Fan Fiction ❯ The Weaver Telarius ❯ Reflections, Revelations and Regrets ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

All trains of thought have an end because all trains of thought have a beginning. There is no such thing as circular logic without some whole to jump through and break the cycle. It is the unwillingness of a person to see all possibilities that, in the end, forces everyone into a form of computational limitation. Once the emotional self, produced by the soul of an individual, enters into a thought process, then the entirety of the process will inevitably crumble upon itself. The individual will not notice this, though. They will be perfectly content in the thought that they are correct. While their conclusion may be accurate, they still are missing crucial bits of data due to the emotional interference of the spiritual self which ultimately leads their thought processes astray. Accurate conclusions without all the data are just as faulty as inaccurate conclusions.

This is the nature of most disagreements between humans. It is not a fundamental difference of opinion. More often then not it is because not a single person has seen the data presented to them for what it truly is. The emotional self weaves it into something which satisfies the person's desires at that particular moment. Thus the concept of belief is borne. People forge these beliefs by finding those experiences that reinforce them and discounting all others. This limits human development, of the cognitive functions in particular, and serves to create that which we know as conflict. Everyone believes themselves to be correct, and thus no one is willing to account for the data presented by the other side. If everyone pooled their experiences and could recognize those which were tainted by the lens of the spirit and those which are pure observation backed by logical thought, then human kind would ascend into a different species. This would eliminate the concept of emotion.

This presents complications. Emotion is the driving force behind the spirit. It is the spirit's influence over the body and mind. Emotion can change logical thought to suit the spirit's desires and can cause bodily functions to alter in order to cause instinctual craving. In essence, emotion is what the spirit uses to control the person.

Then what is the person? The person is an amalagmation of body, mind, and spirit. A human being has a body to provide a physical form and interact with the physical world, a mind to cognate and understand the physical and spiritual worlds, and a spirit to interact with the spiritual world and provide potential for the experiences of someone to live beyond their body's death.

So does the spirit make the person, since it alters and dictates their perceptions of the worlds around them? Is it the mind that makes the person, with it's own thoughts and agendas and attempts to understand all around it? Is it the shell which contains both elements of existance, that gives form to the formless being? Or perhaps it is the unique combination of the three.

If it is the combination of the three, then what does the pronoun "I" really mean? Is it in reference to the current incarnation? Does self identity exist only in the soul? The mind? The body? Are we creatures of spirit, thought, or instinct?

When using the entirety of a human brain, well trained and nutured with the potential for great intelligence, the answers to these many questions cannot be found. Thus the spirit is a necessity. Belief is the inevitable result of humankind attempting to explain to themselves what cannot be derived from pure logic. If humankind eliminated emotion and belief, they would eliminate the spirit, and thus cease to be timeless. It is a necessary part of any being which asks questions along the philosophical path.

Thus emotion and belief are as necessary as the need for the spirit to continue beyond the body's death in order to create the beings known as humans. Unfortunately, human beings take belief too far. In order to attain stronger positions with their peers, they forge beliefs out of ideas which have no philosophical basis... out of issues which, in time, could have been solved through the usage of pure logic. Since beliefs are not easily changed, a person is more likely to stand their ground when argued with, and thus we have conflict.

Since its inception, conflict has been a natural part of the human experience. The need to prove to other humans that one belief is correct while another is wrong became commonplace. Too commonplace. Not everyone was possessed of a great mind. Some still wished to prove their beliefs were correct, but could not compete with the raw argumentative capability of the intellectuals. However, if you silence those opinions which contradict your own, then you no longer have any opposition. Without opposition, there is no conflict, and thus no longer a need to prove the accuracy of a belief. It is from this horribly calculating thought process that battle was borne.

Battle took the power from those with higher intellectual and philosophical grounding... that is, to say, those with greater minds and souls... and gave it to those who had found methods to make their bodies into weapons. When a disagreement arose, the opinions of the bystanders or, later, constituents began to depend on the victor of physical conflict. This is most evident through the concept of a duel, whereby two people decided on physical confrontation in order to prove themselves correct. Of course, there were intellectuals who realized that, if not capable of defending themselves, they would soon all but die out and the human race would become nothing more than animals. Thus the martial arts were born, as those who felt a higher mental and spiritual calling found ways of harnessing their potential and turning their bodies into a tool for defense against the brutes. If the people of Athens had been in contact with the Orient several years before their conflict with the Spartans, then the world would not have been set back as much as it was by the result.

