Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 182 I hope you guys enjoy!
Emma
I felt a one-two knockout punch the likes of which matched the audacity of Ping and the conniving of Mal’tory, but with the sheer and unadulterated whimsy of Buddy and the library foxes.
To say I was thrown for a loop by the noblewoman’s question was an understatement.
And it was ironic in a way, how the most innocuous and innocent of personalities could leave me utterly floored, whereas those of the intentionally scheming variety just prior to this, left me barely fazed.
Perhaps it was the subject matter being broached.
But that was only the second half of the one-two knockout punch that left me proverbially floored.
No, what really had me, and what really elicited such a reaction… was her referring to me by name.
And while that point would’ve been somewhat innocuous in and of itself — given how I realized my fame… or infamy would’ve probably spread amongst the student body by now — it was how it was framed in context that really threw me for a loop.
“Does this sight not look familiar, Cadet Emma Booker of Earthrealm?”
Had she figured it out?
Was she hinting at something that no one else had been able to piece together, save for my immediate circle?
Was she actually referencing Earth’s space capabilities, our knowledge on the stars, and the absolute state of humanity’s presence amongst them, all in a simple introductory gambit?
Or…
…
Was she implying that this vantage point, this specific patch of the night sky, was Earth’s?
…
It couldn’t be.
It didn’t match any on record.
The EVI would’ve pointed that out the moment those stars started flickering on, and its internal processes still read as PENDING for my latest request.
So what exactly was she implying?
Was she saying that this was somehow Earth’s stellar coordinates within the galaxy as calculated by a Nexian astronomer?
How could she have—
Unless…
What if it was ancient humanity?
No, that’s not plausible.
What if it was some other civilization from the milky way that contacted the Nexus prior to this and this was somehow their patch of sky, and somehow within the club’s records?
Perhaps that was what she pieced together?
Perhaps—
“I see I have floored you with such a question! I see, I see…” She poked me further through a mischievous, deliberately playful chuckle, a sly expression soon forming, before an abrupt snoooorrrt caused all pretenses of her otherwise pseudo-enigmatic persona from coalescing into anything remotely threatening.
But it was clear that wasn’t the intention to begin with. As her eyes looked me up and down, excited for a response in spite of my otherwise permanent poker face.
“I can’t say it is.” I finally managed out, enunciating each word as I attempted to pick apart her game, her angle.
“Oh? Is that so?” She pushed further, placing her chin between a hand and an outstretched palm.
“Yes… I don’t recognize any of these constellations, at least not from the patches of sky on my world.” I offered earnestly.
This somehow managed to completely take the elf by storm, as something spooled to life behind those eyes of her, a slow, gradual, revving of the biological substrate within that noggin of hers, before finally, she blurted out a rapid-fire series of observations, questions, and even more observations.
“Wait that’s not my intenti— Ah. Oh? AH?! Oh by his eternal graces you’re joking?... Unless you aren’t? Are you joking? Surely you are! This is a joke, right? Oh, no, you’re being serious. Oh by His Eternal Wisdom. No, my apologies I— I MEANT THAT AS A GENERAL CONVERSATIONAL ICE BREAKER! YOUR ANSWER IS IMPLYING THAT YOU HAVE PUT ALL STAR CHARTS TO MEMORY! SURELY YOU DON’T MEAN TO CLAIM THAT DO YOU?!”
It was as if she was speaking faster than her brain could process the information, or more specifically, that point of inference.
“I… I have, or at least sort of, in a way.” I replied.
“WHAT?!”
“But er, more to the point, you’re saying that this was just an ice breaker?”
“Oh, I must clarify, Cadet Emma Booker! I was merely questioning whether or not you find such a sight to be… well… a sight for sore eyes! An… analogue of how the skies exist in your realm, as opposed to how they are in the Nexus! A sort of, er, warm reminder of home I suppose!” The elf interjected with a series of flapping hands, as if trying to calm me down from a nonexistent panic… or perhaps it was her own means of calming herself down from her panic. “... or more specifically an attempt to assess whether or not your realm possesses stars at all…” She spoke as an aside… to literally no one in particular; partially taking that ‘theatre of life’ thing way more literally than anyone should. “But I digress! It was a poor opening statement! I did not mean to infer that this was your realm’s night sky! For every night sky is different, this, however, just so happens to be one of many!”
Well… that was that whole hypothesis completely thrown out the window. But at least this leads me to the second point of interest.
“Funny that you should mention that… because now I’m curious.” I finally managed to get a word in, letting out an exasperated sigh as if out of breath on the elf’s behalf. “Exactly where did you get the constellations for this specific patch of night sky?”
That question in particular… garnered a renewed vigor in the otherwise frantic elf. As she calmed down in a near instant, once more putting on her most stoic game face, and smiled. “An excellent question. So you too understand its significance, don’t you, Cadet Emma Booker?”
I blinked, once more turning to the ‘stars’ above, then shrugging. “I’ll be honest with you, Lady Lovguard, I’m struggling to see what you’re trying to get at. Buuuutt… if I were to try to guess… considering this is the first star field we’re seeing, I imagine this to be pretty significant. Maybe the first night sky mapped by the club?” I offered.
“Heh.” Lovguard let out a confident snicker, before adjusting her glasses with two fingers and a purposeful, spell-aided glint.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 100% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
An entirely novel spell by the looks of it… cast for the sole purpose of the rule of cool.
Or at least, what Lovguard considered to be cool.
“A very astute theory, Cadet Emma Booker. Very astute indeed…” She grinned. “And indeed, somewhat correct, but not in the way you might think~. You see, what you are currently witnessing is the Grand Alignment, Harmonic Convergence to those of a different age, but we don’t really say that anymore because…” She paused, turning momentarily towards Thacea. “Whilst harmonic is a perfect term, there are allusions to a different form of harmonization, soooooo the term Grand Alignment was adopted instead.” She ‘clarified’... without really clarifying much at all. “But I digress! What you are seeing is the pinnacle of what we aspire to study, analyze, and document in the realm of astromancy. For the sights and sensations that you see and feel above you, are what could potentially open up an unlimited flurry of opportunities for practically every adjacent realm! Because in astromancy, we strive to understand the motions of the tapestry, its imperfections, its ever-evolving patterns and behaviors — the likes of which are impossible in the Nexus due to the sheer perfection in its totality — in order to better harness its alignments, its tears, for the purposes of enhancing magical potential in the adjacencies!”