Chapter Text
The Years That Have Passed
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Whatever he wants.
He gives her a suspicious look.
◃What does that mean?▹
◃Honestly, there's no need to be so suspicious. It means exactly what it sounds like ▹
◃So I can do whatever I want? No catch?▹
◃Yes. No catch.▹
Whatever he wants. What does he want? The answer comes easily - to know who he is. He wants his memories back. His head feels empty, like a giant storage room with only one sack of grain in it when there should be hundreds. He only has the memories he's made since waking up but he feels the ones he's missing. He knows what they're like by the hole they've left behind.
◃I want to regain my memories.▹
◃Okay. We'll do that then.▹
◃We?▹
◃Well you don't expect to get them back yourself, do you?▹
◃I hadn't thought about it.▹
She raises an eyebrow.
◃Clearly. Come on then, we might as well start now. We've got nothing better to do.▹
◃What're we doing?▹
◃I'm teaching you magic.▹
◃Why? Can't you just... spell them back?▹
She gives him a disapproving look.
◃Don't be lazy. Didn't I tell you you have to earn them back? You're going to learn how to do it yourself.▹
◃How long will that take?▹
◃No idea. I can't tell you that until I see how fast you can pick it up. I think you'll have at least some magical talent considering how close your destiny is to magic but I have no idea how much. And I've never taught anyone before.▹
◃What? Never?▹
◃Nope. I didn't learn it when I was alive and, well, I'm a lake now. You don't usually come to a lake for training in the use of magic.▹
◃How will you teach me?▹
◃How people used to be taught. My husband never had to learn like them as he was born with the ability but he's taught a lot of people. He can give me the knowledge on how to do it.▹
This seems strange to him. Up until know, Freya has seemed all-knowing. The thought that there's something she doesn't know and has to ask for help with changes the way he sees her.
◃Of course,▹
She continues,
◃It's been a thousand years or so since he's had to do it, but his memory is very good.▹
◃A thousand years?▹
◃Yes.▹
She says sadly.
◃The surface has changed a lot since our time.▹
◃Our time? How long has it been since then?▹
◃One and a half thousand years, or thereabouts. Your died less than a decade after me. I think it was about seven or eight years.▹
◃And... you've been alive all this time?▹
She smiles ruefully.
◃I'm not really alive, but I know what you mean. Yes. I have. The beginning's a bit hazy - I didn't actually become the lake until around the time of your death. Before that I was in Avalon and only came out every so often when destiny called.▹
This staggers him. He's been dead for one and half thousand years and she's been conscious for most of them. Although he can't remember what life was like when he was alive, he can still remember the shape of it. He wonders how much it's changed.
◃Wait, you said your husband hasn't had teach anyone in a thousand years. Why not?▹
◃Those who knew magic were becoming less and less common. Even in our time they were rare, what with-▹
She cuts herself off.
◃Anyway, the Normans invaded and by that time there were probably only ten or so actual magicians around, my husband not included, and the Norman rule distracted those who had any interest in learning. It just... died out. There was a period of time when he considered trying to start teaching again but then they started killing people for it even if they weren't actually using it and that hit a little too close to home with him so he changed his mind. Nowadays, people don't even believe in it.▹
◃Oh. That seems a little... sad.▹
◃I suppose it is. But times change, they always have, and the age of magic is coming back soon anyway.▹
◃How do you know?▹
◃You're here.▹
◃Me? What've I got to do with anything.▹
She sighs.
◃It doesn't matter now. You'll learn soon enough. Anyway, we're off topic. Time to teach you magic.▹
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