Chapter 54

"A Quarlian huh?" Vonder says, his voice filled with a small amount of surprise though it's clearly not over the creature but rather the mask in his hand. "Strange seeing one this far from the northern isles… though I suppose stranger things have happened."

"Like not being able to sense it for starters…" Aida groans, happily lying back in Eileen's hands as the girl stares at her with fascination, clearly never having seen a creature like her so close before.

"What I'm more curious about is this spellcraft." Vonder replies, lightly holding the mask above his head, trying to take in every possible angle of it. "This is beyond any magic I've seen… even the keepers of fate would have a hard time creating something like this."

Lily nervously looks over at Vonder "Is it really that powerful?" she asks, mentally making a note of just how powerful Six could possibly be.

He did that with little effort after all.

"It is!" Eileen chimes in with a smile. "Containing any creature that can alter reality like that is incredible! But being able to turn it into a transformation item? That's unheard of."

"Transformation?" Lily asks, now glancing warily at Six who was walking alongside her.

Just what had he made?

"It's just what it sounds like, a mask that'll turn you into the object or creature it was created from… or in this case, contains." Vonder loosely says while placing the magic on his hip. "Though, I've never heard of anyone being able to make a creature as fierce as this into such an item."

"Really? It didn't seem that strong to me… just a random monster." Lily quietly says, quickly earning Vonder's attention.

"That thing snuck up on me, me." he states with a bit of frustration. "I am a trained hunter, I've noticed even the slightest shadow movement, even the best camouflage can't hide a creature from me! Whatever that did to get to us, it wasn't normal… even by Quarlian standards."

"Yeah, you should see his work normally." Aida happily cuts in. "Not even a group of Quarlian's stood a chance when he was on the case! So that's how you know this one wasn't normal."

"And that's precisely why I contained it instead of outright executing it." Six said to Lily, his voice seemingly slightly amused at the others around him. "Keeping it contained for now will allow us to study it further later."

Lily nods a little, relaying what Six said to the others. "Well, since it's contained we can study it later."

"I suppose we could if you are this adept at magic." Vonder calmly replies while keeping an eye on the path forward. "It's otherwise impossible to examine it unless one of us uses the mask."

"I can do it, don't worry!" Lily proclaims, causing even Six to look at her. "I'll just need a little time to rest up first, that's all."

"Alright, that works out anyway." Vonder calmly replies, though from his lack of enthusiasm it's clear he's a bit more skeptical of this whole thing. "You can take the little one here back to the guild, get her settled and when tomorrow comes around we can examine the creature."

"Right, you've got it bossman!" Lily awkwardly says, trying to ease some of the tension but only earns an odd look from Vonder and a sigh from Six.

The rest of the walk back was filled with an uneasy silence, only broken on occasion by Eileen chatting idly with Aida.

Lily was primarily left to her thoughts, trying to figure out what exactly to do.

Perhaps it'd be best to rely on Six more often, his magic was incredible… and he did return control to her as promised.

Though she didn't know him that well either… who knows what his true intentions were? They could be anything, violent or otherwise.

Six, the stranger she found in the void, a strange man from an even stranger place.

His presence itself was strange, comforting yet distant, cold yet bright, just like the moon itself.

He seemed gentle, yet capable of great violence, something that terrified her greatly.

Yet his false smile and kind eyes drew her in, wanting to know more.

Even the way he walked, it drew her in, as if he's someone who'd been through thousands of battles and seen countless stories unfold, all told with the unspoken confidence in his stride.

Quietly Six looked over at her, clearly having heard her inner turmoil and simply smiled reassuringly, making Lily's face heat up a little bit from it.

She mentally cursed at him, knowing he could hear it as well.

Six's eyes widened a little bit at this, but he couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh at this, earning a huff from Lily as she looked away.

…Perhaps it would be alright to trust him, just the slightest bit.

Before they knew it the group found themselves back in town, the walk to the guild being surprisingly short.

Night was waiting behind the counter as usual, though she seemed surprised to see a kid with them now.

"Vonder, why do you have a kid with you?" Night's tone clearly held some indication of worry, though her eyes held a different story.

Not one of worry for the kid, but one that looked like she was ready to fight.

