Chapter 417 – He Lives
“Well now, isn’t this interesting,” Mage Teft said. She was reading a message on her tablet sent to her by Mage Harris.
“What is it?” asked Mage Levine. The Lightning mage was enjoying a nice morning brew while she waited for Mage Fletcher to come out of the Avalon labyrinth so she could have her turn.
“He says the Mage Association plans to declare Damion dead and seize his assets so they cannot fall into the hands of ‘unapproved’ people.”
“Really now,” Mage Levine wanted to laugh, but the Mage Association’s antics over the last few months had gotten progressively more hostile. “We are just a few days away from the start of our first school term and they are pulling this, trying to disrupt things again. Let me guess, they want the labyrinth.”
“Not just the labyrinth, but everything tied to it. They are saying that since the founder is dead, Atlantis should revert to Mage Association control.”
“Are they trying to start a war?” Mage Levine asked, her aura flaring, causing a few sparks to erupt around her.
“Maybe,” Mage Teft answered. “I think that is why Mage Harris sent me the warning. He knows we would never give up control and wants us to find a solution that doesn’t involve armed conflict.”
“Fat lot of good that will do us. Conflict is what they want. I say we let them have it.”
“Let who have what?” Mage Fletcher asked, entering the room.
“Here, see for yourself.”
Mage Teft sent the message to Mage Fletcher’s tablet and the Spatial mage read through it, shaking her head in dismay.
“You’d think they would have learned by now. What can they possibly gain from this?”
“You would also think they would show a little gratitude, I mean, without our assistance, how many more people in the White Zones would have died during the beast waves?” Mage Levine snorted.
“With Damion’s auto-mapper, how many people would have died?” Mage Teft added. “That was the real key to early detection of those Realm Breaches, Demonic Beast movements, even getting teams in to clear the Realm Breaches that were still active after the initial breaks.”
“They owe him so much, but they are constantly trying to destroy his legacy.”
“Not destroy, control,” Mage Teft countered. “If they can control it, then they can claim credit for it. I think they know which way the wind is blowing and are desperately trying to hang onto power. Since it was Damion’s artifact that made saving the White Zone’s possible, they want to use him as a lifeline to cling to power.”
“And now that he is missing, they see their chance,” Mage Levine seethed. “What about Elicia? Shouldn’t she inherit all his belongings if he is deemed dead, or his parents or Helge?”
“Elicia can’t shoulder the burden of a labyrinth, not when she is only C Rank. Helge is in the same situation, things would rightfully be theirs, but because they are too weak to truly control them, the Mage Association is trying to hold Damion’s possessions in trust. Though I think we can all confidently say they are unlikely ever to return it or to maintain the policies we live by here in Atlantis.”
“Then what should we do to put a stop to this?” Mage Fletcher asked. “I mean, I can dump a bit of a volcano on each Mage Association branch, but I think Harris would frown on open conflict.”
“We still have one card we can play that they will never see coming.”
“And that is?” Fletcher and Levine both asked.
“We know Damion is still alive.”
Two days later Mage Fletcher escorted a representative of the Mage Association to Atlantis. Since the Mage Association had thus far been denied representation in the city, most of their information about the city relied on old accounts from previous visits and secondhand accounts purchased from adventurers. Neither of which showed an accurate picture of the city.
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While the population had not reached the levels of most Green Zone cities yet, Atlantis was quickly growing. The single wedge of the city that was built had already turned from a barely occupied ghost town to a bustling metropolis. Once word began to spread that Mage Teft’s new school would be open to everyone and that there was a good chance that the students would be able to be mages, ordinary families had flooded to the city. As long as they agreed to let their children attend the school, they were allowed in, which filled in many jobs that were left vacant due to most of the initial residents being adventurers.
Shops of all sorts were opened, grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants. Sharon, Damion’s mother, had once complained of a lack of shopping options, but now every day she enjoyed a pastry from one of a dozen bakeries within walking distance of their home.
When the Mage Association representative, Derek Gulledge, saw the progress Mage Teft had made in a few short months, his eyes flashed with desire. His instructions were to force the Council of Atlantis to concede Damion was dead and that his seat had to be filled, since his heir was not of age, and his parents were not mages, that meant the Mage Association could appoint their representative, him, to the position and have the controlling voice of the city.
