I would've thought that I would've felt inescapable vulnerability when I revealed my true self to August, yet there had been nothing. He'd won my trust without trying and only time would tell if I would regret that.
When August had left, I removed my cloak and set it alongside on the desk chair. I shuffled through the papers on my desk, only seeing old letters and nothing of interest before I turned and walked out of my room. The door beside my room was open, telling me August had settled there. I couldn't complain since having him near was better than not since he found trouble far too often.
As I began to pace the corridor, I felt memories creeping along with me. I could see ghosts of people from my past, hear haunting laughter, and feel the hopes and dreams of the dead. Laughter, hopes, and friendships had once filled this house. There had never been an empty room nor place at the table. The hearth had always been warm, and a friendly smile had been easy to come by.
A little over a hundred and eighty years ago, The Remnant had begun as a band of friends, all bound together by our passion to defeat the Vale, yet it had defeated us over the years. One by one, I had watched my allies succumb, die, or end themselves by poison or weapon, too overcome by the darkness. Leuthar, while not having been tainted by the Vale, was the only remaining member of The Remnant besides myself.
I dreaded coming here every time I returned to Darrose as I was haunted by the dead and those I had failed.
Eighty years ago, the identity and name of Ronan had died when I'd found my closet ally dead on the floor in front of the hearth. Valens had been his name; we'd been together since I had been kicked out of Darrose's head academy of Roefell by Headmaster Lancaster. He'd started The Remnant with me and had sworn the same oath as I, yet had been more troubled than I.
When I had come off the stairs, I turned into the round room and paused in the doorway and breathed out unsteadily. Every time I walked in here, I could remember seeing the trail of blood from under the table that had ran to the archway. He'd been dead for hours, the room had stunk of rotten eggs, and flies had been buzzing about. There, just before the hearth had he laid, both arms slit from the wrists to the elbows with dried blood coated on them and around him in a pool. He'd left a letter stating that the Vale could never be defeated and that he had hoped I would find peace like him one day.
I'd never once revisited my real identity since that day. I'd remained Gloom until now, to ashamed to face the failings of both my sides. However, I was Ronan and Gloom, and neither could be ignored nor split apart. It was time to come back and revive The Remnant before it was too late...
"This is a face I haven't seen in some time."
I glanced to my left to see Leuthar leaned against the archway to the round room. My words felt trapped inside my mouth, realizing not only had I failed all those before me, but Leuthar as well. Why had he stuck with me all these years as I had changed?
"I was wondering when you'd show your face again," he muttered, looking me in my eyes for the first time in months. "This wouldn't have anything to do with August, would it?"
"And if it did?" I asked with a raise of my brow.
He huffed as he moved into the room, past the table. "You've been too close to him since we left Aegar. Why is that?"
I didn't reply straightway, watching instead as he skimmed his fingertips over the table, collecting dust on his fingers that turned his fingertips black. He grimaced at it before wiping it off on his pants, leaving a dust stain on them. It hit me just how long it had been since we had been here, yet now we were back and with someone in tow that I believed could renew The Remnant... or destroy it.
"Daesa said he has two auras, one of light and one of dark. I didn't think it possible, but I would never disavow Daesa's readings," I stated plainly, not holding anything from him.
Leuthar stared hard back at me. "He's either a failed experiment of Miltos or a demon spawn sent here to cause chaos, either way, he should be sent away. We've no use for him."
"He came here by way of a portal. Daesa believes something dark latched itself onto him when he came here, if that is the case then it is our responsibility to not abandon him," I replied, making him scoff. I didn't like that response. I strode over to him and rested a firm hand on his shoulder. "We defeat the darkness; we don't run away from it."
He winced, like it pained him to accept my words before he finally forced a nod. "I trust you and only you. The second that he shows any signs of being a traitor, I am ridding us of him."
I shook my head to myself, but that was as close as to acceptance as I was going to get with him. He wasn't one to trust just anyone, so I understood his unwillingness to accept August. It would take time for him to realize that August wasn't a threat, no matter how Daesa had portrayed him. He seemed far too soft and innocent, probably would flinch at his own shadow given the chance.
"What do you mean I have two auras?"
At August's voice, I held a heavy sigh, knowing that I would have to explain this to him. Teaching wasn't something I did. Instead of glancing back at him, I pointed directly at a chair, wanting him to sit. His footsteps shuffled past me and up to the head of the table while I followed behind and took the chair at the head.
When I sat, the hearth lit behind me in a roar, startling August. He calmed after a moment, then leaned forward with his arms rested on the table. Leuthar sat across from him, on my left, and was bitterly silent as he glared across at August.
"Daesa thinks I brought something with me?" August asked, a tremble in his voice before he swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to. I didn't even mean to come here, I swear."
"It's not your fault. I told you that portals between worlds are instable, they have energies beyond our comprehension in them," I replied plainly, reminding him of my words. I didn't need him overly fretting or stressing that something was wrong with him. He was perfectly fine from my standpoint. "You've shown no signs of anything to give me concern."
"You don't know that," he mumbled as he lowered his gaze to the table. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to clarify his words before he peeked up at me. "Remember Lara?" I nodded, and then he continued, "When she read my mind, her eyes went black, and she began to cry black blood. Something... something she had seen about me had scared her."
"Lara would be a seer then," I stated when I understood what he had meant. Seers could be affected as such, though there were different levels to seers' abilities. "It's possible that she saw what you encountered when you crossed over into Laelmos. You might not have anything to do with it."
