74 - The Secret of the Scrolls
“Who is it?” Arielle asked.
Lord Wesley’s son affected a lazy shrug as he pushed his hand through his excessively shiny hair. It fell delicately around his face.
“I think it might be your cousin. The dean said to meet your guest on the shores."
“Elric?” Arielle shot to her feet, everything else forgotten. She hurried away from the crowd out through the atrium doors, excited to see Elric again. He must finally be done with his mission.
Sometime later, as she approached the front doors of the main building, she realized that she was being followed. She turned and regarded the boy, Wulfric, a few steps behind her, catching up with his long, leisurely strides despite her hurried steps.
“You are very tall,” she commented.
“Am I?” he smiled in a weird, lopsided way.
“Yes. It must be convenient for you to travel distances in half the time it takes the average person.”
The smile decreased in wattage. “Well…I suppose.”
“Did you need something from me?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No. Unless you wanted to talk to me some more."
“About what?”
“About, perhaps, what you think about me?” He winked and gave her that strange smile again with lowered eyelids. It was slightly off-putting.
“I don’t think about you,” she responded. With that, she turned around and continued out the door.
This time, she didn’t hear any more footsteps following.
Curious. Perhaps she was mistaken, and he had not been following her, only coincidentally moving in the same direction.
Either way, it wasn’t important. She was on her way to see Elric.
She cut across the courtyard, waving distractedly to Rava, who waved back amidst a heated argument with Garrick. She also spotted Woden appearing back on campus with a group of third-year students who looked very shaken. One of them flopped to his hands and knees and vomited right there on the grass.
Arielle ignored all that. She didn’t stop walking, her excitement growing as her boots finally crunched on the sand and she spotted Elric’s form silhouetted against the setting sun.
"Elric!" Her cry made him turn around.
“Arielle,” he said with a smile.
“You look terrible,” she responded. It was true. His hair was messy around a pale face, and his eyes were bloodshot. As she got close, she also noticed the deep circles underneath. “What happened?”
Elric sighed. "Gio happened."
Arielle narrowed her eyes. “Did he hurt you?” To Ari, that was absolutely unacceptable.
“No. We were on a mission together. There was another attempted demonic invasion, and he called me to help him.” He waved his hand. “That's not important. I can take a vitality potion when I get home. The important thing is that I heard what happened with Vittoria. I’m so sorry, Arielle. I tried to find you, but her shield was too powerful."
“It’s okay. It wasn’t that bad, and I got to learn something very important.” That there were creatures called hybrids that could repel essences, and also that she had a defective fear of death.
“She never should have done that,” Elric said with a deep frown. “I knew she had gotten a bit more unstable over the years, but I never thought she would go that far. And it’s my fault for trying to enlist her help in the first place.”
“You wouldn’t have had to do that if I hadn't done what I did in Khor.” He had covered them in the soundproof dome by this point, so she felt free to say it.
She also told him everything that happened during her visit with Vittoria, how she had apprehended the pirates, how she had fought the hybrid, and how she had unlocked the scroll.
Elric looked more and more pissed with every word.
“Vittoria gave me the gist of it in her apology,” he said. “But it was clear she missed key details.”
Arielle nodded, and Elric walked closer, laying his hand on her shoulder. “What she did to you was awful. I am so sorry. I managed to extract an oath from Vittoria that she would never do anything like that again."
“How did you do that?”
“I have my ways.” His smile was wry. “I may lose to her in power, but one thing I know is human emotions. And I know Vittoria deep down wants to think of herself as a good person, so accusing her of things that don’t align with that hurts. I appealed to her conscience, and she promised that as long as I was around, she would no longer take you anywhere without my express permission."
Arielle nodded. However, she did hope to go on another mission with Vittoria soon. It was good for practice, and she had earned spare essence.
“You also don’t have to worry about the hybrid anymore,” he said. “Vittoria said to tell you that she caught him and ensured that he could not tell anyone else about you.”
"How?"
"Oh, you know..." Elric didn’t answer immediately. His eyes strayed to the sky like Ari’s did when she was about to lie.“There are several ways of ensuring that people stay silent, and Vittoria is quite skilled at–”
“Did she kill him?”
Elric’s alarmed expression met Arielle’s much steadier one. “I don’t…Think I should answer that.”
