before Cleo could reconsider the cost he had just paid. It was a pleasure to watch my sister at work. Although it would have been more fun to watch her fleece Aravan instead of Cleo.

“Great. Follow me if you want the cart back” he said as he grabbed the cart and headed for the northern side entrance to the church walking as quickly as he could.

“What’s the rush?” I asked as I looked up innocently at his flushed face.

“That was an Archbishop and two Knights of the Compass, not to mention a bishop, priest and deacon.” He explained.

“And?” I teasingly asked.

“And we have enough food for two. It is hardly going to feed ten is it now?” he answered as he worked the cart up the steps into the vestibule and then into the kitchen. We followed to get the cart back as we watched him frantically laying out the goods he had just purchased.

Now that he had emptied our cart we began to work it out of the kitchen and through the vestibule.

“Thank you, Lord and Lady Silversea,” he added finally remembering his etiquette and giving a quick bow to our departure.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.” Aleera curtsied in response to his etiquette.

“Have fun.” I chimed in but he was focused once more on laying out a selection of our fruit in an aesthetically pleasing manner on a plate to reply as we made our exit.

“That was fun.” I grinned as we pulled our now empty cart home. We had got close enough to witness the drama without being swept up in it.

“And profitable.” Aleera hefted the heavy bag of coins.

. . .