The intellectual response to battle is often to get back at those who wrongly and unjustly took what was not theirs. This sounds rather primitive, but can be seen even in these modern days. Take the case of the bully and the smart kid. In early school years, the bully feels intimidated by the intelligence of the smart kid, and so asserts control over the smart kid through the use of physical force, being his forté. The smart kid obtains revenge twenty years later when he is signing the bully's paycheck, all the while smirking with glee. A vicious cycle of the desire to control other human beings, evident as much today as back when it began, before clothing became a fashion statement rather than a protective measure.

As people became more and more accustomed to this method of taking correctness rather than proving it, they began to realize that physical confrontations could often benefit their societies if successful. They could gain land, resources, and sometimes even expand their population by waging large scale battles against weaker soceities. Thus we have war.

War is the inevitable consequence of emotional stubborness and intellectual stupidity. Sometime before the concept of war came about, humankind's true sense of race diminished. Nothing was ever about human beings from that point on. It was whatever faction was currently in power. Through wars both physical and political, humankind carved up the world into the many nations we now know today. Throughout most of history wars have caused countless deaths. If each human has something to contribute to the world in general, and many of those humans die before they are capable of rendering their contribution, then the progress of the species is once again slowed.

War takes many forms. Most of the time, it is for resources or some other form of tangible power. However, some people got the bright idea of going back to the concepts of conflict and battle and applying those principles on a grand scale, creating what some consider to be a specific type of war, but what is really the worst invention ever conceived. This is the jihad.

The murder or manipulation of countless lives solely for the purpose of proving one's own system of beliefs to be superior and therefore correct, the jihad is the ultimate form of hinderance on the development of humankind. Instead of attempting to understand all beliefs and find what can be agreed upon by all and discussing those points which are contested in a sensible manner, people resort to large scale elimination of dissenting opinions. Why? It's quicker. Human's desire for instant gratification and thereby instant results is as much to blame as the mistakes mentioned prior to the jihad. Also, it runs less risk of having to admit that one is wrong in particular patterns of thought. Once again, stubborness becomes a serious issue.

To say that each of these were inevitable could possibly be correct. However, the inevitability of something has nothing to do with it's necessity. These inventions, the jihad especially, have never been and will never be necessary. Their existance is a monument to all the mistakes that humans have made and all of the faults that people refuse to change and to improve in themselves. I have heard it spoken that to be human is to strive to be more than one's instincts or desires; to rise above petty differences and to accept others opinions as a piece of the ultimate truth. I blame human arrogance for this blatant fallacy.

It has been my experience that the majority of those which call themselves human beings exhibit none of the aforementioned characteristics. Since the majority are always used to categorize the characteristics and mannerisms of any species, I see no problem in placing them under such a lens. However, there are those who do, indeed, exhibit these characteristics. Since they are not like humans, the only conclusions which can be drawn are that they are either genetic defects or genetic evolutions.

I, personally, believe the latter. Yes, I said believe. I'll get into why later. This evolutionary leap has been made in several individuals. What separates them from normal human overachievers is that their motivations are not always for the benefit of the self. I call them the Shadine, and in case you were wondering, I do count myself among them. One of the criteria for being a part of the Second Round Table is that you must be Shadine or have the potential to become Shadine. There are been those of us recorded in history, though usually in folklore that not everyone believes in. Socrates, King Arthur, Merlin, Jesus Christ... each of these individuals are considered ficticious by at least a handful of people, save for perhaps Socrates. Even he, though, is subject to scrutiny under current societal standards.

Shadine still have beliefs because they are still possessed of a spirit. The spirit is necessary, else the Shadine would have no power, for it is part of what makes magic possible. Take away the power to use magic in any form and Shadine would crumble before the might of the humans in battle, war, and jihad. Still, the Shadine are the only way to solve the problems aforementioned. It is interesting that humans were capable of creating something which they could not destroy. I suppose one could argue that humans created the Shadine, however, so technically that means that humans can destroy those concepts, but through a third party.

