9

                         IX

“Saridus…help-”

Mikota flinched - wide-stiff lips twitching as the glaring demon sprang closer.

“Exactly! Every speck, contour, corner - every literal bracket in her room being an exact one-to-one copy of yours?! Can that maniacal she-mage’s dignity even fall any further? No…no…it’s alright…it’s okay…Mikota - we can get through her ABYSMAL standards of creativity…together…”

“...not that…I can’t stop smiling…”

Saridus sprang up, smearing his face against the locket’s bulge-

“Ho-ho - no kidding! Now there’s a problem people in any age would die for - keep the secret close, Mik - and think of the riches we can make off this!”

“But seriously, my jaw’s kind of hurting now…but’s not a bad thing, somehow…”

He was cherished. Loved.

“...that’ great and all, but seriously - but you’re going to open the door now, right? Because we’ve been standing here for like…5 minutes”

Mikota blinked, the dark oak gate coming into focus again

“O-oh, right, right forgot about that…Yeah, I’m going to open it. Right now...okay, okay…uh…do I just knock, right?”
Taking a deep breath, Mikota reached out to the door knob - each finger dropping into a curl around its bronze bulge. Right beyond this door. Where Ms. Evaine, the mysterious mage who’s saved him, and given him the only two weeks of his life he could remember. Dragon blood, Ried, meeting the girls…it all started with the women, right behind this door-

“Mikota, can I-”

“Aaugh! God, Saridus…don’t scare me like that…ohh…what is it?”

“...well, I’m a bit curious of course, as one would be…what exactly made you walk inside the tower? When Ziekkah - ahem - zucchini - was about to…well, you know.”

Sighing, his throat loosened. That was so…simple.

“...I’m the only one who can save me…somehow, ever since I started…that’s the only way something’s ever worked out - the way you want it…Ried was right”

“...the Bongo comment - are you kidding me?”

Why are you weeping?!

Squinting, Mikota leaning closer to the locket.

“...did you have something else in mind?”

Saridus grinned slyly (quickest transition from tears to smirk yet?!)-

“Yes, actually…but now, I’m wondering - you look surprisingly calm about all of this.”

“...really? Well…probably because of what Ms Evaine said…I don’t need to win that duel - that’s just…so much better”

“Mikota…that duel is the least of your troubles right now - technically we don’t even know when that’s happening. This tower is one of the safest, most serene locations in the world, and we have our Dragon buddy to thank for it. But the minute you leave…well. Your life’s dice is already rolling…and let me tell you something. This world? It ain’t safe. Never has been. And let’s just pass a quick reminder around - we’re going to become an Adventurer, who will actively journey out into said horrifying world. You feeling me?”

“I’m…feeling mixed - what do you want to…?”

“What I’m saying is that if the adventuring exams are in mid December - estimates’ courtesy of one semi-trustworthy pair of Bongo Drums - then buddy: we gotta buck the hell up, and give everything we have before we take it - and more importantly, expand our ability to not die over the next…24 days. Capeesh?”

“...uhh, yes - capeesh!”

“...yeah, I don’t really get that word either. Now: ready?”

“...ready”

Mikota screwed his eyes close, clutching the doorknob.

Okay-

He swivelled it open, stepping in quickly - shifting aside as he swung the gate back behind him. The door clicked shut. Unclenching his eyelids, he let them lift. And choked, a frisson pouring in as his gaze burned wide.

Open sky…the Sea!?

All around him…he was standing on open water. And wasn’t sinking.

“...how can this…inside the tower…”

Mikota looked down, catching his reflection standing on his own feet, as it leaned off into its own world behind the water.

…wait

Crouching down, he squinted as he laid a finger on the floor. Cool sprayed softly up his hand - the surface denting gently as butter as he pressed his tip in.

What…is this?

He blinked, the pit slowly swelling back as he pulled his finger away. A tough chrome cream, bleeding off the pale blue sky - stretching out to the horizon. An endless, metal sea.

…this is…real?

“Not so cramped now, is it?”

Ms. Evaine!?

Mikota spun his head up, stumbling to his feet.

“Ms Evaine! I forgot to kno- uhh…your clothes…”

Evaine stood upright a few feet away, hand on hip sporting a loose crop top, pajamas - and wait - was that purple eye-shade? She smiled softly, eyes twinkling unusually earnest as she looked down at him…and also, was that purple eyeshade?