Arielle nodded. She was unsure how to feel about the possibility of the hybrid’s death. On one hand, she did want to learn more about him, but his silence was paramount to her and Elric's continued safety, and it might be difficult to silence him any other way without completely incapacitating him. Therefore, the death wasn't wasteful in her opinion.
“She didn’t tell me exactly what happened," Elric said. "But she said that he attempted to escape when she tried to cut a deal with him, and he also attacked her. She thought he might go after you if she let him free.”
“That’s a possibility.” He had seemed interested in her, staring at her before he’d disappeared in the desert. “He was able to stop my magic from working.”
“I heard.”
"It was scary."
"Yes." His eyes softened as he ran his hand gently over her hair. "I'm sorry."
“It’s okay.” He retrieved his hand before her discomfort truly set in, and she was grateful for it. "Is that also how the High Ascendant does it?”
“No. His methods are more permanent."
“That’s terrifying.” That there was someone out there who could completely disrupt her access to her orbs forever, and maybe even cause her not to see or feel the orbs…
She couldn’t even imagine it.
With the hybrid, she had at least been able to feel her cores. What would it be like to not feel it at all?
Even the thought of it made her shudder.
“There are things we must discuss,” she told Elric. “But first, did you manage to read the scrolls I unlocked?”
“Yes. I also figured out what the sect was trying so hard to hide from me. It went beyond the torture of the cultist they caught, who ended up… well, ending himself so that he wouldn't break under the immense pressure.”
“Torture?” Arielle gaped. “They torture people? That's inhumane. Why not just use a truth potion or a truth spell?”
"He had taken measures to ensure that his mind was blocked off to even our most skilled truth seekers."
"How?"
“Powerful magic. Magic that we should not have.” He turned to the sea. “I’m assuming that the man sold his soul and was consorting with a high-level demon, perhaps even an Archdemon, who he allowed access to his mind, enabling him to stitch together a powerful guard.”
“Demons can do that?"
“Yes. Demons have powerful magic beyond what we humans can comprehend. They even have essences that we do not have."
Just like the elves. Arielle wondered if she should tell Elric about her experiments with the blue orb right now, but she decided against it. They had more important things to discuss.
"Why was he trying to summon the demon?"
"Who knows? He was probably promised riches, or revenge, or eternal life. Something of that sort."
"And he believed them?" It was well known in storybooks that demons were tricksters and liars. Why anyone would believe them was beyond Arielle.
"Yes, because they can be very convincing," Elric said. "Not all of them show up as demons either. In fact, the smarter ones are never aggressive up front and pretend to be kind and friendly. Some even fashion themselves as humans, and it can be impossible to discern a true demon sometimes. Their end goal is to make all of humanity theirs, to procreate with us too, as demon-human hybrids tend to be very useful. Personality-wise, the hybrids also lean more demon than human. Demon-human unions also tend to be very fertile, although the human in that equation either becomes a husk of themselves or dies.”
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“That does not seem like a fair union.”
“It’s not. You'll probably learn more about them in your second or third year."
Arielle nodded.
"Anyway, after the cultist ingested his poison, the demonic sect went on an unsanctioned raid across villages, arresting anyone who was suspected of having consorted with or been possessed by demons. Their methods were extremely unscientific, and they basically accused anyone with a strange affliction and kept them in dungeons awaiting trial. Before they could be tried, they all died overnight from a supposed curse. It was horrific, and the worst thing about it is that at least one of the masters or chiefs in the demonic sect was behind the attack. Once caught, they said they had done it to purge the demonic invasion before it got worse or spread to others. But Yseult suspected that it was to hide their own involvement, and he killed the chief unsanctioned.”
“So he did the right thing?"
“No. He never reported the incident. The Demonic Sect already has a very bad reputation for being heavy-handed with how they conduct their investigations and what they did to those people, arresting them without just cause and keeping them in a dungeon where they all died overnight...that is a dreadful crime. No matter who was behind it, the sect will have to pay for allowing that to happen under their watch, and the High Ascendant will dole out punishments and probably require more oversight and perhaps more direct supervision from another Archmage. Yseult would hate that. Worst case scenario, he might get a demotion, or a partial or temporary core suppression."
"Temporary core suppression is used as a means of punishment for Archmages?"
"Yes, but usually it's reserved for heinous crimes like this one. Even with his connections, the Ascendant cannot ignore this."
“So what are you going to do now? Report it?"
