Or . Could be .

I had walked up the spiral staircase, reaching Ashes and Zana at a reading area with modest array of tables and seating. From up close, I can now see that Zana is quite short; not as short as Cilla nor Ariel, but still a small lady none the less. Her figure shows that she is very unathletic; worryingly, this indicates to me that she doesn't eat well, as she should have more bodyfat with how little activity she partakes in. This lack of nutrition may explain her short height...

Grim observations aside, Ashes was currently piling books her mousey friend pointed to, but was too short to reach; each of which had to do with magic and the arcane. I had brought the book I had selected anyway, just in case. Once all was settled, I sat across from Zana at a table near the corner of the second floor; near a window which lent sunlight to assist in reading.

The slightly shaking girl in glasses asks. "Ok, um, Mister... Monster. Do you kn-know any utterances or incantations?"

I am about to nod, stopping myself from constantly doing that non-verbal bob of the head, instead saying. "I know three spells, and I've used two of them."

She shakes her head. "Ok, there's a good place to start, if you don't mind. I assume you don't know the difference between the three kinds of magic, and the th-three forms, correct?"

"I don't even know what magic is." I confirm, trying to shrink in my seat to keep the poor thing sitting across the table from me from fainting from fear at my monstrous appearance.

"Oh dear... th-that's going to be a big part of th-this lesson." Zana says, seeming to panic slightly.

Ashes, coming back with one final book, sits by her freaking-out-friend, giving her pat on the back, saying. "Its ok Zana, take your time!"

Misses Hush lets out another 'SHHH', one so full of malicious intent that a shiver runs down my spine.

Taking a deep breath, Zana calms herself as best as she can before saying. "Ashes told me you know of the origin of Ruyanei, which is good. Without knowing that, everything I'm about to say would sound... crazy."

At the word 'crazy', I hear her heartbeat begin to rise, and see her eyes rapidly change color several times; even though she isn't blinking like before.

"I like this one... She's like us."

Silence.

More pats from Ashes allow Zana to continue. "The hearts of Light and Dark, the Primordial Pair, still beat, as they existed before both Life and ****. Although they may never wake again from the eternal sleep they reside within, their hearts lay deep within Ruyanei; at the core of our world. They are usually referred to as the Twin Hearts."

"Thump. Thump. Thump."

Silence!

Finishing her story, Zana says. "It is from the Cosmic Vibrations of their heartbeats that magic is made, and through the manipulation of these vibrations, one can impose their will onto reality. Like so."

She pulls her hat down over her head... then her torso, then her legs. All of a sudden, she's just a hat.

Seconds later, she pops back out of the hat, saying. "This is now your introduction to the forms of magic, what you just witnessed was one of the three forms, known as 'Enchantment.' It is magic infused into an object, displacing its normal interactions with reality. My hat, in particular, has an enchantment known as 'Holding.' You may have seen your Red Hood friend using it, as all Runacathy operatives have such an enchantment on their cloaks."

That I knew that cloak was magic! In the excitement of finally being correct about something, I managed to accidently smack myself in that same bruise I had made when trying to silence Madness in the forest; the one Cilla decided to smack that one time... ow...

Seeing this, Zana whispers over to Ashes, whose eyes light up with admiration for her scared little friend. Zipping off out of sight, our artisan ally heads off at absurd speed, before returning with something in her hands. Well, someone. Gabriella, despite being taller than Ashes, is currently being carried by her as though she were being rescued from a burning building. She is then pulled up the stairs, and placed in the seat next to me.

"Miss Gabriella, could you heal Monster's cheeks?" Says Ashes, speaking in a mock posh voice, bowing down in an exaggerated pose.

Seemingly befuddled, Gabbie looked at Ashes, the scared little mage, me, and then back to Ashes. Shrugging her shoulders, she places her hand gently on my cheek.

"Restore."

Wait... why did that work?! That was one word, not a full spell! My cheek stopped aching, any swelling had gone.

"Oh, I thought... it would be..." Zana muttered, flustered as could be, moving the books on the table around to try and find the one to explain whatever it is that just happened. "I didn't think you'd be able to do it with just an Utterance..."

Before I can ask any questions, Cilla comes stomping up the stairs, whisper shouting. "Is someone teaching my charge without me again?! Come on! this is my job!"

Looking back to Za... oh. A large pointed hat sits alone in her chair, shaking up a storm. Cilla, not noticing this, hands the hat to Ashes, taking Zana's seat.

"Let's see, where are you... ah, this dolt grabbed Gabriella, so you must be onto miracles." Our fuzzy friend says, ignoring Ashes sticking her tongue out at her in defiance.

