Chapter 32: Mystery of Origin, Part Two

"So are we going to talk about what I just saw?" The boy finally resolved himself and asked.

"You weren't supposed to see that…"

The woman looked at him with pity all over her face.

"It will probably be better to talk with your family about this."

She said as she brought him out of the pond. The boy looked at her expressionlessly before irrupting in mad laughter. He laughed and the two dryads stared at him noiselessly.

"Not an option anymore. The punishment for my break-in is fourteen goddmned years in Academy arrest. I can't leave, I can't even see my family. Hell, they want me to just stay in a small room and think about what I have done to their precious image by disregarding their o-so-important rules."

The pair looked at each other. No one had bothered to tell them about the boy's punishment. And for the most part that was understandable. He was just a first Year, and both of them had no plausible reason to be interested in him.

"Your parents were killed, I think. From your memories, that much can be inferred." Verdania said after a long pause.

"From your body, I can tell that you are not a human Ciaran, not fully. If we were to assume that man was your father, then your mother was probably a mermaid."

"I know that humans like to make up myths about us, so let me be clear. Merfolk are not humans that can live underwater. They are a sentient species like you and us, but they are tendered to water. Most of the top Water Mages in the world come from their ranks."

Ciaran looked at her in wonder, while her brother looked at her with horror.

"He feels too human to be a half-breed. What have they done to him." His question was answered by silence and bright bluish light from her eyes.

The next moment the whole Maze shook. Eleftherios was not just angry, he was furious. He was a creature of pure emotion; his fury could be felt all over the city.

It only lasted a second though, before he knelt down and hugged the boy. Not a word was said, nor was a tear shed, but Ciaran could feel it. If Verdania pitied him to no end, then Eleftherios was angry on his behalf.

"Ok, now I am curious. What is so wrong with me?" He asked, barely holding himself together.

Before Verdania could answer, however, the man simple said" Nothing! None of this is your fault kid." And refused to reiterate further. He also didn't allow his sister to speak.

"So today I lost my family, then most of my so-called friends left me, and now I learn everything I knew was a lie. Come on, out with it old man, what is it? Am I some cursed abomination?" He asked with tears in his eyes, his voice cracking.

No answer came from both of them.

"WHAT AM I??"

He screamed as he smashed his fist at the man who still had him in an embrace. The boy questioned and screamed, but Eleftherios stood still as a rock. After a tantrum that did not stop for three whole hours, the boy finally fell asleep.

"We can't leave him with them, sis. He is not ours, but we can't leave him with them."

The man held the boy. A few days ago he had beaten him, even considered bleeding him, but now he held the boy. Eleftherios was a creature of emotion. He not only allowed emotion to cloud his judgment, he lived by the principle of following your heart and dealing with the consequences as they come.

"We can't keep him away from them, but we can teach him how to protect himself. What he is, is a vulnerable child left to defend himself. From tomorrow onwards, we teach him as much as they do, more even."

She was really emotional, but even she was not above the horrors she saw in his dreams.

They took the boy at the heart of the Maze and laid him in a bed made out of leaves. This would be his bead for tonight.

They would watch over him, for now, they knew just how unstable of a being this small creature truly was.

"How are we going to explain it to him? We cannot tell him the truth, never that. It will break him." He asked.

She pondered before coming to a conclusion. It was a half measure at best, but they had nothing else going for them at the moment. As they discussed what their future with the boy held, suddenly the temperature rose, and their surroundings caught fire.

A red-haired woman was descending from the sky. Fury in her eyes, flames in her hands.

"Might I ask, why are you holding one of my kids here?" She asked.

Eleftherios was about to lash out, but before he did, the world froze.

The Maze was frozen, the Academy was frozen, and even Elizabeth and her flames were frozen. Only her face was left outside of a large iceberg that appeared out of nowhere.

"Listen Alaric, this kid right here, he is ours now. He will attend your Academy, but only under her guidance, I don't trust the rest of your staff. And you most of all. You were the one who wielded the knife that scared this boy, and now you owe him too much. I don't care for your rules, and I don't care what you tell your little flame over here, for the Gods will not help you if she learns of what you have done." Verdania's voice sounded all over the Academy. It was not loud, one might even call it quiet, but it reached every corner of the institution.

She then looked at Elizabeth and told her to behave. The ice vanished like it was never there. Elizabeth was free, but the horror on her face stayed. A Grand Mage of her caliber was just manhandled like it was nothing. Whatever this woman in front of her was she was trouble, and worst of all, her words still rang in Elizabeth's mind.

"From what I can tell, you are one of the more tolerable humans out there. Let me be perfectly clear with you. I want the best for Ciaran, same as you, but I refuse the allow him to be left uncultured anymore. From this day forward, we are as much his teachers as you are."

"Also, I would advise you not to ask Alaric what he had done. That monster would either deny it or worst of all tell you the truth. You are not strong enough to handle it Elizabeth, neither magically nor mentally."

"Return home to your husband. Tomorrow the boy will be back in your class. After school, however, he will be staying with us. Now go, I can't stomach being around your kind anymore today."

As soon as the words left her lips Elizabeth had found herself outside the Academy, with her dampener on and her image of an old lady returned. She was about to storm back in when her arm got grabbed from behind.

"Let me take you home Liza. I assume you have questions, better to ask the Archmage that didn't just indirectly threaten you."

She looked at him in suppressed fury but followed after him all the same.

"Why is someone like her allowed to be near our children?"

The man looked at her with a sad smile.

"The fact you call Verdania 'her' and not 'it', is why you are still alive. Do you want to know a secret Liza? This Empire is built on the leadership of idiots and racists. With the magic restrictions, it has only gotten worse. The Lady who just kicked you out is the owner of all of this land. The Academy, the City, even beyond that, it belongs to her."

"It has been like that since the God of Knowledge left it for her in his inheritance. Back then, the Empire was mixed with all kinds of races, from dryads to goblins. She was his disciple, and she has ruled this land ever since. As headmaster, my most important job is not to protect our students, but to keep her happy."

"And what she said, is by no means untrue. I am the monster that ruined the boy's life six years ago. But that is as far as you are allowed to know. Not because I don't trust you, but because you are simply too weak to know."

They walked in silence; the old woman didn't even look in his direction. She didn't know what this was about, but inside she couldn't help but worry. It was a disaster when one Archmage was involved with something, let alone two. And by Alaric's words, the woman was one of the stronger people within her Rank, one of the scariest monsters to walk Dyrta.

'And to think I fooled myself into thinking setting the Library on fire was the worst mess you would get yourself in for your entire academic carrier Mr. Clades. Truly, you never cease to amaze, with how big of a headache you can give me.' She thought while trying not to worry about the boy.