Azura groaned as his mind slowly approached wakefulness. He had woken up in worse condition than this often enough not to be surprised that his body ached a little. He had been waking up in bad condition a lot lately actually, he should probably start being a bit more careful.
He didnât let his slight soreness stop him from quickly scanning his surroundings. He immediately recognized the room. It was the same one he had slept in yest⦠Well what he hoped was yesterday. He got out of the bed, and was mildly surprised to see himself in the same clothes he was in when he passed out. His outfits looked the same, but the magic in each one was subtly different. Mostly for exactly this purpose so he would know if his clothes were changed.
He felt relatively safe in assuming it hadnât been a day since they had found the panthers. He sighed, all things considered he hadnât had to use too much of the powerful magic stored in his grimoire, but far more than he had ever expected one person to make him use, even less someone his own age. Lily really was startlingly powerful.
He stretched, hoping to alleviate some of the soreness from his body. Given that he didnât really have a headache it was safe to say he hadnât overdone it with the magic, which was a relief. The grimoire was a powerful tool, but it came with lots of ways for him to injure himself.
He heard a soft knock on his door, and then felt a slight presence in his mind. âOh good youâre awake. We were starting to get worried.â The sound in his head was gentler than usual, he assumed she was just checking for lucidity and didnât want to disturb him if he had still been asleep.
He opened the door and was greeted with the concerned faces of Cynthia, and Luna. âHowâs Lily doing? She was in far worse condition than me when we passed out.â The half-truth slipped out as easily as the rest of his words.
They gave him dubious looks, but Luna responded without commenting on their suspicion. âLilyâs ok, but sheâs still sleeping. I donât know exactly what happened to her, but the town's healer said she had mana exhaustion, and that her body showed signs of extreme duress.â
That was about what he expected, her past trauma was undoubtedly playing through her head on loop. âUnique magic doesnât just go out of control, it takes a lot to make it go out of control.â It rarely ended well either, he had to focus on keeping some of his own memories buried at the thought.
âYou speak from experience.â He didnât like how that wasnât a question, but she wasnât wrong.
He debated on whether to directly address that or not, Luna had clearly heard it too, but it wasnât something he wanted to answer right now. That would still answer the question, but it wouldnât leave any room for follow up. âWhat about the rest of the party? Where are they?â
Thankfully other than a skeptical look neither one called him on his blatant subject change. âThey stayed back to gather all the materials, you didnât sleep for long. Itâs only been a little over 2 hours, so they're probably still working on getting everything into manageable bits.â He noticed Cynthia turn a little green as Luna said it.
âI was only out for 2 hours? Thatâs a new record, if this keeps up maybe I wonât even pass out after a few more super dangerous events.â His attempt to lighten the mood had worked better than he had hoped and both of them laughed a little at the mock pride he had put in the statement.
âSomehow I canât picture a dramatic fight where you donât pass out in the end.â He rolled his eyes at them as Cynthia's silent laughter renewed.
âHey now, I wouldnât go that far. I didnât pass out after my fight with Gareth!â Somehow that just made them laugh harder. He pouted a little, he didnât pass out that much⦠Did he?
âI feel like thatâs kind of the exception that proves the rule.â He was tempted to bring up the elemental, but neither of them were there for that. He unfortunately didnât really have anything else to counter with though, so he just grumbled under his breath. Which unfortunately just seemed to set them off more.
âWhatever, not like you have any right to make fun of me for it. Youâve passed out at least as much as I have!â He pointed at Luna who stopped laughing abruptly as her face turned red. Cynthia started shaking with silent mirth. âAnd you may have only passed out once, but I would say being cocooned in spider web is just as bad!â It was Cynthiaâs turn to go red as Luna smirked in retribution.