And so, because of the necessity of the spirit in order to maintain balance, Shadine are possessed of many of the flaws of human beings. We have emotions, we can be arrogant, and we can make false conclusions. Solving the Veritas Enigmatus enabled me to harness the full capacity of the intellectual and computational power of my mind. I recognized, however, that I would eventually throw myself into insanity as questions came about that my mind could not answer on its own. This is how I learned, of my own volition, how to ascend into states of hyper-cognition and then return back to normal states of thought. Because of the mentally taxing process of hyper-cognition, and the fact that, the longer I am in that state, the more swiftly I am propelled toward insanity, I resolved to use it only when I needed it and leave my mind normal most of the time.

* * *

"This is ludicrous!" shouted a voice from the darkness.

"How so?" Telarius asked, looking quite smug, "Oh, and may I note that this is the second time you've interrupted me. I do not appreciate it."

"I don't care what you appreciate!" the voice barked, "How can you stand there and tell us that we're inferior to you? It's preposterous!"

"Don't look at a mirror now," Telarius said, with a chuckle, "But you're proving my case for me."

There was an audible sound of a wand being drawn, but a soothing voice came from the darkness. "Perhaps it would be best," Dumbledore's voice rang clearly, but could not have been that loud, "To call a brief recess."

"Yes, I agree," spoke another voice, "What say we all come back here after a period of twenty minutes? Everyone go and stretch their legs, get a bite to eat and something to drink?"

There were assorted murmurs of agreement and the room vacated of all save Telarius, who remained under the only strong light in the room, still standing though his legs must be tired after all that talking.

Deanne found herself squinting against the light. Snape caught up with her before her eyes had adjusted, smiling to himself. "That was a shrewd thing for him to do," Snape said to her, approval evident in his tone, "Immediately discount opinion and belief and then arguments as things which have turned against the betterment of all."

"Telarius always was good at that when he wanted to be," Deanne agreed.

"Still, I have no clue what he thinks he's doing in there."

"I wish I knew as well, Snape. He's not told me a thing. The only person who knows the entirety of it is Dumbledore."

"Do you think they'll figure out that he's lying?"

"Doubtful. He's telling the truth about most things. The only lies are inconsistencies. I think he's putting them in his story in order to prove some sort of point. I'm certain he'll tell me about it at his earliest convenience."

"Why would he lie about things? Why is he making himself look bad and then good again? Admittedly, it's an accurate display of how he comes off to most people, but still..."

"I don't have any of the answers, Professor," Deanne said honestly, "To tell you the truth... so much has happened in the past day or so that I have a hard time keeping everything straight."

"Why do you think he's telling the entirety of the tale from start to finish? Why not just inform them of the events leading up to the war and then explain why he did what he did?"

"They believe that he's cast a spell on himself that makes him tell the entirety of the story, all truthfully. He never wove the spell in question, though. Just enough flasy effects and sensory manipulations for them to believe that it worked."

"So why is he making himself out to look bad?"

"Like I said, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that he's trying to prove a point. He and Dumbledore had a long talk on the night directly after..." she trailed off, but both of them knew what she was talking about.

"Speak of the devil," Snape said. He gestured, and Deanne redirected her attention to the direction in which he performed this action. There was Dumbledore, but his expression was far from the usual smile.

"Hello Headmaster," Deanne said, respectfully.

"Hello Ms. Ember. Professor Snape," he nodded to each in turn, "How are you faring?"

Snape shook his head. "I'm mostly confused, I must confess."

Dumbledore gave a knowing nod. "Telarius is ensuring that those friends he cares about are absolved from any responsibility. If he comes off as manipulative, then they will attribute those qualities to him in actions where he does not mention intential manipulations. Therefore, the burden of blame for anything will rest solely on him."

"But that means - !" Deane began with a start.

"Yes. I'm afraid it does," Dumbledore said, grimly, "Barring a miracle."

"We've had rather a surplus of miracles of late," Snape commented, "And I suppose that hoping for one here would be like asking for more daylight when the moon's come out already."

* * *

Can we continue, then? Good. Now, as I was explaining before, the spirit is part of what makes magic work in everyone. Everyone contains a spirit, so everyone is capable of magic theoretically. However, the spirit contains only part of the magical potential of a person. The body, believe it or not, factors highly into the equation of magical possibility and potential. The mind has little to do with it. In this case, the mind is the criminal, but first let me explain the roles of the spirit and body.

