“And then he aimed those beads at the boy and… Ah! I do not want to distrust him, but he was making it very hard not to.”
Sister Marigold was having her hair braided as she sat on Edelweiss’ bed. The one braiding her was Calla, while Donna listened to her troubles and thought of advice.
“It’s pretty reasonable to distrust him after the last time he had been in the Academy.” Donna rubbed her chin as she laid beside Edelweiss who were scribbling on a bunch of scrolls.
It was her last year after all, and she would be releasing her Heartstone Glass to the public. She will have to make several report, practice her presentation, have it approved by the Council….
Calla noticed her nervousness and stopped braiding for a bit to snap her out of it. “Edelweiss, you’re biting your nails again. Don’t do that, dear. They’re already as small and as stubby as can be.”
“Sorry.” Edelweiss put her finger away from her mouth, and continued scribbling.
Donna took her free hand instead to keep her from biting her nails. “He sounds very troubled to me. Why did the school even allowed him to return? I pity him because I am sure there was a good reason for him to be acting this way, but he could be a danger to himself and to others if he keep at this.”
Marigold sighed. “That is exactly what makes me so conflicted. I want to help Zeriav get over his paranoia too, since it’s really unreasonable.”
“There are no daemons in the school.”
Calla Lily faltered, and so did Edelweiss, and they gave each other a look.
But they didn’t say anything, and kept doing their work.
They cannot tell Donna because she would obviously be distraught from it, and would disbelieve it because she looks up to Ronin too much.
They cannot tell Marigold either, because she was too honest and pure-hearted, and might do something too rash just to fix things easily.
Instead, they plan to use the presentation of the Heartstone Glass to reveal Ronin’s true identity, with everyone being able to wear it and see for themselves the truth. Seeing was believing after all, words were not enough.
Then, with the help of the thousands of students in the Academy, not to mention the powerful Councillors and teachers…
He might be able to be restrained, and stop whatever that prophecy of darkness and other terrible things would result to.
All Edelweiss needs is to perfectly master her current prototype, and then send it to Doppler, the member of Lovushka’s troupe that have a Duplicating Mage Focus to release more copied for everyone to wear.
The current prototype can detect the person’s Heartstone in 15 seconds. Which may be a lot, but much better than the 60-second limit before.
Donna suggested:
“Daemon or not….. I think you should keep watch of how he treats Elur first. Maybe he will warm up to the boy and come to trust him as he becomes his apprentice. Then he would be more relaxed and realize his anxieties were for naught.”
Marigold nodded. “Yes…. You’re right as always, Donna. You are always so full of wisdom even at our age.”
“I’m just being considerate of both sides. I actually have made the same mistakes as Zeriav, treating a certain group of people as daemons and distrusting them for just one thing.” Donna said.
Calla finished braiding her hair. “That should be enough heavy topics for now. Time to actually have fun in this sleepover.”
Edelweiss stopped scribbling to scoff. “I never trust your idea of ‘fun’.”
“Aww, don’t be like that, Edel!” She chuckled. “Come, set aside all that work for now and play with us.”
“What will we be playing?” Marigold asked, admiring the beautiful braid Calla did for her.
“I’d love to call this game ‘What do you see’. This requires me to use my Mage Focus.” Calla grinned. “So you all close your eyes, and try to focus on my Theater of the Mind for a while as I give you prompts.”
“Then, you describe to us what you see. Be honest. I’ll be able to to tell~” She smiled. “Anyone who tries to lie will get a punishment and have to do what we order later~”
Donna frowned. “Wouldn’t that be unfair? You won’t be able to play the game.”
“Because I am the Queen of Dreams, honey. I don’t need to play, you just need to tell me what you see as my subjects.”
Everyone closed their eyes begrudgingly besides Marigold, who was excited.
“I’ll go with something easy first. What is your favorite animal?”
Marigold answered easily. “Pink Seelie butterflies.”
“Opal abalones.” Edelweiss said.
“Our Sapphire hounds back home.” Donna answered.
Calla clapped her hand. “Well done! The next is a bit spicier… You see who you admire physically the most. The one you find the most attractive.”
Marigold answered first again. “I see… All of you, really.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Calla said. “And Donna?”