Wait, no, that purple eye-shad - Is that-

“Peace, Mikota! As master and apprentice, shouldn’t we start getting comfortable with each other’s natural rhythm and way of life?”

“No, no wait a minute-”

The mage chuckled, eyes screwing lightly as she stepped closer, ruffling his hair.

“Startling, is it? I assure you, dancing around near naked is the sorely repressed fetish of all mage-aspiring women to spontaneously switch to the bed-beach attire mood! Wait till you see my Tophat-”

“SAARIDUUUUUUS! You Blithering Wretch - I Will Hurt You!!”

Mikota’s head snapped right-. A familiar slim, grey-robed woman seated in her mechanical bronze wheelchair, a thick book spread open in her hands-

“Ms. Evaine?! Or, rather Saridus - Ms. Evaine is your true body?!”

The purple-eye-shadowed doppel-ganger scoffed petulantly, sticking out her tongue out at the real Evaine-

“Buzzkill, women - I’m trying to make up for your lack of social skills, here - which was Obviously Exorbitantly Successful, Until A 28-Year-Old Paraplegic Grandma-”

“Mikota, stay right there, I’m coming - and do not let him move!”

“Well, it’s not like I should be moving in this body anyway - pretty disingenuous to the real-”

“Shut Up!”

It didn't hit me because I've never seen Ms Evaine standing…but-

“Saridus…i-is that really you?”

Looking back at him, Ms. Evaine’s doppelganger looked back at him - the expression on that face all too familiar - the one he’d seen on every mirror on this tower, plastered to his own face: glittering, slitted eyes cloaked below purple-eye-shadow of the Rimondian civilisation, and of course, that completely disingenuous, unassuring sneer. Saridus.

One hand rolling open as it set upon his heart, the other folded back as the demon bowed courteously-

“That is I! Welcome to Saridus Land…or should I say-”

Saridus snapped his head up suddenly, arms flashing to his sides - the sea of chrome rippling at his feet as he quickly shot away from it into the air - the liquid shivering out welts on its mirrored skin, before finally, five cuboidal bulges leisurely pushed through - trailing after his friend ascending the air…3 feet…4 feet…5-

“W-wait - Where Are You Going!?”

“My rightful distance from any ground, my friend - 3 Evaines! Okay, this is more like it-”

Stretching out his mage’s limbs, the demon crossed his legs, seated 20 feet midair - the chrome columns intertwining their lengths as they raced after him - their five heads halting just as they neared his seated friend, fraying out open and shooting up once more around him. A throne of towers. Grin flashing more hideously than ever, Saridus settling into his throne, wrapping his fingers approvingly on his pillar-braided cathedra as he looked down to Mikota at last-

“GREETINGS, MIKOTA…ALLOW I, SARIDUS, TO WELCOME YOU TO THE ABODE OF TRUE DIVINITY! ”

…this is his power?

“Saridus…this place…is this…?”

His enthroned friend sneered, leaning on his fist in the zenith of satisfaction

“Yes, Mikota. This is my Domain, Mirror Palace - after some serious refurnishing, by the way - fascinating how Evaine’s first-ever meet-cute with her apprentice makes room renovation top priority. In other words - My days of living in a closet are officially over! Done! Locked away in the horrid past!”

…why was he living in a closet?


“Saridus…I don’t…this is your Domain - like…I don’t…I never really…”

“...you never really thought about what that meant, right? Strictly speaking, you - by definition - are standing on top of me. That’s right - below you…above…it’s all the ‘substance’ of me. I’m just talking to you through this body because apparently, disembodied voices weird people out wa-ay too quickly.”

“...so you don’t have a body?”

“Nope! Usually, us demons manifest our corporeal equivalent within their domain - a pocket in which both things from your world and mine can exist. It's the range of our existence and influence in the physical world.”

“Range? Wait, like Imona’s ability, shadow physicality was only limited to her targets being in some type of shadow…and now that I think about, she wasn’t in the light after manifesting in her physical form, nor could she touch me or Ms. Evaine directly...”

