Finn sat in the living room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a glass in the other. The penthouse Okada had set them up was pretty big, even by corpo standards. Big windows, a kitchen bigger than their last whole flat, and an open garden outside looking down on half of Night City. They had only arrived not long ago, and most of the settling in had fallen on Avallach, because Avallach was the one who had brought enough books and notes to start his own damned library.
Finn poured himself a glass from the bottle he had found in one of the kitchen drawers. He sniffed the alcohol, took a sip, and regretted it at once. His face scrunched up so hard when the taste settles.
"Damn," he muttered, looking at the glass. "That'll take some time to get used to…"
Outside, through the open glass door, he could see Ciri in the garden. She had been out there for the last several minutes, walking slowly between the plants and looking over everything, particularly the view of Night City from atop here. She had said very little since they got here. She probably found this place a bit absurd.
He suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Avallach came into the living room, then lowered himself into the seat across from Finn without asking. Finn raised a brow at that.
Avallach folded his hands in his lap and looked at him. "You appear angry."
Finn scoffed. "No shit. An unnecessary problem just came out of nowhere. shouldn't be no problem now though." He swirled the whiskey around in his glass. "Thanks for your help with the scavs, by the way."
"At the end of the day, Zireael's safety is what matters," Avallach said. "The spell should be hidden well enough. No authorities should come to check on us because of it."
Finn hummed and leaned back into the couch. "And at the end of the day you're still a world traveler like me... even if you're a bit of an ass sometimes."
Avallach did not look offended. If anything, he looked faintly amused, though that was always difficult to tell on his face. "I got the sense from the day we met that you do not like me, crwydren. I have no care for it whatsoever. Still, I should thank you."
Finn looked over the rim of his glass. "For what?"
"For guiding Zireael these past few months," Avallach said. "I understand well enough that her road would have been harsher without you."
Finn gave a short laugh. "What are you, her dad or something?"
He immediately regretted saying them, not out of guilt, but because he already knew what sat behind that whole mess. Lara Dorren. The Elder Blood. Obsession. The whole rotten family knot of it.
He lifted one hand. "Actually, never mind. Don't answer that."
Avallach's expression did not move much, though his eyes rested on Finn a moment longer than before. Then his gaze dropped to the bottle and the glass in Finn's hand. There was curiosity there.
Finn noticed. "You want some?"
"I would not mind," Avallach said. "It has been some time since I had any spirit."
Finn reached for another glass from the low table, poured him one, and slid it across. Avallach accepted it, lifted it, then took a sip.
Finn watched him. "How is it?"
"Elvish spirit is still better to my tongue," Avallach said. He glanced at the amber drink again. "But I cannot ignore that this is more refined."
"That's one way to say it tastes like polished wood," Finn muttered.
Avallach took another sip anyway.
Finn rested his head back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling for a second. Then he lowered his eyes again. "If you're a sage, can you actually see what will happen in the future?"
That made Avallach pause. He held the glass still between both hands before answering.
"Time is not linear in the way most beings prefer to imagine it," he said. "It is easier for lesser minds to think of it as a road. It is not a road. It is an ever-dividing field. Choices, accidents, intrusions, deaths, meetings. Each one reshapes what follows." He took another drink. "I can see glimpses. No more. And even those glimpses are only that. Glimpses among infinite possibilities."
Finn frowned. "But the magic does work, doesn't it? That you can see the most plausible future that would happen right now?"
"Indeed."
"What did you see?"
Avallach looked at him over the rim of the glass. "If I say it, I have already changed it."
Finn chuckled at that and took another cautious sip of the whiskey. He disliked the taste just as much the second time. "Convenient answer."
"A true one."
Finn rolled the glass between his palms, then looked at the elf properly. "I know what you're doing with Ciri."
One of Avallach's brows lifted. "And that is?"
"The White Frost," Finn said. "You want to guide Ciri into stopping it once and for all. In her world. In yours. Then use that as leverage back home so you can knock Eredin off his seat after he killed your king."
Avallach sipped the whiskey again.
"As I thought," he said at last. "You came from one of those special worlds."
"That again..." Finn muttered. He sat forward and set the glass on the table. "You mind enlightening me with your wisdom, sage?"
Avallach paused for a moment. Then he set his own glass down beside Finn's.
"In the numerous worlds of the space-time continuum," he said, "there are worlds that stand at the root of many others. If one such world does not exist, entire chains of worlds fail to exist with it. Despite that, these root worlds often have little physical connection to the worlds that depend on them. Most do not even possess the gift of magic."
