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Cagliostro's goldfish experiments are bringing progress, but the first 3 sets of them die. The 4th set is shrinking. The 5th set disappears; one instant they're there, the next they are gone. One out of the first set disappears subsequently.
Cagliostro decides to make shielding his magic toys from scrying view his top priority.
The third set are breeding, despite all the first previously being the same sex.
Cagliostro eventually converses about research to one of his demons, regarding the realness of various things.
Soon after dealing with this research, a disturbance is noted in Cagliostro's stronghold's magic wards.
The magic seems stronger on the side of the stronghold where the people were released. Cagliostro sends Absolom to check. About 20 minutes later, he gets a panicked phone call from Absolom asking for reinforcements, an expendable extraction team, but not to mess with the defenses. Cagliostro complies and sends it. Absolom resolves to take one of the opposing forces prisoner for questioning.
Cagliostro has made use of magic-sucking crystals, and supplied them to various forces of his.
Absolom's extraction team succeeds, and returns with prisoner in tow.
The prisoner is spouting off at them. Cagliostro treies to deconjure a portion of the prisoner. It looks like he just flayed off the skin of the prisoner.
Cagliostro deconjures the guys shinbones, and the guy can no longer stand up. Cagliostro then conjures a truth serum directly into his bloodstream. The guy doesn't even notice. Cagliostro asks him why he's here.
"To avenge our master for the one who betrayed him."
He asks the prisoner to describe the forces with which he came, and he does so. All of them were spellcasters, about 5-15 peoplein all. More will be sent if such is the will of his master. The master knows all. The master is currently at the heart of his power, which is a Kublai Khan-esque place. The description is boring and long.
Cagliostro creates a hollow-point bullet with the crystal in them. He makes a few cases of said ammo.
Four of Cagliostro's ninja extraction team survived. The idiot prisoner is the only survivor on his side. They were just here to smack one the villagers of Cagliostro as far as he can tell.
Cagliostro zaps the prisoner's short term memory so he can ask more questions. According to the prisoner, his parents gave him to the lord and master on his sixth birthday. He learned magic from him. He followed the leader to get here. He did not question why or how. He is just an apprentice. He has a lot of raw magic, but not a lot of training. A great deal of native talent.
He appears to be all of 8 years old. There is no artificial aging apparent. He does appear human.
Cagliostro wipes his memory back to the point of being 6 years old, then heals him. Cagliostro notes that there is a family resmblance between him and the prince. Cagliostro opts to take him in due to his talent. Cagliostro informs Absolom and Roland of the family resmblance.
Absolom puts his hand around the kid and says, "Son, being won into new fortunes, you need a new name...Mordred."
Cagliostro begins work on a neuralizer. He hands them out to his lieutenants.
Elsewhere, in another castaway piece of fruit, Caelin wakes up, and is dealt back in.
On a melting mountain somewhere in this reality A new Logrus initiate reaches the bottom of the mountain. Caterpillar-like things rush up to him and offer him leaves. He happily eats them. He also eats the caterpillars who offered them. Also tasty. He goes to the valley and eats all the critters in the valley. Up along the edge of the valley, he notices the caterpillars cheering. He goes up to them to converse. He chooses a name for himself: Indigo.
He curls up and goes to sleep in the valley. When he wakes up, he finds he is being groomed by the caterpillars, who think he is a god. When he speaks to them, he notices that the words are taking solid shape and falling onto the ground in the valley. He eats a few of them. Also tasty. He suddenly has a vague memory of the logrus antechamber, and popcorn being eaten by someone important. He thinks about popcorn as he says the word, and reflexively reaches out with Logrus and brings back popcorn. He then wonders if he can get to the antechamber the same way, and does so, again reflexively.
Indigo shows up in the Logus antechamber. There are chunks of a failed Logrus essayist nearby. He wanders over and tastes them. They're very tasty. One of the other people waiting to walk the Logrus is cowering from Indigo. He asks Suhuy if he can eat the cowering initiate. He replies that Indigo should wait until he at least has tried to walk the Logrus. Said initiate immediately jumps on the Logrus, fails due to being in the absolutely wrong mindset, and explodes. Indigo wanders over and eats the remaining chunks of failed initiate. Suhuy finds the bits of Indigo's memory that were lost on Logrus tendrils and stuffs the back into the area where his brain lurks. Indigo changes shape and gives Lord Suhuy the proper bow. He knows now that he is a member of House Chanicut. His name isn't Indigo, it's Geryon, of House Chanicut. He Logrus pulls off to meet the proscribed teacher. When arriving at the new meeting location, he meets another living creature who then turns into Indigo's shape--a relatively small bug with many legs, and offers to teach him more about the Logrus. Indigo runs along with him. He teaches him to use tendrils to grab things, to yank himself to things or places, and eventually to read Logrus signatures.
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