"Ugh, this room is too small. Want to go hang out in The Library?" Aidyn asks. He can only stand pacing in such an enclosed space for so long.
As soon as Noelle agrees and sets down her book, Aidyn accesses her magic within their Team Bond and presses against the entrance point for The Library. Within seconds, the small, boxy hospital room fades, revealing the expansive and majestic architecture of Noelle's mental construct.
Aidyn takes a deep breath as much of the tightness in his chest and pain in his head dissipates.
"Feel better?" Noelle asks after materializing beside him.
He nods. "Why is that?"
"It has to do with the fact that you just partially entered my mind. When you're here, you are much less connected to your own body, so physical sensations dampen."
"Does that mean you feel better in here too?"
Noelle sighs. "Unfortunately, no. My brain is still attached to my body, even in the magical realm. Anyway, what do you want to do?"
After a month of spending pretty much every waking moment with their whole team, it feels a bit strange now that everyone except Noelle goes home after work again. Obviously he's glad they aren't still imprisoned and separated from their families anymore. The last week has simply been another adjustment.
"Want to go for another walk?"
He and Noelle go on a lot of walks now. It helps him feel less stir-crazy and gives them ample opportunities to talk.
"Sure, just give me one second," Noelle says, before bending down to re-tie one of her boot laces.
"Why in the Buttered Blazes do you include things like 'laces coming untied' in your systems?" Aidyn looks around at The Library. "This is a magical place, Noelle! Why build in annoyances?"
She just laughs. "Because details like shoes coming untied help your brain believe this place is real."
"But magic is real."
"Yes, but our bodies are designed for the physical realm, not the magical one. The more physically real The Library feels, the more we believe it's real. And the more we believe it's real, the less magic my Integration Systems have to use to keep our consciousnesses inside."
Belief actually plays a significant role in a lot of magical abilities, so that makes sense.
"So it's similar to what Emmett says about Illusion Magic? The more he believes in his illusions, the more realistic they become and the farther his magical stores stretch."
"Exactly," Noelle says, standing up again. "Is there anywhere in particular you want to walk, or do you want to just wander?"
He has an idea, but isn't sure how Noelle will respond to it.
They've definitely grown closer recently, but it still takes time to adjust to new relational dynamics. Going from "Work Friends" where he's also the boss, to "Work Friends with a Love Bond" where he's still the boss is a big shift. The trust they've built up and established within a professional setting doesn't always translate immediately into trust with personal things. Hopefully Noelle won't feel like his suggestion crosses a line they haven't reached yet.
"Can we walk to one of your favorite memories?"
Noelle raises her eyebrows at him but a smile quickly spreads across her face—the kind that lights up her whole being.
"Hmmm," she hums, bouncing on her toes. "I have a lot of great data."
Aidyn smiles back at her. "I figured. Then lead the way."
She tilts her head and mutters excitedly as she thinks. "Which one, which one… Okay, I've got it! This way."
Noelle turns and leads them down a path to their right. "It will take a bit to get there," she says, giving him a sideways glance.
"That's the whole point! My legs need a good stretch."
As her recent flow chart showed, the maze of Noelle's vast and ever-expanding collection of personal data acts as a buffer that protects all the data they generate and use for work. That way if someone manages to get through The Library's exterior boundary walls in the magical realm, they'll still have to make it through about a mile of twists and turns before getting to the sensitive military data.
Not that an intruder would ever make it that far.
The main protection against intrusion is that Noelle wove her most painful experiences directly into the boundaries of her mental construct. Anyone trying to get into The Library without permission has to pass through the full, undiluted, perfectly preserved data of three of Noelle's bonds breaking at once.
Aidyn shivers.
He's always marveled at the simple brilliance of it. After experiencing bond breaks of his own, his admiration for Noelle's strategy runs even deeper. Two breaks knocked him out cold for over a week. Any potential intruder would most likely pass out from merely brushing against the boundary wall. It's no surprise the King's Army Security Team approved her plans with only minor adjustments.