He turned towards Luna again after she coughed into her hand. âJokes aside.â Her face lost all traces of humor. When she spoke next he could tell she wasnât going to let this one slide like the others. âWhat happened in the cove? Those flames werenât something normal magic would have dealt with, and I know you didnât have time to set something up to deal with them.â
He held back a wince, she was right he didnât have enough time to set anything up. Not even a good cover story unfortunately. He couldnât tell them about the grimoire, not just because the headmistress told him not to tell anyone, but also because if he was caught with it anyone who knew would certainly get in trouble for keeping it secret. But he also couldnât give them another non-answer. He sighed wearily and prepared himself to wing it. âHer fire was eating magic, to continue itself. Not just hers, but the natural mana and any other source it could find too.â
Their eyes widened, and he couldnât blame them for being shocked. Being magic resistant was one thing, but something that devoured magic like that. He shivered, the memory making him distinctly uncomfortable. âHow do you stop something like that? If it eats magic then any spell you cast would just fuel it right?â
This was where the lie got difficult. If he told the truth, but left out the grimoire then it would be an absurd feat of magic, so he needed something else. Something plausible enough that he might be able to replicate it if pressed. âWell enchantment magic is in of itself a way to affect the natural mana of the world, so I made an enchantment that drew all the magic in the area to it to suffocate the flames.â
He could probably do that if he had to. Not now, but given a few days to make an array like that he could probably cast it relatively quickly. Hopefully they didnât know enough about enchantment to ask him why he had something like that prepared. He bit back his sigh of relief when they seemed to accept his answer, and were only a little impressed.
âSo Like an antimagic type 3?â He thought about it. Now that she said it, a field that drew all the magic in the area to it might actually be a good idea. Risky depending on the circumstance, but undoubtedly useful.
âKind of the opposite actually, an extreme magic field if anything. Since the mana in the area would become incredibly dense, being inside it would probably be a death sentence.â A pretty grizzly way to die, but the idea had some merit. Heâd look into it. He had to make the stupid spell anyway, might as well find some actual use for it.
âItâs a good thing that worked,... Those flames were awful.â Luna looked even more haunted by them than he was, and he supposed that made sense. Her clairvoyance spell wouldnât even be able to see the flames as the magic she had a tight reign on got burned away. She probably felt it, and yet she couldnât see it with her spell, itâs not really surprising how disconcerting that was for her.
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âI donât think I was as affected as you two, but even I could feel that there was something unnatural about them.â He had left a lot out, part of practicing enchantment was that he was more in tune with the spirit realm than most, even without an active spirit contract. Feeling those flames was the first time he had ever regretted it. If Lunaâs curse was a poison slowly trying to corrupt her spirit, then Lilyâs flames were a curse that would devour the spirit entirely, and worse he didnât think they would stop on their own. Not until everything that could be considered living was rendered to ash.
Whatever those flames were, he was confident they werenât simply unique magic. There was something else to them, and unfortunately he got the feeling that Lily didnât even understand what they truly were. Frankly he wasnât even sure he did, and that was terrifying. He had felt them, more than anyone else had. He had overridden their magic and taken control, just the memory of it forced him to stifle a gag. His companions would probably be needlessly worried if he just started throwing up.
Luna chuckled darkly. âA little more than unnatural. They felt disgusting to me, but oddly familiar somehow.â He was more relieved than he would like to admit that she hadnât linked up the feeling with her curse yet, that would bring up far too many questions he didnât want to answer.
***
Lily struggled desperately against some invisible binding. She saw a shadow panther going for her mother again. She had been seeing it over and over since when? She wasnât sure, but even her unique magic hadnât been enough. She remembered unleashing it, she wanted the panther(s?) dead. it(they?) was trying to kill her mother(friends?). Even her flames werenât enough though.
It had worked at first slowly burning the panther that was trying to attack, but then she felt something else take control. She had let the flames run wild to attack her hated enemies, but something had taken control of her magic? Was it really her magic, it had been burning her up too hadnât it? She didnât know, her mind was hazy. Somehow her(?) flames had been extinguished.
She hadnât known that was possible, but without her flames she was once more relegated to watching her mother being torn apart by a shadow panther. She wanted to scream, but the invisible binds prevented even that release. All she could do was suffer through it over and over and over again. Why was she so useless? Even with the power of the purple flames she still couldnât save anyone.
âYou misunderstand, child.â Her eyes widened, but when she tried to find the source of the voice she found the binding didnât allow her to even turn her head. âThe power is there, you just have to sacrifice more of yourself to the flames.â Sacrifice more to the flames? What more did she even have to give?
âI donât have anything left.â Truly she was a fool for ever thinking she had any value to begin with. Hasn't everyone been right about her? Sheâs just a monster, her unique magic proved that more than anything. Some part of her deep down was repulsed by it, that was why she never used it.
âThere is always more to burn. Give yourself to me, I will take all your pain and turn it into power.â Maybe the rebounding voice had a point, she really didnât want to hurt anymore. Her team should have just left her to die when she lost control. She blinked, her team? What team, why did that strike her as something important. âThere is no reason to think anymore, give yourself to me!â
The voice was louder, but the haze around her head was starting to clear. She hadnât given up yet, why would she. She had decided a long time ago that she wouldnât sit by and let the world make decisions for her anymore. âLeave me alone! I donât need to give anything to you, I can be better on my own.â She wasnât a little girl anymore(?). She didnât need her unique magic to be a powerful mage.
