A wave of meaning flashed behind the word. Skilled, magic, a brief glimpse of the history surrounding it. He saw her most recent thoughts, noticed the barriers guarding her deeper ones, and did not press further. He'd already pried enough. "I'm not," he said, faltering. "Not how you mean. My abilities are...different in nature."

Skilled. Magic. There were texts, of course, about a universe encompassing multiple dimensions, but he'd never before encountered such stark evidence supporting it. Some things were not to be known, not by him. That was in the rules.

Nothing followed the rules any more, not even him.