The Vision

"Saria, I wish that you would refrain from barging into important meetings and interrogations", Madam Cecie said as they walked back to her office. "We were in the middle of handling a very sensitive situation."

"Yes, I know", Lady Saria replied. "I came to see you about the situation."

"Saria, I know what you are thinking and I must warn you to be cautious."

"You were the one who told me about this day."

"I realize that, but we cannot act upon visions before analyzing the situation."

"Madam, your Divination has reached one of the highest Circle in this realm. If there is a vision in which I trust, it would be one that you have received."

Madam Cecie walked up to the door of her office and opened it, allowing Lady Saria to enter first. Once she had walked in and shut the door, she looked over at Lady Saria and studied her for a brief moment. She had watched Saria grow up from birth, and she sometimes forgot that Saria was now a woman. She didn't want any harm coming to her, however.

"Why do you feel the need to rush this if you believe the vision to be true anyways?", Madam Cecie asked Lady Saria as they took a seat on the couches.

"It is not that I wish to rush this", Lady Saria replied. "You saw his thoughts. He is confused, having came from a foreign land. He has no one to assist him, nor does he have anyone to talk to. Would you not appreciate kindness during a time like this?"

Madam Cecie looked away for a second to gather her thoughts. She knew that Lady Saria was only trying to help Richard, whether it was because of her kind heart or because of the vision. However, she couldn't just act rashly.

"Do you not trust your visions, Madam Cecie?", Lady Saria asked.

"I trust my visions because they have prevented many disasters. I just do no…"

"Then why will you not agree with me?", Lady Saria interrupted.

"Because you are still a young woman and you should not be so easily swayed", Madam Cecie replied.

Lady Saria sat there and thought it over for a moment. She knew what Madam Cecie was saying was right, but she had a nagging feeling that she should persevere. "Madam, I appreciate the concern, but I will be asking my father to release Richard to my care with or without your support."

With that, Lady Saria stood up and left the office, leaving Madam Cecie in a state of shock.

~~~~~~~~~~

Master Lars walked down the hallway until he reached his office. After walking in and closing the door, he walked to his desk and sat down. Closing his eyes, he thought about the events that had transpired over the last few hours.

A boy accomplished what should've been a near impossible feat by teleporting onto the estate. Every precaution Lars could think of to ward uninvited guests off from the Duke's domain had been taken. There was very little that anyone could say he had missed. How the boy was transported onto the estate, whether willingly or by force, was a mystery that he could not understand.

Not only that, the boy claimed to have no recollection of it happening. Lars knew that he should trust Madam Cecie, who was in the Sixth Circle of Enchantment and Eighth Circle of Divination, but he couldn't help but wonder if the boy's thoughts were manipulated. It would have taken a lot of effort to create a fake set of memories that could fool her, however.

Lars was at a loss of what to do. He only had a little time before he was needed to accompany the Duke to his meeting. He found that it wouldn't help to stress over having the perfect solution right that moment. For the time being, he could keep the boy Blocked in the dungeon.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Madam Cecie, do you really expect me to believe what you are telling me?", the Duke asked as they walked down the hall. 

"Yes, Your Grace", Madam Cecie answered. "The vision appeared to me almost a season ago."

"That is when she alerted me of the events which has occurred today", Lady Saria added. 

"Why was I not told of this vision?", the Duke asked. "I take the security of this land very serious."

"It is exactly that reason, Father", Lady Saria replied, "that we refrained from telling you."

"If you would have known, the security would have been increased and Richard would not have been able to teleport", Madam Cecie added.

"So, will you please allow me to speak with Richard?", Lady Saria asked. 

"Do you realize the weight of your request?", the Duke answered. "I am not willing to have your fate decided by the actions of an intruder."

"Father, all that I ask is that Richard is given a chance. All he has seen is hostility since being here. Who knows how frighten he could be."

The Duke continued to walk in silence for a few moments, contemplating the situation. Finally, he stopped and turned to look at the two women. "It would seem as though you have become fond of this boy", he stated, directing the statement at Saria.

"I trust the vision of Madam Cecie", Lady Saria replied. "He does not deserve to be treated as a prisoner if his intrusion occurred against his will. If anything, we should find the entity responsible for his intrusion. There is no need for him to be imprisoned during the search."

"What is your opinion?", the Duke asked Madam Cecie.

"Though I do not wish for Lady Saria to be endangered, I trust my vision as well. It took some deliberation, but I do not feel like Richard will harm her. Nothing during the interrogation suggested the notion of him being able to even if he wished to."

The Duke once again began to walk down the hallway. "Well, I am certain that Master Lars is in his office, finding ways for us to handle this… situation. Let us go ask for his opinion."

~~~~~~~~~~

Master Lars jumped at the sound of knocking at the door. "Enter", he called out, putting his thoughts of the boy aside for the time being. Almost immediately, a messenger walked into the room.

"Sir, the Noble Guards has placed the boy in his cell. Do you have any further instructions?", the messenger asked as he saluted Master Lars.

"Keep the boy on Level Two Lockdown. I do not yet know what his intentions are, so be vigilant while handling him."

"Yes, sir", the messenger replied, dropping his salute.

The messenger turned around, preparing to leave and relay Master Lars' orders. Before he could reach the door handle, however, the Duke walked in, followed by Lady Saria and Madam Cecie.

"Your Grace", the messenger said, bowing before the Duke.

"You may rise", the Duke replied as he walked towards Master Lars. "What news have you brought Lars?"

"I asked for Master Lars' orders, Your Grace. The guards has returned the boy back to his cell."

"What is your plan of action, Lars?"

"I am leaving the boy under Level Two Lockdown. I must make preparation for your meetings today. I will have to revisit the situation after your business is finished to find the proper solution to this dilemma."

"Before you carry that out, I need to speak to Richard", Lady Saria quickly stated.

"Why must you speak to him? This is a sensitive matter for which you should not worry yourself with."

"I understand that you wish to keep the estate safe from any threats, but you do not know if Richard is even a threat. You must prepare for my father's scheduled meetings, so I am more than happy to find out if he is a threat or not."

Master Lars looked at Lady Saria with agitation, but he returned his expression to neutral and turned to the Duke. "Do you agree with this, Your Grace?"

"Madam Cecie claims to have had a vision of the boy about a season ago", the Duke answered. "She told my daughter and they have just informed me of the vision. I agree that he is not a threat to Saria if the vision is credible."

Master Lars looked in disbelief as his decision was overruled. He was taking precautions to keep an unknown entity from potentially attacking, but a vision and gullible girl was preventing that. Nonetheless, he wasn't naive enough to think he could go against the Duke's wishes.

So after a long sigh, Master Lars walked around his desk. "I guess we should prepare to pay this boy a visit."

~~~~~~~~~~

Richard sat on the hard, cold stone, staring into the darkness. All of this talk of different realms and transporting into here was confusing him. They were speaking as if they actually didn't know the United States existed. I'm caught up in all of this mess. It's one thing to get pranked, but to be chained up is a whole other level.

Richard began to tug on the chains. Even with his strength, they didn't feel like they were budging. Even so, he pulled and yanked at the chains, hoping to break at least one. Suddenly, the cell door opened and light flooded in, blinding Richard.

"Do you know who I am, boy?", Richard heard the closest figure ask as they began to walk in. It looked to be a man about his size. He sounded old, but he didn't sound weak. 

"No, sir", Richard replied.

Richard saw the man raise his hand and a fire appeared to sit in his palm, startling him. As he watched, however, he found himself entering a trance. As he continued to empty-mindedly watched, his began to get a headache again. "Do you know who I am, now?", Richard faintly heard in the distance. "Do you know who I am, now?", Richard heard once more.

"Do you know who I am, now?", Richard heard the man spoke. Now that he could think clearly, he looked at the man. The man was as big as he was, but the man was much more muscular than him. He had a head of gray hair that touched his neck and a full beard that matched it. He wore antique jewelry that looked all gold and clothing that looked fashionable, though it did look medieval like Madam Cecie's dress. Overall, however, he looked important. 

"No, sir", Richard answered as he began to stare at the light.

The man wondered at what Richard was fixated on. When he realized that it was the fire, his face soften. 

"Does this frighten you?", the man asked. 

"No, sir. I'm confused about how you are holding fire right now", Richard replied.

"I have to say that it has been years since I have seen someone amazed by an ability as simple as this", the man stated with a chuckle. "However, I can tell you that it is simply the manifestation of my Aether."

"So, it's magic?"

"Do you mean the Magi Arts?", the man asked.

"I've never heard that term before, sir", Richard answered as he looked back at the man. "Sir, can I ask you something?"

"It depends on what the question is."

"Can I know why I'm here?"

The man looked back at Madam Cecie and she nodded. "I think Madam Cecie would be better suited to answer that question."

Madam Cecie then walked up to Richard and knelt down beside him. "Is getting so close such a good idea, Madam?", Master Lars asked her.

"He is unable to harm me, even if he tried", she answered. She then looked at Richard and smiled.

"Madam, was that mag… I mean, Magi Arts that you used on me earlier?", Richard asked her.

"Yes, Richard. I entered your mind to read your thoughts", she replied, catching the look of horror on his face. "Do not worry, I only entered far enough to see what images and memories appeared during the interrogation to gauge if they aligned themselves with your answers."

"How is that possible?"

"I can explain that later, but I need you to allow me to try something first."

"Okay, Madam", Richard replied after a moment of hesitation.

"As well as being an Enchanter, I am a Diviner of the Eighth Order. Do you know what that means?"

"You can see the future?", Richard answered.

"That is a portion of it. How did you know that?"

"In the United States, magic is a thing of myth and fairytale."

Madam Cecie let out a laugh, obviously amused by how clueless he was. "Well, I assure you that the Magi Arts are very real here. Now, I want to study your past and try to see why you have appeared here and for what purpose. To do that, I need you to accept my Maga when it enters you."

Richard looked at her and shook his head in agreement. He was confused as ever about how there was actual magic, but he wanted to find out where this was all heading. To do that, he needed to let everything run its course.

"Okay", she said as she raised her hands. This time, a yellow glow appeared around her hands. Just as before, she placed her hands on his temples and began to release her Maga into him.

Richard felt the same headache appear as he felt her presence in his mind. He tried to once again accept her… Maga, he remembered. It offered some relief as it did before. However, he wasn't prepared for the flow of memories that was being brought to the surface. They all felt vivid as the days that they happened, though it only took seconds to experience months worth of memories. As more and more memories appeared, the headache progressed into another migraine.

When she had regressed three years into his past, he became frightened. The sudden change in emotions caused his control to wane and he felt the full force of a foreign entity within his mind. He could no longer take the pain and he felt her leave his mind. He was close to losing consciousness, but he managed to lean to the side and empty the contents of his stomach before crashing to the floor.

"We need an Abjurator, Lady Saria", Madam Cecie told the man.

At that moment, Lady Saria rushed in and grabbed Richard. She summoned her Maga and forced it into his body, but it seemed to have made him iller.

"Lady Saria, it was just him resisting", Master Lars told her. "He is probably faking his illness."

"He is not. I was able to analyze his body before my Maga was rejected. Is he Awakening?", Lady Saria asked as she looked back to Richard.

"I do not know", Master Lars answered. "It is a possibility, but he may have been Cloaking his mind. He fought Cecie's Maga during the interrogation. He may have been fighting it then."

"That is not possible", Madam Cecie stated. "I was able to go through three years of his memories before I felt his emotions become severely unstable. He may have forced me from my mind, but it felt too raw to be on purpose."

"He may be deceiving us into believing he could not do it on purpose."

"Do you really have such a predisposition to believing he is malicious", Lady Saria spat at Master Lars before turning to the Duke. "Father, I believe that Richard is Awakening. Maybe it began when he arrived and the emotional distress he went through caused a defensive response."

"What do you suggest?", the Duke asked. 

"Allow me to teach him to control his Aether. If he is able to control it, Madam Cecie will be able to look deeper into his past."

"Okay", the Duke said as he looked at Master Lars. "Saria is to be allowed to monitor Richard's condition for the time being. When he is well enough, she will be allowed to mentor him until we are confident that he can control his Aether while being Divined."

"Your Grace, do you really intend to put your daughter in such a risky position?", Master Lars asked, still angered by the way Saria had spoken to you. 

"What I do with my daughter is my concern and my concern only", the Duke responded, looking at Lars with a calm expression. "Give the order to the Guards, then make preparations for my meetings."

"As you wish, Your Grace", Master Lars replied after pausing longer than he should've.

"Everyone else, you are dismissed", the Duke said as he turned to walk out. "I trust your judgement, Saria. Do not make me regret it."

"I will not, Father", Lady Saria replied, still holding an unconscious Richard.

As the Duke walked out, everyone else followed. Just before the door closed, Master Lars gave Saria a look of pure disdain. She didn't notice, however, as she was too engrossed by her worry for Richard.