Mirror Domain Next Generation (Unfinished)

Silence. Something most don't appreciate until it's long gone. Where before this cave had been filled with the sweet sound of nothing it was now filled with a choir of tumbling rocks and dripping condensation as the entire area rumbled violently. Deep cracks could be seen opening up in the floor and on the walls around the small group of six, and it was clear just by looking at them nobody knew what to do. 

The cave was seemingly collapsing around them, and not one could do a damn thing about it. Rocks shattered and sent splinters of debris shooting every which way and more pouring water began rushing in as the small drip turned into what appeared to be a sizable waterfall. The ground eventually stopped shaking, but the silence did not return. Now, in its place, was the sound of thunderous water pouring in from above.

 "Way to go, birdbrain" The orange Kodin growled, baring her teeth to show even more aggression. "Almost got us killed with that little pet of yours' magic..."

The canine huffed and crossed her arms in preparation to say more, but was soon interrupted by a myriad of different things. Her dear lady squeezing her shoulder was among them, but it seemed that comment had caused a domino effect of built up fear and anger to all come out at once. In an instant the entire group was chattering and bickering, half relieved they weren't going to be crushed by a cave in and half still in a panic over it all.

"Almost got us killed! Hah! I did no such thing" Quipped the aforementioned "birdbrain". A small Sinvian by the name of Altair. "The runes here clearly indicated-"

"The waterfall, see?" The yellow feline chimed in, cutting Altair off. "It's what we were told. What we're looking for should be right on the other side! We're on the right track"

The feline, Lumi, Gestured to the wall of water raging down before them. It was rapid water, moving so fast and pounding so hard it was nothing but a shower of jagged white streaks. Not only that, but the overall darkness of the cavern made it almost impossible to see. There was no way to tell what might lay just behind the water's veil, if anything at all.

"Are you sure it's behind... That" Another Kodin muttered.

"I don't see why it wouldn't be. You do remember what Hope said, don't you, Thunder?" Lumi replied

"Yeah, I do. But I don't know how trustworthy someone like that is..." Thunder muttered again.

"What, scared of a silly rumor?" A brown Kodin barked, still gripping Akos by the shoulder to prevent her from yelling anything else at Altair. She was known for getting a bit out of control, but her dear friend did her best to keep her in line. If she could help it, anyway.

"Rumors, no rumors, it doesn't matter!" The single Whiver of the group yelled. "We were told "Behind the waterfall". The waterfall. "The" implying there's only one. So why don't you lot quit your bickering and get going?"

The white and blue Whiver stomped her foot on the ground angrily as she gestured to the raging wall before them. Everyone else fell silent as they stared back blankly. As far as they were concerned she had just asked them all to be swept away to their deaths in the depths of the cave below. After all, this water had to be flowing somewhere.

After getting no response the Whiver huffed, grabbed the hat off her head and held it tightly, then backed up to get a nice running start straight into the raging water. In a flash she was gone, causing the entirety of the group to scream after her as she dissipated behind the veil of rushing water.

"Bubble" Sonie cried

"C-captain!" Altair yelled, almost in unison.

Several moments went by as the group held their breath. Little did they know, just on the other side of the wall their dear Captain Bubble had touched down safely on a cool stone floor. Not just any stone floor, however. It was a nicely tiled floor paved with what appeared to be metallic bricks of blackened silver. The black was clearly applied as a decorative indicator, as each swirling pattern led the whiver one step closer to a massive altar standing tall at the far end of the room.

Aside from the silver flooring, this room was decorated with spiraling pillars that had been worked into tree-like shapes. It was as if massive metallic weeping willows were holding the very ceiling of this room up. Glittery golden leaves had been attached to the branches of these trees to strengthen the illusion, and there were even a few small metal animals made out of a material Bubble couldn't quite place. Many were rusted, and it was clear wherever this water originated from had been leaking into this room for quite some time. The entire area smelled of rust and iron.

Not wanting to keep her crew waiting, Bubble looked around for a moment before grabbing a small metal bird off its perch and giving it a strong overhand throw. It made a satisfying "Sploosh!" as it whipped through the air and cut through the waterfall in front of them.

The Kodin's ears all perked up as a loud metallic crash echoed throughout the room. Altair, being the only non-Kodin left and having by far the worst eyesight, let out a squawk as this unknown object hurled through the air and crashed on the ground before them. The sudden jolt of panic caused him to stagger backwards, bumping into Akos and Sonie in the process. He was immediately shoved forwards and on to the ground by Akos upon making contact.

"Hey, watch it!" Akos growled, pulling Sonie's hand away from her shoulder and storming over to the small hunk of metal that had just been thrown. She bent down and inquisitively picked it up, inspecting each and every little detail. As a metalworker herself she could appreciate the craftsmanship that must have gone into creating something like this, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why someone would waste such precious and valuable materials on a mere sculpture. This bird was crafted from very high quality titanium and had been given an iridescent rainbow finish which gave the bird the illusion of having feathers. Not only that, but this thing was solid. If it had hit anybody it would have hurt.

"Looks like our Captain made it" She continued, ignoring the fact she had just shoved her associate to the hard stone ground. "Either that or this bird's alive, but I doubt it."

Lumi trotted over and held his hand out over the bird. His palm was open wide in order to get a better sense of what kind of magic, if any, resided within the metal bird. Detecting magic is a very simple spell, but only a trained mage can actually read it properly. Just by expending a moot amount of one's mana and seeing how it's energy reacts you can easily tell what variant is affecting any given item.

"I think you're right, Akos," Lumi said, pulling his hand away from the bird. "There's no magic in the bird. It's gotta be our captain!"

"If that's the case, who's going in next?" Altair questioned, just now standing up and brushing himself off.

After much deliberating the group finally worked up the courage to take the plunge. Despite the raging water with the strength to easily pull even the strongest of swimmers beneath its surface everyone made it to the other side safely. From the looks of things it seemed this second room had been placed several feet beneath the first to accommodate for the raging water. A smart design choice for the entrance, but getting out was an entirely different story.

That wasn't of concern to the group right now, though. Barrowford's third wizard, Hope, had warned the country's mages of a dangerous artifact housed right between the rocky valley of Arnbel Plains. Right in the low point of the Sanquet Mountains before they flattened into the expansive desert known as the Forbidden territory: Mirror Domain's dead zone. What this artifact was was vague, but they had been told it was a leftover from the great Demon Infestation. An artifact of war which had allegedly been created by the demon army to cause unspeakable damage to the mortal world. The ace in their sleeve. The killing blow.

Of course, this artifact had never been used in the war. It hadn't even been discovered until a few years ago, and even then everything currently known about it was all speculation coming from the few concrete artifacts that had been dug up. Demonic in its written form was almost impossible to translate without the use of magic, and even then the results were to be taken with a grain of salt. Most of this information had come from spell effects and imagery that these other items had on them.

Everyone was in awe of the whimsical place they'd found themselves in. All the intricate metal sculptures made it feel like some sort of futuristic version of the overworld. The only true indication that they weren't on the surface was the room's lighting. Many of the trees had been fixed with glowing crystals which gave the entire room a glittery rainbow hue. Even the ceiling had been dotted with crystals giving it the illusion of the night sky. Beautiful, but fake nonetheless. Besides themselves everything in this room was artificial. No sign of life of any sort. There wasn't even any moss or mold. Just metal.

Based on the blackened bits of flooring their destination was clear. After getting a fill of the scenery the group began making their way off towards the shrine before them. While everything else here appeared to be a mimicry of the natural world, this shrine was very clearly distinct. It was not made of metal, but rather crystalline spires which pulsed with a red glow every time someone took a step. Each crystal was placed methodically to the point the archway they created was perfectly symmetrical. Not only that, but the entire room before them was symmetrical as well. A hexagonal shaped room with a large crystal at every corner.

This is where things got somewhat concerning. Up until this point the group had been walking down the near middle of the room, but once they began to spread out there was a noticeable change in the area. Sonie, Akos, Lumi, and Thunder were on one side of the room while Altair and Bubble explored the other. The side where the four Kodin stood began glowing deeply red. It was a threatening display of magic, and each of the four could feel an air of dread surrounding them.

It soon became clear the symmetry of the place was not coincidental. Everything in this room had to be perfectly balanced. If one side got too "heavy" it would glow brightly, and judging by the sheer power of the ambiance the room gave off they could only imagine what would happen if they remained unbalanced for too long. It was some sort of weird balancing act. A puzzle.

In the very center of this room was a large coffin shaped pod made out of brilliantly polished silver and stark white marble. Runes of all sorts lined the exterior, and the group soon came to realize these runes corresponded to the crystals at each corner. An arcane lock, of sorts. This was nothing the group hadn't seen before, although one with this specific gimmick was new. Usually a seal made of magic had ironclad parameters to prevent the lock from opening accidentally. All they had to do was figure out how to unlock it. Hope had made it clear they were to take the artifact out of the mountains and away from any demon's grasp. That's exactly what they intended on doing.

Walking in unison, Lumi and Thunder ventured inside the room to get a closer look at the box before them. Lumi was on the right and Thunder on the left. It wasn't perfectly balanced at first, but after tacking on a bit of weight to Thunder the two were more or less equal. As equal as they could get, anyway.

Of course, Thunder was just there to balance things out. He had no real understanding of high level magic such as this. Thunder only really understood the basics of each colour and what they could do. He'd never cast a spell or made a potion the way Lumi had.