"...And?"
"Worlds connect like a web," Avallach went on. "Why they connect varies. One world may exist as a story in another. That alone may be enough. Another may exist because its people dream of it often enough. Another may be an artificial world created by the people of one of these root worlds. There are many possible relationships. But the web remains. Your world, from what little I can gather from you, may be one of the larger nexus points. Perhaps the largest. The one that spawned a great many worlds. which in turn the created the largest web that we are in currently."
Finn rubbed at his jaw and thought it over.
"Then all those worlds differ wildly from each other?"
"Yes," Avallach said. "They are entirely different worlds."
Finn looked toward the open garden. Beyond it, Night City kept glowing, huge and ugly and bright. "This world... It is somewhat an alternate version of my world. Does that count toward that web of relationships you mention?"
Avallach shook his head. "This world counts as an alternate version of a world, so no. But it is so different from the original that it is almost a new world entirely. It sits at the very edge of alternate worlds, very remote. That is why I chose it in the first place."
Finn folded one arm over the back of the couch. "Then me, as a world traveler, can I visit these alternate worlds?"
"Not by your normal means," Avallach said. "An alternate world involves space and time, not space alone. The gateways you use are not meant for that." He lifted the glass again. "There are anomaly portals, however. They may take you to alternate worlds instead of to another world entirely. You can only find them in the original world of the alternate world in question. Even so, I would not advise using them."
"Why not?"
"Because you might not be able to come back." Avallach said it flatly. "Zireael could cross such boundaries more easily than you. You could not. Those anomaly portals are random. At times you might not even tell the difference between the original world and the alternate one. That would be enough to strand you."
Finn stared at his whiskey. "Or... you could teach me how to open portals myself."
Avallach shook his head before Finn even finished. "I might be able to teach you theory, crwydren. Theory only. Learning interdimensional magic is another matter. You will not master it in your lifetime. Perhaps you may find some other sort of interdimensional art in another world during your travels. But you will not learn it from me. It is simply impossible."
Finn shrugged. "Worth a try to ask. Still. There are things that elude me. We found a world, the one we stayed in for a few months before this one. That world is practically an alternate world of an alternate version of my world, if that makes sense. So how does that work? How does an alternate version of an alternate version of my world become connected to this web, while the actual alternate version that this world is based on is still only an alternate world of my world?"
Avallach took his time with that one.
"Sometimes worlds are not based on one world alone," he said. "Sometimes they are based on several. Sometimes one world's alternate reality is identical to the alternate version of another. Sometimes worlds collide with one another and remain fused, sometimes it is just passing. Zireael's own world is proof enough that collision between worlds is possible." He rested the glass lightly against his knee. "Alternate worlds are infinite. These webs of relationships are not. They depend on how many nexus worlds there are. Under infinite variation of these alternate worlds, overlap becomes unavoidable. Still, you found it very different from your own world, no? It is just that the people inside remains similar."
Finn exhaled through his nose. "This is all very confusing and complicated."
"The science of world travel is an esoteric thing," Avallach said. "You may go mad if you insist on understanding every reason everything is the way it is. Or you may choose not to question every part of it. The latter, I think, are the healthier path."
Finn laughed once at that. "Are you saying that as advice?"
"Take it however you like."
The room went quiet for a while after that. Across from him Avallach emptied the last of his own glass, then stood.
"Talking to you has been... interesting, crwydren."
Finn raised his brow. "How so?"
Avallach set the empty glass on the table. "It is not often I get to discuss things the way I have discussed them with you. My peers are all as skilled as I am, if not more so. Zireael is... stubborn." His mouth shifted by the smallest amount. It was the nearest thing to amusement Finn had seen from him all evening. "You, however, feel like a journeyman eager to do his craft properly. I welcome that. Even if you are a human, cursed to not live for very long."
Finn spread one hand. "Hey, I might find a potion of immortality somewhere in these worlds I visit."
"Then I can only wish you good luck in that regard," Avallach said. "I shall rest. Make sure Zireael gets enough rest. Tomorrow we begin her training again."
Finn merely hummed.
Avallach turned and left the living room. Finn stayed where he was and looked out through the open glass door into the garden. Ciri was still out there, walking slowly between the plants, touching a leaf here, leaning down to inspect a flower there, looking towards the lights of Night City that was shining far below her.