^^ Golem ^^

Everyone had had some sort of dream, it seemed. None of us talked about it, but everyone looked pensive, thinking deeply about something. Everyone except Clark, who was missing.

"Has anyone seen Clark?" I asked, checking every room in case he'd left the lounge (where we'd all slept huddled together around the crank generator,) for some privacy.

"He said he'd be on watch tonight, before we slept... I think he's in the caboose?" Sam hummed, looking out the window at the Third Sunrise since we'd come here.

"He'd have frozen to death, given that we were hiding from a blizzard he warned us about, so I hope you're joking?" I frowned, and when they shrugged, I stepped outside, closing the door quickly to keep the warmth inside as the howling winds continued. There wasn't much snow, thankfully, so it wasn't a difficult walk up the mountain, if you kept low. Being 6 foot 8, keeping low was difficult for me.

I saw a small fire, as I finally crested the mountain, and relaxed a bit when I saw him in the caboose, sitting next to Luna and warming himself to a fire. I knocked on the door, and grinned. "Am I interrupting something, lovebirds? Was worried you'd frozen to death up here!"

Luna frowned at me disapprovingly, but waved me in, shielding her eyes when the door cracked open slightly. I closed it quickly, and sat across from them around the little fire. "Good morning, Theodora... you look... happy?" She raised an ivory eyebrow at me curiously.

"Is there a question in there somewhere?" I retorted, grinning.

"Yes, why are you happy?" She didn't take the bait, instead calmly asking me the question, verbally this time.

"Well, I've got a project, and that's always nice, and I've also just been given a Commission to build a very nice statue! Hey, do you know what 'Golem Magic' is? Also, what can you tell me about Yeera, the Goddess of Death and Art?" I wasn't very skilled at Duplicity, and I didn't often bother trying.

She blinked a few times, and then hummed. "Two members of your party visited by god's... in one night. Impressive."

"Actually, Yeera said because we were all Artists, she was speaking to and blessing all of us, except Clark, who Dream was speaking to because he's a Healer, not an Artist. Now, what's her deal? She's the Twin of your god, the Dreamer, so she's not Evil or anything, yeah? I didn't sell my soul or anything... right?" I grinned awkwardly at her intense, soul-piercing gaze, and she slowly blinked, once, twice, and then shook herself like she was waking up.

"Sorry, I was a bit... alright, Yeera does bless Artists, yes, and no, she's not Evil. You didn't Sell your Soul. But for her to bless all of you, that would mean Dream has to bless just as many people... that's the Law of Balance, amongst the Gods." She smiled, seemingly happy about that portion.

"Okay, my turn; Why are you happy about that?" I asked slowly.

"There are Eight new Healers in this country, why wouldn't I be happy?!?" She giggled, leaning back against the wall and chuckling to herself.

"Are Healers very rare?" I asked, now even more curious.

She blinked, staring at me in shock, then chuckled again softly. "I'm sorry, I forget you're new to this world... there are only 24 Blessed Healers and 24 Blessed Artists on this Continent, at any given time... with an addition of eight, that's 32, which means that there's going to be Eight more Blessed Politicians and Eight more Blessed Generals; it will be either an Age of Peace, or an Age of War. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose."

"Or Eight of your Artists and One Healer just died, and we took the empty seats at the table... if your Gods are all about Balance, wouldn't that be more likely than them restructuring their little thing to fit us?" I proposed the alternative, and shrugged when Clark glared at me thunderously for the rude, careless comment. "What? Someone has to assume the worst."

Her face seemed to pale, (if that was possible,) and she shot up to her feet like an arrow from a bow. "I will go check on my allies... Clark, I will return to answer any more questions you have... and you can think about my offer. Good bye, for now. And thank you, Theodora, for bringing that possibility to my attention." She disappeared on the spot, and silence fell, punctuated by the fire crackling.

"Well... they went well, I guess? But hey, loverboy, What offer, huh?" I nudged him playfully with an elbow, and he blushed, shoving at my shoulder.

"Not that kind of offer!!! She wants to teach me about healing, in the Capital; apparently, almost all the Healers on the Continent are part of a group that researches medicine and stuff, and shares their non-magical findings with hospitals and hedgewitches all over." He sighed, rubbing his face.

"So it's an Oxford College of Medicine? Pretty simple, is there a tuition requirement? Are you worried about leaving here and us not having a healer? Worried about leaving here and us leaving without you? Worried about this new world and how it might treat you? Just talk, kid, I'm not judgy." I shrugged and kicked my feet up, leaning back against the seats and watching him through half-closed eyes.

He sighed heavily, and nodded. "Yes? To all of those? Magic... the idea of it... it's both amazing and scary... the ability to manipulate the human body with nothing but energy that flows from an astral plane that we don't even understand?"

