Completed Getting a Grip

[Kuvarakh]

He sat by the lake for a few chimes, thinking. He knew he was overreacting, but the grief was real. In a sense, it was like losing his wife all over again. He knew it was a big "if", but still, IF Wanda was the rebirth of the soul of his wife Raellen, he had missed this cycle's opportunity to be reunited with her. There was no conflict of time, Raellen had died well over a hundred and twenty years ago and Wanda was surely no more than in her mid-forties, if that.

Now, the torture was about what to do with the rest of this life. He was potentially immortal, which meant he would never be on the ground floor with the reincarnated soul of the woman he had loved so dearly. He'd have to catch her before she developed a love of her own in the next life. But what woman would "fall in love" with a Nuit, even if he could convince her he was a past love. No, it was preposterous. The only reason he even entertained the notion was because he knew Wanda was lonely.

So, what was he suggesting to himself? That he hoped that Wanda would be reborn as a woman unlucky in love? Have no other options but a walking corpse? Was he going to stalk her and try to 'catch her on the bounce' after being dumped by some pig? Was he going to 'be her first'? He might be two hundred years old and she, sixteen?

He turned away from his reflection in the water with disgust. How often did past lovers find their reborn selves in future lives anyway? Why should he be so special that the gods would grant him a one in a hundred million boon? How could he really know whether she really was Raellen reborn anyway? He was fooling himself, he HAD to be. 'What? She had a few similar mannerisms and now he was convinced that she was his wife reborn? And she just happened to move to Alvadas? And she just happened to be an alchemist? And she just happened to be the owner of the shop where he just happened to work? And he just happened not to notice these similarities until now?'

Almost, he managed to completely quiet the nagging voice answering 'yes' to each of those questions. He knew things happened in cycles. The gods seemed to enjoy the repetition. And even though there was no reason for him to be the object of some miraculous scheme by the gods, by Lhex himself, there was likewise no reason why he could NOT. It DID happen. There were incidents of it having been proven, to as much a degree as possible. Some simply refused to believe it, but they were mostly those that didn't acknowledge the gods at all. That certainly couldn't be said of him. The gods had been a driving force in his life ever since his wife and daughter had died....He stared in mute epiphany as realization dawned on him.

The direction of his goal suddenly veered and an unexpectedly positive lining gleamed through the sadness. 'Of course. The cycle. That was the whole point!' There was suddenly redemption for his soul, for his loss, for his sacrifice! If it was a repetitive cycle that awaited him, he would break it by rejecting it. His life with Raellen had ended in tragedy. Her death at age 24, her daughter's at 18, his obsession for nearly a century after that. And what had broken that obsession? A hint from the gods. They bring him here and arrange him to see what becomes of her in a life without him. She HAD met another man at Zetiva University, just like she had met him. But THIS time, she did NOT marry. This time, she did NOT die in childbirth.

THIS time, she built a career. A career now aided by a man for whom there was only professional appreciation. A man she could NOT have romantic inclinations for. She would live to a ripe old age, respected and remembered in her field. He suddenly knew there was no way he was going to ruin that. When this life was over, perhaps the cycle would be broken. He might, one day, give voice to his theory and see how she reacted. Maybe she would ask for the transformation to Nuit, as he had done. His reason for it was entirely different, of course, but that didn't matter now. That option would be open for a long time to come.

He sat before the water and gazed at his reflection, letting the familiar meditative state calm his mind. His image blurred, widened, became two of him. He let the image on his right become static in his imagination. It simply sat and looked back at him, a dull expression, void of emotional tendency. The image on the left, though, grew sad. Melancholy formed a distortion around it, following the pattern of the gentle waves on the lake. The waves grew in intensity for a moment and, when they calmed, there was a second blur, which formed an image of Wanda.

