Alvin tilted his head. "Love crosses boundaries more easily than magic."
Silence fell.
Rowen choked on his tea in the corner.
Verin rubbed his face. "This is not measurable."
"Neither is grief," Alvin replied. "Yet it collapses empires."
The Time mage snapped, "We deal in logic."
"And yet," Alvin said coldly, "you reversed an entire continent out of guilt."
The room went quiet again.
Mages: When will this man let go of their dark history???!
Alvin exhaled and straightened. "World traveling magic circles must include three components you refuse to acknowledge."
He raised three fingers.
"One. A rupture acknowledgment rune. You must map the wound, not pretend it does not exist."
He raised a second finger.
"Two. A soul resonance anchor. Not coordinates. Not time stamps. The soul."
Several mages shifted uncomfortably.
"And three," Alvin said, voice steady but dangerous, "permission."
Verin laughed weakly. "From whom."
"The world," Alvin said.