“Yes, obviously,” he said, but he looked unsure. “I need to do it smartly. If I present my evidence as is, I’m sure Yseult already has counterarguments for it, and even if he gets a temporary punishment, I would be making an enemy of him. While I have the truth on my side and I can hold my own, Yseult is not above using underhanded means to get even, and I don't entirely understand his relationship with the High Ascendant, so this might all backfire. So I need to prove that this is a pattern of behaviour and build an airtight case that guarantees permanent suppression. That being said, I’ve done the paperwork and left evidence of the investigation in the system, just in case anything happens to me. I will also ensure that the other mages know about this as well. That way, even if anything happened to me, they would be able to follow the investigation to the end."
"You think something might happen to you?" Arielle was instantly on alert.
"Well, I don't know," he said. "As I said, Yseult fights dirty."
“I’ll protect you,” Arielle said. “If he tries to do anything to you, I’ll make sure he can't." And if he hurts you, I'll make him sorry.
He smiled. “That’s nice of you to say, Arielle.”
“I’m serious."
“I’m sure. But I want you to stay out of this and stay off his radar. The last thing we need is for you to become a target, too."
Arielle nodded a little, but did not actually say anything in agreement. Elric was too distracted to notice, moving to the next topic.
"The cult that summoned the demons doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Church you mentioned, although there is one person whose name was mentioned in the memories.”
“Who? Draco?”
"No. It was the second name on your list. Sheldon Samsu. He was one of the villagers who were rounded up, but only with flimsy evidence. He shook his head. "I tried to find his family, but it seems they had left the sect that very same night and gone into hiding, not to be found. Ironically, the sect also took that as evidence that they had been consorting with demons." Elric made a disgusted face.
"Why would that be evidence?"
"Because it was the night of the equinox, same as when the demons were summoned. It's said to be the night when the barrier between our world and others is the weakest, and it's the best time to create interdimensional portals. The sect's theory is that Samsu’s family went to the demonic realm to seek refuge. I'm not sure I believe that, or if I think that someone in the sect had them killed to prevent word from getting out."
Someone like Yseult. Arielle was even more apprehensive about this man and even more determined to protect Elric from him.
"Anyway," Elric said. "What did you want to tell me?"
Arielle opened her mouth and closed it again. She had wanted to tell him about the Lyra thing, but Elric truly seemed like he had a lot on his plate. Now she understood why he looked so stressed.
She decided against telling him. No need to worry him even more. The professor had agreed to keep it a secret and respect Arielle's wishes, so Elric need not worry.
What if the Professor was lying, though?
Ari had no way of knowing now, but she was determined to solve this on her own and not burden Elric with more of her problems.
She would fix her problems from now on.
And she would endeavor to fix Elric's, too.
"Just about my trials," Arielle said, cagily, and either she was becoming a better liar or, once again, Elric was too tired to notice.
***
A few minutes later, after their discussion, Elric watched Arielle leave, his smile dimming the farther away she went. Ah, Arielle. She was adjusting so well to the academy. Much better than he had certainly.
Yet he was still anxious for her.
He hadn’t mentioned to her that one of the key reasons he was being so careful about this demonic sect investigation was because of her.
In order to take it to the council, he would have to explain how he had broken the spell on the scroll. Yseult would know that Elric’s power wasn't enough to break it. Elric could say that Vittoria had helped him, but she had expressly forbidden him to even suggest that she had helped the council with anything.
Yseult was not known to fight fair. The second he perceived that Elric was trying to hide something, he would sniff it out like the bloodhound he was. A temporary punishment would not be enough to keep him down because he held grudges.
Unless Elric decisively beat him, he was going to come after everyone and everything Elric cared about, and that included Arielle.
Merciful Sentinel, why on Earth had he gotten himself tangled up in this investigation in the first place?
On the other hand, it was a worthy cause to free the villagers from the tyranny of the sect. So much so that for the second time in his life, Elric was actually considering asking the Patriarch for help.
As the Dean melted out of the silence, walking toward him, Elric said, “Watch over Arielle for me. Just in case something happens to me.”
The dean paused. "Do you anticipate something happening to you?"
"We never know in our line of work."
He nodded. "Yes. You have my word that I will protect her. Although it would be easier if you told me everything you know about her. I know you’re still keeping secrets, and it might make it difficult to protect her as much as I might want to.”
Elric hesitated. The last person he’d told Arielle’s (partial) secret to was Vittoria, and look how that had turned out. Even besides her reckless actions, she now spoke with a particular greed when it came to Arielle, one that he found off-putting.