On that note, Aidyn decides to keep the conversation light while they walk. It has been an intense five weeks, and they could both use some lightheartedness. Magic is usually a safe topic, so he continues with that.
"How's it been having extra magic recently?"
"Oh, it's great! Thank you."
"Well, we're all loving the new Notification System. I'm glad you were able to finish it."
Noelle shrugs. "Like I said, it's a common system for most Memorizers. I just focus more on spatial ones. I'm glad it's working well, although Emmett is going a little overboard."
Aidyn snorts a laugh. "I woke up to ten messages from him this morning."
"Same. I think we might need to set some rules on what hours of the day it is and is not appropriate to send messages unless it's an emergency."
"Yeah, and maybe add some guidelines as to what qualifies as an emergency too."
They turn down a row of shelves and walk single file until the shelves end and they reach a different path. It's a good thing she can't get lost in here, because Aidyn is already hopelessly turned around. Noelle immediately trained them on how to use the Navigation System, and with good reason. He'd never be able to find his way around without assistance.
"Noelle, now that you have more magic available, do you think you'll start learning how to integrate the rest of our magic into your systems?"
"Probably not. It's risky in terms of any breaks or changes within our Team Bond. The more types of magic used in here, the less stable the place becomes."
"You could learn how to use our magic for yourself, without combining it with your magic—besides Brehanna's of course."
"Yeah, Sensory Amplification is the last thing I need! Taryon's Emotion Magic isn't helpful either. It similarly adds more data. And my Output Systems can be adjusted to work as the Memorizer equivalent of Emmett's Illusion Magic."
"Ellyse's magic has interesting uses," Aidyn says, stepping behind Noelle again as she leads them down another narrow row of bookcases.
As a Connection Mage, Ellyse can put things together. One way she uses it is to make a type of temporary Ability Bond. When Ellyse shares physical contact with another mage, her magic lets her access and temporarily use that mage's magic as well. Similarly, if she stands between two mages and connects all three of them, she acts as a conduit that allows the other two mages to share magical abilities as well, also without needing an official bond. Connection Magic is super helpful for training purposes, which is why Ellyse oversees the training for all of the army's mages.
Noelle shrugs at his suggestion. "Maybe. I'll make a mental note and talk to her about it after the trial."
"What about my magic?" Aidyn asks. "My offer still stands to train you."
Not even his most winningest smile softens her glare.
"I broke bones the last time I let you attempt to teach me! Your mistake gave me multiple compound fractures."
"Come on, we were sixteen." He bumps her shoulder with his, trying to get her to laugh. "I'm a much better trainer these days. Now I know to never start anyone off with a Dragon Eye maneuver."
Noelle doesn't laugh. Instead, a swarm of sparks emerge in her emotional landscape as a Recall screen materializes in front of them. The screen shows visual and auditory data of the gruesome scene exactly as Noelle's magic captured it.
"Cursed Campuses," Aidyn swears. "That's worse than I remembered it…"
When he turns towards Noelle to apologize, he's startled to see all the color has drained from her face and she's wiping away streams of fresh tears. She clearly did more than just watch that data. It looks like she fully relived the moment, pain included.
Regret and guilt pour into the swirling sea within Aidyn's emotional landscape, making him feel nauseous. "I'm so sorry, for then and for now! I shouldn't have brought it up."
"Pain is a part of life," Noelle responds in a grim whisper before starting to walk again. "Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago for you, and of course the pain didn't last long. That was long before The Battle, so our Healing Bonds worked at full capacity. I healed almost instantaneously."
It was a long time ago for you…
For him, yes.
But for her?
"Noelle, do you Recall that data every time I ask you if you want to learn my magic?"
She nods a stiff affirmation without looking back at him.
"And it hurts the original, full amount every time?"
Noelle nods again.
The realities of living with painful data hits Aidyn in a new way. No wonder Noelle doesn't want to try out his magic again. No wonder she doesn't want to try a lot of things that hurt again.
"I'm sorry." He reaches out and places a hand briefly on her shoulder. "I won't ask you again."
When Noelle thanks him, her voice carries a mixture of relief and bitterness.