[Flashback, Cosette] Home is where your grave is

[Tarot]

Farke would have sighed, if he had inhaled air in preparation for this moment. He shook his head a little. Zarik Mashaen laced his fingers together and stared at young Cosette for a long moment while she bowed, as only a corpse can. Then he spoke again. "Now you are running, and you don't even know from what, or where to. What you said is true and false. I do think Sahova is no place for you - the way you are now, at least - but you are not normal by any stretch of the imagination."

He rearranged his paperwork. "Your request for admission into Sahova is denied," he announced, "there is too much life left into your soul. This place would just snuff it out from you. Now, sit back down and discuss something with me like a grown-up. Your abilities are best employed on the mainland, among the living you so obviously long for."

"You mentioned an interest in becoming human again," he began, "Well, I'll let you know you will find nothing helpful in our libraries. We have a great deal of information about becoming a Nuit, but the other way around? Just a little speculation and inconclusive theories. You could be a genius and you will still make no sense of it in a thousand years. However, the answers you seek might... and I'm saying might... be elsewhere on Mizahar."

"Before the Valterrian, Alahea's magical power was immense, but so was the ambition of its wizards. The man holding the reins of magical power besides the King - sometimes over the King himself - was called the Court Mage... occupying that position meant that you were regarded as the strongest wizard in the lands. That particular seat was mine for a short time, but the state was quickly spiraling down into collapse. I never had much of an opportunity to change things; my only accomplishments were the construction of Sahova and Drainira's programming. My predecessors, though... they held their post for a long time. Both Rupert Pycon and," his eyes narrowed in distaste, "Sagallius Hrinn, though his real name was Sahgal of the Benshira. They both pursued forbidden magic. They both built secret laboratories around the Kingdom, labs whose locations were not passed down to me. Labs that often kept working outside my knowledge."

Mashaen's voice was low and conspiratorial now. "If any wizard ever solved your predicament in the past millennium, Cosette, it was one of them. Pycon was a master of most world magic and a walking library of lore. Sagallius is rumored to have become a god with the Valterrian... that should tell you something. No matter how powerful we Sahovans may be, we are a bunch of amateurs next to him." He leaned back on his seat. "Find their secrets, Cosette... find their heritage, and maybe your own question will be answered. Bring that heritage to me, and you will be rewarded, as well."

[Cosette Merryweather]

So her request was denied? Cosette wasn't exactly surprised, pity wasn't something that would move most nuit and this man in front of her was highly intelligent. She doubted that he would be easily moved by anything, even her story. As her body tensed in preperation for her to walk out the door however she received a scolding from the last person she was expecting it to come from in this room. It was rare for someone to use that tone, or that manner of speech on her because honestly, Cosette was a very obedient girl but Zarik Mashaen's intensity caused her to fall back into her seat without a moment's delay.

Silently, she listened to the man in a mixture of fear and curiosity. He was finally talking about the very thing she had come here for and she was definitely going to remember each and every word the archmage was uttering right now.

Mashaen's admission of how utterly useless Sahova's grand library would be to her caused the girl's heart to sink. Of all the places that she hoped there would be information that could help her this was the one place where she expected to find a shred of hope but to be so bluntly informed that she would find nothing useful to her goals here was heart-breaking. Of course she didn't have time to weep, before she could plunge into depression the archmage in the same breath told her that there was perhaps a sliver of hope for her, only that it wouldn't be found on this island.

The information Mashaen imparted to her just now didn't only give her hope. The archwizard gave her names, and for the first time she had something tangible, something that despite sounding impossible to believe came from a source that was undeniable and perhaps for the first time in a long time Cosette could smile, truly smile.

"I... I don't know how to thank you master Mashaen." this golden knowledge might have been the very thing that would fuel her soul for the next few years and Cosette was filled with overflowing gratitude for the man. In fact, she felt so indebted to the archmage that she did something unthinkable, she stood up from her seat, came close to the man and if he would've allowed embraced him softly and quickly before she would disengage and bowing her head down low. "Thank you sir Mashaen!" she gushed breathelessly. "I'll definitely put all my energies into finding the whereabouts of these places, I won't rest until I do and..."

