Chapter 14: Raindrops

As I make my way down the hallway, I think about the possible things I could say. I haven't interacted with Seraphina much, but she seems to be among the level-headed Apostles. She's better than the twins, at any rate – of that I'm sure. I hope Ozymandias hasn't gotten to her already. To say he reacted poorly upon finding out there's someone out there as powerful as him wouldn't quite be correct. He did his best to hide it, but he was definitely nervous. Must be nice to be at the top of the food chain at all times. It never even occurred to him that there might be someone out there who can threaten him. It took two Apostles and four others to bring down Risk, and even then, it seems that he survived. Had Yukiji not poisoned him, I'm pretty sure the rest of us would be dead right now. There's also Juno, who seems to be on the same level as Risk. She implied she'd be able to save him. Does that mean they have a healer with her amounts of mana? I don't see how such a person can ever be dealt a serious injury, let alone be put down for good.

"State your name and business," the guard in front of Seraphina's lab says, blocking my path with his spear, which is probably pointless. If anyone tried breaking into an Apostle's place, that person would definitely be a mage, and a regular man wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop them.

"Jonah," I reply. "Personal matters."

"Lady Seraphina has not announced any visitors." The look in his eyes is one of disgust. Does he hate working for her? Is it contempt for all mages? "Schedule an appointment beforehand, or get lost."

I give him a dismissive glance – the same one Kieran would get from our parents if they were talking to me when he tried to get attention. I know just how much it can sting. Then I keep walking forward.

"Did you not hear me?" the guard grumbles, stepping in my way.

"I heard," I tell him, holding up a ball of fire. "She can yell at me later. Right now, you can move or you can die."

His eyes widen as he backs off a little. "Please," he says. "I'll be punished for this."

"No, you won't," I assure him, extinguishing the fire and proceeding on ahead. "She doesn't actually expect you to take a mage down. If anything, you're just here so your death might alert her to an intruder." That's how I'd use a human, anyway. No other use against mages, really. The guard doesn't do anything to stop me, sweating in his corner, and I push open the door.

To say the inside is a mess would be to paint messes everywhere in a negative light. It's chaos. Books and binders are everywhere, as well as bottles of all sorts of things. Entire shelves are covered in potions, scripts and items that no doubt have magic in them.

"Ah, Ozymandias," Seraphina says. Fake. "Took you long enough-" She stops when she comes out from behind a large stack of boxes, shaking the flask in her hand to make its contents mix. "Oh, it's you. How'd you get past my guard?" She means to ask how I killed him without her knowing it, of course.

"Reminded him I'm a mage," I answer, and she sighs.

"A design flaw, then. Pity." She puts her flask down, then crosses her arms. "Well, what do you want? I'm terribly busy."

"Where's Snow?" I've waited long enough. I'm not leaving the kid alone any longer than I have to.

"Why do you care about him? He's of no relation to you." How can she tell? Can mages feel that sort of thing? Still so much I don't know, despite having come so far.

"He's a friend. That's all. How's he doing?"

"He's infected by demonic DNA. You tell me."

"So, not good?"

Seraphina rolls her eyes, then turns around and gestures for me to follow. "You're about as tough as any magic knight who isn't an Apostle right now. Scary stuff, kid – for you to have gotten so much better in such a short amount of time. Fighting with you now – and especially in here – would be disastrous. Don't consider this me being on your side, please. I'm just taking the path that'll cause the least amount of damage. You'll have a few minutes with the kid, then you've gotta go."

I nod, and she leads me out of her lab and into a backroom, where I see Snow, sitting on a chair, eating something strange and white with a small spoon. "Jonah!" he says happily as he sees me, then gets off his chair and comes closer, giving me a hug. Reluctantly, I return it. He gets way too attached for his own good. A stranger wouldn't even need to offer him candy to get him to follow them. "Does this mean we're done? No more needles? I can go?" He looks up at me with pleading eyes, and I glare at the Apostle next to me.

Seraphina raises her hands right away. "Not what you think. I just need his blood to figure out how to undo what's been done to him."

"And there's a need to undo it?" I ask. "You've figured out that the demonic DNA is doing something to him?"

She stiffens at that, then spares Snow a glance. What's that I see in her eyes? Worry? "Well, not exactly, but there is something else I'm going to need the cure for."

Snow keeps tugging on my arm, but I ignore him and continue to speak. "What do you mean? There's someone else who's been infected?" Snow gives me one more tug, and I show him my scolding figure. All I'm missing is a wife, and I can be considered an actual father at this point.