Taking a deep breath, so deep it were as if she were trying to steal everyone's breath so that only she could speak, Cilla begins to do her favorite thing; explain. "Before we speak of Miracles, we must understand Faith. Faith, or a belief in another, for reasons still unknown to scholars, grants immense energy and power to its target; far beyond what the faithful should be capable of producing in terms of magical acumen, physical strength, or even caloric intake. It is because of this that powerful men, women, monsters, and whatever else there may be, tend to grow cults of personality; which then make their leader even more powerful. It is, in fact, the main strength of those born as Knights; as their natural charisma leads to many having faith in them. With this understood, we can now discuss Miracles. Miracles are an exchange, made when the Rhythm of the target and the faithful matches; giving faith to a being, in return for that being baring the cost of a spell in your stead. Generally, you will see this with Priests and Priestesses, but many others of faith still deal with their patron gods, or even the leaders of their country in this manner."

"Wait, it doesn't have to be one of the gods?" I ask, confused, as usual. "And what's a Rhy..."

"Indeed." Interrupts Cilla. "Just someone who you have faith in, and can cast the same spell that you know. Miracle is the term used simply because most do it through the gods, but you could do it with just about anyone. The primary advantage of doing so via a god is that each one will inherently know the spell you wish to cast; a byproduct of their connection within the Perpetual Chain. That, and a god can bare the cost of just about any spell. Something you may wish to know, due to the spell being cast by the target instead of the faithful, a miracle has the advantage of being able to be whispered, rather than spoken."

That explains Sarmenti muttering his 'Healing Rest', but...

"Bare the cost? What do you mean." I ask.

Before, answering, Cilla produces another of those vials; the ones that change color each time I blink, and that alleviated the horrible shaking after I had fought the Purity.

She says. "Interacting with the Cosmic Vibrations of the Twin Hearts is dangerous. Overexposure to their whims, or overexertion through their use, can afflict you with something called 'Vibrosis'. Do you remember how after your own spells, you began to shake? That was a minor case of Vibrosis. Shakiness, dizziness, lost of motor control. The more you push yourself beyond that, the worse the Vibrosis becomes. I've read accounts of peoples bones shattering, organs rupturing, or suffering brain damage due to mid-range cases. The more disturbing cases are from those who have pushed themselves beyond any limitation; vibrating at frequencies that cause them to phase through solid objects, shift through time, or warp space around themselves. There are even theories that the most severe cases can never be observed and recorded, as those who have suffered from what is known as 'Theoretical Critical Vibration Exposure', where you retroactively cease to exist..."

Well, I guess I'm never casting single spell, ever again, forever! I can practically feel my spine, guts, and other, less savory allegories for courage, rip themselves from my body.

A quite voice comes from the pointed hat in Ashes hands. "You're scaring him, meanie..."

Cilla, not expecting a diminutive mage to be hiding in the headwear, falls out of her chair in shock. Zana pops out of her hat, and hops back into the chair; with our cloaked companion deciding to stomp off, muttering some lie about how she needs to 'cross examine research' or some other excuses to leave.

Zana, after she is sure Cilla is out of earshot, lets out a sigh of relief, then continues. "It's quite difficult to hurt yourself too badly with Vibrosis without knowingly doing so, and Soul-Sedatives like this help stave it off."

She points to the everchanging bottle... which reminds me of her multicolored eyes. I looked back and forth between the two, noticing now that it isn't simply blinking that changes the color of either, but the lack of observation. When I can't see the color, it changes...

Zana, continuing the lesson, says. "Anyway, lets finish up with the simplest form of magic. I should have started with this one, but I like showing off my hat... Anyway. Sorcery, the final form of magic, is the direct interaction between your own Rhythm, and the Cosmic Vibrations. It's the form of magic you would have used yourself."

There's that 'Rhythm' again, what is that?

"Thump... Thump... Thump..."

Moving through the books Ashes collected, the shy Sorcerer picks one out, titled 'An Introduction to Forms of Spells', opening it, and begins to recite from its pages; seemingly, doing so is much easier for her than speaking on the fly. "The three forms of spells, of which, can each use the three forms of magic, are thus; Utterances, Incantations, and Songs."

She flips a few pages, mouthing out words at high speed, seemingly a bunch of filler meant to make the book look bigger, and thus, more 'intellectual'. "Ah, here. Utterances are single words, spoken at the start of one's Rhythm... oh! I missed the page on Rhythm... Dumb, dumb, dumb!"

Ashes gives more back pats to Zana, calming her enough to fix her mistake, and flip a few pages back. "Rhythm is the basis of not only magic, but all sentient life on Ruyanei. When someone or something is born, it was have a distinct Rhythm to it's heartbeat, or to the pulses in its core, should the subject be a monster without a heart. This Rhythm enables them to survive within the Cosmic Vibrations of the Twin Hearts, and interact with it. Those born on the Day of Greed and Glory, Barbarians, have an incredibly dulled variant of this Rhythm... blah blah blah... that covers it pretty much. Rhythm is your connection to the world, the Twin Hearts, and magic. You can read someone's Rhythm by counting the amount of beats their heart does at rest in one second; in sets of three. I could even check what your Rhythm is right now, if you'll let me."