It was no longer feasible to move the labyrinth. This fact, combined with how large the city had grown, meant the Mage Association was better off taking it over and fully connecting the city to the other White Zones. Once open trading and freedom of movement was established between Atlantis and the other White Zones, there were sure to be enough nobles and other Mage Association affiliated people moving to Atlantis to sway public opinion away from Teft’s teaching practices and get a standard mage school started, putting an end to this nonsense of not testing until 18 years old.
“Mage Gulledge, welcome to Atlantis,” Mage Teft greeted him after he took in the sight of the city. “If you will follow me, the full council is waiting for your presentation.”
Mage Gulledge did not like the sound of ‘full council,’ after all, one seat should have been vacant, Damion Wells’. If that was no longer the case, if they had allowed Elicia Wells to take his seat, then it was going to be an uphill battle to unseat her, but he had precedence on his side. No mid or low Ranker had ever held a council seat in a White Zone or Green Zone. It was rare even for a C Rank to hold a seat on a council in a Yellow Zone city.
When the party entered the city council chambers Mage Gulledge realized instantly that he had greatly misjudged the guile of Mage Teft. Of the six council seats, two were empty, Mage Teft’s and Mage Fletches, since they had escorted him to the room, they had yet to take their seats. But the seat belonging to Mage Wells was filled and not by Elicia, one of his parents, or even his infant son, no it was filled by a bird.
Not a bird, Mage Gulledge realized. A Demonic Beast.
‘Is that Mage Wells’ bound familiar?’ Mage Gulledge thought after he started regaining his wits.
“Is this a joke?” Mage Gulledge finally asked. “A Demonic Beast cannot have a seat on a city council.”
“He doesn’t, he is voting by proxy for Mage Wells,” Mage Teft said with a smile.
“Voting by proxy? Mage Wells is dead. Everyone knows that Exile is a sure kill spell.”
Phil let out a sharp cry and then carved into a box of sand at his feet that transferred the words to the terminals around the council chamber, displaying the message, [He lives].
“See, Phil asserts his master is alive,” Mage Teft said. “And if he wasn’t don’t you think the Demonic Beast’s intelligence and behavior would have reverted to their normal levels?”
“We have no idea of how the bound familiar series of spells effect beasts in the long term. Damion Wells is dead.”
“I beg to differ,” Mage Fletcher pipped in. As the only S Rank Spatial mage, there was no greater repository of knowledge on Exile than her. “Exile does not kill, unless a person is only partially trapped, which rarely happens. The spell creates a spatial rift sending whatever is trapped inside back to the Mother World.”
“Mother World? What nonsense is this?” Mage Gulledge was quickly losing his temper.
“The Mother World is the world of our ancestors, from which we were exiled, by the Iblis and the Alfar. Whether you believe it or not, there are bound to be a few records burred deep in the hands of the original noble houses, after all, they were the first ones exiled.”
“Even if what you say is true, Mage Wells can’t return, his seat should be assigned to a responsible…”
Phil let out another cry and a new message appeared on the displays.
[Protect master’s things].
“It would seem Phil disagrees. It was tasked to protect Damion’s family and possessions. This city is Damion’s possession. And since the Demonic Beast has a link to Wells, it is able to communicate with him, even over impossible distances.”
“There is no proof of that.”
“Isn’t there?” Mage Teft challenged. “While reporting to the Association about his spell, Mage Wells advised how he could sense his familiar even when he was in a Realm Breach and his familiar was not. That seems pretty clear their bond runs very deep. Therefore, I see no reason to doubt Phil’s claims that he can communicate with Damion even from a place so far away as the Mother World.”
“I’ll take this to the S Rank Assembly if I have to. You can’t have a Demonic Beast making decisions for a city!”
“Take it to them if you wish, but Phil is not making decisions, he is relaying Damion’s wishes through their bond. And since this proves that Damion is still alive, you have no grounds to move forward with our petition to declare him dead. Mage Fletcher, why don’t you send our guest back to the Mage Association.”
“With pleasure,” Mage Fletcher answered.
Before Mage Gulledge could further formulate arguments against Mage Teft and her outlandish theory of Mage Wells being alive, a Portal was opened and he was pushed through, unceremoniously depositing him in front of the Mage Association office in Argentum.