Your room, Delilah's been out and about for almost the whole week looking for teleportation magic, maybe you should ask them about what's going on.

When you tell everyone that you're just going to your room everyone looks at you as if you'd told them you were dying. Explaining that you just wanted to have a chat with Delilah earned a new set of responses. Ana and Edin looked disappointed and heartbroken, Vatarie looked like she was trying to decide between risking a second try of sneaky sex and being made to sub a second time this week, Asune looked indifferent but from the slightly pained bite of Raisa's lip and that only one of Asune's hand was above the table, you can assume she wasn't.

They didn't give you much push back however. Not for lack of wanting to but because their aura's made it pretty clear there was a healthy level of fearful respect directed at Delilah. Eve's natural dominance and almost nuking the entire city is solid grounds for that.

They did however find several reasons to keep you from leaving. These included asking you about your opinion on your classes, asking for some help with some of those classes namely the specifics of some of the magical theories, how your training with Mary had been going, if you liked watching them fight, if you liked watching the effects of the fight. Who asked which of those questions you'd leave up to whoever wanted to examine this delaying tactic.

Clare showed up and joined in, asking what your imbuing did. She looking momentarily satisfied so one guess how her version of horny pool wrestling ended. The rest of the table got expectantly quite. You'd been asked about your training with Mary but that had been more focused on how, physical Mary had been during the training.

You opened your mouth to explain then closed it. You'd already tried to explain it to two people and weren't entirely successful in your opinion. They did grasp the idea of the danger but didn't seemed to fully understand why it was dangerous.

"It produced a localized field of radiation that can create burn within a few seconds. It also passes through dead organic matter without leaving a mark." Asune opened her mouth to suggest trying it on herself.

She didn't get the chance as Clare interrupted. "Interesting. Alpha radiation in a loop I'd guess, have you tried bring it near a downward stream of water. Easiest way to get radiation to stay in a field is with gravity." She started picking at your plate, her own was both full and untouched.

"What?" Ana asked looking between the two.

"Don't you worry your pretty Princess head about it." Clare said using her other hand to pat Ana's head, then started grabbing in a more make out with me manner. That satisfaction seemed to have lasted for record long time. "But basically Christopher's got a sword that can cook you from the inside out," she looked over at Asune, "Totally painlessly, though it would really mess up your magic for a while as you healed." Asune visibly deflated and Raisa gasped in pain.

"What's radiation?" Edin asked focusing intently.

"It's a form of light you can't see. When it touches a part of your body it changes it which causes extreme damage. Think of it like fire that doesn't need to burn and can only be put out with magic." You said to him, watching as he digested all of this. He was probably the only one who'd grasp it fully with more time.

"Similar to how the sun can burn you but you can't get a burn from other sorts of light?" Edin asked, giving you big hopeful eyes of further knowledge.

"Yes, almost exactly in fact." You say as Clare looks at him with a bit of respect.

Edin nodded knowledgeably. "Would you mind tell me more?" He asked, "Maybe we could go to the palace so I can make some notes."

Oh he almost had you. You gave as much of his butt that you could touch a quick spank. "Almost got me." You took that as the moment to leave, it had almost worked, you don't want to give anyone time to figure out a method that would.

"Where are you going?" Clare asked as you quickly ate the rest of your food that she was still pecking at.

"Wanna catch up with Delilah, they've been gone for most of the week, figure I'd see if they wanna chat about it." You explained.

"Oh cool, I'll come with." Clare said standing up leaving her plate. You looked at it along with everyone else. "Oh this isn't mine." From the side of the group a familiar face was looked over at you. "Sorry it didn't come up." She said to the porn connoisseur handing her plate back.

The connoisseur looked at all of you and almost manged to say something before Asune asked, "What didn't come up?" The connoisseur turned red and hurried away.

With that you and Clare took your leave, on the way you asked her two things. First what did the connoisseur want, and second if she was cursed to forever bad timing?

"She wanted to ask if she could sit with everyone. And no, no curse, she just has tragically bad timing. If it happened at least slightly less often it would a hilarious walking ironic symbol, the porn addict who misses the constant sex that is happening around her at almost every moment ... Ok she might be cursed I'll look it."

The two of you reach your door and inside find Delilah slumped on your bed. When they look at you Delilah whines, "Christopher, please tell Eve to stop making us fly all over the place."

You walked over and sat next to them, stroking their back as they buried their head in your lap. "Actually I wanted to know why you were doing that."