Grinning, Saridus flashed him a thumbs-up-

“You’re thinking in the right direction, Mikota! Anyway, as I was saying-”

“Umm, Saridus-”

“No, no, no - I’m coming to the super important part - about I, Saridus - being Amazing!!…oh, what?”

“Could you…you know - switch back to your usual appearance? Somehow, this is still…”

Ms. Evaine grinning like that is a bit too weird for me

“Oh, yeah - true. Evaine has a nice voice, so I like playing around with this form a lot”

“That’s your whole reason?!”

Evaine’s grey robes trailed down his figure, hand bent over his hip, lips twisted as his gaze settled into Mikota’s - hand raised in a frozen wave-

“Hallelujah, Mikota…”

Chest lightening, a smile eased into Mikota’s lips. There he was. Saridus.

Sighing, Saridus knelt down, touching his face as he gazed at his reflection in the chrome - a sort of pride almost too sincere drinking into his lips-

“...unlike my other pals, I don’t have a form, even within my domain. I have no true face - or rather, I have every face…eventually.”

“Saridus…”

“Well, anywho-”

Snapping back up, arms shooting to his sides-

“Only Natural That I, Saridus, Stand Alone Among The Crowd-”

WHAM!

Saridus yelped as a dark thing smashed into his cheek, sending him flying back - thudding 3 meters away…a slipper?

“That was for making a terrible first impression on my dear apprentice - expect a session of controlled electric shocks later.”

Ms. Evaine’s mechanical wheel-chair slowed to a halt, parking beside him, the mage herself cross-legged in immense satisfaction.

“M-Ms Evaine!? You were all the way there- you threw a slipper at Saridus? From all the way there, not to mention!”

“Practice makes perfect, Mikota. I hope you’re liking the space we’re getting to work with?”

Tone For Standard Lesson Plan!!

“...Listen, Ms. Evaine, I get that you and Saridus-”

A thud boomed out as the demon banged his fist on the chrome, teeth-

“You Miserable-Shut-In-Mage - That HURT! So you wouldn’t mind a little demonstration for dear Mikota over here about who’s really in charge, right? RIGHT?”

Breath catching, Mikota felt the ground shiver - the chrome all around rippling and swelling in bubbles - which burst a second later, slippers shooting out - hundreds of identical, black slippers aligning in racks midair-

“It’s time for completely un-petty revenge - Ready!?”

The slippers nodded eagerly-

“AIM!”

Snapping at an angle, the footwear notched at Evaine(and Mikota!?) from all directions-

“I swear, if you waste another minute, you wretched demon - don’t you dare-”

“FIIIRE!!”

~

“...No, Mikota…this is definitely…this is nearly navy now…”

Mikota shifted in his stool, still gawking at his blued-out tresses Evaine gently brushed out in her fingers. Saridus dressing up as Evaine, followed by the greatest slipper fight ever - apparently, Evaine could will things as much as Saridus could, in Mirror Palace - but was also far too adept at chucking slippers than she had any reason to be…and now…this.

His hair was blue - dusk-hued, now. When did that happen…how? Was it Dragon blood? His jump yesterday - was that also…? His body…how much had…how much of it was even normal anymore?

“Y-yeah…I-I…t-this is…”

“Calm down, Mikota…right now, you’re perfectly safe - don’t worry about a thing. Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay?”

“O-okay…”

Evaine smiled gently from her chair in front of him, palming his cheek as she glanced down at her reflection in the chrome, frowning slightly.

“From what we can put together time-wise, this must’ve happened directly after you went to sleep, when you were able to use - how did you put it - pink-ish fire? And again, even that alone…on top of being able to jump till the second floor…this is incredible…absolutely incredible…”

He smiled hesitantly, watching on as the mage’s brow eased out, her eyes flickering around gleefully as her lips slowly parted open.

…finally moved over being mad at Saridus, hopefully? Wonder where she sent him…

“...well then, all in good time. Did you rest well? Yesterday was…quite the day, wasn’t it?”

“Uh…yes, I slept…well, at least I tried to - it was very comfortable, like my room”

Evaine patted his head, smiling softly.

“A little bit jumpy? That’s to be expected, dear - I’d rather have you with more than enough energy than be exhausted.”

…she’s doing this on purpose, right?