Upon closer inspection it seemed this lock was far more simple that they first thought. There was no specific code or order any had to be triggered in. It was a very simple tethering spell. Activate the crystals, open the box. The trick came in the balance of it all. The box itself may be simple to open, but the room it was housed in was full of deadly surprises. If they weren't careful the group may find themselves the victims of whatever spell lied in wait.

Even with the group sitting down for hours and redistributing their gear to make them as equal as possible there were still issues. Mainly the issue of Bubble, who was by far the smallest and lightest of the group. None of the larger members could make themselves weigh any less, meaning the entire group and their gear had to match at the upper limit of the six. Pressing each button individually did nothing to unlock the box, and pressing them in pairs of two didn't seem to work either. It was blatantly obvious that the lock wouldn't open unless all six buttons were pressed in unison. They'd been lucky enough to have the right amount of people in their group, but that luck was about to run out.

Bubble was carrying as much as she possibly could given her size, but even then it was clear she was far too light. The rest of the room was filled with a vague reddish glow as the six spread out to each corner. Still, they didn't have much else they could do. Not without finding a way out of this cave and back to the airship to restock their supplies. So they pressed on, each placing a hand on the crystal before them in unison to trigger their effects.

Almost immediately the ground began to shake violently as the entire room lit up with an almost neon red glow. Before anyone had the chance to do anything the archway closed and sealed them inside; trapping them in the now collapsing room.

Blazing hot jets of steam erupted from the ground beneath them as a geyser shattered through the crystal barrier. It erupted slowly at first, with mere pockets of steam hissing through the newfound cracks in the floor. Soon enough a massive spring of water shot upwards, taking all six of the adventurers and the stone coffin inside the room with it. They slammed into the ceiling, only for it to break away and continue upwards through a well eroded tunnel. Clearly this wasn't the first time this geyser had erupted like this.

Everyone scattered outwards upon reaching the surface only to fall hard against the ground like drops of rain. It was a very rough landing. Many of the supplies the group had brought with them were long gone as they spread all across the upper part of this mountain.

Suddenly, there was a loud "THUNK" which echoed throughout the entire mountain range. The stone coffin had struck the ground hard, causing it to not only break open, but create a sizable crater in the ground underneath it. Shards of rock flew every which way, making the scalding hot rainfall around them all the more dangerous. Soon, though, the geyser returned to its dormant state and the heat from the water quickly faded as the cool mountain breeze swept through the area once again.

"Is everyone okay?" Lumi yelled out, frantically looking around for his group-mates. His own injuries could wait. He wasn't going to tend to himself until everyone was found, even if he was sore. Burns like his were quite painful. They screamed with even the slightest movement, but Lumi managed to stand himself upright in order to get a better look around.

"Y-yeah... I'm good" Thunder groaned. He'd landed directly on his shoulder, but other than that he was more or less fine. Being the most covered of the group in terms of clothing he'd managed to avoid getting too badly scalded, although the tip of his nose and most of his tail buzzed with a slight burning sensation.

"Us too!" Sonie chimed in, helping Akos to her feet. They'd also managed to avoid getting burnt, but with their own gear being mostly sharp metallic weaponry they both got cut and bruised pretty good. Sonie had a nice crescent shaped bruise across her back which ended in a deep perforation where her pickaxe had stabbed through her flesh.

It wasn't long before everyone had been found, although their conditions were far from okay. Everyone was covered in burns, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and all sorts of other ailments. Still, they were all alive. Not only that, but they had managed to recover the artifact from the rubble even after "failing" to unlock it correctly. It's container was destroyed past the point of no return, but a sturdy box like that was sure to act as a shield against the crash. Whoever had made this thing had surely taken the outcome of a failure into account. Nothing as powerful as this would be left to be destroyed in the inevitable event someone couldn't figure out such a cryptic puzzle.

Lumi did his best to get everyone patched up as Altair and Bubble rummaged through the broken remains of the box. Being the lightest two of the group and both sharing avian traits, neither of the two had taken much damage from the fall itself. With his one pseudo wing Altair had managed to glide safely down to the ground below. The only thing that had gotten either of them was the scalding hot water, and even then the burns were easily remedied by Lumi's magic.

Inside the large crater and under the rubble of the box was a single object. Yet another metallic figure. A humanoid shaped creature with long pointed horns and a thin whip-like tail. It's surface had been badly damaged by the blow. Most of its right side had been dented and torn by the falling rocks. A thick trail of remnant was trailing out of it shrouding the object in a thin red haze. Despite its damage, the magic inside of it seemed to be intact. After a quick check Altair was able to determine that the remnant coming out of this object was the result of the prior spell that had broken through the room, and not a result of the object itself. Being made of metal like this it wasn't surprising some of the magic had gotten into it. Metal was known for moving magic quickly from one place to another.

Of course, now wasn't the time to investigate further into this item. The explosion of the geyser had undoubtedly gotten the attention of the mountain's lingering demons, and with the strict instructions to get this thing away from demon hands they really didn't have time to dawdle. Once the artifact had been uncovered the group spared no time in gathering what remained of their belongings and hiking back down to their Airship. The trip back would take them at least three days, and with an artifact of unknown power at their side they really didn't want to prologue their exposure to it.

Of course, this whole debacle had taken place little over a year ago. After getting the artifact back to Astra City the Guild of the Valiant went back to their normally scheduled duties as they parted ways with Altair and Lumi. Those two opted to remain in Astra on a more permanent basis until the artifact they had uncovered had been securely sealed away. Life returned to normal. Their injuries healed, and soon this event had faded into nothing but a distant memory. As jarring as it had been in the moment, it was far from the most exciting or dangerous thing any of them had been through. Compared to some of the other jobs the adventurers guild had taken this journey was rather mundane. Mundane down to the last detail, including payment. Nothing to write home about.

The year was 873. Astra was in the middle of a deep freeze as the harsh winter turned even harsher. Only four months into the year and the weather was only now reaching its most brutal point. That being said, in the desert of Barrowford where Astra City lies the term "winter" was used loosely. Most of the current weather was a cool breeze that brought with it a thin veil of frost that quickly melted away by noon. Winter was Barrowfords wet season. Once in a blue moon they'd get light rainfall, but more often than not it was vaguely humid and windier than usual.

School has just gotten out all across the country. Where most places took leave from school to take advantage of the farming season, Barrowford scheduled their breaks around the needs of those in political power. Meetings between the country's 12 wizards were most common between the fourth and seventh month of the year, and with the province's mead mages away most schools figured it best to take a break from the teachings of magic. If anything happened to go wrong, there wouldn't be anyone around to fix things.

For Altair this break meant nothing. Being an academic type by nature his personal studies never took rest. On top of that he himself was involved with Barrowfords politics. His father, Brett Empyrean, was the eighth wizard of Barrowford, and as a result he was often dragged along to these meetings. With how things currently stood it seemed Altair was going to be his replacement on the off chance Brett ever tired of his duties.

Lumi, on the other hand, was able to take full advantage of his time off from school. He hadn't been a student himself for several years now, but much like Altair he was in the field of academia. An archaeologist who worked closely with the local university in order to share resources and expand both groups' knowledge. During the "off season", as he put it, Lumi spent most of his time with his life partner and their Daughter, Rem Twinkleton.

Much like her father Rem had a natural inclination to magic. While hers wasn't anywhere near as powerful, she too was a sorcerer with a heavy preference to the blue side of things. Unfortunately that's where the similarities between the two ended. Rem, or Remmy as she was often called, couldn't be more different from both her parents. She was reclusive, cold, and far more pessimistic than either of them was equipped to handle. She loved her parents as many kids did, but being in the late stage of adolescence at 17 she was rapidly growing tired of their authority as many kids her age were.

It was a cool Wednesday afternoon. A faint mist hung in the air as Rem and Lumi made their way to Daydream Cathedral for their weekly meeting. While she'd never particularly taken an interest in her father's religion, she did enjoy the overall calmness of the communion. with their beliefs so heavily focused on dreams the entire place was built to be more or less the ideal sleeping place. It was quiet, the lights were always dim, and the place was always lined with pillows and blankets to nest in.

The two soon parted ways upon entering the cathedral. While she was on the cusp of adulthood, Rem was still young enough to be lumped in with the children's side of things. With children and adults having vastly different needs when it came to sleep the cathedral was built in two separate halves to accommodate both. That being said, with Rem by far being the oldest on the children's side she was usually the one to run the show.

"Alright, let's get things started" she said in a somewhat unenthusiastic tone. As much as she liked the cathedral and the overall mood of the place, she really didn't enjoy being a glorified babysitter to a bunch of rowdy Sinvian children. "Sit down, shut up. We only have an hour" she sighed. "Anyone here have a noteworthy dream this week? Anything at all... Anyone?"

The room was mostly silent, with a few of the younger children talking and giggling among themselves. This was the standard for her group, as unfortunate as it was. Most children took no real interest in the service. They were only here to be babysat as their parents did actual church services in the other room or to take a nap for an hour or two to give their parents a break. Remmy loved the cathedral, but she didn't so much love the people inside it.

"I have something to share" a voice called out from just around the corner of the room's entrance.

Walking inside was a rather tall Sinvian adorned in stark white feathers which faded into a light grey near the top of his head. Two black stripes went down either side of his face and over his eyes similar to that of a mime. In the center of his forehead was a black diamond shaped patch of feathers. His eyes were golden yellow and he was dressed in typical Star-Gazer attire; a single bandana and sash adorned with a colourful headed trim.

This individual had never taken part in the church before, although Rem had spotted him around town several times in the past. That being said, she'd never stopped to get a closer look at him until now.