He didn't expect it from her, but he understood that Arielle's skills would inspire greed in so many people.
They would want to use her as a pawn in their political game, a soldier for whatever agenda they had. No one, not even the dean, was immune to it.
Elric refused to let Ari grow up like that, to be descended on by vipers when she barely understood the ascendant world as it was.
Yet, his secretiveness might also be hurting Arielle. The Dean was right in that he could probably protect her better if he understood her peculiarities.
But Elric was hesitant to share that secret. It could put her in more danger.
He felt a constant tug of war between two opposing urges, and he didn’t know which was the right decision. But right now, he erred on the side of caution.
Octavius might be a good man, but he was still the Dean of Erynwall. One did not get that position without playing a little bit of politics and doing some distasteful things. He was also a Luxa-dominant, clever, and manipulative by nature. He would run circles around Arielle if he wanted to.
The Dean released a resigned breath and said, “There’s something else I wanted to discuss with you about Arielle.”
“What is it?”
“We have noticed during her fights that she has a particularly fearless approach to battles that's… brave but also concerning."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Most recently, she was duelling a student, and the student nearly injured her."
Elric stiffened. "What student is this?"
"Selena Gregor, a fourth-year who had no business duelling someone in the first year. She claimed it was a simple stealth'exercise' and we've already made the necessary reports, but–"
"She's the Gregor princess, and so nothing will be done," Elric said with a narrow-eyed look. He couldn't accept that. He wasn't about to allow Arielle to be bullied simply because another student had more institutional power than she did.
"She has gotten the demerit, and I have banned her from participating in the next tournament," the dean said. "We also informed her that if it happens again, she will have her magic restricted for some time, and her essence quota reduced, which will slow her progress indefinitely. She really did not like that. In any case, it was Arielle's response to this attack that concerned me. She seemed to not even consider that Selena might have wanted to hurt her, simply because Selena said so."
Elric cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"By witness reports, Arielle was totally unmoved by her near injury. She did not seem even surprised or alarmed that Selena could have done much worse. There's no sign that she dwelled on the fight at all after it was over, nor that she took any of it seriously. In short, Arielle is not scared of battle. She is said to fight with half her mind on something else. This can be a good thing; however, a total lack of fear...you know what that leads to."
Elric did. Typically, the class always featured at least one talented student who ran headfirst into duels without considering the consequences. They treated all their simulations as a joke and thought that their talent would overcome everything. In short, they became power-drunk too early, and they took that same attitude with them after they graduated.
Almost all of them ended up dead within the first few years of their career.
One had to take battles seriously, as though one's life depended on it. Their work was one of constant danger, and you needed to start early to appreciate that.
"She cannot underestimate threats simply because she is so skilled," the Dean said. "She needs to understand what's at stake."
"Have you spoken to her about it?" Elric said.
"Not yet, but I plan to. However, I've seen similar behaviour exhibited by students with Arielle's considerable talents, and talking seldom works. It simply becomes yet another thing that is said to them that they quickly forget. Only experience teaches them, and unfortunately, it usually comes too late."
Elric regarded him, reading between the lines of what he was saying. Vittoria had said something similar to him when she spoke of Arielle fighting the hybrid, also presenting Arielle's fearlessness as a problem. Coming from Vittoria, that was saying a lot.
"Her severance duel is tomorrow, and we need your permission to present her with a fairly unconventional exam," he said.
After the dean explained it, Elric shook his head.
"That seems excessive. We'll discuss our concerns with her first. Arielle is not irrational, nor is she a daredevil or a risk taker."
The Dean raised an eyebrow. "In the short time she's been here, she's already crafted illegal charms, snuck off campus at least once, and you're not going to attempt to convince me she had nothing to do with the situation in Khor, are you?"
Elric said nothing, his tongue glued to the top of his mouth.
"You might not see it yet, because you still see her as the powerless girl she was. However, I see what she's going to become without proper guidance. Power without consequence corrupts."
Elric clenched his teeth. He felt stuck, trapped, but he didn't want to admit that there was some veracity in what the dean was saying. "You should talk to her first, and only if that fails should you try to take other measures. As a matter of fact, let me call her back right–"
His system screen rang to life. Another emergency.
Damn Gio was going to be the death of him.
He looked back at the dean. "I have to go. We'll talk more about this later."
The Dean said nothing, but Elric left without analyzing whether or not the silence was an assent.