The sad Kuvarakh grew joyous and rose quickly to embrace Wanda. they both laughed and faced each other. They leaned in slowly, enticingly. The Kuvarakh on the right paid no attention, but a hint of resolve strengthened his features as the pair on the left turned and walked slowly out of the image. A chime later, The remaining figure of Kuvarakh stood up and straightened his clothes and stance. He walked forward into a blur of lost focus as Kuvarakh himself, sitting by the lake, regained awareness of his surroundings, stood up, brushed the dirt from his clothes, straightened the wrinkles, arched his back to work out a few kinks and turned to go back to work. There was no longer any conflict in his heart. He would let Wanda's life run its course without interfering. He was satisfied with his decision. When she retired, he might present his offer, he might not. Time would tell.

[Kuvarakh]

Having purged himself of the feeling of being drawn to Wanda romantically, he made his way back to the shop feeling renewed and refocused. He still wondered why he had been so drained by the last transmutation. He had a theory, but he did not know if it was practical to test it.

He thought that perhaps, due to the dual nature of attraction and repulsion contained in the magnets used as both chargers and receivers, there may have been an overriding djed "polarity" creating a resistance in the flow of the accelerated djed stream. 'Does the ring gain a patterned "grain" in it? Where it "knows" which way the blended djed is going to implode into upon activation? Was there a separate polarity factor, from the receiver magnets, pushing out against the natural inward path of the released djed?

The first test had only had metal in the center. It was only the newly confronted subtlety of tactile djed stream manipulation of the dual factors of polarity that had been taxing in that activation. So he had known what delicate manipulations he would have to engineer during the second round. But THAT test had been with six unbroken magnets in the center! That was eighteen times as much possible source of counter polarity as what he'd used for chargers.

He didn't know if there was any other material that contained this sort of "self repelling" property to compare any records with. 'To reverse polarity, to gain a negating of a natural property, with the intent of overlaying that countered property, on a material with that same property and counter property potential...' Damn... he was getting dizzy again just thinking about it. 'A triple reversal?... quadruple? An inverted quadruple reversal?'

He didn't think there was a need to worry about it right now. They had four they had set aside in case his last activation hadn't worked. They could now be treated for non-polarity now too. But he thought it would be best to run a transmutation now on a full load of metal with one of the depolarized magnets, just to be sure. Then if it worked like it should, he could depolarize the rest in one go.

He stopped for second as another thought occurred to him. He grinned with the thought of having possibly 'one-upped' Wanda's competition. Maybe this other alchemist, the one expecting to have to deal with repelling polarity, HAD tried this same test and had been taxed too greatly to realize it COULD succeed. Maybe he had given up, thinking it couldn't be done.

Kuvarakh's steps got a shade lighter. 'Wimp' he thought with a slightly disdainful measure of self-satisfaction. He reached the shop and saw Wanda's face relax with relief. She could see that whatever had been bothering Kuvarakh was no longer an issue. He appeared to be his usual old sarcastic, grinning, long-winded self.

"You look much better. I'm truly relieved. Are you ready to continue? I don't see that we need to do any more of those particular processes. We have what we need to do Sir Vendrik's metal without transmuting any more polarity out of any more magnets." She was obviously leaving it up to him to decide how much he wanted to exert himself.

"I AM feeling better, thank you. Much better." He looked at her with affection for just a moment as he considered telling her what had been on his mind. 'Some other time.' he decided again. "I've been thinking though, that we ought to run a full transmutation on a load of his metal with one of our new depolarized magnets, just to be sure."

Wanda agreed and said she would do it for him. He was no longer feeling the least bit weary, but thought that she looked like it was important to her to give him a break, so he didn't protest. As she was running her process, he ran across one last variable possibility. The magnets he'd used as chargers had been turned to fully attract. End to end in such way as to negate the repulsion and compliment the polarity to attract completely. The magnets in the center had also been turned that way. But maybe the entire stack's polarity was a factor. Maybe if he had turned the entire stack in the center over, as one unit, there would have been less resistance to completion. Maybe MUCH less. Maybe even attraction! When he did the last four magnets, assuming Wanda's transmutation had the expected success, he would check that out.

[Kuvarakh]

Wanda's efforts were rewarded in full. The metal contained attraction as expected, but held no repelling quality whatsoever. She smiled a tired smile and suggested they break for the day. "It worked perfectly, we will only need to use two more of the depolarized samples, along with two demagnetized ones, for the last two 'attraction' runs. You'll need to make some more demagnetized samples. We'll need... let's see... damn, I'm tired."