"I've been plagued with a reoccurring dream every night for the past few years. Not even Dreamer herself knows what it means, but maybe a different... Purrspective on things would help." He said in an aloof tone.

His last comment certainly captured the attention of the rest of the group. Many of them older children snickered at this. Rem was used to not being taken seriously within the church. After all, Star-Gazers were dominantly Sinvian, and many of them were extremely protective and exclusive about their beliefs. This was probably the only Daydream Cathedral in all of Mirror Domain that accepted Kodin such as herself so openly. Clearly this Sinvian hadn't gotten the memo.

"Go on, then" Rem replied, trying her best to ignore the quip. "Let's hear it"

"It never starts the same way, but the ending is something I can't seem to escape. Usually it starts rather mundane. I'll be at home training or out running errands for my boss. But after a while something odd begins to happen. As time goes on a feeling of urgency kicks in. I need to do whatever it is I'm doing faster, but in spite of my efforts my legs only seem to slow down. My feathers start falling out in clumps and soon enough I'm on the ground completely paralyzed by some unseen force. There's a heavy weight on my chest that keeps pushing harder and harder, like I'm being crushed..."

He paused for a brief moment, as if to gather his thoughts. He needed to craft his next words carefully. Partially because the ending of the dream pained him, and partially because it revealed things that were supposed to remain confidential. Things about his line of work that were supposed to remain there, no matter the situation. With a heavy sigh he eventually continued.

"Right at the eleventh hour before the weight becomes too much I'm always approached by... My boss... It's always a relief to see her. Every time I think she's going to help me, but every time the dream ends with her telling me I have to save myself, and every time she turns away right as the weight becomes too much... So," he continued, turning to the rest of the group. "What do you make of that?"

"oh, oh, I've had a dream like that!" A younger Sinvian chimed in. "But when I woke up my brother's stupid hog was laying on my chest..."

"She's not a hog, she's a teacup pig! And she's not stupid! Your bed is just comfortable." Another Child replied angrily.

"Heh, well, unfortunately I don't think that's the case on my end. I don't have any pets..." The stranger sighed.

Rem listened intently to the stranger's story. While his first impression had come off as rather rude, he'd shared a dream most in her group probably wouldn't. It really seemed to get to him towards the end, too. As far as Rem could tell, anyway. This Sinvian hadn't made a single discernable facial expression since he made himself known. Sinvian in general were known not to have expressive faces, but he was stone faced even for a Sinvian.

"Well, I don't know about feathers," Remmy began, "but I know people who dream about losing their clothes in public like that usually feel some sort of vulnerability. What kind I couldn't say, but if it's always your boss in this dream it might be tied to that in some way. Like a feeling of, uh, inadequacy?"

"It's more than a feeling. I know I'm inadequate, as you put it...

He was going to continue, but before he got the chance he was interrupted by one of the younger Sinvian. Soon that comment spun itself into a whole new conversation that the Kodin clearly didn't have under control. More talk of dreams and the children trying to catch a glimpse in the Kodin's bag. He didn't particularly care about any of it, though. The only reason he'd chipped in at all was to make his time here go by a bit faster

Eventually the group finished their sharing hour. The Sinvian watched as Rem helped some of the younger Sinvian nest up for a nap. Ideally he would have used this time to do what he'd come here to do, but the Kodin did not sleep with the rest of them. Instead she made up a small nest for herself, sat down, then pulled open her bag and began fiddling with something inside. The longer she was here the longer he had to wait, and he really didn't have the time.

"Excuse me," he asked in a hushed tone in an attempt to not wake up the others. "How long does this usually last? I haven't been to this place before." As he asked this he covertly tried to get a glance into the Kodin's bag, but she closed it tight the second he got too close.

"About an hour, give or take. Although it really depends on how tired they are." Rem said, equally as hushed.

It didn't seem like this Sinvian was going to nap like the rest of them. Not that Remmy cared, though. Many of the older kids would bring books to read or paper to draw on rather than sleeping. She was among them, although she had no intentions of reading or drawing. She mostly used this time to tend to her own bird. A tiny Raven hatchling she'd been calling Buddy. Rem had found it behind the church not too long ago clearly abandoned by its mother. She'd been caring for it ever since.

The hour went on. Eventually a few parents wandered their way into the room to collect their sleeping children. She gave a wave of acknowledgement as they entered but did little else to interact with any of them. Not like she could with at least half of them. Not all of the Sinvian here spoke Standard or Chitt, and Rem certainly hadn't learned much Sish. A few words or phrases related to the church, but not much else.

One Sinvian in particular waved Remmy down to mention her father. Apparently Lumi had run off to help someone with something. What it was Remmy couldn't make out through the accent, but it was clear she was more or less on her own for the rest of the day. That was just the way she liked it. If it were nicer outside she probably would have wandered off into the desert to explore. Maybe do some birdwatching or check up on the rabbit hutch she'd found. But the chill winds of the deep freeze were enough to sway her away from the idea. Instead she planned to stay right there in the Cathedral and maybe give Buddy a bit of time to stretch his legs.

Well, she would have, if she'd actually been left alone. Twenty more minutes had passed by this point. All of the other children had been taken home except her and the stranger, who was sitting patiently under a stained glass window.

It seemed everyone else had gone. Everyone but the Kodin. Leave it to a Feline to lounge around for hours on end. Why she'd chosen to do that here of all places he couldn't quite work out, but it wasn't his place. Not that he cared anyway. All he cared about was doing the job he'd been sent here to do, and he couldn't do that with this girl hanging around. 25 minutes after the last child had left he sauntered over to question her about it.

"Everyone's left already. Aren't you heading out as well?" He asked, trying not to sound too aggressive.

"Wasn't planning on it" Rem replied.

Hearing this irked him. His boss had always made it clear that his work was to be kept a secret. Word of what they did getting out would only make the both of them a target in more ways than one. People, both good and bad, would track them down and start demanding information that the world just wasn't ready for. He needed to do this task here, and he needed to be alone to do it. It was just a matter of getting the message across without revealing too much.

"Any idea when you're going to?" He asked. "I have... Something I need to do here, and I'd rather not have an audience..."

"Just do whatever you're going to do, I've seen it all at this point" Rem replied, once again opening her bag to check up on her young hatchling.

"I don't think I'm comfortable doing it with a Feline staring me down..."

Rem exhaled sharply in frustration. "Look, I don't know who you are, but if it wasn't made clear earlier they like me here."

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and Rem knew it wouldn't be the last. Whenever a new Sinvian came to town it'd come up. Questions of why a Kodin was allowed inside, among other things. Many Sinvian believe their religion is theirs alone. They don't want to share. She tried not to let it get to her, but it was clear it did.

The Sinvian paused, suddenly realizing how he'd come off. While it was true he didn't like Felines, it wasn't his intention to be rude. He was just getting frustrated with the whole situation. Punctuality was very important to him and he didn't want to make his boss wait any longer. If he'd only arrived in town on time this wouldn't have been an issue in the first place, but he'd woken up late and had to make up for lost time.

Still, while he didn't want to be rude the Sinvian also didn't want to be any more late than he already was. At the end of the day his work was more important than the feelings of some girl, so while he didn't feel good about it he decided it'd be best to help her find her way out.

Tapping his clawed foot on the ground twice, the Sinvian began to channel a small amount of magic through the gemstone embedded on his ankle brace and sweep it across the floor in a circular motion. It looked like some sort of delicate dance as he brought the first ring of his circle to a close. Once it'd been drawn he reached into his bag, pulled out a small pinch of yellow pigment, and blew it into the air causing the ring beneath him to glow brightly and illuminate his underside with an eerie green hue.

"Leave!" He said in clear Akran, completing his incantation. It was an aura of fear mixed with a single command spell. A simple combination, but a powerful one all the same. If one spell didn't get through the other one surely would, and both spells made it clear he was going to find a way to be alone one way or another.

A chill shot down Remmy's spine as the Sinvian spoke, and in a flash she got the immediate urge to leave. without another word she clutched her bag close, lowered her ears, tucked her tail, and ran. It was only after she'd exited the cathedral when it dawned on her what had just happened. That damn Sinvian had cast a spell on her!

As pissed as she was, Rem didn't want to poke the bear any more than she already had. If he was going to resort to magic to force her out there was no telling what he'd do the second time. All she could do was hope this was a one time thing. If not she'd have to get her dad involved, and she really didn't want to resort to that. Her dear sweet father was kind to a fault. To the point he was easily swayed with empty promises. She'd have one hell of a time getting him to actually do anything at all.

It was nearly 2:00 by this point. Rem hadn't had lunch yet, so instead of heading home she grabbed her coin string out of her bag and stuck it in her pocket before walking towards Astra City's shopping district. Any excuse to stay out was good enough for her, even if she did have to deal with the chilly winds of winter.

With the feline now gone it was finally time to finish the day's task. It was a simple one, but the first step towards a goal is often the most important. He'd been told he was supposed to contact his superior upon arriving at Astra City in order to get further instructions. This was commonplace with his arrangement. No plan was ever told outright, it was relayed in steps. This ensured that if the Sinvian were to ever be intercepted on his journey he wouldn't be able to let anything slip, as he wouldn't know it himself. The secrets his boss kept got under his skin at times, but in the end he knew she was only looking out for his safety.

Making sure the door behind him was shut tight, the boy kneeled down in front of the stained glass window and pulled a single glass marble out of his bag. He rolled it around in his hands as he began muttering a faint prayer under his breath. With each word he rolled the marble more, as if to write his speech on a piece of paper that wasn't there.

