k_a_webb | The World Walkers: Quiar: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments (part 9, 119th continuation) (Reply)

‘The more you talk to me about past lives the more I want to learn about my own. I’m not certain if I should, but it really is fascinating.’

‘You are probably in the best position to learn about them if you wanted to, Peric, as you’ve learnt a lot about them in general from me and from Meriwether, so it would be easier for your mind to understand them. However it still wouldn’t be easy. Not everyone has lived lives they should learn about.’

‘Can you tell me anything about my lives?’

‘Even though I want to, it’s not something I’m permitted to do. You have to, if you want to know more, learn about them yourself, and currently the only way to do that is to use Meriwether’s ritual.’
Peric was almost certain there had to be a way around that. If he had to learn about them himself then maybe it would be possible… ‘Quiar, how about if I asked you to send me dreams about the lives I lived before? Would that be permitted?’

‘Some of the worlds have, occasionally, sent dreams to people to teach them about their past lives, but I’m not certain that they were asked to. Occasionally we have to do certain things we’d prefer not to in order for someone to understand why they are the person they’ve become.’ She sighed. ‘I’ll ask Athare when I can and if it is possible I will send you three dreams about lives you’ve lived before. That means you’ll get a taste of them, but not a full understanding, which should work.’

‘I appreciate it.’ He glanced over at Lucille. ‘Do you think Lucille will learn about her past lives?’

‘Yes, because she’s the sort of person who wants to learn about everything. Fortunately she was like that from her very first life, so she should have plenty to learn, and it will mean that she has a much better understanding of the Web than anyone could if they were only spending one lifetime learning about it.’

‘Souls can choose which gender they incarnate as, right?’

‘They can.’ Quiar sounded interested, as though she realised he was thinking of something that she might not have. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Was Lucille Leolin?’

She laughed. ‘I like the thinking there, but no, she wasn’t. However I can tell you that she’s been in possession of Leolin’s original journals three times. Lucille was, a long time ago, the person that Leolin gave them to, asking her to make copies that would go to as many of the naturals as possible, while also telling her to pass on the originals. She made the first notes in them, about doors that she learnt about after his death, and she wrote notes in it the second time she had them, as well as scribbling out some of the older doors, including those her past self had written about. In this life she’s done exactly the same thing again.’

‘Are you able to tell me about the lives Leolin lived?’

‘Yes, I am, but I’m not certain that I should. As wonderful as this conversation has been, Peric, we both know that we’re procrastinating. Everyone has jobs to do and we’re just putting them off, because that’s so much easier than having to deal with what’s coming…’ She sighed. ‘I hate that I can’t do anything to stop it. I hate that I can’t protect my Moonjumper. I hate that I couldn’t protect Bertram.’

‘We all know that you would have helped if you could, but there are certain rules you have to follow.’ Peric wished he could give Quiar a hug, but she was just a voice in his mind. ‘Try not to think about it too much, because all you’re going to do is make yourself more angry with the position that you’re in, and that’s not fair. You know, as you’ve seen the damage it can cause, that getting too involved would be more of a mistake than not getting involved is, even though standing aside hurts more.’

‘I know. Thank you. Maybe I do need to procrastinate for a little longer, otherwise I don’t think I’m going to hold onto that logic. Every time I see Bertram…’

‘Honestly, I think we all have that problem. Lucille’s angry with herself because she didn’t move quick enough to stop it; I’m angry with myself for not feeling the assassins before they attacked; and Bertram is angry with himself for being in a position where he could be hurt in the first place. Eventually we will all be able to let go of that, but it’s going to take time.’

‘Time that I don’t have right now. I’ve got too much to do to hold on to the anger I feel at those assassins, especially as one of them is trying to work out what his next life is going to be and will need my help with that, but sometimes I can’t help it. Knowing what’s coming and knowing that I can’t do anything to stop it makes me feel so helpless.’

Peric wished again he could give Quiar a hug, but all he could do was distract her. ‘Tell me about Leolin.’

‘During his first life he travelled the Web. He was a born soul and we didn’t know what to expect from him, but I get the feeling that Athare always knew he was going to be a little different to the average person. As a natural Moonjumper born to a natural Moonjumper he was always going to be able to use the doors. Unfortunately it’s never certain that someone actually will. From the day his sister disappeared he was watched, to see what choices he’d made, and eventually he made the decision to see if he could step through one of the doors. That was the same day he heard Athare’s voice for the first time.’

‘Where did Leolin’s sister end up?’

‘On another world, in the future, where she was meant to be at the time. She always missed the family she left behind, but she was a true Moonjumper so she knew what was coming.’ Quiar sighed. ‘That, sadly, is a part of our job. We have to make sure the right people are in the right places at the right time. Leolin was, fortunately, and he took on the job that Athare had for him without complaining, even though I think I would have done, as he spent the rest of his life travelling from world to world, from time to time, never stopping for long.’

‘How does travelling the world effect someone’s lifespan?’

‘That depends on which race they were born as, to begin with, and then how much travelling they actually do. Leolin always made certain to celebrate his birthday on the actual day it was on Athare, so he’d know for certain how old he was. I think he was in his mid-twenties when he stepped onto Taithmarin and that change his life forever.’

‘Why?’

‘No one knows how it happened, but the door to Taithmarin affects anyone who steps through it. To begin with it wipes the memories of anyone who knew you and there is no way to get them back. Leolin found that particularly difficult in certain place, although the people he trusted were still good to him. Once it’s done that it affects your lifespan. He was both pleased it had happened and rather annoyed, as he had plans for his next life that he probably wouldn’t be able to use, but it did mean he would be able to spend more time travelling the Web.’ Quiar laughed. ‘When he got back I was the first world he came to and we had a long conversation about what his next steps were going to be. Even though he was closer to Athare we got along well.

‘At the time, though, I think he was annoyed with Athare for not warning him what would happen when he stepped onto Taithmarin, but at that time we didn’t actually know. It wasn’t until he got back, because the magic of the door didn’t affect us, that we realised what it had done, because it wasn’t unusual for people not to talk about him. They were, to begin with, doing it for his own protecting, so we didn’t think that something might have changed. Once Athare realised she made certain that his parents found themselves with another child to look after, although he wasn’t theirs, as she’d taken both of their children away from them, which hadn’t been her intention.

‘Eventually I did convince him of that. It helped when she apologised to him for being such an idiot and then we had a long conversation with Taithmarin about the door. Taith, sadly, doesn’t know why it happened, but she thinks it’s one of the compromises she had to make when she asked it to work with her. Her door really didn’t want any connection to the Web at all back then, so in order for it to happen he wanted certain safety mechanisms put in place, and one of them is the memory thing, as it means that no one would come looking for whoever it was who’d found themselves on Taithmarin.’

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.