The sound of a soft voice caught his attention just as Cyran finished the job of sending Yeux off to send word to Del. He whirled around so fast he thought his neck might snap from the movement - fear bubbling up in his throat that this might be a cruel illusion or trick - but sure enough, Cirice was there, pulling herself into a sitting position with an attempt at a smile.

Her eyes, he noted, were no longer pitch black.

“Cirice.” He breathed. It sounded more like a pained wheeze.

The only thing on the surface that looked like it had changed were her arms. Tattoos etched deeper into lavender skin, looking more… pronounced than the last time Cyran had seen them. Though, quite frankly, he didn’t give a shit at the present moment.

Cirice was staring at him expectantly, and Cyran realized he had spaced out. Oh. She’d asked him a question.

Running his hands through his hair, Cyran sighed. Gods, he felt exhausted. The lingering hurts from everything that had happened at the orphanage, and now this… it was all too much.

“After I cast Scern’s spell, and you jumped into the Origin Matter, I looked for ways to free you, but nothing was happening. And then it started to… shrink, I suppose. You absorbed it. And then the power from it must have been too much, because you passed out and I brought you here.”

He took a sharp breath at the word worry.

“Oh, I am far beyond worry at this point. I was… distraught, Cirice. When you leapt in there, I had no information on whether you would even come back out. On whether you were dead or not. Do you know-?”

He stopped, shoulders slumping as Cirice wrapped him into a hug.

“… But I will not overwhelm you with words while you are still waking up. Those can come later.” He could not even bring himself to believe her assurances that everything was okay, even though he knew they were the absolute truth.

And then Cirice sneezed and the entire world was displaced.^[1]

Oh.

Uh.

“… That was new.” Cyran mumbled under his breath. Okay. The parenting books hadn’t exactly prepared him for what to do if one’s child suddenly absorbed a mote of the universe and gained telekinetic magic, and gods knew what else, but Cyran supposed in theory that the concept wasn’t too different from puberty.

Right?

Magical puberty?

Please Ziev let this just be magical puberty.

Already compartmentalizing, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand rather than the wrecked minefield of his mental state, Cyran held his hands out in front of him, pulling out some items from his pack - Darkveil tea leaves, cups, and a kettle.^[2] He decided they were going to need some here after all.

Going through the motions of preparing a drink for both of them, Cyran fixed Cirice with a grave look. “Now. Your body might be going through some changes…”

---

1. Expanded Mind (Astral Soul I)
2. Summon: Possession

“I’m grounded forever, aren’t I?” Cirice asks, whipping her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about what I was going to do, I was afraid it would go away. I learned a little bit of space magic from a book I bought and there was this one spell for learning the truth of things so I used it and I knew it would teleport away if I shouted the plan at you… I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to upset you or make you worry. I knew I wouldn’t die, it just puts things inside it into a stasis. Frozen in time. Isn’t that neat? The Guild is going to love this information!”

She watches him pull out the tea as she talks, her mind reeling at the weird sneeze she’d just had that rocked the whole place. What the heck was that…?

“Now. Your body might be going through some changes…” Cyran starts, fixing her with a grave look and she stops him.

“What do you mean changes? I’m perfectly mature, I’m twenty!” Cirice crosses her arms like a very mature adult and cocks her head to the side in confusion. “Maybe my plan just worked too well? I mean those balls are just like collections of space magic, right? Maybe I just got a little extra mana for now?”

She does feel strange. Maybe that’s what happened, she overextended and her magic reserves are over-filled… It doesn’t hurt, though she feels like she could both sleep for a year and yet run a marathon.

“My head feels weird…”

Cyran sighed and closed his eyes as he prepared tea. Yes, the talk was silly. Twenty, though, was hardly mature - by human standards, perhaps, but hearing Cirice’s age spoken out loud, a reminder she’d only just lived two decades, barely the blink of an eye, made his heart burn.

No matter how much Cirice insisted she knew she would be fine, it had been that close.

He set down two cups, one in front of himself and one in front of her. Went through the rhythm of preparing tea. Methodical. The movements did not calm him as he’d hoped.

“Do you know how old I am, Cirice? Nearly four hundred years old. I have lived a full life. Perhaps it was not always the best, but it was mine, and I am at peace with that.”

He took a shuddering breath. “When I take a blow for you, or ask you to stay back, it’s not because I don’t trust in your capabilities. Because you are so strong, Cirice - stronger than you know. It’s because if it means bringing an end to my own life so that you can live yours, then all of my years will have meant something worthwhile.”

The water in his hands had steeped. He poured them into both cups with gentle movements, filling the air with a soft aroma.

“You’ve barely begun to see all the world has to offer. It can be painful, but it can be so, godsdamned incredibly kind and wonderful. And you brighten the world just by being in it. What father wouldn’t want to protect that light with everything he has so she can have those experiences?”

“I’ve already lost-“ He stopped himself with a sharp inhale before he could say anything he might regret. I already lost one daughter because of my own shortcomings.

“You scared me today… I don’t know what I would do without you.”

She said she was fine, though her head still felt funny. Who knew what unforeseen consequences jumping into that Origin Matter had? Perhaps Cirice had not hurt herself, but she didn’t understand the magic that she had unleashed by doing something so reckless. And all Cyran could attempt to do was help her navigate this storm. He knew little on the subject - his own magic as instinctual as it was, a darkness he did not wish to touch - but perhaps it was time to learn.

For Cirice’s sake.

He moved to grab her hand, holding it in his. “I may not know everything or have the answers. I am not like your mentors in the Mage’s Guild. But this much, is the absolute truth. You, Cirice Lunestre - Shizuki Tsukinaga - are so incredibly important to me. You are young, and you have your whole life ahead of you, and you have the ambition in you to do incredible things. You’re going to bring so much good into the world, I know it. And most importantly, you are going to find so, so, so much happiness.”

He shook his head.

“But none of that matters if you throw yourself into danger whenever you get the chance. No information is worth that. I just… I just ask that you keep my words in mind.”

But she was getting tired, and Cyran had talked long enough. There was no amount of words in the world that could express what Cyran wanted to say, not truly. Perhaps later, he would be able to express how much Cirice had brought to his life - not with her magic or her talents but her smile, the way she bounced into your life as if you’d never been strangers. The way she made him feel at home.

And perhaps later, Cyran would be able to help her refine and harness this magic, to make sure that she would not harm herself with her newfound powers.

But that was not today.

For now, Cirice needed to rest.

“… No, you are not grounded.” He finished, throat raw from all the crying he’d done today. “What you did was reckless, but you made as informed a decision as you could, and eliminated the threat. I think that, no matter how much it might give this old man a heart attack, that is something to be worth celebrating. Rest, for now. Once you wake, I’ll take you into the city and treat you to whatever sweets you want. For a job well done.”

And maybe he should have grounded her, but honestly - Cyran was just happy she was alive and well.

“But for now, you should rest. You’ve been through a lot today. I will watch over you while you recover.”

That was as much as he could offer her.