"It's a long story, I'll explain in a minute… Lily, Eileen, you two should go rest up for now." Vonder calmly says while keeping eye contact with Night, never daring to break it.

"Right… come on Eileen." Lily carefully takes Eileen's hand and leads her back to the room she was staying in, letting Eileen look around first.

Eileen wastes no time to run and jump on the bed, happily sighing as she does so. "It's a bed, a real bed! I haven't slept on one of these in forever!"

"You haven't? Where have you been sleeping then?" Lily asks while leaning on the wall now, keeping a close eye on Eileen.

"The ground mainly, sometimes in trees as well." Eileen nonchalantly replies while looking at Lily. "It actually gets comfy after a while."

"And how long have you been doing this?" Lily cautiously asks while Six approaches Eileen, gazing down at her with curiosity.

"I want to say… a couple years now? I honestly lost track of time." Eileen nervously says, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile.

"Lily, let me take over." Six suddenly says, looking over at Lily. "There's strange traces of magic on her."

Lily looks at Six for a moment before sighing. "Alright, Eileen, time to show me that you're serious about becoming my apprentice." She says while closing her eyes.

In the next moment Lily's eyes have become that of Six's, their minds one once more as they walk over to the slightly confused Eileen.

Calmly they hold out their hand, a gentle smile on their face. "I need you to trust me, alright? This is just step one of being my apprentice, trust."

Cautiously Eileen holds out her hand, letting Six and Lily take it gently in their grasp.

Six was right, it was clear now looking through his eyes that some strange magic was attached to her, snaking masses of dark red and black moving like parasites through her hand and up her arm.

"How long have you been cursed?" they ask calmly, lightly looking over her for more curses, though seeing that only her arm is affected.

"Wait, you can tell? How?" Eileen asks, looking at their eyes now, quickly piecing it together. "You have the sight?"

"I have the ability to see magic and life coursing through a person, just living creatures though." they respond while holding out their free hand, a small plume of black and blue flames igniting in it. "Now, tell me what happened while I treat this for you."

Eileen seems a bit scared, but takes a deep breath and nods. "It was those cultists, they've been sapping my power since I got here… they made special creatures from my magic… like the Quarlian that you captured."

They carefully run the flame up Eileen's arm in a slow and steady fashion, the flames didn't burn at all… in fact that felt cold to her, it didn't even leave any trace of burning or damage to her arm.

A small hum comes from them as they treat her. "I see, well it's good to know that there's more out there, and that soon they won't be making any more."

Before Eileen can continue the flames die down and they remove their hand. "There, all better now." they politely say with a smile on their face.

She looks down at her arm, confused as to if the treatment could've even worked… but it did, she can feel magic flowing freely through her arm again.

It's still exhausting but soon she'd be fully back to normal.

"Thank you!" Eileen cries out while hugging them, earning a gentle hug in return.

"It is no problem at all, though now we have much to discuss." they state while letting Eileen pull away now.

"Like what?" She asks, hoping for the start of her classes with an excited smile.

"First, how much you know of the cult and their creatures." They say while crossing their arms, a small smile forming on their face again. "And what type of magic you'd like to learn first."

Meanwhile Night, Vonder and Aida were talking in private, clear looks of worry on each of their faces.

"So you're sure about this then?" Night asks, her worry turning to concern and then frustration.

"Yes, I've never been more sure of anything in my life." He replies while removing the mask from his hip. "There's no one else who can use magic like this after all, not to mention that kid isn't exactly normal either."

"Well what do we do then? Clearly the little lord and the host don't fully trust us." Night says while sighing.

"We wait, just like we've always done during a hunt." Vonder says with a bit of a relaxed look on his face. "Build up trust and then we find our way out of here."

"And how can you be so sure they will come to trust you at all?" Night asks, now more skeptical than ever.

"I can't be sure, all I can do is try my best as usual, though with Aida's help I hope it won't take too long." He says with a soft look in his eyes. "And once we're free then it's on to the next phase of the plan."

"Are you sure you still want to go through with that plan?" Aida asks, her voice brimming with concern as she looks into his eyes.

He nods a bit, an unshakable resolve clear in them. "Yes, I will get us home, all of us… and I'll make sure He is finally able to rest."