At the heart of Bleys lies the Pattern. It was from this heart that we were able to build outward. Without Mandor's assistance I could not have even seen this fact. He guided me along the restructuring of the very small parts that made Bleys who he is. The details continue downward in on themselves to infinity. Unlike walking the Pattern it is the first step, not the last, which is the hardest. I made the smallest change, but it was wrong. I understood the mind much better than the body, which came as a surprise to me after all my years of healing. The material around Bleys' core changed, but not to flesh, to something like the flesh. It was not stone, but it was still lifeless tissue. Mandor saw the mistake immediately and instructed me to correct it. I made another tiny change, this one held a ring of truth. I duplicated it repeatedly so many times that it became too numerous to appreciate or describe. At this rate I would never finish, but life has its way of replicating and soon the changes were easier. I was able to step back to a finite scale of small size. I was able to grasp the real effects. It was not merely an exercise of repetition at this stage. There was a great deal more specialization, but I could feel the purpose. I could even identify their purpose as unique to Bleys. Mandor fed mystic energy to me as we physically reconstructed Bleys. I would go into detail here, but my memories are blurred. I was not self guided, but guided by the structure of Bleys himself. Well this went on for some time. How long I can not guess. At a point the process took over on its own. There was all manner of amazing sights, sounds, and sensations. It was awe inspiring. Then with a flash it was over. Bleys fell to the ground.

Physically, he was a mess. He suffered from post-suspension syndrome. There was evidence of severe optic neuropathy, posterior occipital lobe encephalopathy, core nerve disorder, peripheral neuropathy in the extremities, mild auditory depression, stasis induced inner ear vestibulitis, large and small colon dismotility, and temporary dispermatesticulisis. Still I knew he'd recover. Mandor was less certain. He offered his assistance. I smiled and thanked him greatly for his assistance, but Bleys' condition was now a medical issue and not one of some kind of meta-Logrus stasis. I hoisted Bleys up and took him back to Amber, but not before I made it clear to Mandor that I owed him one.

Upon returning to Amber I brought Bleys to the infirmary and Trumped Gerard. He examined Bleys, but made only vague diagnosis and made no prognosis. He seemed to be of the opinion that Bleys needed rest and relaxation. After Gerard left I began to fill Bleys in on recent events. I told him about Fiona's condition as the new Ygg. I told him about Caine's haphazard demise. I told him about the strange happenings of red-skied Amber. I told him about Benedict's brother on the loose. He was understandably overwhelmed. I gave him some orange juice and let him rest.

It wasn't long before Connie Trumped me. Luke had given him a Trump of a pleasant looking pond with geese and instructed him that he was to figure out what it was a Trump of, but he was not to activate it. I asked him if Luke said other people shouldn't activate it. Turns out he hadn't. We had a perfect good loophole in the rules. I activated the Trump. The card grew cold, but instead of a pond of geese I was connected to Luke. It was a little startling. I looked around for the pond, but Luke was at his new place. He had no idea why I had Trumped him. He seemed a little steamed when I told him I activated the pond Trump, since he had only instructed Connie not to do it. Secretly, I think that it bothered Luke more that we had used the same sort of trick that he would've used. Well, Luke figured he'd have to draw another sketch for Connie's next lesson. This time he should have better rules.

Once that fun was over Locke Trumped me. He had caught some guy out in shadow skulking around with Dalt's corpse. We pulled them both through to us. Locke explained the situation. The guy claimed to be delivering the body to Locke, but Locke pointed out that this fellow (I finally learned his name was Sax) kept doubling-back in shadow as if to avoid Locke. It sounded to me like he was a Watcher. Sax wouldn't tell us anything. He had sworn oaths. The guy was fanatically stubborn. We found the poison tooth, which Locke pulled to keep Sax from offing himself. That was typical Watchers M.O. Later I even found a Watchers broach on him. For a secret society they were terribly clumsy. I thought we should just let the guy go, but Locke wanted something out of him - I'm not sure what.

There is one interesting point about this, believe it or not. Locke had spoken to Merlin before he Trumped us. Merlin claimed that he'd never seen this Sax guy before, but he also said Sax was "too cowardly" to kill himself. This turned out to be very accurate. I think Merlin knew him. Of course I already knew Merlin was a Watcher. I don't really want to harm the Watchers. I just wish they'd quit getting underfoot.

Next it was Jessica's turn to Trump me. She had found signs of Benedict's rogue brother's handiwork. She pulled Connie through to her while Locke and I walked down to Amber City to meet up with them. We brought Sax along, but I'm pretty sure we should ditch him soon. I guess it's up to Locke.

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