18 Resignation (2)

The sun was brighter than Michael remembered it. The sky was bluer than how he imagined it to be. The girl with deep unfathomable eyes was more real than the girl in his memories. Everything from her smile to her laughter sent a comfortable warmth coursing through his veins.

Every single moment with her flashed through his eyes: from the random strolls in the park and her eating ice cream under the hot summer sun, to the day she cast her first spell, the moment she taught him his first incantation, the moment he realized he wanted to stay with her forever.

Light turned into darkness. Warmth turned into a torrid cold. He was screaming. His throat felt hoarse as his lungs expanded and contracted with every shout. He was ten years old with his mother's arms firmly wrapped around him, stopping him from chasing after the man with dark red locks and a sharp orange gaze while the man and his men wheeled out metallic box that the earthen-haired girl was in. Her eyes were closed, lips were unsmiling. There were no other signs of life from her aside from the rise and fall of her chest.

Years passed by in front of Michael Caelum's eyes like flickering flames. Then, the scene changed. He was no longer a child, no longer a powerless ten-year old. He was wearing a lab gown and an ID Card on a sling that hung on his neck. His eyes met with endless black pools and a familiar shade of brown. After almost a decade, he had found her.

The gaze in Aria's eyes told Michael that she only saw him as a stranger. Still, relief flooded through his veins. An unexplainable emotion rose to his chest as he hesitantly approached the little girl he had wanted to see for so long. He wanted to embrace her, to pull her into his arms and tell the small female how much he missed her. Yet he restrained himself and after a moment of hesitation, he ruffled her already messy hair and promised to see her again.

The frustration, the loss, and all the tumultuous emotions Michael didn't want to feel were forcefully wrenched and pulled out from the deepest recesses of his head. He was thrust back into the hell he had thought he had survived. It was only when he felt an odd warmth on his cheeks that the male realized the memories had ended. Two small hands were busy wiping the tears that had managed to escape his eyes. In front of him, the girl he had searched for had red-rimmed eyes and a steady flow of tears running down her cheeks. The sound of her sniffling filled the room.

"Stupidus," He muttered as he enjoyed the feel of her hands on his face. He cupped her face in his hands and wiped the teardrops making their way down her face with his thumb. "This is why I didn't let you see my memories."

"Memories? I… don't understand." Her small hands fell to her sides and curled into fists. "Why…?"

"Your Talent was never about reading minds. It's a Talent over memories." Michael Caelum sighed. He sat down on the floor ungracefully and crossed his legs. "When you were young… you could see and experience the memories of people, animals – even objects. If you wanted to, you could bend, change and erase memories… as well as take those memories for yourself. That's the full extent of your Talent."

"But I- I don't know how." The child's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "I don't remember anything."

"I don't know what the Great Apothecary did to you but there were probably complications – side-effects, from his research. That's a possible reason to why you don't remember anything." He propped his hands behind him and looked at the ceiling. "No one in Elisium remembers what had happened… According to my mother, there were records of the experiment happening but there were no records on who or what they were experimenting on. Everything else, like their memories, magically disappeared."

"All they know is that a female child was involved in Silas Fidi's secret research and that he's been doing everything to figure out just what had happened." Michael Caelum glanced at the girl as a sad smile made its way to his face. "But on the bright side, it means no one from Elisium knows you're the girl that went missing years ago. No one knows you're the girl they're looking for."

A flash of insight reflected in the child's orbs. "You weren't in Elisium… That's why you didn't forget."

"Maybe. I guess that's case," He replied with a shrug. "But right now, I need to get you out of here."

Her gaze turned serious. "When?"

"A few days to a week." Michael spoke with urgency. "I'll do everything I can in my power to get you out of here. I promise."

Her eyes widened as the girl looked at him with a conflicted gaze. "Can I… bring someone along?"

