As I come to, I realize I am not in Snow's room right now. For one, everything here is a lot more expensive. Secondly, there's a massive source of mana right outside the door. It feels warm and welcoming, for which I'm thankful. If mana that potent were aimed at me maliciously, I might end up taking my own life just to avoid facing such an opponent. I get off the bed, and the pain in my back is the first thing I notice. Damn. How hard was I hit?
Ah, right. I beat Ryan. Well, not really, but I was instrumental in it. Did I really do that? It's hard to believe. The magic I used against her was incredible, even to someone on the level of the Apostle's. Had I known all the drawbacks right away, I think I could have beaten her in a fair one-on-one. I might not even need Raksha anymore. All I need to do now is make sure I have a way to get the enemy inside that world. When Ryan and I returned from it, we only had the injuries we'd suffered within it and before entering it. Had we been standing still, Raksha or Yukiji would have killed her. This confirms that we definitely physically entered it.
Speaking of my allies; Where are they? The guy outside my room has to be an Apostle. Their power is too great for them to be anything but, and it's probably either Ozymandias or Xerxes. Neither Raksha nor Yukiji is with them, unless the girl is concealing herself again.
"Let me through," I hear someone grumble, and feel another power next to the other one's, almost as strong.
"But he's-"
"He's perfectly fine. Don't you go lying to me, Ozzie." The door is pushed open, and an old woman, also an Apostle, walks in. "Quite the trick you pulled, doing Ryan in like that. She may have been a fool, but she was a powerful fool. Not many people face an Apostle and live to tell the tale, let alone defeat them. Who are you, boy?"
I frown at her. My mana has already replenished, so it must have at least been a day since I blacked out. Who knows what they did to me while I waited? Are Raksha and Yukiji alright? Did the Apostles do something with them?
"Speak up, child," the old woman tells me, grabbing me by the chin. Her eyes start glowing a strange purple as she inspects me, and I can't help but feel like she's invading my mind. "Yes, you're definitely another one. To think you'd resurface after such a long time. It is a miracle, honestly. Why haven't you made yourself known before, boy?"
My frown deepens as I pry her hands off of my body. "What are you talking about?"
Ozymandias walks up to us, his dark cloak fluttering behind him. "He did not know, Sheba. Don't be so brash."
They know I didn't know about my magic before that? How?
"How did he not know? Look at those!" Sheba points to something behind me, but I don't see it when I turn to look. "They're small, but they're there. Can't miss 'em."
"If they're that small, they might've just started to grow. He's a bit old to be an applicant for a magic knight, so he probably hid his magic away for a long time. They started growing when he started using it. Let me handle this." As the old hag rolls her eyes, Ozymandias smiles at me. "Do you know what a fairy is?" I nod. Everyone knows, more or less. No one's sure of the specifics. "And how would you recognize one if you were to come across it?"
I cock my head to the side, thinking on it. Would it be the ears? No, those would be easy enough to hide, I guess. You'd just have to have longer hair, or a hat. "The wings, I suppose."
Ozymandias nods, then starts undoing his cloak, tugging on several strings until the job is done and he's shirtless. What he does next surprises me more than most things I've ever seen; He spreads his wings wide, revealing them to be ones who might belong to a giant butterfly. The edges are black in color, but are filled with an ever-changing array of rainbow-like clouds, reflecting all light back at me. No way...
"You are..." I mutter. "You're dead. You all are."
Ozymandias' smile vanishes as he gets closer to me, reaching over my shoulder to tug on something behind me. My back stings a bit as he touches something, but I'm not sure what he's doing. "Our kind is nearly extinct, yes. Until I met you, I had thought I was all that remained."
Huh? "What are you-"
"You are a fairy, Jonah. That is your name, correct? Your friends didn't lie?" He spins his finger in a circle, creating a small mirror before me, which then duplicates itself. One of the mirrors flies over to my back, while the other stays above me, and then they position themselves in such angles that I can see my own back â and the small, insect-like wings protruding from it.
I have wings.
I have fairy wings.
I am a fairy.
Am I entitled to children's teeth now?
"I realize all of this is quite overwhelming," Ozymandias tells me calmly, "but you'll learn to deal with it. It might take a bit-"
"No, I'm good."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm good," I explain with a shrug, then twitch the wings a little. I guess flight will take some work. "This explains a lot, actually."
The Apostle frowns, poking my wings a bit. "It does?"
"Yeah. One, I'm really talented when it comes to magic. This explains why. Secondly, I look nothing like my father, and my mother has always been anti-magic. She must've been trying to keep both me and my father learning the truth about what I am. Thirdly, it explains why glamours don't work on me. If I'm one of the beings born to rely on mana, glamours can be seen through naturally, as there is always mana in my eyes. Well? Did I miss anything?"
"A smart alec," whispers Sheba. "You're pretty calm for someone speaking to the strongest mages in the kingdom, boy."
"Naturally, since I'm the future strongest mage of the kingdom."
The old woman's face turns red, while Ozymandias can't help but chuckle. "You have some nerve, talking to me like that!"