“...a little bit, I guess”

“Hmm, well, Saridus as usual has wasted enough time already. Are you ready?”

“A-ahem…Yes, Ms. Evaine.”

“Excellent…then we’ll start right at the beginning. What comes to your mind, when considering magic as a whole?”

“Well…it centers around manipulating a presence referred to as mana, which is either woven into the very fabric of our world - or maybe the foundation of it in the first place - I’m not too sure there; every phenomena is inherently tied to it, like an object bound to its shadow - controlling the mana footprint - or the object, alters its shadow’s expression, that being the phenomena…”

Evaine stared at him, a little wide-eyed.

“...your intuition is…where did you learn to speak like that? You’re extraordinary, Mikota…talking like this at your age…have you really never touched upon anything related to magic in all your life? Ever?”

Here we go…

“…Saridus teaches me the names of some things everyday - like, we have this one thing where we try to guess the different parts of a knight’s armour - like he first taught me a bit first, and then we take turns naming it all…it’s really fun…and of course, sometimes it’s just a few new words… and when to use them…my entire understanding of mana and…pretty much most of everything started when we began talking in the night…”

Frowning, Mikota watched as the mage’s jaw fell open, gaze screwed in utter…disbelief?

“...Saridus?! That scamp of a demon? He actually…talks to you…like that?”

…she still doesn’t trust him? Wasn’t he with her since she was 14?

“Ms. Evaine…I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe…yes, sometimes he does get a little…strange… sometimes, but…he’s been a godsend to me, from the start.”

“...Unbelievable…I knew he was fond of you, but…this is a whole different level of…I can’t even believe we’re talking about the same person, Mikota…if it’s really him you’ve…ah - oh blights...sorry about that, dear - do go on”

“...Uhh - well…ah, right - demons are creatures that exist…differently, like in the same space but…parallel? In a way that allows them to directly manipulate mana, and by consequence phenomena in this world in certain ways. Their influence is constricted by their natural Domain...or mojo…”

“...Mojo…what is that - a synonym for Domain? Tch, as expected of Saridus - what you’re referring to - the natural dimension of a demon - we’ll go over the specific nature of that some other time, but in anycase-

Ms Evaine grabbed hsi shoulders-

“Do not Under Any Circumstances call it something so imprecise as a ‘domain’, dear more precise term is ‘Pith’, dear. Honestly…Mojo?”

Crippling Disappointment!

Eyes glaring for a moment longer, she let him go, one hand drawing behind her chair, and producing out a long, elm staff with a bulbous knot at the end - her other hand splaying flat over the metal water-

Is that her staff? For magic? What is she-

A gurgle sank out into the air, the metal water stirring underneath her hand - ripples unfurling through the mirror-of-aground from as she her lowered palm - a dent plunging into right beneath her hover. Grinning, she halted her hand - suddenly wrenching it high; the dent sucked back up, joining the rest of the liquid, swelling out spherically-

“.Ms. Evaine - what is- what’s happ-”

The bulge shivered, lifting higher as its curves fell into a ball’s bodice - the chrome womb slowly slipping off as the glossy round of white sphere pushed through the expanded liquid metal-

“W-what’s happening- what is that!?”

“A monster’s core, the most important object in the magical history of humanity, Mikota…Ried used to bring plenty of these back when he couldn’t leave here. We have quite the collection now - very good ones, just like this”

“...What’s a core-”

Mikota flinched back - the ball swivelling across toward him listlessly.

“M-ms. Evaine- what is it doing? It’s Alive Afterall?!”
aqr44
Evaine smiled softly, her fingers already gliding in his direction.

“I’m doing it, Mikota - this is my magic…and as for this ball…I want you to touch it. Go on - it’s perfectly safe, you have my word…just a little test, dear. Come, now…give it a little touch - you’re going to want to spread your fingers wide when you do - make sure there’s plenty of surface area in contact.”

…her magic? How did she…but Saridus isn’t here - humans can’t use magic independently!

Finally pulling to his chest, the core stilled, hovering just centimetres above the mirror water.

“...Mikota…don’t you have so many questions? Don’t you want to answer them all? This is where that starts…all you have to do is reach out…and touch the core.”

Mikota drew his hand out, fingers quivering over the sphere

“...nothing’s going to happen to me?”