"Dreamer, I've made it to Astra City. I deeply apologize for the wait. It was a slight miscalculation on my part, it won't happen again"

As the marble rolled across his hands it began to glow brightly with a brilliant green hue. Once at its brightest he placed it gingerly underneath the stained glass and watched as the magic he had imbued it with leaked out and caused the glass figure to warp into something new. The glass reformed itself into the image of a hooded figure rather than the proud flying bird it had been moments before. This figure moved as if it were alive, causing the glass to reshape itself to match. With all this movement the room's lighting shifted and shimmered in a rainbow of colours.

"It's not a problem, Mika. You don't have to be so hard on yourself." The glass replied, encrypting it's words with magic so that only he could understand.

"I hold myself to a certain standard, you know. It's a personal failure...." Mika said back.

"Your personal standards are higher than mine, hun..." She replied, only to get a nod from Mika. "Regardless, you've made it. And I'm assuming you're in a position to talk, considering you've made contact. I hope your ready for your next task"

"Of course. I'm listening"

"Several months back the local university got their hands on a rather... Peculiar artifact. One of my alignment. It's been enough to catch my attention, but I've been hesitant to do anything about it until now."

"Artifact?" Mika asked. "Is this a collection run?"

"Not quite. Something with power as strong as this going missing would raise suspicion. I simply want information on the thing. As much as you can gather. I'll decide where to go from there"

"Does this "thing" have a name? Kind of hard to find something if I don't know what it is."

"the university has been calling it the "Silvered Sentry", but I highly doubt that's it's real title"

"It's enough to start looking. I'll report my findings by the end of the week."

"Just try not to cause a ruckus, alright hun?"

Mika nodded, and soon enough the glass reverted back to its normal state and his marble went back to being dormant. Once he was sure the spell was over and done with, he scooped it back into his bag and began making his way outside in search of Astra City's university.

After getting both her and her raven a bite to eat, Remmy found herself wandering around Skybound Landing, the local airship dock. The landing was known for luring in snakes with its seemingly endless supply of rodents running about, and the landing owner seemed to have it out for both species. Being a lover of animals herself Rem would often check under the back steps of the landing for snakes and relocate them if she happened to find any. Being winter she wasn't expecting to find any today, but you never can be too careful.

Just as she suspected there were no snakes to be found, but Rem could hear the pattering feet of a clawed creature drawing near. Its steps were lightweight and quick. One after another as if whatever it was was running closer. Was it a rat? A rabbit maybe? Or maybe, just maybe, it was a mouse.

"Oi, Remmy!" a shrill voice barked. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave the wildlife alone?!"

Storming out from inside the landing was Skybound's owner and founder, Mouse Clementine. She was a rather old Whiver who, in spite of her age, seemingly got more feisty as the years ticked by. She wasn't known for being mean, but she didn't have the time for shenanigans and Rem's got very dangerous very quickly at times.

"Ah, M-misses Clementine!" Rem yelped, slamming her head against the underside of the back staircase as she scrambled to drag herself out. "S-sorry, I was just checking for snakes"

"I'm well aware of what you're doing. You of all people should know to keep your distance. How many times have you had a trap spring on you, again?"

"Better they spring on me than some poor little snake!"

It was true. For as long as Rem could remember she had been drawn towards animals. The natural world was a fascinating thing. a lawless place where there was no right or wrong, no purity scale, no war or conflict. Animals were smart enough to befriend, but simple enough not to harbor meaningless resentments based on arbitrary things like personal preferences or choice of words. They were easy to understand and far more worthwhile friends in Rem's eyes. She'd gladly spring a trap to spare the life of an animal any day of the week, and Mouse knew it.

The bickering outside had caught the attention of the other person inside the Airship Landing. Wendy, a pale orange Kodin with wildly frizzy hair to match her spunky personality. She was Mouse's daughter and one of Remmy's only friends. Well, her only friend. Her brother Asher was nice to the Feline, but he was often too brash for her liking. The two had been friends since childhood. They were often babysat together whenever one of the group's parents had to be out for the day.

"Mom, would you stop tormenting my friends? We aren't children anymore" Wendy growled, crossing her arms in frustration. When Rem finally got out from under the deck she gave a brief smile and wave before going back to her glare.

"I'm not tormenting anyone, Wendy, I'm just trying to prevent our little snake charmer from getting herself hurt"

Wendy huffed once more, still giving mer mother a glare. After a while Mouse figured it best to give up and head back inside to continue her work. If there was one thing she'd passed on to her daughter, other than their shared distrust towards magic, it was her stubbornness. No matter her reasoning Wendy was going to take her friend's side on the matter. The two had learned to agree to disagree a very long time ago.

Once her mother had gone far enough inside Wendy trotted down the stairs to meet up with her friend. She was surprised to see her here to say the least. Typically Rem was unavailable on Wednesdays due to her involvement with the church, but today it seemed that wasn't the case. But, of all the Wednesdays she could have been free, today was far from the most ideal.

This morning a pair of Barrowfords wizards stopped by seeking the landing's aid. A simple request for her mother's skill and knowledge on machinery to help them decipher a project that had apparently been in the works for a little over a year.

Apparently some time ago the university had come into the possession of a rather peculiar artifact. Only problem was, it'd been badly damaged during transport. Things on the magic side were concrete. The university’s mages had gotten that repaired a long time ago, but the hardware of this item was far over their heads. All it's cogs and springs and God knows what else made it a nightmare to work with. Not only that, but half the components inside were broken and no one knew where to start looking for replacements.

Still, with her overall dislike of magic Mouse had adamantly refused to help. they had diagrams, they ensured her she wouldn't have to touch a single magic related component, they offered extra compensation in exchange for her help, but Mouse had refused. Wendy, on the other hand, seized the opportunity. Shortly after the mages left she ran after them to offer her own skills. Wendy was of the opinion that, as bad as magic was, you need magic to fight magic. If her mother flat out refused to help they would just find someone else to do the job properly. If Wendy got involved she could fix this machine and rid it of it's unnecessary magic components. A win win for everyone, as far as she was concerned.

The only problem was actually getting the necessary supplies. Her mother knew very well what the university claimed to have needed. If Wendy suddenly began gathering all these items at once she'd no doubt get suspicious. Her mother had never been lenient on anything, but when it came to the university even the mere mention of the place was enough to set her off. If she caught wind of Wendy's plan she'd be furious. She was in the process of getting things covertly packed when Rem happened to stop by.

"Sorry about her," The Canine began. "But hello! Didn't expect to see you here today. I thought it was Wednesday?"

Rem nodded in response. "Yeah, it is. Dad's off doing... Well, you know him. Always helping someone with something. I got the day to myself.."

She kicked at the ground a bit, unsure of what to say next. On one hand she wanted to mention what had happened at the cathedral earlier. If not just to vent to someone who'll just sit and listen rather than trying to fix the problem or offer advice. But in this instance even her friend may not be worth telling. Wendy had a vendetta against magic like this, to the point she'd become a bit of a spellcaster herself just to undo harmful effects. If she mentioned she'd been chased off by a mage Wendy would no doubt go on some sort of crusade against him. It just wasn't worth it.

"That's a first. You're never free on Wednesdays" Wendy sighed. "Which sucks. They're always slow days at the tavern..."

"It's not a coincidence. Astra is like, what, 25% Sinvian? A good fourth of the town's population spends their day at church instead"

"Huh. I never thought about it like that..." the canine shook her head "But that's besides the point. If you're free today, do you think you can help me out with something?" Wendy asked.

"Help you with...?"

Wendy twirled her hair around her finger, a bit ashamed of herself for what she was about to ask. Rem had provided her with a golden opportunity. The perfect excuse to get the tools she needed out of the landing without her mother becoming suspicious.

"I need you to tell my mom you, uh, need help fixing something. No no, tell her I'm helping you fix something."

"Fix what?" Remmy asked. "And why, exactly?"

The twirling of hair became vaguely more frantic at the feline's inquiry. "I, heh, kinda make an offer to help out at the university, and-"

Rem just sighed, cutting her friend off abruptly. "I'm not helping with this. I'm not going to get in trouble with them again because of you-"

"No no no! No trouble this time! They need my help repairing an artifact and... Look, it's hard to explain, but I'm actually trying to help out. I promise, there won't be any trouble with them... So long as mom doesn't find out"

While the two Kodin generally got along well, the subject of magic had been the one of few things that'd torn rifts in their relationship. Nothing that couldn't be mended with time, but many of these past arguments still stung whenever the topic came up. With her father being a magic researcher himself it was hard for Remmy not to get dragged into the world of magic, and just like her father she had a natural knack for it. Wendy was a bit more trusting of the arcane than her mother was, so while she didn't entirely approve of Rem's heavy magic leaning she never said anything about it. Rem was trustworthy enough to use higher magic. It was those bullheaded warlocks or aspiring new mages that you really had to worry about. The people who don't understand magic but use it regardless.

Rem thought over her statement for several moments. As much as she wanted to believe her only friend she just couldn't bring herself to. Then again, flat out refusing would not only make Wendy upset, it'd also leave her with nothing else to do today. It wasn't even 4:00 yet, she couldn't just sit around and do nothing. So, she decided she would help, but only on a condition.

"Fine, I'll help, but only if I can come with." Remmy said. "Just to make sure you aren't going to do anything stupid"

Wendy ran over and hugged her friend, much to her dismay. Rem had never been a fan of physical affection. She'd been "babied", as she put it, by her parents for far too long. To the point she'd grown sick and tired of people poking and prodding her all the time. She didn't like her hair played with, she didn't like cuddling, and she especially didn't like hugs. But she said nothing. It was only a brief one, and soon enough the two were formulating the perfect excuse to bypass Mouse and get Wendy's tools safely over to the university.