She heard the booming voice growl menacingly. âVery well, but be warned. You will seek this power, no one can avoid it forever. For every beginning there must be an end. Creation can not exist without destruction in turn. You seek the origin, but you will always be the end. No matter how you fight your fate, you were born to destroy.â
***
Lily woke with a gasp. Her body shooting up right, as she frantically looked around. Her head throbbed painfully, and she could feel her nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Her body didnât feel any better, but her mind settled a little upon seeing the empty hotel room. She vaguely recalled having a nightmare, but its actual contents escaped her.
She heard a knock on the door. She felt way too crappy to get up, and her throat felt raw as if she had been screaming nonstop for hours. She hoped that was caused by the same thing as the nausea and the headache, and not that she had been screaming in her sleep. She struggled to get the words out, but managed to get out a gravelly come in, barely above a whisper.
They must've heard it though, because the door opened. âHey⦠You ok?â Lily didnât know who she had been expecting, but she certainly hadnât expected Katy.
Voice still rough from her sore throat she tried to keep her responses as short as possible. âNot really.â Katy chuckled a little, surprised by the blunt response.
âYeah, that's understandable, Azura didnât think you would wake until tomorrow. Weâve been taking turns coming to check on you.â Lily felt a little warmed at that. It was nice that her friends cared about her, even Luna with her ridiculous physical fitness, that she might still be a little peeved at. Just a little. Really, it didnât bother her âthatâ much.
âThanks.â Part of her wanted to ask about the request, but most of her was just tired and sore. She really didnât want to talk any more than she had to.
âIâll tell the others that you woke up, but you look like you need to try and get some more sleep. Weâll check back in with you tomorrow, ok?â She was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude. She hadnât just been dead weight in this mission, she had even become an obstacle at the end. Yet they were still treating her so kindly, it wasnât anything like how the people from her homeland treated her. She would repay them somehow, she wasnât a monster. No matter what they said.
She didnât have the strength to speak anymore, suddenly overcome with exhaustion. She nodded, and was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.
***
Azura was relieved. They had evidence of far more panther kills than he had expected. He was worried, given that he saw at least 6 of them completely disintegrated in Lilyâs flames. The memory of them still gave him the creeps. Still they had 18 confirmed kills, so that was the equivalent of 11 gold they would receive. Less than 2 gold a piece wasnât a ton, but the materials he had to work with would more than make up for it.
It would be nice if Haden accepted the ashes as proof, leaving them with an even 14 gold coins, but he doubted it. Lily had apparently woken, though she decided to go right back to sleep after. Not that he could blame her. Something was seriously wrong with those flames, and he had no idea what it was. Even with his grimoire he had barely been able to take control of it. The entire time he felt the flames trying to eat his magic, and it took far more focus than he expected to not let that happen.
He sighed. One way or another he was going to have to talk to Lily about that magic of hers, he got an odd feeling from it. Not just about how disgusting it felt, but almost⦠Familiar maybe? He wasnât sure, but he felt like he should recognize it somehow. His head began to ache, just like it had every other time he thought too deeply about those flames.
âYou ok? You look like something is bothering you.â He and Roran were currently heading to the bell tower to turn in their quest to Haden. Roran had been unusually quiet so far, which he was absurdly grateful for. He wasnât really surprised Roran had asked him that, but the question wasnât entirely welcome.
He considered how to answer that. He could outright lie, but Roran was no fool he would see through that pretty quickly. Half truth it was then. âIâm ok, itâs just something about those flames really makes me uneasy, but Iâm not sure what.â Not untrue, but not all of it either.
Roran seemed to accept that answer easy enough though. âYeah I can understand that, they really were nasty. I felt them eat my magic, it was very disconcerting. It felt like if I wasnât careful they would follow my spell back to me so they could devour my magic whole.â He shivered violently. Roranâs magic control was probably even higher than Lunaâs so it wasnât all that surprising he was so badly affected by the whole thing.
âFrankly, I think Iâll be glad to leave this place behind us. Though you know itâs kind of exciting.â
Roran looked at him strangely. âWhat is?â
âWell this trial is all done, so we only have one left to go.â