The Other Side of Darkness

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Episode 6: Chapter ----

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Idia stepped out of the room and let out an exhausted sigh. He had just finished playing some of games with the other students, and he was surprised at just how much he enjoyed himself. He hadn't felt that way since...

He sighed again. It's such a pity that a life like that was never met for him. 

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Well, at least I can head back into my room and relax." Maybe his gaming partner was already on. 

"Deputy Director!"

He groaned. "What?" A couple of scientists approached him.

"We just had a...situation with the new subject."

Idia's heart skipped a beat. "The Ramshackle Prefect? What happened?"

One scientist gave him a pad with some notes and charts. "We picked up a strange reading in the subject's room. One very similar to a strong phantom. When we got there to check, the subject was panicking on the ground. We were able to calm her down, but she said..." The scientist paused.

Idia stopped examining the odd readings and looked at them. "What'd she say?"

"She asked," the scientist paused to swallow nervously, "if any children have died in the building." Everything went silent. 

Idia's heart dropped. "What?"

"She asked--"

"I heard you the first time." He waved his hand. "Go. I'll take care of it."

"Yes sir." The scientists walked away quickly.

Idia turned and started making his way to Leviline's cell. 

"There's no way she could know," he whispered under his breath. "There's no way..."

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Lev sat at the top of her bed, knees curled up to her chest. She couldn't get that image out of her head. Blood. Teeth. Darkness. Was it another one of Idia's tricks? Those scientists seemed awfully nervous.

She flinched as the door suddenly opened and the Ignihyde Dorm Leader walked through. He looked even paler than normal; his skin whiter than dust.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

Idia paused for a moment, then asked: "What did you see?"

"Huh?"

"Do I need to say it slower? What. Did. You. See?"

Lev waited a moment before answering. "A boy."

"What did he look like?" Idia sat down on a chair beside the bed, one of the only other pieces of furnature in the cramped room.  Good thing, as he looked about ready to collapse. 

"At first... I thought he was Ortho-" Idia stiffened. "-but after a moment he...he was bleeding. Everywhere. He was all covered in scrapes and cuts and..." she shivered. "Honestly I couldn't even recognize him, or if it was even him at all I have no idea." She looked up at Idia. His eyes were unfocused. "What's wrong?"

Idia snapped out of his trance. "Oh nothing. I was just thinking." He pulled out a small device and projected a screen above it. "The boy was probably just a hallucination brought on from the illusion we set up earlier." 

"Are you sure?" She looked at him doubtfully. "You look pretty nervous."

"Long day." He said it too quick.

She huffed. "So, what have you found out from the simulation?" Maybe a change of topic would make him talk. 

Idia hesitated. "Well...remember what I said ealier, about no trace of magic being inside your body?" Lev nodded. "Well, it's a half-lie." He flipped around the projection, showing her a graph that looked mostly stable save for a pair of large spikes. 

"What's that?"

"A measurement of the amount of magic in your body." He pointed at the first spike. "This was right before we lost visuals." Then he pointed at the next one. "This was just before you woke up." 

Lev stared at the chart. So she knew for sure now. "How is this possible?" she asked. "The mirror said I had no magic inside me."

Idia stood up and started pacing. "I have a hypothesis. There is a curse called the 'Heart Binding Curse.' It completely seals away a magician's magic forever, and it can't be broken without the use of a more powerful spell and-" he paused, "-spoiler alert, there aren't many. Add on to that the number of people who can actually preform the spells, and you've basically got an indestructible curse."

Lev's mouth felt dry. "How...can you tell who cast it?" 

"Not exactly. If I were to guess, it'd have to be at least the level of a 4000 year-old fae. Any lower than that and the plausibility greatly decreases."

"But, who would do this to me? Why?" 

"Don't ask me!" Idia growled. "How am I supposed to know? For all I know, you could've just stepped on the wrong blade of grass when you were little and one of the Old Gods decided to curse you for all eternity!"

"Old Gods?"

"For the love of--" He rubbed his eyes. "Tell you what, I'll keep researching on ways to break your curse, just keep quiet and out of trouble." He stood up and quickly ran out of her room.

"Wait! Idia!" Lev stood up to follow him, but the door was already closed before she could walk two steps. "Ugh! C'mon! You left me with more questions than answers! What were the 'Old Gods?'" The phrase seemed familiar, but also caused her heart to ache a little.

"Sister," she whispered. "How did this happen?" She never remembered having magic. Was Idia right on the assumption that she was cursed as a child? Who would do that then? "Maybe Tsunotaro will know something." He was pretty powerful and a part of an ancient royal family. Surely he must know something. 

"First things first--" She turned to the door and cracked her knuckles. "--Gotta get out of here." 

She held up her hands and started focusing.