The university itself was, by all accounts, a ghost town this time of year. School being out of session wasn't a suggestion. It was a demand. The only people allowed to continue their work were trusted mages and university professors. Barrowford quite literally couldn't risk another disaster brought on by unskilled or under prepared mages dabbling with things they didn't quite understand. Last time this had happened an unspeakable evil was released upon the world. Sure, it hadn't happened in Barrowford itself. Rather it was a pair of mages from Barrowford who'd traveled all the way to Vertgate to collect components for a spell they'd been trying to recover from an old book the university had found on expedition. The aftermath resulted in bad blood between the two countries, to say the very least. It if weren't for the sheer distance between them a war would have undoubtedly broken out. Of course, this event had been the catalyst to what many referred to as a "seasonal academic ban".

Wandering the empty hallways felt almost alien to the pair. The university was more than a place of learning. It was more or less Barrowfords hub for mages of all sorts to come and mingle with one another. It housed vast archives and stored important historical artifacts that many took great interest in. Now there were hardly any people inside. Wendy and Rem more or less had the entire place to themselves. Aside from the people Wendy had come to assist, of course.

Heading down the stairs the pair found themselves in Astral Plane's basement. A largely unused area of the school that at one point was meant to be a gym/auditorium, but had since been converted to a storage area. Makeshift walls and stalls lined the wooden floors of what was once the gym, and each section of the place had a different label on it. The locker rooms of the gym was where the university stored it's more powerful artifacts, including the one Wendy had been called here to investigate. Past the rows of lockers and benches was a small changing room type area sealed off by a curtain. There the university had stationed this relic as various mages and mechanics had tried their hands at restoring it. There, they saw the Silvered Sentry for the very first time.

Alongside this Sentry were the two individuals Wendy had spoken to this morning. A pair of Lesser Dragons who were undoubtedly part of the same organization. Judging by their uniforms it seemed they were a part of some sort of historical organization. Archaeologists, maybe? That part was fuzzy. All Wendy knew was that they had been the ones tasked with restoring the Sentry.

The sentry itself was a marvel of ingenuity. It was a humanoid shaped hunk of finely carved metal. Metal that was once plated with silver years ago as evident by the discoloration on the "new" parts. The sentry was clearly badly damaged. As if something had either crushed it or tore metal away from its body. For the time being these areas were being covered by a thick cloth affixed by a weak adhesive to prevent any of the inner mechanisms from falling out and getting lost. Each sheet had a row of buttons that allowed easy access to the machinery inside.

With how delicately crafted this item was it was almost criminal, at least in Wendy's mind, for it to be blighted with the likes of magic. Then again, that is why she was here in the first place. To restore this machine and rid it of the clearly dangerous magic it harbored. Taking out her tool box the young inventor began arranging her tools in order to streamline her workflow. She never bothered with organizing things beforehand, as the walk over always bumped and jolted her tools into a jumbled mess anyway.

"Wow, this is... Just wow." Wendy said, staring at the metal frame in awe. "I really have my work cut out for me, don't I?"

"Indeed. It won't be too much trouble, will it?" One of the historians asked. "It's vital this restoration is up to our standards. If this job is above your skill level-"

"No! Ack, I mean, uh... I can do it! Don't you worry. So long as you fill me in on what it is I'm working with. My mom really didn't give you two much time to explain. Knowing what kind of magic's affecting it would be a good start..." Wendy said, getting less confident in her words as her sentence dragged on.

The man nodded, then pulled out a small pocket book. He flipped through it for several moments before stopping on a page decently far into things.

"Right, of course. There's a myriad of spells affecting this thing, but we've taken great care in deactivating most. We haven't removed any, but the majority of these spells are dormant for the time being" The lesser dragon cleared his throat before continuing. "As for specifics, the two major ones are in relation to the soul. One to preserve it, and the other to... Keep it contained. We believe this artifact is powered by a soul as a means of recharging it's mana passively, rather than fueling it with more magic periodically. It was a tool of war, after all."

"Dad was talking about this thing a few months back." Rem chimed in.

It was true. Her father, alongside the rest of the guild of the Valiant, had been the ones tasked with bringing this statue here in the first place. It wasn't anything Lumi had dwelled on for too long, but Rem did remember him being rather upset at the notion of it being used in war. He was adamant it wasn't a weapon, but he couldn't for the life of him work out any other use for such an item. As far as Rem was concerned, it being a weapon was spot on. Just think of all the chaos that could be brought on by a nonliving soldier like this. It wouldn't have to eat, sleep, or heal itself if it somehow got injured. That being said, this was all speculation. Rem didn't like jumping to too many conclusions no matter how easy they were to draw.

"That's all well and good, but uh... You're telling me this thing has a soul inside of it? Like, a real soul?" Wendy asked.

"It has spells to contain and preserve a soul. We haven't found one inside of it yet." The historian replied. "That may be why it's inactive"

"And you're not worried about it... You know... Stealing one of ours?!"

"It doesn't have the capacity to." The second historian added. "Aside from containment and preservation of a soul the spells affecting this thing are underwhelmingly mundane. There's an altered version of standard language comprehension, altered in what way we don't know. There's also several protection and preservation spells lining the machine's inner cavity, presumably to prevent rust or tarnish. Aside from that the only real thing of note is the, uh, hydraulic system."

"Hydraulics? What do you-"

Wendy was going to ask what he meant by that, but her sentence was quickly cut off by a loud crash from upstairs. A crash followed by frantic shouting and the sound of running footsteps. It had clearly caught everyone off guard, so the group began making their way back upstairs to check things out. The university was supposed to be empty at this time, so any commotion at all was concerning.

The young Kodin's body hit hard against the ground as he frantically chased after the admittedly small dragon he'd been tasked with looking after. Typically on Wednesdays Asher was on shift at his father's tavern, but today it seemed he had other duties. Long story short, one of his father's employees, and by extension his co-worker, had to go out for the day leaving behind the young girl under his care. Of course, this child was far from your average child. She was a vastly powerful sorcerer with an affinity for changing her form. This morning when she was dropped off she had been your average Vulpine Kodin, but throughout the day she'd changed her form no less than twenty times.

Asher had tried to keep the girl entertained by playing a game, but it seemed the girl had gotten overly excited. A simple game of tag had turned into a game of chase, with the girl taking on a quadrupedal form in order to gain more speed. This chase had led the both of them to the university where Asher found himself desperately trying anything to catch the loose child.

Unfortunately for him, the university's smooth tile floors had bested him. Astra's constantly dusty terrain paired with near perfectly polished floors offered little traction. Asher soon found himself skating across the university's common area before eventually slamming hard against the ground. Rose, the child he'd been chasing all this time, found his fumble to be wildly entertaining. So naturally she followed suit, skating her now reptilian body across the smooth tile before eventually crashing into a wooden display case set up in a nearby hallway.

"Ack! Rose! Are you alright?!" Asher yelled, doing his best to scramble to his feet and run to the girl's aid.

His efforts were in vain. If he had just slowed down and moved at a normal walking speed he may have been able to keep himself upright, but so long as he was sprinting the way he was remaining upright was a near impossible task. Once again he found himself skidding across the polished floor, but unlike last time instead of rolling to a stop Asher found himself bumping into the legs of a very familiar Canine.

"Asher! What the hell are you doing here?" Wendy growled at her brother.

Asher had always been the troublemaker between the two of them. Sure, Wendy had her grand ideas and mildly dangerous plans, but she'd always gotten the OK from her parents before starting any of her projects. Asher, on the other hand, acted first and begged for forgiveness later. Growing up he constantly pestered their father's patrons at the tavern. Patrons and staff. Her brother had an odd relationship with all of his co-workers. Something Wendy didn't have the time or mental energy to even try to understand. He was their father's spitting image. Quirks and all.

"Oh, Wendy! Rem! You... People" Asher said, greeting the group to the best of his ability. "Halcyon had to go out for the day so, uh... I've been taking care of the beast for the day"

"I am not a beast!" Rose yelled, rising to her feet and shifting back into the form of the Vulpine she'd been this morning. "See?" She said smugly, gesturing proudly to her new body.

"Oh god, you've somehow made yourself worse!" Asher replied playfully, only for both of them to erupt into a fit of giggles.

"That doesn't answer my question..." Wendy said harshly.

"Hey, I could ask you the same thing! I came here trying to catch Rose. Why are you here?" He asked back, changing his tone slightly to something more annoyed. "I can't think of any reason why you'd be here other than-"

"We're here to repair the... Thing... In the basement... Whatever it was called..." Rem said, cutting Asher off.

Growing up around the twins, Remmy knew damn well what Asher was about to say next. The two had always squabbled with each other, and when tensions ran high it became a game of blame. Assuming the worst and calling each other out for it, usually tearing open old wounds and reigniting old arguments in the process. Rem hated conflict. She had a hard time understanding people as is, so when she was put on the spot she usually began to shut down. It was easier to be a mediator. A neutral third party who didn't have to pick a side and could get away with vague input.

Of course, with how close Rem was to Wendy she had picked up a few tricks to diffuse the twins' fights rather quickly. More often than not it was confusion. Say something either jarring or nonsensical that'd force the both of them to stop and think for a minute. Even with such little time it was usually enough to calm things down in the heat of the moment. Even if they didn't make up afterwards Rem figured it'd be better for them to argue over Wendy lending aid to the university rather than him outing her past history with the place to the people she was supposed to be working under. Wendy would be in for a world of hurt if they learned about her tendency to sabotage projects like this. These lesser dragons were officials. They had authority greater than that of the twin's parents.