“Oh, by all certainty: something is going to happen to you - we need to find out what”

“...I-I’m going for it-”

Mikota threw open his fingers, and thumped it against the core.

Smooth. Quivering slightly…

…this…is inside every-

Mikota jolted as frissons scuttled up his arm, fingers twitching in tandem to the core’s quiver as they passed through his body; the sphere’s hum chugged raggedly, growling deeper - faster.

“M-Ms. Evaine-!?”

“Don’t leave it! Let it pass - I’m right here, Mikota. Hold on…steady…now look…look at the core…what do you see?”

The white…the bleached hue of the sphere crumpled inward with every beat, fracturing back in colourless fissures as it wrenched away from the face of the core-

“M-Ms Evaine-What’s-”

“No, Mikota - Do Not Leave the Sphere! Keep your hand steady! Just…a little longer…”

The thrum the sphere’s translucent husk grating his flesh, white sinews of its skin lunging away from the surface in colourless sinkholes freckling across its skin.

…w-what’s happening?

The sinkholes hastened, now the inside visible through the clear husk…all the white was crumpling into the center - mashing tightly into a bleached clump. Mikota leaned closer, eyes leashing on the last sinews as they peeled off quickly, trailing into the dyeless amalgam stilled in the core’s middle.

One second.

Two.

The amalgam quivered, roiling as it glowed hot, a crimson light fraying copiously from the thing.

Evaine clapped quietly, rolling her fingers back. The core dragged towards her quietly

“...wonderfull, Mikota…excellently done…”

“...I-It’s red…what does that mean?”

Evaine flicked her finger down. The sphere stalled its drag towards her, quickly dropping to the chrome.

Mikota watched on as the metal water drank it in soundlessly, rippling as it caught bloody, bathing in its glare. A little gurgle slipped out as its curves sank beneath entirely, the ruddy gleam cutting away. Leaning back in her chair, she smiled warmly, lacing her fingers.

“One - the Dragon blood in your body doesn’t coexist with your own mana reserve - if that were true…we would have a far more exuberant reaction, and two…you have a decent-sih aptitude for magic - a valuable asset for our future lessons together…that’s quite fortunate for us, Mikota”

…a monster core…measures aptitude? Monsters have cores? How does that…

“...so…you’re judging by the colour?”

“Correct. Red is the third tier of competence - much more than most mages have to work with…you’ll have no problem using artifacts in general, like that girl’s staff, for starters. I hear from Ried that artifacts - apart from things like potions, weapons, etc - are quite handy for adventurers.

Although, if we are talking that girl Chanelle’s staff in particular, you’ll need a personal sympathetic synchronisation with her artifact’s demon”

“...Sympathetic Synchronisation?”

“Indeed…think of it in terms of it as cultivating a symbiotic will with a demon, after continuous exposure to their Domain’s essence”

“...what?”

Evaine chuckled, her eyes twinkling as she reached out, ruffling his hair-

“All in good time, dear…say, Mikota…weren’t you opposed to contracting a demon?”

“...I was opposed to using them, and I still am…but…”

Imona…If I face someone like her again-

“Ms Evaine…perhaps knowing…will…”

“Yes?”

“I mean - I can’t take the risk of being ignorant again…if I waste this opportunity…it’s going to come back for me, isn’t it?”

The mage tilted her head down, a seriousness grazing her ageless features-

“It absolutely will…this world has a rather horrid tolerance for ignorance - keep walking this way, Mikota…learn what you can, even if you don’t want to - if you are to push, and push far - you must, dear…you must”

…I must

“...then will you teach me to contract a demon after all? Saridus?”

Evaine curled her lip, eyes thinning.

“…never…why bother perpetuating a cycle this wretched, when all the power of an entirely new, far more potent magic is beating inside you? The power of the Dragon, Mikota…the Divine Beast of Vitality.”

“...Dragon…?”

Evaine leaned closer, finger curling on her chin.

“...how much do you know about them? Have you heard any stories as a child? Let’s start there”

“...Saridus didn’t really give me a…I don’t know…”

…is she grimacing?

“...I’ll admit, I still can’t fathom your reliance over Saridus on that level. It’s important to understand this, dear: nothing but actual experience of the world can remedy ignorance - there is no theorising reality - you have to live it”

“...ignorance?”