I shrug. "Why not."

Realizing that she now has to get within touching distance of me; she regrets her words almost immediately.

The meek mini-mage slowly, painfully, walks around the table towards me, then places her pointed ear to my chest, tapping in beat with my heart. "Five... Five... Five..."

I suddenly feel a LOVELY pain in my chest! Madness!? What the hell!? Guys, get him!?

"Damn it! We were trying to be nice, Ego!" Logic yells, the sound of a shattering bottle behind his voice.

"My mind-tequila! You son of a bitch!" Urge roars out.

No-one seemed to notice my internal dispute, good... wait, Zana is staring at me.

"How did you do that?" She asks, any fear now seemingly replaced with intrigue.

"Do what?" I ask, clutching my chest; whatever Madness just did, it felt like a heart attack.

"You changed your Rhythm..." Zana mutters, looking around at the shelves. "I've never seen anything like that in any of the books here."

"I did what? What do you mean?" At this point, I've come to terms with asking questions being my default state of confused being.

"It went from Flat Five, to Five, Seven, Five, but... that's impossible. No one can change their Rhythm..." She answers, looking to Ashes with a confused look.

Ashes just shrugs her shoulders, so Zana turns to me and says. "Well, I supposed I should continue the lesson."

She moves back to her seat; and does as she said she would, continuing the lesson, while trying (and failing) to stop staring at my chest. "Well, at the start of your Rhythm, you could use an Utterance spell; which is a single word. Generally, they are very weak, and won't do much for your average person beyond heal papercuts, give off little sparks for a fire, make a small ball of light. Those who are experience or powerful in some way can do more, as is with all forms of spells. Next, is Incantations."

Zana flips across the pages, being sure to read it carefully this time. "Ok, Incantations, the most common form of magic used for warfare; artisanry, healing, ect. An Incantation uses the Rhythm of the caster in accordance with the Twin Rules of Rhyming and Complexity. The Rule of Rhyming; An Incantation must always rhyme from the first sentence to the second, followed by a new rhyme for sentence three to four; if a Incantation has an odd number of sentences, it can end however you wish within the second rule. The Rule of Complexity; the more powerful the spell, the more sentences must be used, see previous for odd numbers, yada yada... each sentence must follow the Rhythm in terms of syllables; so for example, when you have a Flat Five Rhythm, you needed to say each sentence with five syllables, no more, no less. If you break any of these rules while enacting the Incantation, it's cost will escalate multiplicity with the severity of the mistake, and the spell itself may backfire."

Oh... wait, Madness said he told me everything about our new body; why didn't he explain this...

"Thump... Thump... Thump..." It says distantly; locked back in its cage.

You weren't lying; just crazy, got it.

Zana closes the book, saying. "As for Songs... oh my. That is a form of spell that is rarely spoken of in textbooks like these. Mostly because only a few people have ever done one, and lived..."

I give up on even asking questions; why waste the breath.

I just look at her confused, prompting her to explain further. "A Song, as far as I know, is capable of re-writing the Cosmic Vibrations themselves. The most recent instances of it in recorded history are when the Dark Goddess Tenekura, when she was a mortal fae, using it to drive all the entirety of the Shiftling race insane; resulting in their extinction. I have no idea how a Song is performed; only that failing to do so successfully can be... horrifying."

Shiftlings are extinct? But, I'm half Shiftling... I'm confused now.

Closing the book, Zana says. "Well, that's it for the class. I've a bit tired now, so I think I'll go have a lay down."

Snapping her fingers, and casting an Utterance of 'Open", a hatch opens n the ceiling in the opposite side of the library,which drops down a ladder; the ladder is padded at the bottom to keep it from just bashing through the floor.

"You live in the library?" I ask; I mean, I know she's a bookworm, but come on.

"Of course, my Grams is the one who owns it." She replies, heading off to what I assume to be her bedroom in the attic. "Bye Ash, hope you have a good day!"

After my brain is freshly baked to the point of smoking by all of the information I'm processing, our little group makes our way out of the library, and off to the nearby Inn that Soot had stayed at; as all of us were getting quite hungry, and Ashes kept talking about how good their steak is; prefacing it with saying her Dad's cooking is better, but still.

We're suddenly stopped by a familiar high pitched, usually mousy voice calling out. "Wait!"

"Well, Zana! I didn't think you'd ever get out of that dusty old Library!" Ashes called back, picking up the bookwork in a big, Gabriella'esc, back-breaker hug.

Zana, after being crushed like a bug, takes a huge breath and says. "Ok, so, don't get mad... but I heard from Grams that you were leaving with these guys soon."

"Why would I get mad?" Ashes asks.

The scaredy-cat Sorcerer tries her best to put on a brave face, before blurting out as fast as she can.

"Because I'm coming with you, and I won't take no for an answer!"