The door to the room is slammed open once more, and Raksha stomps inside. "Is he awake!? I sensed him." Wow, he looks like a mess. His eyes are all red and puffy, and his hair is doing all sorts of unnatural things. He looks like someone glued a starfish to his scalp.
"Nice to see you, too."
"Don't give me that, you cocky bastard." He all but pushes the two Apostles out of the way to get to me. "Do you have any idea how dangerous what you did was!? You could have died!" Aww, he cares.
"Didn't know you were so worried."
"Of course I was! If you die, I'm stuck in the urn forever!" He starts panting, and looks like he's holding himself back form punching me. "Do you even have a heart!?"
With that dramatic scene, he storms out. Shit. I fucked up that time, didn't I? Might be the biggest fuck-up I've ever been involved in, and that's saying something. "I should go after him."
Sheba crosses her arms. "You aren't going anywhere until you explain how you got into the battle with Ryan in the first place."
Ozymandias looks away. "You're keeping him in an urn..."
"I don't have time for this," I tell them. I need to do damage control, pronto." I take another step, and then my body freezes. When I glance at Sheba, I realize her eyes are glowing a strange blue.
"I already told you; You aren't going anywhere until we get to the bottom of this. One of the Apostles has been killed. The rest of us may have disliked her for her unfavourable ways, but we cannot let this slight slide. You've got ten seconds to start talking, boy."
Ozymandias turns toward her. "No need for that."
"Don't you take his side now."
"It isn't about sides. You're simply going about this the wrong way." He then spreads his wings, and the colors across them immediately lull me into slumber, taking me back to the place where I fought Ryan.
"You weren't touching me," I point out, and Ozymandias smiles at me.
"You'll get to this level eventually, if you play your cards right. Now, why don't we have a little chat, the twelve of us."
Several doors start appearing all around us, and all of the Apostles start pouring in, as if they already know what happened. As Medea enters, she does her best not to look at me with hatred, and shows curiosity instead. Now would be the perfect chance to out her, but I don't know where Yukiji is. She might have her. Do I risk it? Would Raksha have let something happen to her? He holds no allegiance to her, and is only interested in keeping me alive so I can free him some day. What to do?
"You're the boy, then," says one of the Twelve â now eleven. He's a man wearing dark-colored bandages all over his body, finishing his odd appearance off with a dusty old cloak. His voice is high-pitched, yet gravely, making him sound like an old man who wants the neighbours' kids to get off his lawn. "What are we waiting for? Kill him already."
Sammael puts his hand on the cloaked man's head. "We will discuss things in a civil manner first." Despite not being one of the strongest two, he's definitely acting like the leader, both here and back when they announced the participants of the trials.
"Sammael is right," says Xerxes, standing off in the back. "Tell us what happened, boy fairy. Don't skip any details."
Sheba scoffs at that. "He'll say whatever he can to save his own skin at this point. We should just interrogate him. Medea-"
"Medea is going to do nothing," Ozymandias speaks over her, making it perfectly clear he shouldn't be argued with by spiking his mana up a bit. "Why was Ryan after you, Jonah?"
I glance at Medea, then notice the sweat forming on her face. She looks tired and worried. Ah, so I guess she's aware of how screwed she is if I reveal what she did to the others. Do I do it?
"She attacked me once before," I start. "First, she killed several of my neighbours, and I saw her do it, so she came after me. I survived because a light mage intervened, and we escaped. She attacked again the night we fought, after sending an assassin after me. My friends and I fought her, but we were losing."
"Of course you were," snaps the bandage-covered man. "You were against an Apostle, fool child!"
"He was against an Apostle, and he won, Azazel" adds one of the shorter Apostles â a relatively young woman dressed like a typical witch, with a black dress, black and white stockings, and a big, big hat. She's even holding a broom. "Clearly, this child is not one to be underestimated."
"His talent aside, he is guilty of murdering an Apostle," the old man grunts.
"After she attacked him," replies Xerxes.
Medea decides it's time to join in. "If we can trust what he says. Why would Ryan feel the need to attack a common boy?"
Glaring at her, I picture a dozen swords flying toward her. The old man shields her with a wall of ice just before they can skewer her. A pity. "I am no common boy," I tell the Apostles. "In here, only one of you can fight me. I can escape whenever I want, but I haven't. I can hurt any of you severely, but I haven't. Ryan did attack me, and she's not the only one who wished to do so." If she's gonna be a bitch out-right, then I'll be holding nothing back. "Ryan was there to kill my neighbours because-"
"More lies!" cries Medea, eyes slightly widening as the noose tightens around her neck. "He does nothing but lie! He just tried to kill me!"
I picture a large block of iron falling down on top of her, and she barely manages to jump out of the way. "Killing you would be easy in here. Your pain magic can't really protect you, can it?"
Sheba's eyes widen as she glances at Ozymandias, who is looking more stern by the moment.
"Indeed," Sammael states, clearly a step behind the other two. Even Azazel is now turning toward Medea.