"Yeah, but it worked! Look, I'll figure out how much of everything we need to finish. We need five more demagnetized pieces, of which we only have one..." He sat at the desk making notes, scratching out numbers in one column to add in another. First he needed a current inventory.

There were now five full sized depolarized magnets; four unaltered magnet portions left over from the two full sized ones Kuvarakh had broken to one-third size, plus the five they originally had, making nine; two small depolarized magnets left over from the full sized one Wanda had broken into thirds for the charger for the last activation; one demagnetized sample remaining of the ones Kuvarakh had heated the day before; and the four full sized magnets they had set aside to cover Sir Vendrik's transmutations, in case Kuvarakh's theory hadn't worked.

He would take four of the nine small, unaltered magnets and heat them to demagnetize them. They would all be used to complete the project. The two remaining small depolarized samples would also be used finishing the 'attraction' samples. So all he needed to account for would be the six small, unaltered magnets he still needed to perform the three 'repelling' transmutations. The five remaining small, unaltered magnets would only be one short. he would have to take one of the four full sized, unaltered magnets and break it into thirds and use one of the thirds to round out his six required pieces.

So, when all was said and done, They would have five full sized, depolarized magnets, three full sized, normal magnets, and two small normal ones. Kuvarakh looked at the darkness outside, surprised how long it took him to get all his figuring done. Wanda was napping in her chair. He looked at her a moment, happy and sad at the same time. He walked over to her and kissed the top of her head lightly. She murmured drowzily and came half awake. He showed her his inventory predictions and she came fully awake.

"Okay, that will be great. Don't forget, Sir Vendrik is supposedly bringing us another magnet. Hopefully, another full sized one. Do you think we should use the two small ones to depolarize the four we ought to have after he picks up his order?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she asked.

"Actually, I think we ought to wait. We can always do it later if we need to. But I was thinking, if we need regular magnets for some order, it would be a shame not to have them because we depolarized ALL of our stock."

"That's a good point." She said as she stretched. She looked outside and her eyes briefly widened. "Damn! When did it get this late? I was hoping to do another run before closing."

"We can get a lot done tomorrow, now that we're done with our testing." Kuvarakh offered. He had, of course, wanted to do try depolarizing the remaining full sized magnets, just to test his receiver polarity idea. But his other point WAS valid, and he, also, was tired. Not for sleep, but for contemplation.

[Kuvarakh]

The next day they finished up the "attraction" runs, Kuvarakh doing the heating on the four small magnets to demagnetize them. Then they each did a "repelling" run in the early afternoon. They decided if Sir Vendrik brought more than one large magnet, they would depolarize all but one or two of them, after he left, of course.

They still had a day before his arrival, so they did some other things. They still had to give the appearance of needing to wait for the last magnet to do the last function. So the following day, when Sir Vendrik arrived, they were ready. He was delighted to see the metal transmuted exactly as hoped and promised to see to it that Wanda's Alchemmia Alchae received all due renown for the achievement.

He then handed over four more magnets, much to Kuvarakh and Wanda's appreciation. They allowed him to have a seat and watch the last transmutation, which he found fascinating. "That was nothing short of amazing! I will return these materials to Sylira right away. I should think you'll be hearing from me again. It is to my advantage as well to be the go-between on these deals. I will spread the word. We are finding that it works quite well against arrows too. The repelling, I mean. Let's celebrate!"

Though Kuvarakh needed no food and did not drink anything besides water, he was still quite able to get in the mood for celebration. He and Sir Vendrik enjoyed a variety of friendly competitions and exchanged jokes and swapped good-natured insults, amid heaping praises on Wanda for her success.

The celebratory mood continued later, after Sir Vendrik took his leave and left with his cart full of transmuted metal, promising that any and all such transactions would be contracted with Alchemmia Alchae. Wanda had had a few drinks and was rather uninhibited, urging Kuvarakh to dance with her. What started as simply energetic pirouettes and swings, slowed down and became close and snuggly.