"Oh right that's my cue." Clare fished your mothers ring out from your shirt and made a sphere of magic around it with both hands.

You looked down, "Happened again huh?" You asked. She only did this when the ring had made you forget something. "What disappeared this time?"

"Nothing, just figured it'd be easier to talk without one of us constantly forgetting what we are talking about." Clare answered with a shrug of her shoulders as if it were obvious. Which it was at this point to be fair.

Delilah grumpily sat up. "We've been looking for any teleportation magic Zara had left behind but haven't found any." Eve answered. "She means you were right, your mum just, knew where they'd be and," she mimes picking something up. "Yes well, we also check the local area for any signs of where the items had been teleported to." Eve didn't sound, possibly becasue she's been flying around with a woman who hates flying for the last week. "And we didn't find anything," Delilah whined burying their head back into your lap, "Spent the whole week flying for nothing."

You started stroking their hair which earn instant happy noises from the both of them. "Alright, that also means where these things are being teleported has to have a massive magical reserve."

"Teleporting magic is exponential in cost, Zara would have needed if not a magical well, at least a few hundred people all working together at exactly the right time." You were all quite to appreciate that both of those were equally likely.

"Where's the nearest magical well?" You ask her.

"Not including the ones with wraiths in them. Far enough that the cost would dry up the well in two, maybe three teleports."

"And the ones with wraiths in them?" Eve asks with a certain hostility.

"Closest one, six or seven, depending on how much the wraith is eating." Clare answered.

"Wraiths are supposed to be almost as strong as me." You pointed out.

"Excuse me?" Eve asked raising an eyebrow at you.

"Keep it in you pants you two." Clare said. All three of you looked at Clare in the exact same manner everyone had look at you in the dining hall, herself included.

"Would my mum really have sent a rod from your mind and a ring that belonged to your mother to a place with a wraith in it, knowing we were going to go looking?" You didn't see much point in denying you wouldn't all be doing that, though just you three, way too dangerous for anyone else to go.

Delilah and Clare looked at then each other, then in a moment of pure synchronicity you all stared at the door. Waiting for the inevitable knocking that would be followed by a letter from your mother. When nothing happened after a few seconds you all felt a little disappointed. Maybe your mum was angry because you burned her letter last weekend.

"If she didn't want anyone finding it." Delilah answered you. "I doubt anyone but us or one of the other potential champions could challenge a wraith." Eve mused, she seemed to be more focused on dealing with the wraith than finding out what your mother has, or had, planned.

"If we could take it. You were weaker than a normal wraith and I only won because."

"I wanted to fuck more than I wanted to fuck you up." Eve said, rolling over in your lap to look up at you and smirking.

"How about before we go waking up an apocalypse whose gone several centuries without scratching its nose, we try to figure out what the goal actually is." Clare said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"I mean obviously something to do with you." You said stroking Delilah's hair. "Any idea what the ring could be used for?" Everyone was quiet for a few seconds. "Ok, then how about first we decide if free will is thing, since my mum had pinpoint accurate teleport magic eighteen years after she died." Again everyone was quiet. "Clare you're a Goddess, you really don't have anything to say."

"Former, currently moral Goddess, and not really." She didn't elaborate which you thought was really unhelpful given the situation. "Just trust me I've talk about this at length with an extraordinary number of people, this," she nodded at the ring between her hands, "is probably a more on the nose confrontation than I usually get but, think of it like this, just because you can see yourself in the mirror doesn't mean you touch anything inside it."

You and Delilah looked at each other. You thought Clare had gotten over her love for metaphor but that was a little nonsensical. "What?"

"I don't know this is taking a lot of focus and Clare horny game hadn't been as fun as I thought." She said. "Look your mum can see the future but she clearly needs to get involved to make what she wants to happen happen."

"Ergo free will is a thing becasue she is changing the future and thus our free will." You filled in making Clare give you a flat stare. "Sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Delilah asked, looking between the two of you. "We're going to be waiting until the next teleport and hope that provides some information. Unless Zara feels like informing us now." Eve said. Once again all three of you looked at the door. The lack of knocking was kinda disappointing, maybe your mum is actually mad at you.

"Great then I'm dropping this, Delilah get his pants off." Clare said as he hands lowered from your chest.

You looked down at Delilah who had managed to pull your pants off. "How do people keep taking off my pants without me noticing?" You ask as they looks up at you, sticks out their tongue and lick your cock.