Evaine forked her nose - setting her chin on an upturned fist as she looked back up at him worriedly.

“...as a demon, he’s uncannily conscious and observant - but a lack of knowledge is a lack of knowledge, Mikota. It would do you much good to recognise that, in him, or anyone, Mikota. Also, and this is a folly of mine to have not emphasised earlier - demons don’t care about you being the wonderful boy that you are - they will always try to drag you into the worst hells imaginable, given the opportunity. Always. Your exposure to a so-far-out outlier among conscious demonkind will ruin you, child - you’re far too carefree about this…and as your…mentor…if there’s even a shred of possibility I can spare you a horrible…terrible end…I will…”

“...you…don’t trust him at all…”

“...I don’t…I won’t…”

“…Saridus did warn me about other demons, day before yesterday”

Evaine looked up quickly, gaze boring into his for a flash, as she scoffed softly.

What have I…?

“...w-wait, no-”

“I’m quite alright, Mikota…quite alright.”

She shook her head, hiding her eyes.

“...I-I’ve derailed completely…forgive me…why don’t you take a little breather? Let’s start our class after a little recess - I’m sure you’re a little frazzled, just getting here and everything…take your time, gather your bearings…”

Evaine notched her finger into the chrome water, closing her eyes.

…now?

A gurgle rippled out, a chair from the dining table rising up from where she pointed.

“Catch your breath…I’ll be right back.”

~

“So-o…how’d it go?”

“...I think I let her down, somehow…”

Mikota shifted his feet, gently tapping the chrome water as he tucked his arms in, gazing at the sky.

…Guess I’m already used to disembodied voices

“...Saridus…did you do something to her?”

“Me? Hah! If anything, we should be going through the things she’d done to me!”

“...tell me, then”

“Well, she’s annoying, annoying, and oh, yeah - annoying! Does that help?”

…it’s not you, then

“...What’s she doing? Right now?”

“Snorting Night Oil, evidently”

“...what does that mean?”

Saridus sighed, clicking his tongue.

“...it means she’s losing it. Again. You want to know why?”

“...why?”

“It doesn’t matter. Seriously. Welcome, Mik, to the reality of being a rueful hypocrite. Don’t you dare feel sorry for her. She chose this life, and she knew what life she was walking into, firsthand-”

“Saridus, she's in pain! Why are you…?”

“Trust me, Mikota…this is the first type of person you cannot save.”

…why?

“...you’ve seen her since she was…younger than me…did she…do you know-”

“I said you can’t save her, not that she can’t be saved…and it’s not about trusting me. Despite having the giddily surplus competence for a mage, she fails the very founding principle of being an excellent one, which makes her an absolute asshole dealing with - and in all my thousand years, my most bearable contractor"

“...I…right…”

…he really won’t talk to anyone else, just like this?

“...Anywho, important news: you’re a Red Mage! That’s pretty good…especially compared to a certain di-particulate little madame”

“...the names are getting worse”

“Mudbug, Mik - mudbug…by the way, I had a rather fruitful snoo- educationally oriented excursion - and wow, that was…interesting to say the least”

“...were you snooping-”

“Pftt - Mikota - come now! Can a God require snooping to satiate his thirst for knowledge? ‘Tis his birthright to know…h-hahh…snooping…the idea…”

“...So-o…did you-”

“Mhm-hm-hm!”

Mikota shriekd as bubble suddenly swelled out beneath him - Saridus’s face shooting out between his legs, finger pressed to his lips-

“How Dragons breathe fire.”

~

Mikota twisted his lip, eyes screwing as he leaned closer to the screen Saridus had brought up.

It was him…on fire.

…I really did it…

“...if we ignore your…aesthetically questionable half-stand, and big, streaming crocodile tears for a moment - shifting our attention here-”

Saridus traced his fingers around the bright lilac tongues wreathing up his arms, legs, pouring in swaying lashes as they whipped the air. No smoke.