"Really?" Asher asked, somewhat astonished. "But... Why?! How did this even come up?!"

"We stopped by the airship landing this morning." The historian said. "Regardless, it seems you have this handled" he turned to face Wendy. "I'd like to get started as soon as possible if that's alright with you. With the wizards away repairs like this are all we really can work on, and I'd like to complete them before their return"

"Of course!" Wendy chirped. "My brother can handle his little friend. We should get back to work..."

The rest of Wendy's day was spent in the basement of the university chatting with the two historians and trying to get a better understanding of the items she was going to be working with. Whether or not she could fix it wasn't in question. Wendy knew for a fact her abilities were more than adequate for a job like this. It was more a question of whether she should.

From how the historians explained it seemed this item was nothing but a harbinger of death. A tool of war made to do nothing but kill and maim mortal kind in the ongoing conflict between them and demons.

The hydrologics brought up earlier were the crux of this artifact's power. The soul which was meant to draw in mana had to put it somewhere. As such, the machine had been fitted with all sorts of thin tubes and glass cylinders to store excess mana while not in use. It had quite the capacity, but with no soul to power it and the machine overall being inactive there was no way for it to charge itself.

Much to her surprise the sentry didn't actually have much magic behind it. Not as much as she first thought. Yes, the whole soul thing was pretty scary, but the machine itself didn't run on magic. Rid it of that and the body of the sentry still had the capacity to move and act on its own. Similar to a watch, in a way, though it didn't need to be wound to keep working. It was a marvel of engenuity, and as much as she disliked the arcane aspect Wendy felt honored to work on the thing.

Eventually nightfall rolled around. Neither Rem nor Wendy wanted to hang around too late. Rem had a curfew she had to uphold, and Wendy simply didn't want to be stuck in a dark university overnight. Her brother had gone home hours ago by this point, so the pair of friends decided to call it quits for the time being. Wendy fully intended on coming back tomorrow. As for Remmy, it was up in the air.

The new moon offered little in the way of ambient light as the early hours of the AM rolled in. Mika found himself wandering the perimeter of Astral Plane as he searched around for the building's exits. Nothing he had planned for tonight was particularly illegal or frowned upon, but you never could be too careful. Someone in his position couldn't take any chances. If his plans had even the slightest chance of causing conflict he needed to have a way to escape.

He had been told to get information on the Silver Sentry earlier that day. It was his next god given task, and Mika was well on his way to completing it. After triple checking all the exits he trotted his way inside the building and did his best to navigate the place through the darkness. Sinvian weren't known for having good night vision, but casting light or using any other form of illumination would only draw unwanted attention.

The university was an eerie place at night. Nothing could be heard other than the ambiang creaks from the building itself and the occasional sharp exhale of what most would write off as mere wind. A place with such unpredictable and unregulated magic was bound to have all matter of secrets, and Astral Plane was no different. It was the final resting place of more wraiths than the school would want to admit, and in the Twilight hours when the school was normally empty many of them came out to wander.

Mika didn't let this bother him, though. Wraiths may look gastly, but compared to some of the other monsters he had to deal with over the course of his life they were mostly harmless. Wraiths were nothing more than a different manifestation of a soul. Similar to how the mortal soul was blue and demons green, a wraith was simply a soul of purple alignment brought on by the abuse of magic.

Demons were something Mika dealt with often. The person he had been working under most of his life was not only a deity, but the deity in charge of demons as a whole. Her likeness surpassed even the strongest and most well established demon lords. During his time in her service Mika had seen the birthplace of demons themselves and braved horrors the average mortal could only imagine. A mere wraith was nothing compared to any of that.

That being said, even after seeing the world's unseen horrors and being subject to many of them, Mika feared mortals more than anything else. Mortal kind was something even the gods themselves had learned to fear. A lesson Mika himself had learned a very long time ago. Horror was one thing. Horror only existed in the physical sense. Something that merely looked scary was nothing compared to true evil, and if there was one thing mortals were good at bringing out it was that.

Past trauma aside, Mika had made his way to the university's basement and was hopelessly fumbling around the dark trying to find his way to the Silvered Sentry. The basement was even darker than the main floor. At least there the little ambiang light from the moon was able to flow in. As if the moon was any help at all. With Mika's poor night vision everything was essentially a black void of nothing. At least, until he fumbled his way into a box or a wall or... A curtain.

Little did he know Mika had just stumbled into the small changing room which housed the sentry. The soft silky waft of the curtains came a bit unexpectedly. To the point Mika's instinct were able to get the best of him. Almost immediately he kicked his leg out and around him in a sweeping motion in an attempt to knock the unseen assailant to the ground, but instead his leg made contact with the concrete wall near the room's entrance. It hit with such force that small flecks of concrete were knocked loose from the wall, and because he hadn't braced himself for such an impact Mika promptly fell to the floor and began writhing in pain.

"Wrrack!" He cried, clutching his ankle. "God damn it, why's it got to be so damn dark in here?!"

Despite the pain he felt Mika's voice remained calm and monotone. At this point he couldn't add an inflection to his voice if he tried. He felt so much and so often, yet he was cursed with seemingly the most inexpressive face and voice the world had ever seen. Not that he could help it, though. As a child Mika was often punished for showing too much emotion. His "caretakers'', if you could even call them that, didn't appreciate him making himself known. Being stone faced was more of a survival technique than anything else.

Finally fed up with his lack of light Mika reluctantly sat himself up, pulled out a small bag of dried fireflies, and crushed them in his hand to cast a basic light spell. The room immediately sprang to life in a vague green hue allowing the Sinvian to finally get a good look at what was around him and, more importantly, what he'd gotten tangled in.

It didn't take long for him to free himself from the confines of the curtains. Soon enough Mika was back on his feet and able to look over the artifact before him. He finally understood what his boss had meant by "sentry". At first he mistook the word for "century", believing this item to be some sort of clock or sundial. It seemed far more plausible than a literal metal Drexel. Or demon. It wasn't clear what species this creature truly was, especially given the heavy damage to the thing, but he at least knew one thing for sure. Sandra, his boss, wanted information on this artifact, and he fully intended on getting it for her.

Leaving the sentry be, Mika wandered the room in search of any loose papers or documents that may have been left behind. If this was an ongoing project at the university surely there'd be some sort of paper trail nearby. Indeed there was. On the ground next to the bench the sentry was laying on was a single wooden box full of various files and papers. All of these were somewhat recent, written in the mix of languages you'd expect based off the town's population. Language wasn't a barrier for him, though. Mika had quite the array of spells at his side to combat it.

Tapping his hurt foot on the ground twice Mika once again began to channel his own magic in preparation to cast a far more powerful spell than light. He raised his leg like a flamingo, then stamped it on the ground as he recited an incantation in Arkan. The area around his foot glowed like ripples on a pond as the spell took effect and a thin trail of remnant fog spewed out of the Sinvian's mouth. With his spell cast, Mika could now read and understand all of the papers before him.

It took him about an hour to paw through everything. All the while Mika was separating the documents into two piles. One pile of useful information, and another of papers he deemed either useless, irrelevant, or outdated. These documents spanned from around this time last year to just yesterday, so a large chunk of what had been written had been reworked and reworded several times over. Theories they had in the earlier days had been disproved only for more to pop up. If Mika was going to relay this information to Sandra, he was going to do his best not to waste her time with unnecessary fluff.

Now that everything had been separated Mika prepared a second spell. Plucking a pair of feathers from his arm and dipping one in a bottle of glittery orange ink he began muttering yet another incantation. He held one feather in each hand and was channeling magic into the both of them. When the spell was done Mika let the quill he'd dipped go, only for it to be suspended midair. Moving the other quill still in his hand the dipped one followed in perfect unison. This way he could trace the writing from the university with one pen, and the other would write a perfect copy of the words into his notebook. A forgery spell. One of the few Mika didn't feel bad about using.

For as long as Mika could remember he wanted to get stronger. All his life he'd been pushed around and bullied by those who were supposed to be looking after him. Sinvian, by nature, are no match for the likes of a Kodin, and unfortunately for Mika that's exactly who he was raised by. An unfortunate victim of the food trade. Someone who was never meant to be born. His egg had been sold alongside many others and shipped off for consumption. In many areas of the world Sinvian eggs are considered a delicacy. Especially places where Sinvian themselves were once considered food animals and not intelligent beings. He'd been bought by a chef, hatched in the kitchen, and promptly sold off to the highest bidder in an attempt to make up for lost profits.

Of course, the kind of people in the market to "buy" another person generally aren't the most kind hearted of souls. He was sold to be eaten, but he was far too thin and scrawny to be of any real use. So his slaver put him to work. He was a servant to a well esteemed nobleman in the far off country of Pridom. Far from where he was now, anyway. There he did general maintenance of the manor, tended to the back garden, and on occasion acted as a pseudo whipping boy for the younger members of his "family". Kodin behave vastly differently than Sinvian. They're just built differently. These felines were often rough with him, and given how young he was he simply couldn't tell if it were out of malice or if it was just how Kodin were. Eventually he decided it was a mix of both, and he'd hated Felines ever since.