"But what if I do?" he asked, eyes trembling. "The same happened with Daesa, and then that had been the whole reason why Eirith had taken me. This whole thing is surrounded around me, and I don't even know why. I didn't ask to come here."
August was unraveling again. I shifted my gaze to Leuthar, to see if he wanted to take over with August, but he was tightlipped. There was no way for me to calm August because I didn't know how. All I knew was that he was possibly right and that he had gotten himself mixed up into something that wasn't of his concern, yet I couldn't say that. I knew that my honesty would only drive him further into a peak of insanity.
"Go out for a walk and clear your head," I began, and then remembered I couldn't leave August alone for a second. "Take Leuthar with you."
Leuthar sat up at that and opened his mouth to object, but one look from me silenced him. He huffed before he stood and harshly waved August after him. August looked to me carefully, then pushed himself out of his chair and followed Leuthar. He glanced back right before they went out the door, and then when they were gone, I leaned back in my chair with a heavy sigh.
I wasn't built to build someone up to the endure the hardships of Laelmos. He would have to grow accustomed to it himself or die trying.
Though, with August out of the way, I could venture over to Darrose's mage academy of Roefell and find books to explain August's strange situation. I needed answers myself.
***
Entrusting that Leuthar would keep a watch over August, I had gone to Roefell to the academy's library. It was the largest and oldest in all of Krak, comprised of ancient texts from the days of the Geirraens to later versions adapted for early readers. The library was a two-story rotunda with a dome for a ceiling that was made up of glass. The walls were covered in shelves of books, and there were aisles among the ground, and if one were to leave the library, you would find a sitting room for studying. In the back of the rotunda, tucked behind a secret door among the bookshelves, was an off-limits area in the library where only Headmasters, Masters, and Professors could access.
All in all, Roefell was a prestigious academy in Krak and most every lord and lady sent their children here to learn. Saint had taught here at one point and I myself had attended before being expelled. I had fond memories of the academy, but I never wished to return to those days.
I sat in the back of the library where it was quiet and there was hardly anyone around. Before I had left the headquarters, I had put my disguise back on, knowing that I couldn't be recognized here. I knew someone in particular would see me escorted out if he knew it was me. It was why I stayed where I was and with only the books that I needed around me.
As I leaned back in the chair, one leg crossed over another, I flipped a page in the book on auras. There were many of them, but this one was on human auras as they did exist, even if rare or few in number. So far, I had read nothing on a human having two auras, which begged me to wonder if Daesa's theory on August having brought it with him being plausible. It wouldn't surprise me, yet if that were the case then we would have to venture into this blindly because there was no such a thing—at least proven—that a human from another realm could bring in two auras, unless he already one...
I hummed to myself and thumbed the pages before someone's presence disturbed me. I looked up from my book to see Headmaster Lancaster staring at me in recognition. He only saw me as Gloom though, not Ronan the boy he had expelled many, many years ago. Lancaster himself hadn't aged a day not a single grey hair was on his head, despite him being well over five hundred. His robe, long and open at the front revealed a tunic and fitted pants, dragged on the floor when he walked towards me.
When he neared within speaking distance, I closed my book and set it aside before standing. He forced out a formal smile for courtesy's sake while I remained stoic, hidden within my hood. I didn't have to make an effort with him, though I wouldn't even if he could see my face. He was a snake in its purest form.
"Gloom, I had heard you'd returned from your journey," Lancaster said as he extended his hand in greeting. When I didn't shake his outstretched hand, he took it back and slid it into his robe's pocket. "I see we are still not equals. That is disappointing as you'd be a formidable ally in these years."
"You would be the only one to think that," I replied bluntly, not an ounce of joking in my tone, but he chuckled. The laughter had sounded strained.
"I would, wouldn't I?" He settled from his laughter as his gaze shifted to the books on the table. He moved over to them and reached out, rapping his fingers on the cover of one before he pointed at it and turned his gaze to me. "What has you interested in human auras? I'd not taken you for a mage interested in anything other than the Vale."
My jaw clenched at the underhand insult before I brushed around him and scooped the three books into my arm, to put them up. "It never hurts to reeducate yourself for familiarities. You yourself could do with such a thing as the Headmaster of Roefell."
I couldn't help but repay the insult, and that one seemed to have hit him as his placid demeanor cracked a hair. He cleared his throat and brushed a hand through his hair before straining a small smile.
"Perhaps I should leave you to your books then," he stated with a glance at the books before he moved around me and away from where I had been reading. He paused at the end of the aisle and hummed to himself, then glimpsed back at me. "Rumor has it that you brought a human back with you from Merk. If your research into human auras has anything to do with him, I'd suggest being a bit more cautious. You know that Miltos would do anything to get their hands on a human with a complete, powerful aura."
I held my tongue and only forced a nod before he slipped around the aisle shelf and disappeared from my sight. Nothing could be hidden from a snake. He knew everything and used it against you when he had the chance. He had been the reason why Saint no longer was a professor at Roefell.
After I had put away the books, I began my walk out of the library, but didn't make it far before I saw a familiar face storming towards me. Leuthar had deep wrinkles between his brows from his scrunched eyebrows and his eyes were narrowed sharply. Why wasn't he with August?
He drew to a halt in front of me with no break in his stern, irritated expression. "You need to do something about August."
I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding him. All I could was follow him as he hurried me after him out of the academy's library and back onto the streets of Darrose. I couldn't imagine what had gone wrong, but everything came to mind as our pace grew quicker.
There was nothing that I hated more than something unplanned.