"Medea appears to be possessed as well," Seraphina explains. "Ryan may have been as well. You did find her conspiring with a demon, after all. It's probably why they did what they did. So far, none of us have been able to make Medea talk. She's the undisputed master of pain, after all. Torture isn't going to get us anywhere, and neither are death threats, for she knows we cannot afford to kill her before learning everything. If I find a way to reverse the possession, the human Medea might be able to tell us something about your family and the pendant, as well as what the devils are up to."

Well, that makes things simpler. "I can-"

"The demon has been in there too long for you to banish it in the dream world," Seraphina cuts me off. "Oz has tried. It got him nowhere. You will wait for me to figure out a way to do it."

"Wait, wait, wait," I snap, and Snow takes a step back. "All you people want me to do is wait. Gotta save your family? Just wait. Found a new lead on them? Wait some more. I'm starting to think you don't want me to find them at all. Is that your plan?" I glare at her, and she seems scared of me. Lies. We both know she can take me with ease. "You want me to stick around for as long as possible, so that I'm not out there, doing things by myself? Is that-"

"That is it exactly," she interrupts, flaring her own mana. "What would you do? Run around, leaving bodies in your wake? You have no idea how to gather information, let alone how to handle mages. You may be a prodigy, but you're still a novice. One lucky hit from another mage, and you're down for the count. You have exactly zero long-range abilities, and closing the distance in a battle of magic is suicidal in most cases. Now watch your town, boy, or I'll consider my hand forced, and put you in your place."

The longer we stare at each other, the more Snow shivers. Ultimately, I'm the one to back off. I wish I could say it's because I don't want him to be scared, but the truth is that she's right. I can't do anything to help my family, and I'm stuck with people who aren't doing a good job of it. The second reason is that Seraphina would mop the floor with me in an instant, the way Risk did in Rook.

"Snow comes with me," I tell her. I trust I don't need to mention that it's a compromise she has to agree to.

"Whenever I need some of his blood, he's to come here."

I nod, then take Snow's hand and start pulling him out of there. When we leave the lab, the guard backs away from the kid, eyeing the horns in fear. They're not even that bad, but I guess just the thought of a devil being near you would be enough to scare most people to death.

"Stare too long and you'll turn to stone," I whisper, and the guard gulps. Idiot.

The two of us make our way back to the room I'm sharing with Raksha and Yukiji. "Did she hurt you?"

Snow looks up at me. "Miss Sera? No, she was really sweet." Odd.

"The needles didn't scare you?"

"I'm used to it. I used to sell my blood so I could eat."

I wince at that. I can't believe I used to consider my family poor. Compared to Snow's previous situation, we might as well have been royalty. "You can eat as much as you'd like now, you know."

"But what'll you eat, then?"

I can't help but laugh at that. "There's enough for everyone."

In a few minutes, we reach the room. I can feel Raksha in there, doing something with his mana. Pushing the door open, I exclaim, "Honey, I'm home."

"A pity. I was hoping you'd get lost and stay away forever."

"You wound me." I look at the various objects he's lifting using wind. "What're you doing?" Giving him a second look, I realize he's covered in sweat. If I didn't know better... "Are you training?"

"Of course," he replies. "The enemy in Rook completely outclassed us in every way. If we are to face more foes of such a magnitude, I wish to be prepared." He's trying to sound casual, but he's hating every word he utters. His pride has been damaged beyond repair. Now that it's gone, there are two directions he can take; He can grow into a better person, striving to do better, or he can wallow in his bitterness, and keep clinging to pride that isn't there. I'm interested in seeing which it'll be.

"Seen Yukiji around?" I've got a question for her. My memory's starting to get fuzzy again.

"The cat-girl is with the monkey spy," Raksha answers, and I probably turn red. "You really do not like him." No, I fucking do not. I'm just surprised Obi didn't leave us behind in Rook. "We would all be dead without his help."

"No, we would not," I reply. "Yukiji saved us, not Obi. What are those two doing together, anyway?"

"It was my idea," someone says from behind me, and I turn back toward the door to find Aisha standing there. "You look like hell. Was Rook really that bad?" It made Ryan and the Labyrinth seem like a vacation.

"What was your idea? Getting them alone so he can kill her?"