"Seems pretty straightforward to me, actually; the Afterlives are places our souls are stored for later use. Our souls are potent batteries, and they charge up the Gods. Human Mages tap into their own souls to use Magic, while Healers tap into the 'Astral Plane', which I guess is just a mass of Souls and Energy encapsulated by some unknown force. Now, how one Quantifies the energy of a soul, -which has to be Quantum in nature, considering we cannot detect it,- that I don't know... but overall, I think it's pretty simple; it's a Symbiotic Relationship, and you're leeching power from a Host, in order to heal someone. I suppose it's possible to use your own soul to heal, like any other Mage, and I imagine that's why she was careful to say 'Blessed Healer', but I doubt that's very cost-effective, and I doubt even more that it's safe." I shrugged, giving my thoughts on the matter and leaving it with him to pick through.

He was silent for a little while, thinking to himself, and eventually he seemed to nod to himself, before staring into the fire. "I guess that makes sense. You're pretty smart, you know that?"

"I try. But to be honest, once you get the magic figured out, you already have a medical degree, and don't even pretend that human biology is more difficult than other mammals! You don't need to be taught how to reconnect a muscle or stitch a cut, right? So just get some pointers from Luna, learn the magical ropes, and you're good to go." I shrugged casually, hoping my lackadaisical attitude would help him relax.

He chuckled, nodding. "You're not wrong, humans are just very big mammals, in the end... and I did spend some time at the CDC, so at least I understand most common pathogens, and how to combat them, but I don't have access to medicine, here. I don't even know if Penicillin exists here!"

"We'll be fine. If we're not, then we're not, but for now, I believe we'll be fine. Okay? Chill, and enjoy the sunbeams while you have them; the sun is about to crest this storm, and disappear, after all. We'll need to get back down there before that happens; keeping watch alone during a blizzard is a bad idea." I stood and stomped out the little fire he'd built, apparently from some dead wood from all the way down the slope, at the bottom of the mountain where there were actually trees.

He sighed at the loss of heat, and bundled himself back up in a thick leather duster-coat, with three visible layers of shirts and two pairs of pants on underneath that, but he followed me out and down the mountain amidst grumbled protests.

We rejoined our fellows, eating the breakfast that Sam had cooked up for us all, and spent the day leisurely, waiting for the storm to pass so we could get back to work; we all had new projects, it seemed, and we were itching to work at them as immediately as possible.

For my part, I was designing those Golems I'd seen in my dream. For the first one, I wasn't getting too fancy; a simple wood, clay, and steel humanoid(?) to protect the mountain. I didn't want to get too detailed, and miss something in the basics, after all.

—

The storm raged around our comfy little hovel for several more days, almost a week, and I was starting to get worried about the baby, more than the rest of us; we were running out of baby formula, and with only four(?) women here and none of them lactating, I wasn't sure what to do about that.

"Well... I don't want to presume, or be rude, but... I could Induce lactation in your Mammary Glands, Miss Rhea?" Clark muttered as we debated the subject, blushing like an apple while attempting to seem professional.

She blinked slowly, and looked at me, then him. "What?"

He cleared his throat loudly. "Well! I-it's a relatively simple process, I've done it for cows that weren't properly lactating-"

"Cows." She raised an eyebrow imperiously at him.

"Yes. Cows. And an Ape, once, at the Bronx Zoo!" He defended the proposal defiantly, more focused on his ability to do so, rather than her doubts about the procedure itself.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead, and then nodded. "Alright, what, then? Don't I have to get pregnant for that? Are you offering?" She asked irritably, tired and cranky and altogether not having anyone's shit today. We were all a little cooped up, from the storm.

"What?!? NO!!! No on BOTH counts!!!" He yelped, leaning away from her glare, which did seem to have physical properties. The woman had a mean glare. "It's a simple medical procedure of applying hormones into the mammary glands to make them think you're pregnant, and they'll start working on their own!!!" He muttered a few comments about irritable women under his breath, and gratefully took the bottle of wine I passed to him, taking a deep gulp.

She hummed, relaxing slowly. "I see... and these hormones, where do you get them?"

"Your ovaries? Where else? I'm not doing brain surgery on you, it's a simple needle into the ovary, extract a tenth-ounce of fluid, concentrate that into two doses of one-twentieth-ounce, one for each gland, and then inject it there; within a week, your breasts will get very sore, and heavy, and your own hormones will raise to the same as if you were actually pregnant, you'll miss a period, but thankfully the heightened hormones part will only last for about a week, because your body will not be receiving any hormones from the nonexistent baby in your womb, so it'll settle down, but your breasts will continue to lactate for a number of years, which... anywhere from 2-4 years after birth is when you're supposed to help babies wean entirely off of breast milk, so that'll be fine." He hit his stride, explaining the medicine of it, and forgot his embarrassment for a moment, before taking another big drink at the look on her face.

She lowered the ironic eyebrow, and then chuckled. "I see, so no problems except pregnancy hormones for a pair of weeks and a missed period?"

