The Mage Is...

"Lily!" Haku ran to the girl in relief, kicking the other figure aside. The figure fell on its backside, raising a large cloud of dust and knocking the hood off its head. Its loose black hair fell onto its shoulders, and its face contorted with anger as it snapped at Haku.

"Are you crazy?"

"I couldn't have known who was under the cloak," the oni said, whistling innocently.

"But you recognized Lily! Who else do you think would be next to her?"

"I have no idea." She raised both shoulders, then buried her face in her hands. "I just... I was so scared."

Zel jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at the girl, "Nobody buys your fake crying!"

Haku raised her dry face and fixed Zel with an annoyed stare, asking, "Fake?"

Lily sighed and left the two troublemakers to themselves. She knelt beside Ren and pressed her forehead to his. Ren was startled by the sudden touch and moved away, blushing.

"What are you doing?" he stammered.

Lily completely ignored the question and began, "You don't have a fever. That's a good sign. How long have you been up?"

"A few minutes."

The orange-haired girl picked up the gelatinous leaf next to her, examined it curiously, smelled it, then put it back. That's when Ren saw the black, burnt skin on her palm.

"What happened to your hand?"

Lily awkwardly held the mentioned body part to herself and turned away from the others. Haku and Zel also stopped arguing, and all four stood in silent expectation, waiting for someone to speak.

Zel looked at the girls, who were only staring at the tips of their shoes, so he answered.

"What do you remember?"

The events of the previous day flashed through Ren's mind. He argued with Haku at the store, returned to his room, and then went to the bar. There, he saw Sonja in her orange skirt. They walked to the water, where they talked, their hands touched, and he kissed her. Then something happened. An electric shock, an explosion, something shocking that seemed like both a weather catastrophe and an attack directed at them. His whole body ached. He heard Haku and Lily's voices above him.

"Something happened, some kind of explosion, when I ki—" He glanced away in embarrassment, biting off the word 'kissed'. "When I touched her."

"That explosion was you."

"Ezekiel!" Lily growled.

"What is it? If I leave the explanation to you girls, we'd never finish. We have to rip the bandage off!" Zel insisted.

Ren's head was buzzing with memories. He caused the explosion? But how? He glanced down at his hand and the realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.

"Sonja was also hurt, right? That's why you're not saying anything."

Everyone avoided eye contact.

"Ren, Sonja is dead."

The world began to spin around him. The pain clutching his heart was the same as before, but it seemed even harder to bear now. He wanted it to end. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up. As long as he didn't remember more, it was easier to give up. The pulsing blood in his ears blocked out what Lily was saying to him. He only saw her worried eyes and her mouth, which was mouthing something, moving so fast that it would have been impossible to read her lips. The sound came back slowly. "How... lo... in. How... long... you...."

"How long have you been in pain?"

"A long time. A very long time."

"Why didn't you say that sooner?"

Lily shamelessly pulled up his top and placed her palm on his heart. She slid her palm further down to his stomach and shoulder, then exhaled the breath she had been holding.

"Everything seems fine. Healthy."

"They also examined him in the Ebony Vow and found nothing unusual."

Zel cast a glance at Ren's pale face and clapped his hands together, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Girls, you must have a lot to talk about regarding the next ritual. To our right, there's a river."

The girls understood the hint and, grabbing a few pieces of clothing, they moved on.

Zel lit a fire and sat down next to Ren, who was still slightly shocked, watching the dancing flames.

"How are you?"

"Terrible," the blue-haired boy blurted out.

"You surprised us just as much as—"

"Why am I still alive?" Zel said nothing, so he continued. "I killed her." His eyes began to water as he thought more about what had happened and realized what he had done.

"It was an accident, wasn't it?" Zel poked the fire, as if he didn't want to look at him.

"If you came to kill me, then here I am. I know the Ivory Law. I've read about it: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

"It was always important to my father what others thought. Everyone considers him a strong, fearless man who throws himself into danger without question to save his people. But he always cared more about appearances. He would sacrifice anyone to serve his interests. He was never a good father. He never praised me, never played with me, never had time for me. And he always looked at me differently, as if I were worse than him." His hands clenched into fists on his knees. "He's sick, in bed all day, and not lucid. No one visits him except me, not even my mother. Sometimes he lets things slip to me. Things that are difficult to carry alone." The hero smiled a bittersweet smile as he ran his index finger vertically over his right eye. "The statue in the castle garden. He told everyone that a team of phantoms attacked him and his team. In reality, his team called him a liar and a corrupt person, which made him snap and kill everyone. One of them injured him, and he set their bodies on fire along with the forest." Leaning back, he smiled at Ren. "I realized he was not only a bad father but a bad king, soldier, and friend. I want to be different. I want to change all of Ivory Concord. And I want to support my friends in everything. Something is not right with your accident, but I haven't figured out what yet." He grabbed Ren's face a little roughly, forcing him to look at him. "You have to stay here for a while until I sort everything out. You can't die, you hear me? You're the only person in the world I trust."

"But why? We don't really even know each other."

"You remind me a lot of someone I once knew."

The girls made a rustling sound to let them know they were back. Water was still dripping from their hair as they walked to them, wrapped in fine fabrics. They laid down three more beds and sat around the fire. Ren didn't really understand what was happening, but their closeness gave him comfort. All three of them were sitting on the ground cross-legged while Lily bustled around them. She seemed to be sprinkling some salt-like substance around them in the shape of a star. Which could only mean one thing, some magic thing is gonna happen, but the others spared Ren from the details.

Lily sat back. She stretched her hands out in front of her, palms facing the ground. She began to chant something that made her irises disappear. Now only the whites of her eyes were visible, and she continued, before she suddenly stopped. 

It was as if the whole world stood still with them. The wind didn't blow, the bushes didn't rustle, and even the bugs had ceased their buzzing. Lily's back straightened, and her head tilted up at an unnatural angle. She began to speak. Her voice changed, becoming much more mature and deeper, with a cold, echoing resonance that didn't sound like Lily at all.

"Who disturbed Bridget?"

Haku’s eyes narrowed, a flash of recognition in their depths. She spoke, not to Lily, but to the empty vessel of her body, "Your granddaughter helped us to meet with you." 

"Alright, what do you want to know?" The unknown voice sounded quite arrogant. It was obvious who Lily learnt it from.

"What happened to my Master?"

They shivered in the cold air.

"That is not within my knowledge."

"Then where is he?"

"That is not within my knowledge."

Haku asked the question, getting visibly more irritated, "Is he even alive?"

"That is n—"

Haku hit the ground. "Then what do you know?"

A screeching, sharp sound attacked their eardrums, as if a thousand needles were being stuck into them. They all put their hands over their ears.

"I, who weave the thread of the future, with the echoes of the past ringing in my ears, and enjoying the fruit of forbidden knowledge, the answer you so desperately desire, the Mage is not alive." The oni lowered her hand and stared at Lily. "He is not alive in this world."

Blood flowed from Lily's ears and eyes.

"We should stop!" Ren shouted.

"Not yet!" Haku yelled.

"He is trapped in another world, where..."

Ren and Zel shook Lily from both sides, and she fell unconscious into their laps.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed her!" Ren yelled at the red-haired girl, who, wordlessly, stormed off angrily.

Ren was not ready to lose anyone else.