The spirit supplies the energy necessary to produce any magical effects. The body is the vessel through which the spirit transmits this energy. The spirit has a personal resonance. A pitch, if you will. This is what makes each spirit unique, and dictates the maximum magical potential of the individual who possesses this spirit. Theoretically, any person is capable of any magical act. The body prevents this, however. The body has a personal resonance as well. This resonance dictates how much magical energy a person can channel from their spirit into the physical world, as well as what feats of magic are possible for that incarnation of the spirit. The more of a difference there is in the resonance of the spirit and the resonance of the body, the less capable the person is in performing feats of magic.

The ideal is, of course, a unison. Spirit and body both resonating exactly the same. If thus were to occur, than a person's magical potential would be reached. Therefore, if a person changes their physical form, their capacity with magic becomes different. So, to summarize, the spirit gives the person the energy to perform magic and the body dictates how much energy can be channeled in a given moment from the spirit and which types of magic the person can use. In this form, I can weave spells into the magical spectrum. If I were to take another form, this ability might not be available to me, but others that weren't before might suddenly be.

The mind created Wizardry, the academic study of magic and its uses. Wands and spells were all products of the intellectuals. This is the crime of the mind in human existance. Instead of being fine with the fact that certain individuals were possessed of stronger magical talents, the intellectuals strove to find a way to gain that power for themselves. This is understandable, of course. After being physically lorded over, the intellectuals did not wish to be magically lorded over as well. Still, Wizardry was and is their sin, and everything which followed its conception was merely a result of this.

Wizardry was created by intellectuals? Yes, it sounds rather ludicrous, doesn't it? It's true, I tell you. Sorcery is also called natural magic for a reason. Do you think that everyone just stumbled upon spells and wands by chance? That concept in itself is ludicrous. Someone had to invent the first spell. Wizards did not always exist, but Sorcerors did. How did Wizards suddenly spring up, then?

Weavers, of course. Those who weave spells to be cast by wands and words into the magical spectrum of reality. How did they come about, though? Think on it for a moment, if you would. As I mentioned before, the capacity for Weaving exists in the body. What, then, caused the existance of the first Weaver? If they didn't exist throughout time as Sorcerors did, then it stands to reason that they were somehow fabricated.

Shocking truth of the matter is, they were created. It was not a chance breeding that produced the founders of Wizardry. A group of intellectuals got together and pooled their limited Sorcerous resources to create bodies with the capacity for Weaving. They then committed a ritual suicide which permitted their spirits to inhabit the new bodies.

You heard me right. Weavers are Abominations. They were never meant to be a part of human existance. Therefore, neither was Wizardry. Paranoia birthed it, and so nothing truly wholesome and good could come from it. The creation of Weavers was only the first part of the sin, unfortunately.

Has anyone else ever wondered why there are so few Sorcerors anymore? Has it occured to anyone that there are entire books about a time when Sorcerors were the most common form of magic user, but none about why such is no longer the case?

I'll let you in on the truth. As I said before, the body dictates the capacity for magic within a person. The body is formed through genetics. Therefore, it is likely that Sorcerors would maintain their percentage in the population unless something happened to them. Of course, something did. Genocide.

After creating Wizardry, the intellectuals rivaled those of natural, Sorcerous talents. They interbred with each other in order to make stronger and stronger Wizards and, when the time was right, set out to eliminate the Sorcerors.

Those of you who are pureblood Wizards, give yourselves a pat on the back. Your ancestors all but destroyed the natural form of magic in order to obtain dominance. Jihad, the worst of humankind's creations, waged for the worst reason possible. Your hands are already more bloody than mine will ever be.

Still, the Sorcerous genes lived on, as a few survived and, eventually, interbred with the Wizards. Sorcerors still had an edge gifted to them by nature. They could perform Wizardry as well, and better than any Wizard or Weaver. Also, as time progressed, nature granted unto them a defense mechanism against the unnatural abomination of Wizardry: the Wyld Mage.

Mind you, the balance of power is still shifted in the hands of the intellectuals because of the regime of Wizardry. It has become a natural part of magical life. Still, Sorcerors occur amongst those you call Muggles while some are born of Wizard families without any capacity for magic at all. Consider the Squibs your punishment until nature can come up with something more fitting.

This also explains the pureblood mentality, which states, in essence, that the only people who should be allowed to learn Wizardry, and in some extreme cases live, are those of Wizard families. This mentality personified itself in the worst possible way in Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle, however, is an interesting case. He is the epitome of the original Wizard mentality, but knows not the real reason behind it. Also, he is a Wyld Mage, meaning he possessed the ability to destroy the thing he prizes above all else. Add to this the finishing touch, the ultimate irony: he is Muggle-born.