He tried his best to get stronger. Build up strength to take their hits. Their abuse. Their sharp claws and jagged teeth. Alas, he never could. He was biologically predisposed to be thin, lanky, and only really good at running away. Magic had been used as his crutch. He only learned it as a means of survival, and as much as he disliked it it seemed he had a natural knack for it. After escaping his captors with the help of his then new boss he'd tried to train under her. The god of green was a strong and skilled individual. Despite having near endless amounts of mana she rarely relied on her magic to keep her safe. Mika admired that. Every spell he cast that wasn't strictly utilitarian was marked as a failure of his own physical abilities in his eyes. But, seeing as forging a document had nothing to do with one's physical strength, Mika had no qualms in using his magic to aid him in this specific instance.

Dusk turned to dawn, and eventually the basement began to light up with the warm rays of the morning sun. Mika had gotten a considerable amount of work done over the course of the night, but in the process he'd stayed up far later than he may have wanted. His eyes were heavy, and his foot still pulsed with a dull ache from his attack on the wall earlier. His next meeting had been scheduled for the end of the week. Today was Thursday, meaning he had another three days before he had to report his findings. Of course he intended on digging deeper into this, but for the time being Mika figured it'd be best to rest up. So, he limped his way into one of the more secluded areas of the university's basement, covered himself in the curtain he'd torn down earlier, and dozed off for the day.

Morning had come to the airship landing as well. Typically on their days off Asher and Wendy weren't awake until at least 10:30, but today had other plans in store for the twins. Both of them had been woken up in the early of the morning, around 5:24. Woken up to the unmistakable sound of a child whining loudly and their mother frantically trying to hush it. Mouse was by no means a bad parent, but everyone knew damn well she was better with older children. Mouse was a creature of logic. A one track mind who stuck to the facts and thought overly critically about nearly everything she did. Many of the things young children did had no rhyme, reason, or logic behind them. It was difficult for her to reason with anyone who wasn't based in reality. A child's irrational and imaginative brain was an alien subject to the poor Whiver.

This morning Halcyon, Rose's father, once again had to go out for the day. While the common folk didn't know it, Halcyon was a massively important figure in Barrowford's government. With it being the season of political meetings and discussions he had to be out more often than he liked. Rose was too young to tag along on any of these trips. She was far too easily bored by legal jargon, and as far as her father was concerned anything he agreed with she'd immediately be against. Rose was too much of a rebel to be allowed to know anything about her father's governmental work.

Currently the girl was in the form of an overly fluffy Sinvian. A Sinvian with powerful lungs who could wail. "No! No no no!" She screamed sleepily. "I don't want to stay at the landing, I want to go home! I wanna go home!" Rose stomped her feet several times as her tantrum began working itself up.

"But you aren't going home," Halcyon replied sternly. "You're going to stay with Mouse at the landing today. I have important things to discuss with mayor Julian and Thorn and they can't wait any longer. You'll be fine here"

"No!" She screamed again. "I wanna go home! I'm ok by myself! I'm brave! I-"

Rose was cut off by a loud "SNAP" which caused her to scream, shift into a squirrel, and scurry up her father's shoulder for protection. A rat had met its fate in one of the several traps Mouse had set up around her workshop, and the sound of the creature's life coming to such an abrupt end had startled her. It was well known by this point Rose was a bit of a jumpy individual. She tried her best to put on a brave face, but the fact of the matter was the second she stopped to think about anything she'd undoubtedly find a reason to be scared of it.

This was through no fault of her own, however. Rose had been raised hearing wondrous tales of both her father and her grandfather's past. Stories of conflict and war that, admittedly, were far too graphic for someone her age. With how often Halcyon spoke of the ever looming threat of demons, his work at the guild, the great demon infestation, and the various other tales of struggle and strife he'd been through, Rose was under the impression all of these things were a common occurrence. He had so many stories of demon fights and other conflicts and battles that they just had to be a common occurrence. There was no way they weren't. Otherwise her father wouldn't have nearly as many stories.

Because of her generalized fear of the world and the idea that things could take a turn for the worst at any moment, Rose often shut her brain "off", so to speak. When she wasn't thinking she wasn't afraid. When she wasn't afraid she could have fun and live a somewhat normal life. Of course, this brought on a whole whack of other issues. The main one being her lack of critical thought or planning got her into a lot of trouble. Just like yesterday at the university, when an impromptu game of chase resulted in her crashing and breaking one of the various displays. That wouldn't have happened if she would have just stopped to take in the area around her. Special awareness wasn't something she'd been blessed with.

Halcyon just sighed as he plucked the small squirrel off of his shoulder and handed it over to the landing owner. He hated seeing his daughter in such distress, but he really did have important work to do. Ever since the university had gotten ahold of it's most recent artifact he'd been keeping an eye on the place. A demon made artifact, especially one built in the time of the infestation, was not a good thing.

As Barrowfords protector and descendant of the pseudo god Halcyon the 1st, Halcyon was tasked with keeping the country safe from any demonic influence. Technically his duties spanned across the entirety of Mirror Domain, but the magic of Barrowford had proved time and time again to be something worth prioritizing. He'd been working in conjunction with the country's wizards to get permission to destroy this thing. A task that seemed to be entirely in vain, as the majority of the wizards deemed it an important historical artifact. Something worth preserving in their eyes. Halcyon would have been fine with that, assuming they kept it in its original state. The fact they wanted to repair and study this item's effects seemed bizarre to him. This sentry was made by demons to be an unkillable soldier hellbent on ridding the world of mortals. Why the hell would anyone think repairing such a weapon would be a good idea?!

"I really do apologize for her," Halcyon said to Mouse, sounding genuinely guilty for pushing his rambunctious daughter on her. "I'll be back at 21:00 to pick her up. I know how you feel about magic, but if anything goes wrong please contact me. You and I both know what'll happen if-"

"Don't you worry, Hal. I'll be fine, really. You run along now, I've got Rose here taken care of." Mouse patted the squirrel gently on the head before giving Halcyon a bit of a shove out the door. Impatient, as always, but the sooner he was gone the sooner she could get the clearly exhausted child back to bed.

Hearing the commotion from downstairs Asher quickly had quickly hopped up out of bed, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who had come inside. Much like his father Asher was one to let his imagination get the best of him. After reading through his father's old research he had been able to put together that Halcyon was, allegedly, the Great Dragon. A powerful god like being who'd risen to power during the infestation era. He was known for being the catalyst for mortal's victory in the war, but after it was over he largely disappeared off the face of the planet. His father had been convinced, based off the drunken ramblings of one of Barrowford's wizards, that the Halcyon working under him at the tavern was the Halcyon.

Of course, where his father was convinced of this fact Asher wasn't so sure. Yes, he'd seen Halcyon's true form and yes, the great dragon was also a shapeshifter, but two dragons sharing the same ability doesn't mean they're the same dragon. And with Halcyon being an important historical figure it's not uncommon for parents to name their child after such a renowned celebrity. Asher was convinced Halcyon was an imposter, so whenever he got the chance to listen in on conversations of this nature he took the chance for all it was worth. Some day, somehow, he'd slip up on his knowledge. He'd say the wrong thing and prove this whole song and dance with Barrowford's wizards was all a sham.

It was only after Halcyon had been shooed out that Asher made his presence known; walking down the stairs heavy footed on purpose to catch his mother's attention. It was still horribly early, but once Asher was awake he was awake. He'd gotten that from his mother. Then again, his mother was more akin to an insomniac, where he had no trouble falling asleep. He just saw no reason to go back to sleep when it was already essentially morning.

"Hey, there you are, you little monster" He said, giving the small squirrel a cheerful wave hello.

"Ah, Asher. Mornin'." Mouse said as the squirrel jumped from her arms and shifted back into the Sinvian she had been before. "Sorry to wake you up."

"Nah, it's all good. I know how Rose can be. If you need any help with her, uh... I know how you are with kids"

Growing up with the parents he had, Asher had been instilled with one hell of a work ethic. Not only that, but working at the tavern has given him a knack for working with people. He enjoyed working with people. Social interaction was a strong suit, after all. Besides, he liked Rose. She was one of the only people to entertain his ramblings about her father, mainly because she shared similar notions. She also believed that Halcyon wasn't the great dragon. In fact, as far as Asher was concerned Rose agreeing with him just confirmed what he already thought.

Mouse just nodded before making her way up the stairs with the Sinvian in tow. There wasn't too much extra space for her to sleep, but given the fact both Mouse and Asher were awake already she could easily share one of theirs. Mouse opted to use Asher's, as she didn't want to risk her own bed being damaged by the ever shifting form of Rose.

While she hadn't appreciated being woken up, Wendy did her best to ignore the commotion below and get back to bed. Or at least, she would have, if the source of said commotion hadn't been brought directly to her room. With Rose now here she got the feeling she wasn't going to be sleeping again any time soon.

Heading downstairs Wendy began getting herself ready for the day. Brushing her voluminous frizzy hair into a somewhat manageable style and smoothing out the rest of her fur that had been ruffled during the night. She had to look presentable if she were going to be working at the university for the time. Down there she came across her brother, who was in the combined kitchen and workshop of the landing making breakfast.

"Morning, Ash '' she said groggily as she picked a single orange from the fruit bowl on the front counter. Their mother always insisted they were clementines, but as far as Wendy was concerned they were the same thing and her mother was just paying extra for a label. Not like she particularly cared, though. The combined income from both family businesses left them with more than enough money for "luxury" items like these.

"Wow, look at you all dolled up so early in the morning" Asher replied, poking fun at his sister's obvious exhaustion.

"I wouldn't be up so damn early if Hal'd stop leaving his hellspawn at our house..."

"What, Rose? C'mon, she's not that bad!" Asher snapped back.

"Not "that bad". Tsk, right" Wendy scoffed. "Are you forgetting about yesterday?"

Wendy had never been a huge fan of Halcyon or his daughter. Before she came around the dragon somewhat got a pass. Yes, he used extremely powerful and potentially world ending magic on a fairly regular basis, but at least he was responsible with it. Or rather, he appeared to be. Rose coming into the picture left a pretty irreversible stain on the once mighty dragon's character.

Every rose has its thorns, and this roses all cycle back to her mother. While he never outright said it, anyone with half a brain could put together the fact Rose was an unwanted accident. Who her mother was remained a mystery, but in dragon culture it's the father's duty to rear the young after being born. As far as the female population is concerned, all the time, energy, and resources needed to create and gestate a viable egg is enough effort on their part. and with a dragon as well renowned as Halcyon it's not surprising his little one night stand found a way to track him down.

All of this proved, at least to Wendy, that Halcyon was irresponsible. He'd had a child with some stranger, constantly pawned it off on the rest of the town, and to top it all off whatever the hell he'd been doing behind closed doors had clearly left a mark on her poor psyche. That thing, of course, being the retelling of his war stories, but Wendy had no way of knowing about that. From what she had seen personally it seemed the dragon was a lousy father.

"Yeah, yesterday" Asher replied, his mind quickly cycling back to the day's events. "What was up with yesterday? I mean, of all the places you could've been I didn't think you'd be at... You know..."

"Hah, right... That..." Wendy quickly hushed her voice. "Look, I have a job there, alright? It's really important and what I'm working on is really really cool and... Don't tell mom, please?" She pleaded.

"Don't tell mom, eh? And why shouldn't I? I mean, me being there was understandable. I was just making sure Rose was kept in check. But what do I get out of keeping you a secret?"

Bartering. This was something the twins did all too often. Everything was conditional with them, and it all cycled back to the way they were raised. With their parents being business partners they'd grown up seeing at least half of their interactions being transactional. I won't do X for the tavern unless you do Y for the landing. Things like that. Young children have no real way of separating their parents' business from their personal lives, so both had adopted this transactional way of thinking into their personalities. They loved each other unconditionally, yes, but they never did anything for each other just to be nice. They always had to get something out of it, even if that something was as simple as bragging rights.

"Don't tell mom about me and I won't tell Hal you lost Rose" Wendy said after much deliberation.

"Nah, he already knows. You're gonna have to try harder than that" Asher replied smugly.

Wendy just scowled at him. While she always had to think about what she wanted out of their little deals, Asher usually already knew and took great joy in stringing her along until she eventually came to the conclusion on her own. This morning, however, she wasn't in the mood for her brother's games. It was far too early, and the longer he kept this ruse up the higher chance there'd be of their mom overhearing things.

"Fine. What do you want?" She asked sternly, in a tone that made it clear she wasn't playing in to his games.

"You're no fun" he pouted. "But fine. I won't tell mom if you show me what this project of yours is. Because I've gotta say, this came out of left field. Last place I'd expect you to be and the last place I'd ever expect you to take a job at. It's like.... So far out there it wasn't even on my radar!"

While she didn't particularly want her brother to tag along, Wendy figured letting it slide just this once would be better than getting called out. She'd never hear the end of things if her mother found out, so reluctantly she agreed to this offer. Besides, unlike herself Asher wasn't intentionally malicious when it came to the university. He had his own opinion on magic, sure, but where Wendy was actively looking to bring things down Asher was merely wary of the stuff. Worst case scenario the talk of soul stealing magic housed within the Silvered Sentry would scare him off.

The two finished their breakfast and were about to head out for the morning when, once again, they were interrupted by Rose's antics. It seemed she had woken up during the time it took for them to get ready and upon seeing the pair leave she demanded to tag along. Not surprising. Rose and Asher had been pretty close for a long time. Given he worked at the tavern and had a better relationship with Halcyon than Wendy did it wasn't surprising his natural charm and need to please eventually won her over. Asher was essentially her older brother by this point.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but neither of the twins had any way of keeping her away without their mother getting suspicious. As far as Mouse was concerned there wasn't anything in town the twins could be doing that the young dragon couldn't. They were fairly responsible and weren't known for getting into trouble with anyone other than themselves and maybe Asher's co-workers on rare occasions. Neither had any interest in the local guild, magic, or the gaming house, and given the only place in town they could buy alcohol was owned by their father that had never been an issue. Rose wanted to tag along, and Mouse wanted to pawn the youngster off for the day. Wendy's plan of a day to herself had quickly been thrown out the window

It was another average day off for Rem. With no school to go to and no church services in session she more or less had the day to herself to do whatever she wanted. Today, she was in the market for supplies for her aviary. Animals had always been something she'd been drawn to, but having a pet was a new experience for her. Her mother was adamantly against the notion, and in order to keep the peace her father didn't allow it either. It wasn't until she found Buddy that she was allowed to bring any animal into the house. Buddy had pulled at the heartstrings, being a poor sickly abandoned hatchling with no chance of survival on his own. It certainly made Lumi feel bad for the creature. Bad enough to let him stay in their shared home as he grew and recovered.

Of course, wild animals which grow up in captivity don't often fare well in the wild once older. Not only that, but early in to Rem's care of the bird he'd gotten extremely sick. In order to give him a better shot at survival she'd linked her and Buddy's mana pool, turning him into her familiar. That's what finally got her mother on board with the thing. Familiars are historically difficult to get rid of without straight up culling them, and her mother wasn't a monster.

If this bird was going to be a permanent family member Rem wanted him to have a permanent place to stay. As fun as it was lugging him around in her bag all day, there were situations where he couldn't tag along. When they'd come up in the past Rem didn't have any peace of mind he was safe while unattended. An aviary, or at least a small loft, would be perfect for her little feathered friend. That way he'd not only have a safe place to sleep, but also an enriching environment he could keep himself entertained in.

Rem found herself walking through the shopping district. There was a cool chill in the air, but by this point in the day the sun had already risen high enough to melt the frost the night brought on. The streets were decently busy. It was almost lunchtime, so most people were out on break from work or simply taking advantage of the day's warmest point. No Lesser Dragon in their right mind would be caught dead outside in the deep freeze without the sun on their side. Otherwise their cold blooded nature would cause them to slow down and become groggy. Townsfolk weren't something Rem usually paid attention to, but today one person in particular caught her attention. A person she had seen only the day prior and had a poor introduction to. That person? The stranger at Daydream Cathedral.

This morning had been exhausting to Mika for a multitude of reasons. Not only had he not gotten nearly enough sleep, but sleeping in the University's store room was cramped and uncomfortable. To top it all off he'd been woken up abruptly by a large metallic crash. As he expected, someone had come along to repair the Sentry. What he hadn't expected was for them to bring such a rowdy pet with them. Shortly after the crash there was a bit of yelling and the incessant barking of a dog. He didn't even bother checking what had happened. He just wanted to get away from the noise the repairs and the dog would undoubtedly bring.

Caffeine was something Mika was well versed with. It was also something widely considered to be bad for Sinvian. Not as dangerous as it was to Kodin, and not nearly as dangerous as it was for Lesser Dragons, but their bodies weren't adept for handling the stuff. As a result, many places that served caffeinated beverages were required by law to ask for ID. As toxic as it was to such lesser beings, people generally believed adults were smart enough to know the dangers of the stuff. Mika knew his limits. He knew how much he could handle before the ill effects set in, but he was only 16. This fact made the purchase of any caffeinated beverages illegal.

Working for a god and doing work above the standard bounds of what people consider to be "good" and "bad" had given Mika a bit of a complex. He wasn't arrogant or narcissistic necessarily, but because he saw the world on a much grander scale than most he often viewed lesser crimes as mundane or unimportant. The result of this? Mika often got in trouble with shopkeepers and other local workers. Today was no different. A particularly annoying Feline had refused to take his ID which, admittedly, wasn't the best fake he could have gotten his hands on. It worked in most places, but with Barrowfords superior magic it was a lot more difficult to get the sketchy magical signature in his ID to register as legit. She was in the process of chasing the Sinvian out of the shop when Rem walked by.

It was the commotion that had caught her attention. The angry squawk of a Sinvian was a pretty unmistakable sound, and Rem was a bit too fine tuned to pick out these things than she would have liked. She was always more aware of the people around her than most. Maybe it was her overwhelming desire to fade into the background and remain out of the spotlight. If she knew where the commotion was she'd be able to avoid it.

Unfortunately, today it seemed that wasn't going to be the case. While Rem generally avoided conflict, she definitely wasn't someone to stand idly by when things went too far. As the scene played out in front of her Rem once again saw this Sinvian abusing his magic. Stamping both his feet on the ground and giving a quick twirl a huge flash of green light shot out around him. The shopkeeper was close enough to be dazed by the effect. She just stood there staring off into space as the Sinvian pattered inside, grabbed an armful of snacks and drinks, then left. By the time the shopkeeper had snapped out of whatever spell he had cast he was already out of view. The Sinvian was making his way right towards her, so while her nerves were definitely on edge Rem couldn't just stand there and do nothing.

"H-hey!" She growled, doing her best to go against what she was taught about body language and make herself as big and intimidating as possible. "You can't do that!"

"Tsk, do what?" The Sinvian asked stone faced.

"You can't just take things like that! Abusing magic like that is a crime, you know!"

On the inside Mika was in a complete and utter panic, even if it didn't show on his face. The spell he'd just used was a simple one. A quick memory wipe that'd erase any trace of him from the shop. He was going to be in town until at least Saturday, so while he didn't abide by common law he did want to keep himself on the down low for as long as possible. He didn't know anyone else was around him. There were people out and about, sure, but someone this close wasn't something he'd anticipated.