“You absolutely did set your whole body on fire, Mik - this is just a quick image I pulled up when it started out - it was for a short moment, but - from head to toe, you were utterly drenched in Dragon Flame. Imona’s shadow dome decomposed instantly around a three meter radius from your body, and as soon as light from outside broke inside, your flames gave out…and in the end, we’re left with one smoking hot boy, sitting and staring at his hand…wondering what the hell he was seeing when he started feeling just a tad warmer”

“...all I remember was moving through some kind of…I don’t know…like, I felt like I was moving really quickly - it happened as soon as I thought back to what cube-thingy was…maybe…”

Saridus looked back, gazing thoughtfully.

“...maybe?”

“...I think with the transition of thoughts and all…maybe I was travelling through cube-thingy…it wasn’t something from my own memory - I felt…”

“Don’t force it - we have ample time…take it step by step. Walk through that moment, all the way back then…”

Mikota exhaled, closing his eyes, head bowing low.

That moment in the dome…when Limani words had cut off their only chance…it had been so long since he’d fallen into that mind again. Praying. Begging. One more chance. Saridus. Ried. God.

One second. Two seconds. A minute. Ten minutes…or was it hours? It didn’t matter - because it was nothing. No one answered. Nothing mattered, because he was going to lose everything. Again. How could he ever look at Ried again - explaining how despite being trained by him for 3 hours everyday at everyone’s expense, he could do absolutely nothing while his mother was taken away by Ziekkah? All he had to do was answer her simple question - why did he wait when he knew what she would ask one day? What was wrong with him? He knew how bad the stakes could be, and even then…

Thoughts. Memories of his stay, all flashing by: Ried’s sparring matches - which were pride culling sessions, really; walking around the peak, looking around…trying his best to draw that ‘around’, with Saridus getting increasingly anxious with his sketching skills. Lying down, talking about whatever came to their minds.

There was no light, and like the cruel boy that he was…he couldn’t bear sieving out any more regrets. In that moment sitting in the dark, all he could do was decide his last thoughts in the wonderful world he’d never get to see.

He wanted them glad. Smiling in the dark, as he drank on happy memories…just like this.

All those things him and Saridus had wondered about - conversations flitting in and out as he shifted in the dark, tears trailing down his face. So many wonderful things. Cube-thingy. Something Evaine had hidden from both of them. What was that? They’d never found out…and now they never could.

If only there was just a little crack of it - somehow, just a spark. Just one bright flash - to weaken the dome just a little more…then they could finally find out.

Light. He wanted it. More than anything - just a little…anything for it.

It was this place…between the idea of cube-thingy, and that plea he wouldn’t let go.

…that was the beginning

He felt it thrumming, again, then. Pounding. Beating faster - deeper, than ever before. The true power of his Dragon blood…the movement itself, breathing as a being of its own - channeled through his veins by that great heart under the mountain.

Thinking about a cube.

Suddenly, he was tearing through some place - left, right, up, down - tumbling through a winding path. He couldn’t see anything. But he was moving.

The further in he went, the warmer he felt - and the warmer he felt, the quicker he coursed around in the dark - faster, and faster, his body nearly scorching by the end of a few seconds. Until the heat blasted out, the brightest flash he’d ever seen ripping into the air. A loud crack followed, raking across the silence as all the heat vapoured away at once.

He was still sitting. Shivering, as he found himself staring at the dusk sky.

“...I wanted light…and I was thinking about cubes…and that triggered the Dragon blood…it took me in some sort of trance, where I was moving somewhere…my last thought before all that wasn’t exactly like a cube - if I had to put it…I think that was just a sort of…baseline… that got me thinking about something else…something that the Dragon blood…”

“...recognised, yes. Precisely my thoughts as well”

Mikota opened his eyes, facing Saridus. He was gazing into the chrome sea - a soft grin placed in his lips, fingers tightly knit as they lay on his lap.

“...you’re pretty happy about this, huh? So…sense?”

Saridus turned to him, grin sliding back into a sneer.

“...much sense….your intuition is pretty on point. You had two of three things that a Dragon needs to breathe their fire. First, intention - their will to use their fire at all; you needed it for light, and so called upon its presence, albeit unconscious of that mechanism. Second, the specific blood alignment - and this is the most crucial part. A Dragon is born with the inherent intuition of the alignment it needs to enact to start interacting with the mana in the atmosphere in its specific way - which for a Dragon, is to set every bloody thing on fire”

“...but how do I have that?”