“I see my mother. Just from her picture.”
Calla nodded. “Yes. She really is beautiful, I can see her. She looks a lot like you, you have grown into a beautiful lady like her. She would have been proud.”
Donna sniffled a little, and Edelweiss and Marigold patted her shoulder. “Thank you… You can say very nice things sometimes, Calla.”
“Haha, I know.” She then turned to Edelweiss with a smirk. “And princess? How about you? What do you see?”
Edelweiss went tight-lipped for a while, then said. ” I see all of you too.”
Calla smirked. “Really? Well, I do see us all a bit, but two are very blurry…. And there was one person that was much clearer than the rest.”
“Cough….. And she’s even wearing….. Quite the revealing dress.” Calla Lily continued to tease. “A wedding dress.”
Edelweiss gritted her teeth. “That’s not true. That’s not what I see.”
Calla Lily flicked her on the nose. “No lying, princess~ Better admit who it is now before you get punished~”
Marigold whispered to Donna. “I wonder who it is.”
Donna whispered back. “I think I know.”
Edelweiss went quiet. “Well you go first. Who do you find the most attractive? Is it a man?”
Calla smiled a bit softer at this. “Don’t turn this on me, princess. But alright, I will answer.”
“It’s not a man. It’s not a friend either.” Calla admitted.
When Edelweiss heard that it wasn’t a ‘friend’, she suddenly looked a little disappointed, and bowed her head.
“It’s Marigold. I find Marigold the most attractive.”
Marigold blinked. “Me? Thank you…..”
“No. I’m sorry, Mari, but our princess.is a terrible little liar.” Calla Lily grinned. “Well, there goes your punishment! Hmmm….. Maybe you should take off an article of your clothing or something.”
Edelweiss opened her eyes, and begrudgingly took off her ponytail, letting her hair down.
Calla sneered. “I said clothing, dear.”
“It is part of my average clothing.” Edelweiss frowned. “Let’s keep playing.”
Donna went nervous at this animosity, so she suggested the next prompt.
“How about our scariest nightmare? I have a lot of pretty scary nightmares.” She said.
Calla nodded, appreciating the distraction from the awkwardness. “Alright. You see your worst, scariest nightmare that kept you up at night.”
Edelweiss went first. “I dreamt that I was being chased by a large Ruby King Crab.”
Donna went after her. “I dreamed that my father had pushed me off a cliff, sending me to the Abyssal Realm.”
Meanwhile, Marigold took a while to answer this prompt, sweating nervously.
She was still seeing her nightmare once again in the Theater of the Mind, and Calla held her hand.
“Mari… you don’t have to tell us if you couldn’t.” The way her voice called for her was so tender.
It somehow made Edelweiss frown.
“It’s alright…. It was just a silly dream that I keep having as a child anyway.” Marigold said. “Father already reprimanded me for letting it affect me so much. But it’s not real, it will never he real.”
She breathed deeply, and recounted everything she was seeing.
“Blood everywhere. A piled of dead corpses, all wearing the same clothes. In the center of it all was a dark shadow enveloping a golden circle, like a tiny sun.”
“It was like the shadow was embracing it… Or trying to consume it. And as it does, there were cracks on the ground.”
“The cracks continued to spread, zigzagging like patterns of lightning in the sky…. And it kept going, until…”
“Celestus Realm was broken in half, ruined. Several buildings and people falling into the depths below, while daemons rose from the ground to kill and devour all of us.”
“And… And even the Gods could not do anything about it. Eventually….”
She cried. “They cannot do anything at all. Even Goddess Seelie. No wings, legs broken….. Only darkness and evil everywhere. No love or compassion left for anyone in this world.”
Calla clicked her fingers. “Enough. Come here.”
She hugged her and patted her back, letting her cry on her shoulder. Donna joined in, and so did Edelweiss. The four girls huddled on the bed, comforting the priestess from this nightmare.
Edelweiss gave Calla a look.
Soon, when they were supposed to fall asleep, she went closer to whisper.
“Do you think that was the prophecy? Darkness and lightning… People falling to the Abyss and even Gods being affected…”
Calla nodded, taking her hand. “Celestus ruined. Magecia ruined.”
“We need to stop that from happening. No matter the cost.”
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