Kuvarakh assumed that the drinks were starting to stack up for Wanda, bringing a good dose of dizziness as she leaned into him for a slow, easy, rocking chair sort of swaying. He was on the verge of assuming she was near to falling asleep when she leaned up to his ear and whispered, "I wish you were alive, Ku... I could knock you dead."

She winked and he grinned, but inside, all he could think was that if she was dead like him, he'd make her feel alive.

[Kuvarakh]

He let Wanda sit. She seemed kind of torn between wanting Kuvarakh to sit with her, and not wanting to entertain a notion that she knew, deep down, could not develop into anything serious.

He now counted seven full sized magnets, still possessing the normal polarity quality. Following his and Wanda's decision, he took five of them and arranged them so they all sat attracted together, with parallel polarity alignment. He placed these in the center of the ring in such a way as to lie parallel with the way the two fount magnets would lie.

He took the two small magnets and aligned them for attraction. Then, maintaining their facing he carried them over to the stacked magnets in the center and slowly brought them close, feeling for any repelling. It was there, so he turned his stack over to counteract it. Now he felt the pull of attraction as he started to bring them close.

Again, maintaining their facing, he took them back and placed them in the fount slot. He had nearly become comatose after transmuting a stack of six magnets to depolarize them. But he suspected that they were positioned to repell each other at the time. This time, not only were they definitely placed to align for attraction, there were only five. So whatever else may have been active to strain his efforts so much, was, hopefully, reduced by a little over sixteen percent.

"Break it off, if you feel any weakness at all, Ku." Wanda warned, she looked like she wanted to say more, so Kuvarakh waited a bit more. "I... didn't want to worry you before, but you... were actually out for a good half a bell after the last time. WE still have five good depolarized ones and two more regular ones. It's all pure profit, so we can afford to lose these if there's any doubt."

Kuvarakh's eyes slowly raised at the disclosure of the length of his blackout. He looked at Wanda and nodded. "I understand. Thank you for letting me know."

He employed his usual routine of sliding his pricked finger along the ring to accustom his senses to the feeling of movement against his skin. When he reached the keystone, he stopped sliding his finger, but as usual, and getting more natural with each transmutation, the sense of movement took on an inertia of its own, and the acceleration began. He cleared his mind of everything but the overlay of his impression of a whirlpool to aid his focus on acceleration.

This time, it seemed not only that the surface of the representative "water" became smoother easier, it was faster as well. The water seemed to even aid him in his efforts to achieve the glass-like smoothness that was his sign of full blending of the desired djed elements. It was as though the water was tucking rises into gullies by itself, without his effort and almost before he even SAW the imbalance.

He released the activation, experience nothing like the exhaustion and dizziness he had last time. Wanda was by his side in moments, looking to support him and guide him to a nearby chair.

"Oh, Kuvarakh! I knew you'd have to cut it short. Are you Okay? Can you hear me? How many fingers do you see?" her voice was full of concern.

Kuvarakh tried not to laugh. "I'm fine, Wanda. I can hear you easily, and your voice is sweet with its worry. You have two fingers extended on your right hand, and you are upset needlessly. I did not 'cut it short', Wanda, I'm finished! It was easy. I was right, the polarity was hindering my last effort."

Relief flooded her features, though she tried to hide it as she put on a look of mock annoyance, slightly defeated by the unmistakable hint of a grin. "Oh, I see... you just wanted me to make a fool of myself. To try and make me look like a silly old woman, is that it?"

Kuvrakh copied one of her favorite routines, leaning close with a soppy tone of voice as he patted her face. "Not at all, dear. I don't have to TRY to make you look like a silly old woman!"

They both burst into laughter.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Kuvarakh XP Award: +3 Rhetoric +3 Interrogation +2 Observation +4 Socialization +2 Organization +2 Meditation +2 Philosophy +3 Alchemy Lore: Toying with Polarities My Hero Experimenting With Magnets Working With Wanda Faking Shit Is Not Cool Getting a Grip Wanda is Not For Loving Notes: Philosophy was for your approach to coming up with how to deal with the alchemical request. Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM