Calm Before The Storm (4)

Zero froze He didn't quite know what to say. A magic orientation course sounded fantastic. Zero had no problems with it as Hua Tuo had given his consent. However, why did he have a feeling that there was more than met the eye?

Lovina continued nursing her cup of tea smiling patiently as she waited for Zero's answer. Soon and the Gemini Star descendant twins were in on it too. Frankly, Zero was very curious. He studied some of the magic basics from a book but was prohibited from testing anything out without Hua Tuo's guidance. Magic was all about creation and Zero couldn't wait to try some of the ideas he had in mind.

"Are you sure it's alright? I don't wish to trouble anyone during this busy period."

Lovina waved her hand. "It's no trouble at all," the witch chuckled.

Zero frowned as he weighed the pros and cons in his mind. Truth be told, he was highly curious about magic and having someone to guide him or share some pointers would help greatly. Mii wasn't much of a teacher and Hua Tuo wasn't too good at magic apart from healing magic that he didn't use too often. On the other hand, something in him screamed that it was suspicious. Lovina seemed like she was up to something but Zero didn't know what it was. Although the witch wouldn't harm him, Zero just felt as if something didn't add up.

Eventually, Zero's curiosity won over his suspicion. Lovina nearly jumped in joy when the brunet agreed. She just knew that he wouldn't turn her down. With Hua Tuo's approval, it was very unlikely that the curious boy would turn her invitation down.

In her prime, Lovina was a very powerful witch who specialised in poison and curses. Witches have very long lives and Lovina spent hers devoting it to research. She was a pioneer in alchemy and potion making with her vast knowledge about plants. However, something went wrong during one of her experiments to create a potion with the curse of longevity. Lovina specialised in dark magic and it backfired. The curse bound her soul to Earth through a continuous cycle of rebirthing. Every time Lovina reached a hundred human years, she would age tremendously and 'die'. Three days after the body's death, a child of about seven or eight human years would be born from a tree of life. The last tree of life happened to be near Half Moon village before it withered away. Lovina lived in the village ever since, trying to find a way to break the curse without much success. Lovina retained her memories each time she was reborn and had been searching for a way to break the curse to no avail. The witch was always on a lookout for a bright student who could surpass her and hopefully help her break the curse. All she wanted was to die in peace, returning to the rightful cycle of souls. To her, if anyone was capable of breaking the curse, it would be Zero who was able to invent new ways of using magic.

Lovina beckoned Zero to follow her back to her apartment and Zero complied. The witch was ready to pass to the brunet her most prized possession. It was a book written by her with all the knowledge about potions, known poisons and curses from her numerous experiments over several lifetimes.

Zero sat down while the witch rummaged through her cupboards for something as soon as they got to her apartment. He was afraid of what Lovina was up to. What if agreeing was a mistake? Hua Tuo gave his consent so everything should be alright but Zero had this nagging feeling at the back of his mind telling him that there something was more than meets the eye. Why did it seem like Lovina wasn't going to be simply teaching him about magic basics? Then again, he wondered why he kept having this nagging feeling. It'd been bugging him ever since Amaraline's operation. It was as if there was someone nudging him in a different direction screaming to him that there was danger before he could even see it. To be more precise, it was after he'd absorbed her faulty eyes to analyse the composition of cells to recreate working ones.

"Aha!" The witch cried out in triumph as she found the book. She was tip-toeing on a stool to reach one of the higher shelves.

Zero watched how Lovina carefully climbed back down and dusted the cover of the book before walking over to the living room. He tried to look at the book's title but was disappointed to see that it doesn't have any words on it. It was a plain book that looked very worn and used.

"Here it is. This book will contains everything I know. It is my life's accomplishments and I hope you can put it to good use as both a doctor and a magician. You have great talents so if anyone can find a way to solve that mystery, it would be you."

"A mystery?" Zero was pleasantly surprised. He loved mysteries! Then again, perhaps this was what the nagging feeling was all about? Lovina wanted a favour in return for teaching him magic. Zero almost rolled his eyes. He could handle a simple favour, that feeling was definitely overreacting and Zero was glad he didn't listen to it.

The witch grinned. "Don't tell Hua Tuo about it. You can consult with your magic teacher about it when you see him next year but for now, let this be a secret between the two of us. I won't recommend you testing anything out until you see your magic teacher but if you have any ideas about how to break the mysterious curse, you could write me a letter."

Curious as to what the curse was, Zero flipped the book open. He was mildly surprised by how it looked like a journal. Whatever it was, Zero didn't expect Lovina to give him her personal journal. It was written like a diary too and Zero frowned. He looked at the date and tried to remember what year it was.

"Is this written by you?"

Lovina nodded. "Does it surprise you?"

Zero shook his head. Truth be told, he had many questions but surprise wasn't the thing he was feeling at the moment. Confusion would be more accurate.

"The date..."

Lovina blinked. Then she clapped her hands and giggled. "Oh yes, perhaps I should explain from the beginning? Well, long story short, I'm a few hundred years old and this book has been with me ever since. The curse I was talking about should be in the last diary entry. It's an immortality curse that doesn't allow me to leave Earth and return to the rightful cycle of souls. Have you heard about the story of a phoenix?"

Zero shook his head. He'd heard of the legendary bird. It was something that helped create the Cockatrice and Basilisk after all. Still, Zero supposed that the Phoenix must be a powerful and magical bird similar to the dragon.

"Well, simply put, the Phoenix is a bird that cannot die. Once every hundred years, the bird will combust into flames and become a pile of ashes. However, from those ashes, a new phoenix will rise. The body dies but the soul remains. That's what it is - a creature of immortality."

Zero blinked. "But my master is also an immortal... he doesn't burn and become ashes every hundred years, does he?"

Lovina raised an eyebrow. "No, I suppose he doesn't. He's a Sage and that's a little different. He's an immortal with eternal life due to some special circumstances because he doesn't have a physical body on Earth."

Zero's eyes bulged at the great revelation. "My master is a ghost?!"

Lovina blinked then hurried to correct her explanation. "No! Your master is very much alive... he's just transcended to a higher plane. He's an immortal on Earth but not on the plane of his original body."

Zero was lost. His helpless look made Lovina want to apologise. She didn't know that Zero wasn't informed about the different time-space dimensions that existed in the world. As a magician who specialised in time-space and dark arts, she'd forgotten that it wasn't common knowledge.

"I'm sorry. Let me start from the beginning."

Zero nodded and looked at the witch hopelessly as Lovina told him the story about how Earth was created and how there were many Earths alongside this Earth. Zero didn't quite understand how other Earths were created but he kind of understood it when Lovina said that different 'planes' existed in this world.

"You friend, Demon King Belphegor, comes from a plane called the Abyss. Some people call it Hell but it's the same place. Many humans believe that if you do bad things, your soul goes straight to a place called Hell where you will be tortured eternally to make up for your sins. That's only half-true. Your soul wouldn't go straight there. They would stop by a plane one level before the Abyss called the Purgatory. King Yama oversees the judgement of souls. Your teacher's body is on some other higher plane than Earth so he's an immortal here. Similarly, human souls are immortal in Hell because Earth's plane is higher than Hell."

Zero's eyes lit up. King Yama... wasn't that En?

"I know King Yama! En is my friend! He gave me this," Zero tried to remove the intergalactic communicator pinned to his shirt with some difficulty and Lovina had to help. She was fairly startled when the small brooch transformed into a cuboid device. Zero had fun explaining how it worked but the witch was lost.

"It's an interesting device that uses the concept of time and space magic to relay messages across the planes. Whoever made this must be a genius... I've never seen such a thing on Earth so it must come from a different plane."

Zero beamed. "Merlin is the best! He gave Truen and me this so that we could talk. En and Gaia have one too! In fact, all the Great Gods have it. I have them in a group chat where we usually send pictures and texts. Freya loves the cat emotion stickers. We call them 'emoges', short for emotion images."

Lovina felt faint. En? Gaia? Merlin? Great Gods? Just exactly who is Zero! She paled. Although she hasn't heard of the name Truen, Lovina was fairly certain he was also a powerful individual.

"Zero... just exactly who are you? How do you know the Great Gods?"

Zero's smile froze. Hua Tuo had cautioned him previously about not revealing too much about himself. His big mouth had done it now and Zero paled, realising the trouble he'd brought onto himself.

Lovina watched the blood drain from Zero's face and swallowed nervously. The fear in Zero's eyes made her panic. "Uh, it's ok if you don't want to tell me. I won't tell anyone so you don't need to be so frightened. I was only curious. I promise I won't tell anyone else!"

Zero didn't know what to do. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he didn't know if he should continue or run away. Lovina was in a similar predicament. She didn't know what to say to make the boy feel better. Apparently, whatever secret she had didn't compare to Zero's. The witch knew now exactly who Hua Tuo's was. She had her suspicions before but Zero confirmed it. Hua Tuo... she'd heard that name on her travels during her previous lives. In fact, she'd once prayed to the God of Medicine in hopes that he could undo the curse of immortality. Sadly, her prayers hadn't been answered. Lovina knew who Merlin was. Every magician prayed to Merlin and devoted their lives to worship the God of Magic who'd given them the gift to use magic. Lovina once prayed to Merlin, seeking salvation for her curse and Merlin answered her with a vision that Lovina had no way to interpret. It was a dark void that never-ended and Lovina despaired, thinking that all hope was lost. Looking at Zero now, she thought over it again.

"It can't be..."

Zero watched as Lovina fell silent. It was awkward but Zero didn't know how to salvage the situation. He'd made a huge oopsie that Hua Tuo may not forgive him for even if he apologised.

"Lovina...?" he started in a small voice. The witch was looking at him very intensely, lost in deep thoughts. The brunet didn't know if it was a good or bad sign.

"Zero, I think you may be the person I've been waiting for this whole time... Merlin hasn't forsaken me after all," Lovina whispered.

Zero didn't know what to do when tears started to fall from Lovina's eyes. He dropped the book in panic and hurried over to comfort the openly-sobbing lady. It didn't look like Lovina was angry at him even after his huge mistake so Zero could worry about that later. Right now, he had a witch to console.

As Zero patted her hair gently, the brunet couldn't help but wonder what the Phoenix and Lovina's mysterious curse had to do with each other.