“You don’t. Turns out, Dragons themselves have several references for that alignment baked in - most decipherably, in their hardened parts - scales, teeth - and in our context, particularly - nails, which its blood flows through. By virtue of that, their blood automatically aligns just by circulating to and through these parts. As for the things themselves - they’re perforated and peppered to the minutest levels of depth, with the exact position of the blood that grants mana interaction with the world…an extremely fine network of paths, you could say”

“...so me travelling…”

“Yup. You were visualising the path that a Dragon’s blood naturally flows through while igniting fire, albeit very poorly, all things considered. In fact, you were using cube-thingy - and I do mean the actual cube-thingy - Evaine has stashed in here as a reference, all the way from the dome. Which is, as I found out recently, a roughly cube shaped cut out of a Dragon’s nail - Ta-da!”

“...I used cube-thingy’s structure…but I’ve never even seen it before!”

“Again, correct. That would suggest that Dragon blood itself has memories ingrained into it - because what should’ve been a mushy presence from far away was somehow perceived accurately enough by you for the Dragon blood to set into its ‘ignition’ state”

“...so the inherent memories in the Dragon’s blood…filled in the gaps that my senses were too weak to pick up on…by using a structure close to me? How does that even…”

“Yeah, about that - Evaine filled the cube with the last of her Dragon blood…you were sensing outside your own body what is already present within you in surplus - which is apparently, something you can do. Lucky us!”

“...damn”

“Damn indeed, Mik…Evaine’s classes with you will actually revolve around this. Becoming adept at visualising - and by the end - internalising the blood alignment a Dragon naturally uses by sensing the structure of Dragon Blood held in the Dragon’s nail…or cube-thingy - simple, yet elegant, that title. Any questions?”

“...I need to sit with this for a bit…uh…hang on, did you say there was a third factor?”

Saridus crossed his legs, spreading his hands.

“The Dragon’s roar…the song that ripples from miles across, raking through heaven and earth - guiding the flow of their flame that bursts into the world, down to its shyest curl…notably ensuring they don’t set themselves on fire”

Mikota sat up, chair rocking as he swerved forward.

“Wait - they control their fire by roaring? Then how…”

Huffing, he sank back dismally,

“...great…I’m stuck to being a human torch after all”

Saridus chuckled, giving him a bemused look.

“Here’s where being our slipper-dicing Ms. Evaine’s student pays off. According to her, it’s not the ear-splitting roar of the Dragon itself, but rather the specific reverberation it creates in their blood while enunciating while they’re rage-whining like the mountain-sized drama-queens that they are”

“...really?”

“Well, that’s her theory, anyway. Seems pretty sound. And while humans - and honestly most creatures - can’t pick up on the nuances of its roar, thankfully - and I never thought I’d ever end up saying this - thank the Elves for their twitchy-pointy ears, and their mind-numbing patience to write down everything they heard from Dragons while studying them”

…Elves?

“...what’s…who are Elves?”

Saridus rolled his eyes, sneer widening to a toothed grin.

“What are they indeed? Similar enough in appearance to humans, I suppose. It’s their ears that distinguish them - long…quite pointed too. That, and the fact that they’re pretty much the progenitor of the idea of using magic at will…kind of a myth to humans - and specifically - mages, who chase after them in aspiration”

“But they’re real?”

“Very real, although you’ll have to cross the Sea to even have a chance to see them. They’re on a whole other continent, very, very, very far away. Anyway…oh, yes - your dear mage teacher is currently very much broke after purchasing several manuscripts from those guys…which they apparently exchanged as a part of some peace treaty or something - zero clue when that happened, time wise because why would anyone bother telling me?”

“...and those…manuscripts have…so you found out all this from them?”

“Pretty much - them, and Evaine’s own notes, which, by the way - how does she write so well? Beautiful voice, lovely handwriting…what went so horribly wrong in her communication skills?”

Mikota chuckled, straightening back as he rubbed his brow.

“So…what’s the enunciation?”

“...the Dream, the Blood, and the Song…all of it births the greatest flame to touch all of Elegaidra, held back by but one word…”

Turning back to him, his grin petered away - eyes locking on him.

…what?

Leaning down his gaze till it fell to his palm, Saridus splayed his fingers wide.

“...Biraḳhevoer”