Ch.17- Divination class.

Amy stood at the entrance of room 708; her muscles still ached from combat class, and her head hurt from having to deal with all the stress that continuing the main storyline provoked in her. At this point, she started to wonder if a break would ever arrive.
Skipping had been tempting. She really didn’t want another conversation with Kaelen after the last one, but missing his class would probably earn her exactly that. So here she was.
Moreover, she needed to become stronger. Despite her ability’s insane potential, her lack of control over it heavily handicapped her. The plot wouldn’t wait for her. Just seeing Act One about to continue was enough for her to feel the necessity to keep working.
Amy sighed and opened the door. Most of the students were already there, including Crow and his friends, but Kaelen hadn’t arrived. At least she wouldn’t have to walk in while he was watching.
Amy found an empty seat in the back corner and headed for it.
She tried not to look at anyone on the way. People looked at her regardless, which rather defeated the point.
This whole attention thing is getting old…
She put Libris on the desk and sat down. While everyone else talked or got ready for the lesson, she looked around the room again. Most of the seats were occupied.
Zayd’s wasn’t.
That was odd. His uncle had been very particular about her meeting him today. She was glad not to have to speak to him just yet, but where was he?
He’d been respectful enough last time. It was his uncle she had a problem with. Unfortunately, knowing they were related didn’t help.
[Missing your future husband already?]
“Can you stop?” she whispered. “I just thought he’d be here. It’s a class about his ability.”
[Perhaps he’s late.]
“Could be.” Still, the Zayd she remembered didn’t miss much. She’d forgotten plenty of details, but being absent from things hadn’t been one of his habits.
Then Kaelen came in, and both her conversation and the students’ stopped. He was wearing burgundy today. It made his skin look almost unnaturally pale.
His eyes stopped on the empty seat. Amy caught a brief change in his expression before he looked elsewhere.
He set his things down.
“Prophetic sight,” he began. “Today you’ll learn its principles, its limits, and the laws of fate that govern it.”
Near the front, a first-year boy with cat ears raised his hand. “Why do we have to learn this if we can’t do it, Professor? Aren’t seers really rare?”
“They are. Nineteen elite students in this room, and only three with anything resembling divination.” He glanced at Amy. “The rest of you will still need to deal with it.”
Moving toward the board, he continued, “Our enemies make use of divination. You could face someone who sees the attack you’re about to make, and the one after it. They may even see what you’re planning. How will you fight them?”
A second-year boy in rectangular spectacles raised his hand.
“Mr. Mercer. Don’t let them predict you. Make your decisions as late as possible. They observe fate. They do not need to predict your decisions from your behavior. Choosing at the last instant doesn’t hide a choice that was already visible to them. Was this not covered by your previous teacher?”
Mercer frowned, but didn’t argue.
“Anyone else?”
After a while, a girl with braids raised her hand. “What if there are too many futures to look at? Could you make it hard for them to keep track?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Kaelen took up the chalk. “There are four weaknesses you should know.”
Energy expenditure.
Temporal distance.
Probability thresholds.
Conscious interference.
He finished writing and pointed back to the list. “Ordinarily, I would have little reason to teach you how to exploit them. It is in the program, however. A fortunate thing for you.”
Amy disliked him, but she did want to hear this. She got her power from readers, so it wasn’t quite the same thing. But she’d take whatever she could learn about it. There had to be some overlap.
“Seeing the future costs mana,” Kaelen said. “Enough that even a master must stop eventually. Continuing beyond your limits can make your eyes bleed. In more severe cases, seers have seizures or fall into comas.”
Amy kept her face still. She hadn’t needed reminding what blood felt like running from her eyes; the memory of the ritual chamber was quite clear enough.
“Time is another limitation. A gifted few see accurately years ahead. Most lose much of that accuracy once they look beyond a few days. In combat, expect them to be watching the next few seconds or minutes.”
He pointed to the third heading. “Sight tends to follow fate toward its most probable outcome. That leaves unlikely events harder to see. Chance, or an intervention from outside, may bring about something the seer never sees until it has already happened.”
“Finally, somebody with a sufficiently strong will can change the details deliberately. This interferes with another seer’s view of those events. If that person also has divination, they are especially capable of creating such blind spots.”
Amy tilted her head. Could she do that? Change something herself so another seer couldn’t see her properly? She’d have to think about it.
Crow raised his hand. Kaelen seemed surprised for a moment, then acknowledged him.
“Mr. Thorne?”
“The books I’ve read say the important events can’t be changed. A seer can only alter what happens between them. Is that right?”
“That is the prevailing view. Bear in mind that what we call a detail may include a human life. It need not be trivial.” He drew a horizontal line with several marked points.
“Major nexus points. These events must occur.” He tapped the points, then followed the line between them. “There is some flexibility here. You may reach your destiny by a slightly different route, but it remains your destiny.”