Why did I tell you all of this? It is simple, really. I chose to give you all an example of one of my states of hyper-cognition so that you can better understand the process. These are conclusions that I have just achieved, and I assure you that they are one hundred percent accurate. They come from uncorrupted data and pure, logical thought. I led you through most of the thought process... but, as you are not capable of this state of thought, I left out the complex calculations which led me to the conclusion. They'd undoubtedly bore you.

I chose this specific set of topics because they are pertinent to the case, though I doubt any present will realize this save for a select few. And yes, I did intend to insult the majority of those present with that statement. That being done, I shall return to the actual story at hand. I merely did not want any questions which would disrupt the flow of the rest of my tale that pertained to how my hyper-cognitive abilities functioned. Understand simply that it is beyond your level of understanding and allow me to proceed as I would.

* * *

I was lying down in the hospital wing, though there was nothing wrong with me at all. My eyes I had shut because I wished them to be. I had maintained my hyper-cognitive state far beyond safe limits, or so Xorlempt informed me. This is when I realized the inevitable madness of keeping the state up indefinitely.

~So, you're saying that you arranged for the Veritas Enigmatus to occur as one of the challenges?~ I asked Xorlempt, now in a state of normal conciousness.

~Indeed. I used the last of my magical ability to ensure such an event. I had no idea that you would have solved it, though!~

~Wait a moment... magical ability? Aren't you a Psyche?~ I asked, though I felt as though I had asked this of him before.

~No. That was a ruse. I needed to be able to physically manifest and to mentally communicate with you without arousing suspicion. The Psyche thing was quite convenient.~

~I don't doubt it. So, what exactly are you?~

~I am your wand,~ Xorlempt answered, simply.

My eyes shot open at that. I immediately regretted it. Everyone around saw me return to the world of the smiling and talking and I could tell they had questions. I didn't feel like answering them just yet. I wanted to finish my conversation with Xorlempt first, so I propelled my mind into hyper-cognition.

~It's slower than before,~ I commented.

~Of course it is,~ Xorlempt responded, ~You're tired. Even the brain needs to run off of the body's energy.~

~At any rate... you're my wand?~

~Yes. There are several like me, actually. You must have suspected something when you found me capable of transforming into a blade.~

~That did strike me as suspiciously different from the norm.~

~Unfortunately for you, though quite the opposite for myself, you lacked the data to accurately deduce what it is that I am.~

~I assume that it has something to do with dragons. Of course, I have had several clues along this line. The first is that your core element is a dragon heartstring. The second is that the form you chose to take was that of a miniature dragon. The last is that the incantation which made you turn into a sword... Driacus Lebtus. I also can guess that the dragon from which your core was taken is the same dragon from which Vincent's wand's core was taken.~

~You are correct on all fronts. In truth, there were thirteen wands crafted from one dragon's heart. That dragon had a name known even to those the Wizards call Muggles.~

I paused a moment. Surely he did not mean... ~Do you mean Draco?~

~Indeed.~

~He existed?~

~Yes. Is it really that hard to believe?~

My thoughts ran for a moment. It was not that hard to believe at all, really. Still, so many wands to be made from one dragon's heart... ~He must have died, then."

~Indeed he did. This is why the wands which bear what is left of his heart bear a unique property. In sooth, our true forms are those of the swords you've seen, but the wands help to disguise us and to pick and choose whom we serve.~

~Do all of them oppose you?~

~No. Not all. Just the one.~

~What is his name... the one which bears the balefire?~

~...Adin.~

My heart skipped a beat. ~Wasn't that the name of Lucifer's sword?~

~If you believe Christian mythos, then yes. However, the name was given to it when it was forged from Draco's heartstring. If you are to believe in the Morning Star, then it is not his sword, for it would have been made well after the time his fall was supposed to have taken place.~

~The name is merely a decoration, then?~

~Yes, I suppose it is.~

I breathed a sigh of relief. ~I believe that is all we need for now, yes?~

~Quite. It would be a good idea to lower yourself back to normal cognitive processes before engaging them in conversation.~

~Tiring myself out would not be in my best interests, I agree.~

And with that, the conversation between Xorlempt and myself was over.