"Yes." He nodded, and handed her the bottle. "And if you intend to follow through with that plan, best drink now, because you can't drink alcohol when you're breast-feeding. Smoking is also not tolerated, as well as-"

"I've nursed a baby before, Clark, three, in fact... I'm quite aware of those parts of this situation." She remarked dryly, shutting him up, and then finished off the bottle in several long gulps. "Now take little Nick for a bit, Medea, I'd like to get some sleep... Clark, we'll do that thing tomorrow." She handed the bundled baby to Medea, and laid down, snoring instantly.

I chuckled and looked at the window, watching the snow flurry on the other mountains until the sight and sound lured me to sleep.

—

Finally, the storm broke the next morning, and like a beehive struck with a rock, we all scurried off to work work work!!! Helen had been tinkering with the wheels of the train cars, the two frames that had come off in the collision, and she enlisted Johann to move them for her, while James got to work repairing the outer damage from the collisions, (basically hammering the metal back into shape and buffing out the dents,) Clark and Rhea went off somewhere private and sterile to handle the necessaries, and Sam and Cassidy started working together to grow some spices for the menu, turning the second car into a greenhouse, which we didn't mind at all, as it made the air inside smell heavenly. Medea was off with the baby 'Nick', studying her physics textbook, which she'd brought with her on the trip, so she could do her homework. As adorable as that sounded, it was at least double.

But me, being alone with my thoughts, I collected materials and attempted to sculpt a Golem.

At first, I thought that I was just at the top of my game, sculpting faster than I could think, but soon I realized that the clay was leaving my hand before it touched the wood and metal; it was literally sculpting itself, all according to my vision of it. The metal, the clay, and the wood, they all obeyed my thoughts, and moved along the imaginary tethers I built for them. This excited me in ways I couldn't describe, but then disappointment struck: I attempted to lift my hammer with this ability, and nothing happened. I attempted to move a coffee cup: nothing. It only seemed to work when I was building something.

A thought struck me, of what Yeera had said. She had blessed my ability, but when she did so, she specified that she would help me build and create things, and that my thought to build her her own Parthenos had granted me a Boon, a further increase of the ability's potency, but no change as to its limitations. "Still, pretty awesome, right?" I chuckled to myself, and looked at the completed creature. "Now... how do I make you move?" I asked, and scratched my head.

The creature immediately mimicked me, producing a dull scraping noise from the metal of its gauntlets to the metal of its helmet.

"Oooh, it's Intent-Based... Go Guard the Mountain and My Clan from any aggressive persons or beasts!" I pointed at the slope, and waited as it stared at me. A few seconds later, it bowed at the waist, and began traipsing down the mountain smoothly, the joints I'd built for it working as they should.

"Hey, Theo-WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Cassidy shrieked, falling backwards as she passed the walking creature.

It spared her a glance, and then casually picked her up, standing her on her feet, and walked away, beginning a circuit around the plateau.

"Huh... it's capable of independent action?" I muttered, and then looked at the confused, harried-looking Cassidy. "Yes love, what did you need?"

She shook herself, then pointed at the creature. "What is that?" She asked sternly.

"A Golem, I created it." I nodded calmly.

"Alright... Alright, cool, magic, that's fine. Listen, I need to ask you something, okay?" She sighed and rubbed her forehead, sitting in front of me.

"Shoot." I shrugged, and picked up some more clay, beginning a second golem.

"So, I only have enough of my medicine for another three days; this is one of the reasons I was going back to New York..." she sighed.

"Is it life-threatening?" I asked, keeping my eyes on my work; my gaze was very penetrating, to most people, and it froze them like a deer in headlights, so I found it best to look away, and allow them to speak freely.

"Nnnnnoooooo?" She shrugged helplessly.

"Is it birth-control? I've got some, if you need it." I asked casually, and finished the legs, starting the torso.

"No... it's, uh... Estrogen?" She cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Ah. And why did you come to me, instead of Clark? He's the Doctor-Vet-Healer-Whatever." I hummed curiously, wondering what I could do to help.

"I did, and he told me I needed someone to donate some, and Rhea needs all of hers for becoming a milk-factory, Medea's too young, Helen is Menopausal, and... I don't know what Sam is." She sighed heavily.

"Helen is Menopausal? Huh... guess Asians really do age well; I wouldn't have guessed she was a day over thirty!" I chuckled softly, amused by the revelation.

"Yeah... so... do you mind? I don't know why, but I just kinda guessed you wouldn't mind, and now I'm doubting myself, and-"

"Do you need this?" I asked simply.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then no, I don't mind. Now go tell Clark to come to me when he's ready for all the nonsense required; I'm too busy to go to him." I shooed her out before she could pop, she looked about ready to, and finished the head, beginning the process of adding the metal armor onto the golem, which would bolster its defensive capabilities quite a bit.

I'd made four of them when I began to feel tired. When I finished the fifth, I began yawning, my eyes barely staying open for long, despite being awake for only six hours today. When I finished the sixth, and gave it its orders, my vision went dark.