“And trying to change a nexus point?” Crow asked, leaning forward. “What would happen?”
“You would encounter resistance. Fate uses more energy to correct you the further you move from its intended course. We call that fate backlash. An accident, perhaps. A coincidence that shouldn’t have happened, or your luck suddenly turning against you. That’s fate correcting your course.”
Amy caught herself holding her breath. She could see where Crow’s questions were going.
“Isn’t there any power that lets someone choose a different destiny entirely? Move between them instead of following one?”
Nobody spoke. Ash, Lain, and Lyra each glanced at Amy before looking away. They remembered what she’d told them her power did.
Kaelen’s face tightened slightly. “Everything in this world is possible, Mr. Thorne. To choose one’s own destiny would require standing outside the flow of fate entirely—something like an outsider, you could say… Either way, we are moving from the topic at hand,” Kaelen continued, abruptly shifting his attention away from Crow, “I will now provide the foundation for counter-divinatory strategies. You need to make their sight unreliable, or make using it too expensive to continue.”
He pointed to a broad second-year at the front. “Mr. Harwick. Your opponent has a minor prophetic ability. What do you do?”
“Keep the fight going, sir? Until they run out of mana or get too tired?”
“That can work, unless they see what you intend and act before you exhaust them.” He turned to Alba. “Miss Silvermoon?”
She blinked. “Distractions, perhaps? Give them several threats to watch instead of just one?”
“Yes. Following many possible futures at once makes it harder to concentrate on any particular result. But I doubt a student like you has a way of doing that.” Kaelen’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. “And what of you, Miss Stake? How would you counter someone with predictive abilities?”
Great…
Amy stiffened as the entire class turned to look at her. Maybe it was her imagination (probably not), but the question felt deliberately pointed.
“…I would try to adapt to the seer’s actions,” she answered carefully. “I’d make my decisions based on what situation I find myself in, trying to be as flexible as possible.”
Kaelen watched her before answering. “That could work. Unless the other seer has already allowed for what makes you unique.”
Amy didn’t like how he’d said that last word. Was he getting at something, or was she hearing it because she already disliked him?
“There is, of course, one other approach,” Kaelen continued, returning his attention to the class. “The simplest and most straightforward method to defeat a seer is to bring in your own seer of greater power. As I explained before, divination can change detail; this allows one to counter other divinations; visions can obscure other visions. It becomes a contest of skill and natural aptitude.”
Kaelen wrote another heading: Divination hierarchy.
“At the bottom are minor talents. Occasional dreams, a premonition they cannot summon when they need it. Next are practitioners who deliberately seek visions through meditation or ritual. Many teach themselves, using magic. Above those are natural seers, born able to call on their sight.”
He paused before continuing. “And above them are Oracles and True Prophets. We cannot fully understand what they see, or how they perceive the world.”
He set the chalk down. “Our founder was a True Prophet. The Gaspards have produced some of history’s strongest seers since then, refining our methods and passing them down for centuries.”
Amy nearly rolled her eyes. Of course the lesson was going to include how wonderful his family was.
“Learning something of those methods will help you understand how to counter them. My nephew was meant to help demonstrate, but since he is absent, I will show you a simpler version of the basic techniques.”
He took a velvet pouch from his robe and emptied out small crystal discs. Light broke into colors on the walls as he moved them.
“These are focal crystals.” He arranged them on the desk. “You don’t need to be born a seer to get a little sense of divination through one. That is what we’ll try.”
Students began talking among themselves.
“One each. Pass them along. You won’t acquire an ability from this exercise; I want you to understand a little of what using it is like. Remember that you may have to fight someone who does this naturally. Our enemies certainly make use of it.”
Amy watched the discs make their way between desks. She didn’t remember them from the manga. Another skipped chapter, probably. A second-year passed her a small white one, taking care not to brush her fingers.
[Be careful.]
“Mmm?”
[With natural talent, a training aid can amplify considerably more than intended. And your ability isn’t exactly ordinary.]
Amy frowned down at the crystal. It didn’t look particularly dangerous. She thought for a second and then her face froze.
Wait! Is this a trap!?
Going by Libris’s words, this could be used to measure one’s powers. The thing with Amy was that her power was stronger than she could control. So this tool, which amplified abilities beyond intended parameters, was just plain dangerous.
Amy’s eyes darted to Kaelen discreetly. He was explaining how they should breathe while holding the crystals. As he checked the students, his eyes reached Amy and stayed there.
This guy…
“They are aids to visualization,” he said, still looking at her. “Don’t expect a true vision.”
Amy wasn’t about to find out what the crystal would do to a power fed by readers. Especially with Kaelen right there waiting to see it.
She held it and copied the breathing, making sure not to concentrate properly. Around her, students tried very hard for a while and then began to look disappointed.
“What do you see?”
“Nothing.”
“The crystal.”
“Mine feels warm.”