"That's a bit-" Michael stopped mid-sentence. He had planned on saving Aria, but not the other children of Elisium. As he thought about how he should answer the kid, he crossed his legs and massaged his temple as he felt his head throb. "Who were you planning on taking with you?"

"Le-Salamander," the girl said with a serious look.

Michael's mouth turned dry. "Salamander? The young boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair?"

Aria nodded. "I call him Leon."

"It's difficult. Probably impossible." The young male closed his eyes and released a very deep sigh. When he opened his eyes, black orbs gazed at him with both sadness and unwillingness that left Michael speechless. "Aria, Salamander is one of the Great Apothecary's prized possessions. Getting past the guards that watch over the underground cells is one thing. Destroying the enchantments on his chains, on the other hand, is nearly impossible."

"It is?" She looked crestfallen. After a few seconds, her eyes brightened. "Then, if I can break the seal, can we save him?"

"Aria, it really isn't that simple. The seals were personally crafted by Silas Fidi and his successor." Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and ignored the urge to sigh for the nth time. "Look – Once we get out, we can ask for help and come back to save all the other children in Elisium. How does that sound?"

"I know I'm not strong enough." The youth placed his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "With my strength alone, we need luck if we want to make it out of here with all our limbs intact."

"I can fight," Aria offered. With one look at the girl's black orbs, Michael knew the little female was serious.

"No," Michael stated firmly. "We can't win against an army or researchers and high-level Spellcasters, Aria."

Black eyes stared at him with incredulity. "Then, what's the plan?"

"We sneak out." He answered slowly while studying the girl who appeared ridiculously unimpressed. "Every Tuesday, Elisium returns the wooden crates and storage containers used for deliveries. A carrier service picks up the containers and delivers them the various stores where Elisium gets its supplies. I'll cause a diversion, pick you up and then we'll try to sneak into one of the crates that are going to be shipped back to Myron's public market. If nothing goes wrong, we'll get out of here unscathed."

Aria plopped down on the floor and crossed her legs. "But you're not a teacher in our class."

Michael cleared his throat. "Interns aren't allowed to get involved in actual operations and research procedures, but we're allowed to assist and observe. As for the diversion, I'll figure it out once we get to that point."

The child looked down at her two hands which were clasped together. When she looked back up at him, there were unshed tears pooling in her eyes. "We really can't take Leon with us?"

The young man released a long breath and rubbed the top of her head. "I'm sorry."

"I guess I can't take Astaroth's body with me, then," the girl mumbled under her breath as her small hands rubbed her eyes. When she saw the confusion on Michael's face, Aria explained the scenario with, "There's a demon in Elisium."

Michael was completely lost. He was surprised that the Great Apothecary had managed to hid a demon in Elisium. But he was more amazed at how Aria was talking about a demon like she would about a pet. Just what exactly did Aria do before she met him today? What exactly was this little fragile-looking girl do when nobody was looking?

Aria looked at him expectantly, her black eyes slightly wide and still slightly moist. She was no longer trying to read his mind, no longer trying to get inside his head. She was like a stray pup who had found her long lost human. It made Michael momentarily forget Aria was heading into more dangerous situations than he could count. The young male ran his fingers through the girl's long brown hair, pinched her cheeks, and pushed his other worries aside.

"We'll meet up at your classroom and change locations every now and then." He looked at the clock and met her gaze. "For now, we should get you back before someone notices you're gone."

The child nodded and instantly disappeared from his sight. Michael felt a small hand tugging his shirt. "Let's go," she said. She was back to saying short replies limited to ten words or less.

Michael began to stand when a thought occurred to him. He held out his hand and glanced at the space where his sleeve was still being tugged. "Hold my hand. It'll be easier for me to cast Adicio on you if I know where you are."

The tugging on his shirt disappeared. Michael could feel small fingers wrapping around his bigger appendages. Warmth permeated into his bones. And as they made their way back to Elisium's classrooms, the heat had made its way up to Michael's chest, and up to his face which had turned into a shade of red that was brighter than his hair.