"What he says is true," the witch Apostle says. "You do indeed lack defensive magic, Medea."
"The question is; How does he know this?" asks Xerxes as Medea starts backing away. That's right; Run.
"I know it because I saw her interrogate my mother with it," I tell them. "She forced my father and brother into hiding, and did who-knows-what with my mother. Ryan killed our neighbours to prevent their faces from being seen. They were in on it together, looking for some sort of amulet they claimed my mother had."
Snarling, Medea lashes out at me. I see her mana flowing toward me, clear as day, and lift myself up into the air to avoid it. However, the attack follows me, and the feeling of being burned alive hits me, knocking my focus off long enough for me to start falling. When I land, it's on a soft bed.
"You little-" I start, then realize Medea is already bound. The witch Apostles is standing over her, vines coming out of her palms as she holds her former ally.
"Disgraceful," mutters Sammael, whom I've concluded is the weakest link among them. All he's good for is stating the obvious. All he does is follow along, pretending he's on the same level as the others. No wonder he feels the need to be the centre of attention.
"Take her away, Seraphina," Ozymandias orders, and the witch Apostle vanishes from the dream world, bringing Medea along with her.
"The pendant," Xerxes says. "Could it be-"
"The boy does not need to know!" shouts Azazel angrily. "Even if his story was true, this does not concern him!"
"If my mother is related to it, you bet your mummified ass it concerns me."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because shards of ice start flying toward me. Ozymandias notices them, and I notice him noticing them, but he does nothing. So, instead, I picture a wall in front of myself, blocking the attack. "You dare to speak to an Apostle in such a manner, insolent child!"
Sheba nods along as the wall disappears. "You need to learn some respect, boy."
"What I need is to get my family back," I counter. "Take the amulet; Do with it as you like. I don't want anything to do with it. I just want my brother back." And I want the life of a magic knight, though I feel that may be becoming less likely by the minute.
Another of the Aposltes, this one a big, fat man wearing a horned helmet, smacks his belly as if it were a drum, and I feel a strange sense of ease fill me. In that instant, I forget all about my worries, and can't even bring myself to hate Medea and Ryan. Why were we fighting again?
"I hate it when you do that," Sheba grumbles. "Pacifista, knock it off."
The big guy smiles at me. "I influence people's emotions." Yeah, no kiddin'. Just looking at me is making me like him, and I'm normally weary of strangers. You know â when I'm not adopting them. "Everybody needs to calm down."
Ozymandias flies over to Xerxes, landing on the djinn's shoulder. "While we look into his family, I believe we should initiate him as a magic knight."
Sheba and Azazel are quick to turn on him. "Never!"
"He killed one of us!"
"Medea is all but proven guilty," Xerxes reasons. Sammael just stands between the four, unsure of what to do. He's probably just lost. They're using big words now.
One of the others - a middle-aged woman - one wearing something a queen might be seen in at a ball â clears her throat. "I believe we should put this to a vote. All in favour of initiating the boy while the investigation is on the way?" She then promptly raises her hand, surprising me. She looks a lot more stuck-up than she is. Ozymandias and Xerxes raise theirs, of course, as does Pacifista. Sammael notices where the majority is going, and joins them. Sheba and Azazel are staring daggers at all the others, until two more raise their hands. These ones are identical twins, around thirty years old.
"Yeah, he's got good mana goin' on, dude," says the one on the left. "Right, Pat?"
"You're right, Dex," adds his brother. "He's, like, a freakin' fairy. He might even replace Medea!"
"Totally."
Okay, I no longer consider Sammael the weakest link.
Azazel scoffs. "You'll never win me over, boy. You better watch your back." With those kind-hearted parting words, he starts walking away, and a doorway appears for him to go through. Did he make it, or is Ozymandias just that precise?
"Needlessly complicating things," Sheba mutters, shaking her head. "If this comes to bite us, it's your leadership that's going to suffer, Ozzie. You best remember that."
And so, one by one, they all leave, and the two inhuman members take me back to Ozymandias' room.
"That went well," the djinn says. "A lot better than I had expected, at least. Azazel was in a surprisingly good mood." What?
The fairy nods along. "Indeed. Sheba wasn't too fowl, either. Seraphina seems to have taken a shine to him as well, so that's nice. Pacifista is always going to take the route of least resistance. Patrick and Dexter were a surprise, though. They better not be up to something." He sighs, as if just thinking of the twins is giving him a headache.
"Can I go now?" I ask. "I need to make sure my friends are okay." Also, I need to find Obi and make him suffer, at least a little bit.
"Certainly," Ozymandias tells me, flying over to me and messing with my wings again. "Also, you've got a day to choose the Apostle under whom you'll serve as an apprentice magic knight. I'd tell you what each of us specializes in, letting you pick the one best suited to your needs, but we pretty much already know whose magic you're most compatible with."
Yeah, no doubt about that one. With a final nod, I walk out of the room, ready to find Yukiji and make things right with Raksha. So far, so good, huh? How much worse can things get?
I have a feeling I should not have asked that.