Kaelen nodded as though those were the answers he’d expected. “For most of you, it will be no more than an awareness of potential. Something a seer experiences continually. Some warmth is normal, perhaps a pulse that matches your heartbeat.”
He looked at Amy again. After a while, he seemed annoyed.
The rest of the lesson covered ways to interfere with sight, including mental shields and materials that could disrupt it. Amy kept holding the crystal without trying to use it. She didn’t need him learning any more about her in an exercise he’d arranged.
Near the end, he came around to collect them himself. He lingered at her desk.
“Useful, Miss Stake?” he asked softly, taking the crystal. “I hope you’ve learned something from the Gaspards today.”
“Very educational, Professor.”
“That is why you’re here.” He gave her his thin almost-smile and lowered his voice. “You remember your tea with my nephew?”
“I do.”
“Good.” He straightened to address everyone. “Chapters seven through nine of ‘Veils of Time’ before our next lesson. First-years, write a short essay on the counter-divinatory technique you consider most practical. Second-years, compare at least three in more detail.”
They began packing and leaving. Then Kaelen added, “Miss Stake, stay a moment.”
Amy remained in her seat. She waited for the last student to leave, trying not to sigh. When the door closed, she sat up a little straighter.
Kaelen leaned against his desk. “You didn’t seem particularly eager to try the crystal.”
“I followed your instructions.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“How curious.”
“Isn’t it.”
“…”
“…”
[…]
Kaelen’s eyes became incredibly focused on her, but he eventually just let out a sigh. “Either way. This isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“…What did you want to talk about, sir?”
Kaelen went to the window. He stood in the afternoon light, burgundy robes bright against the window, and spent a while looking at the grounds.
“Zayd is talented,” he said at last. “Perhaps not the most gifted diviner in the family, but impressive nonetheless.” He turned back. “Except where he himself is concerned.”
Amy let him continue.
“It’s a difficulty many seers share. Their own lives are harder to read than other people’s. I think you could help him see what he’s missing.”
She was fairly sure she wouldn’t like the answer to her next question. “How?”
“There are three things I’d like you to ask him at tea.” Kaelen took a folded parchment from his robe and held it out. “I’ve written them down.”
Amy accepted it without touching his hand. Why was it so heavy? She could almost feel warmth coming from it, too.
“Keep to the order I’ve given you. Listen to his answers, but watch him as well. His face, his movements. If you notice any disturbance in the air nearby, I want you to remember it.”
“You’re asking me to spy on him.”
“I’m asking you to help. He has a decision to make and cannot see it clearly. These questions may help him understand it. You could notice something another person wouldn’t.”
“…And if I refuse…?”
Kaelen’s eyes turned cold, and he let out a deep breath before speaking. “Let me be clear with you, Miss Stake. If you refuse, I will make your life hell.”
Wow.
[Mask off, huh.]
“I see…” Amy looked at the paper. She wanted to unfold it, but she’d rather read whatever was on it without him watching.
“And what happens after I ask?”
“That will depend on what Zayd says.” Kaelen went back to his desk and started gathering his things. “He mustn’t know the questions came from me. As far as he’s concerned, you’re simply curious.”
Amy put the paper in her pocket. “May I leave, Professor?”
“Yes. My nephew should be in the East Tower garden. Go and meet him.”
She got up.
“If anything unusual occurs, I want to hear about it immediately, Miss Stake.”
“Of course.”
She wasn’t going to tell him a damn thing. Amy left before he could give her another instruction, then walked until she was sure he wouldn’t hear her. An empty alcove would do.
Once she found a place, she casted the middle finger in Kaelen’s direction.
“You know what, professor! Bitch, I CHANGED MY MIND. How about I don’t, huh? What are you going to do about it, you whore? Gonna make my life a living hell. Try it you stupid dumbass. C’mon go ahead…!”
[So brave…maybe next time try to say it to his face and not while whispering and cowering under an alcove.]
Amy stopped muttering long enough to get the paper out again. She was still angry, but she did have to decide what to do with it.
“Should I ask him?” she whispered.
[You haven’t even read it.]
Fair point. She unfolded the parchment.
Have you ever tried to see your own future?
If you could change one moment in your past, would you?
Do you believe fate can be changed?
“…How is any of that supposed to sound like my idea? We’ve barely spoken. I’m going to look insane.”
[He may want the questions to affect Zayd’s divination somehow. That would be my guess.]
“You guess? Aren’t you like the manga’s will? Don’t you know, like, everything?”
[Only what I choose to know, I don’t like spoilers after all—and before you try, I’m not allowed to help you that directly, so don’t ask useless questions.]
“I wasn’t gonna ask. I was just curious, dummy.”
[Dummy…?]
Amy folded the parchment and shoved it into her pocket.
“Fine. I don’t know what he wants out of this, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t get it.”
[Do you have a plan for that?]
“Not yet.” She pushed away from the wall, a small smile forming. “But I have an ability too. I can probably think of something.”