"How will I ever contact you if I find something? Should I find Master Farke first?"

[Tarot]

Zarik Mashaen was definitely not expecting a hug at this point in time, and had any other Nuit but Cosette been trying to do so, they would have found themselves projected against the opposite wall - if not through the wall. As it was, the ancient wizard regarded the act with detached curiosity, even though both he and Farke knew there was little to be thanked for.

"Oh, contacting us will be easy enough. Just have letters delivered to the harbor golems, they will know what to do with them. Merchant ships visit our shores regularly from the docks of the city called Zeltiva - you will have little problem entrusting your letter to one of those crews. We maintain a healthy aura of respect around us, so I do not think they would risk our wrath by reading our correspondence." And with that, Mashaen sunk into silence.

"If I may add, little Cosette," Supervisor Drainira interjected, her voice ringing softly through the room, "there are some specific enemies you should watch out for while on the mainland. First and foremost, the followers of the death goddess, Dira, do not look kindly upon your kind. They will try to accompany you to the next stage in the cycle of life, forcefully if needbe. To them, you are an aberration of the natural order, and they will think they are doing you a favor by ending your undead existence."

"However, you should also be careful of the undead god, Uldr. His worship is officially forbidden on Sahova, but we suspect some of our own have taken to serving him. He may try to recruit you with offers of great power fueled by hate. It is not my place to judge him, but in a 99.7% of recorded cases Uldr gets out of the bargain much more than he gives. Remember, true power does not come easily, or everyone could wield it."

[Cosette Merryweather]

"I suppose... Letters should be alright... but would I be permitted to visit the island if I wanted...? I mean," Cosette wrung her hands behind her back. Correspondence was all well and good but what if she had something personal to pen? What if she had a letter meant for Farke or what if the information she was planning to send the Archmage just so important that she couldn't be expected to wait for a response the moment he learned of her discovery. "I know the reputation of people here should deter any human from reading the letters addressed to any mage here but... I have the feeling that not everyone in this island can be trusted and there may be a lot of things that would happen while my letter changes hands." for a moment the bony features of the Void Master Aelobius flitted through her mind and she felt a small shiver run down her spine. Even for a Nuit he was frightening in his own right.

Already she felt like this conversation was over. There was nothing more to be discovered here and she doubted that Mashaen had enough spare time to waste on her, surely even an immortal archwizard had better activities to occupy himself with than talking to a dream-ridden girl who had no idea just how impossible her wish was to fulfill.

"Thank you for the concern Drainira..." she murmured sweetly as if to express her gratitude. "I'll keep your advice in mind... You know, despite your being... I'm not exactly sure what you are but you're far more human than anyone else I've ever had the pleasure of conversing with on this island." and Cosette meant every word. "If you have a form other than being the citadel itself I would love to make you something to eat, I do not wish to sound over-confident but papa tells me I make the best pies." and oh how proud she was of those pies. Almost everyone who had tried her handiwork came back for seconds.

[Tarot]

The Archwizard leaned back on his seat. "Well, I would trust Drainira to watch over a letter from the moment it got into the Citadel, and most of us never venture outside, but you are not wrong." He stroked the dead skin on his chin. "I can write you a letter of passage."

Mashaen picked up his automatic quill and began penning a letter in the windowless room. Cosette noticed that his handwriting was quite ornate, a mark of pre-Valterrian times. Few people took the time to learn such fancy penmanship in this harsh century. The letter read something along the lines of "I, Zarik Mashaen, Archwizard of Sahova, thereby grant the bearer of this letter free access and escort to the Citadel gates under any but the most severe circumstances."

The Nuit signed the letter and put it in a old, white envelope that must have seen many a season, though probably not five hundred years. Then, he handed the envelope to Cosette. "Show this to the golems and they will accompany to the gates with no questions asked."

As for Drainira, "Unfortunately I have no way to feel the taste of food, and in fact I know very little of it as there are no kitchens here in the Citadel. Maybe you will be the one to taste a pie again, though. I wish you good luck, Cosette. Hopefully we shall meet again."

And with this, the audience was over. Cosette's grand adventure was about to begin.