Aisha rolls her eyes at me. "Why would I want her to be harmed, you idiot? The boy is my competition, not Yukiji. I heard you had one of Ryan's people working for you, so I went ahead and paired them with someone working for Medea. Together, they can go over the locations they were sent to. This'll both eliminate possible places where the pendant might be, and also help us deduce everything else Medea and Ryan have been up to. It could lead us to the enemy who put the fear of God in you."

She knows. Who told her? I doubt it was Raksha. He wouldn't indulge even in idle banter, let alone something like this. She came for Yukiji after knowing, so it wasn't her, either. Snow himself doesn't know. It had to be an Apostle.

Aisha notices that I'm taking my time, and gives a confident smirk. "Trying to puzzle out who it was?" Damn it. "You're not used to someone thinking on the same level as you, are you? Well, tell ya what; Do something for me, and I'll tell you."

I glance at Raksha, who is punching the air in front of him, sending small bits of wind toward the furniture he's lifting. He's no help. Do I agree? Do I really have to know who told her? It's not like I trust any of the Apostles, apart from the twins, since those two were close to dying against Risk. Hard to imagine them as his allies. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want to prepare for the next trial, of course," the girl replies, and I notice she's wearing a ruby pendant around her neck. In fact, she has several ruby rings, too, and a big one around her belt. Where'd she get that? What did she trade for it? "Well, not just the trial." Aisha sighs, slouching her shoulders. "We can't really battle opponents who can take on the Apostles, and there's a whole race of them coming for us. This'll be a way for us to get stronger, but it requires five participants. I doubt I need to ask the kid-" she gestures for Snow, who is checking his horns out in the mirror in the corner of the room. "-and Marcus already agreed. You and the djinn will make five."

I narrow my eyes – or try to – it's hard to tell what I look like right now. "And why does it require five?"

"No need for the hostility, baby doll. It's going to take five because the thing we'll be practicing against is... peculiar." I, for one, don't like the sound of that. Peculiar things have been getting more and more lethal lately. "Look, you can come or you can stay, but you could use the practice. You've got some nice power, but you've got no clue how to use it right. This'll help, I swear. Meet us at the palace entrance at sundown. I've got things to do until then." With that, she dramatically flips her hair over her shoulder and walks away. Must she be so extra?

When I turn around, I realize Raksha isn't wearing a shirt, and definitely turn red before looking away. "We talked about this."

"I am sweating, and I do not intend to ruin the clothing we... procured."

I smile at that. Still too uptight to admit he stole something, eh? "So, Yukiji and Obi – where are they?"

Raksha frowns at me, then puts all the furniture he's holding up back on the floor, and gets fully dressed again. "You should not be alone with him."

"But you had no problem letting Yukiji be alone with him?"

Raksha puts his hands on his hips. "It is not you I would worry about if you two were alone together." What? "You dislike him enough to do something out of anger. If you killed him and got arrested, I would be imprisoned for life." Imprisoned. Imprisoned for life... The urn! Oh my God, is the urn still here!?

I rush over to my bed, then quickly check under it. Oh, thank fuck, my bag is still there. I pull it out, then peek inside. Phew. Urn's still inside. Better not let Raksha know I nearly made him a slave just now. "Alright, come with me then. Just don't get in the way of my murdering."

"You will never accomplish being funny."

I roll my eyes, but smile as we leave the room, Raksha leading the way. He goes down several flights of stairs, and the further down we go, the fewer windows I see on the walls beside us, until we reach hallways with nothing but walls surrounding them. Are we underground now? Why would they be here?

I hear a pained gasp coming from the room on my right, and recognize the voice immediately. Yukiji's in trouble. I rush into the room, slamming the door open. "Obi, you mother-"

He's bandaging her hand, both of them looking at me in surprise. There's a shattered oil lamp on the floor. "I wasn't aware I'd become a mother," Obi tells me. "Who's the lucky guy?"

For once, I don't have a retort. Instead, I do my best to collect myself and forever forget the shame I just brought upon my family. Raksha is standing a bit behind me, stifling laughter. I elbow him in the gut, then approach the two and start healing Yukiji. "You okay?"

She nods, and we sit down on the simple bed that's there. It's the only piece of furniture I see, apart from another lamp- "Why're you down here?"

Obi points at Raksha. "We couldn't really talk in your room because of him, so we went to mine instead." I look around again. This room is barely big enough for one person to feel comfortable in. With four of us here, Raksha has to keep the door open and stay in the doorway. Obi lives here? "Starting to get why I want out of this business?"

I look at him cautiously. While I do sympathize, I can't let myself rely on him again. Obi is looking out for Obi, and that's fine. I can't chide him for doing what I'm doing.

What am I doing?

Raksha is meant to be teaching me magic, but is instead bettering himself, while I learn from experience and seem to figure out new things about me every step of the way. Yukiji was supposed to be an assistant, wasn't she? At this point, I don't even want those two to be involved in any of this.

I look down at my knees. Despite how strong I've gotten, I've made no progress. My father and brother are out there, hiding, while Medea has my mother somewhere. What have I been doing? I forced Raksha into this, then picked up two kids and started taking care of them. That's not what I came here to do. Kieran is in trouble. That is what I should focus on. The feelings of others don't matter.

I feel tugging on my arm, and look at Yukiji. "Are you okay?"

With those three words, all air is taken from my lungs. I try to breathe in some more, but nothing's coming in. "So stuffy in here." I stand up and start walking toward the door. Pushing past Raksha, I start hyperventilating. What's going on? Why can't I breathe?

"Jonah," the djinn calls after me, turning me around. He looks worried. All three of them do. Why're you worried? We're not friends. I can't afford friends right now. "Jonah, are you alright?"

I try to pull away from him, but don't have the strength to. Instead, I end up toppling over, forcing Raksha to catch me and lift me up. I'm so tired. Why am I so tired? I haven't actually accomplished anything. Kieran is still in trouble. Kieran – my Kieran – the little boy who would run up to greet me every time I came back from the restaurant. I need to get to him. I need to get to him now.

I try to wiggle out of Raksha's grip again, but he's not having it. "What's going on? What's wrong with him?"

My eyes briefly fall upon Yukiji, letting me see her shaking a few feet away. Don't look at me like that. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to do this anymore. I just want my brother to be safe. I want my Kieran back.

I feel a bit of pressure on my forehead. It takes me a minute to realize Obi is holding his finger against it. In an instant, all my worries fade away, and I feel calm as ever. I open my mouth, and Raksha starts forcing air into my lungs. A few moments later, I start coughing, and attempt to get back down on my feet. Hesitantly, Raksha places me down, but makes sure to hold my back.

"That was quite the episode," Obi comments. "You alright, kid?"

I jab my finger below his ribs, and he jumps away in discomfort. "You're not that much older than me."

Raksha only now seems to remember he has to breathe as well, and sighs deeply. "You are alright now?"

"Just peachy."

"what was-"

I give him a meaningful look. Not now. I don't want to get into this now. Thankfully, he understands, and gives a small nod before turning toward Yukiji. Ah, right. That's what I came here for.

"Can I ask you something?" I say to her, then realize she's close to crying. No. No, don't. I can't comfort you right now. I can't even comfort myself. I don't have enough room in my heart for more people. Stop looking at me like that. "Have you ever turned invisible around me before?" Yes, I need to focus on the task at hand. I can't lose sight of Kieran. I need to keep his face in my mind. His face... What did his face look like again? He had big eyes... What color where they? What was his hair like? Why can't I remember?

Why can't I remember what any of them look like? I can't remember my parents or my brother. It has to be temporary. It's just something this panic attack caused. I need to calm down and focus. It'll come back to me later, when my brain has had enough oxygen.

"I have," Yukiji tells me. "Against Ryan, but you could see me back then." She's still on the verge of tears. Both Obi and Raksha seem surprised by the casual tone I'm using with her. "T-The glamour didn't work, but I got better at it, so I could use it in Rook." Ah, so that's it.

"Alright, since I'm the adult, I guess I'll go ahead and be responsible," Obi announces, then lifts me up bridal-style. "You need to see a healer."

"Let me go," I reply, adding a pitiful attempt at hitting him. My arms have no strength in them. Damn. "I'm fine. Let me go, Obi."

"You're stubborn, and an idiot, but you're not fine. I'm taking you to a healer. She's the best one we've got, too." He starts climbing up the stairs, and I hear the other two follow after him.

"I can carry him with my magic," Raksha says from behind.

"It's fine," Obi tells him. "He's about as heavy as a pillow. All skin and bones here."

The two continue to bicker as I'm taken to whomever Obi just mentioned. I try to recall some more things, but find that my memory about just nearly everything is hazy. The only thing I can clearly recall is a pair of yellow eyes. They stare into me as though I'm an insect, and I know they bring death with them. I can't do anything under the pressure they bring. I shiver a bit, then accidentally let a sob escape my dry throat. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!

"Kid needs to learn to talk to people more," Obi whispers, and I silently start crying as they take me to the healer.