Fia was quite confused, Humans absolutely cannot pass through the barrier. That was the whole point of it.
Then again, she thought, this one doesn't feel completely Human. She sped up, uneasiness rising inside her.
She landed on a tree branch near the barrier and looked down at the Human. To her surprise, and relief, it looked like it was just a boy, and one around her age no less. He was standing in awe as he admired his surroundings.
Normally, Fia would have gotten rid of him already, but seeing as to how he looked harmless, and that she was curious as to how he got in, she decided to spare him... for now.
She jumped off of the tree and landed in front of the boy, her magic cushioning her fall.
The boy backed away with startle. "Oh... um....h-hi there," he said with an awkward smile, trying to be as friendly as possible, but it was just a little hard with Fia giving him a death glare.
She did not reply and kept glaring at him with one hand on her waist, and the other seemingly contemplating whether to throw a spell at him and be done with it or not. He looked like an ordinary boring human, dark brown eyes, messy black hair, two arms, two legs, nothing out of the ordinary in his appearance. She did, however, sense some magic inside him, which explained how he got in at least. Nevertheless, it was quite weird, all wizards and witches had at least one peculiar feature about them, like Fia's red eyes and Ramona's dark green hair. But seeing how ordinary looking this boy was made Fia all the more curious as to what he was exactly.
"Umm..." The boy looked at her hand and backed away a little more, his expression slowly turning to apprehension.
Fia raised her eyebrow. Can he sense the magic gathering at my hand? she thought.
"Alright, that's it," she said with an authoritative impatient tone, startling the boy who quickly turned his gaze to her, "What are you exactly?"
"Wha-what?" the boy mumbled nervously.
"I said what are you?" she demanded, her impatience growing at the unexplainable human-looking creature in front of her. "If you don't answer right now, you're dead." Now there was a very clear dark sphere of magic hovering on top of her hand.
"Wait wait please!" The boy was frantically waving his hands in front of him as he backed away. "I- I don't understand what you mean!" he said, panicking.
She took a step forward. "I mean how does an ordinary looking Human like you have magic?!"
"O-oh, I-I'll tell you, I'll tell you, but c-can you p-please get rid of that spell first?"
She looked down at her hand and smirked mischievously. "Alright," she said, her voice scarily calm.
She raised her hand and fired the spell at him, barely missing his head by an inch. "I got rid of it," she said cheekily, folding her hands in front of her. "Now talk."
The boy's eyes were wide open and his whole body was shaking. He looked back and found the ball had made a giant mark on the barrier, which immediately disappeared right after. He gulped.
He kept fumbling for words but could neither properly think nor speak.
"I said talk."
"R-right!" He straightened up and shook his head trying to get himself together. "Well, umm, it's... it's because... my mother was a witch."
"A witch?" she inquired.
"Y-yes. My mother was a witch who left Zemeria."
"Oh, I see," she said, softening her tone and glare ever-so-slightly now that she slowly started understanding what was going on. "Right, I did hear the previous Guazeria used to let some wizards and witches leave."
She studied his face for a bit, and now that she could see it properly, she could tell right away that he had been crying, even though he tried his best not to show it. "Does you coming here now means that she died?"
"Actually, both my parents died when I was an infant, and I was raised in an orphanage, so no not exactly."
Her eyes widened as a realization hit her. "Wait you said just your mother was a witch, that means your father was a Human?"
He flinched at the tone, almost as though it sent striking pain throughout his body. "Yes... he was," he said, his voice low and quiet
That's weird, she thought, a child shouldn't be possible between a Human and a witch. All the wizards and witches throughout the centuries who tried having a child with a Human failed, and it always ended up dying. But... She scanned him with her eyes. He doesn't seem to be lying.
"Fine then, since you are part witch, I guess you're not a complete intruder, but then again you're half Human, and I hate Humans," she snarled.
He gulped as he felt his heart sink.
She scanned him again. "Just what brought you here exactly? You have been living with your buddy Humans all your life, so why come here now?"
"Oh well that, you see umm......" He was scratching his head nervously as he averted his eyes. "I... wanted to see the place where my mother was raised in." He smiled uncomfortably.
Fia raised an eyebrow at him. He was obviously hiding something. "Fine, but why now of all times?"
"Well..." Something flashed in his eyes for a second, something that seemed awfully familiar to Fia. "Something... happened in the orphanage I was in... I couldn't stay there anymore. So, since I have no place to go to, I decided to try my luck here."
"Hmmm..." Fia looked at him thoughtfully. "What's your name?"
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself." He laughed awkwardly. "My name is Liam." He smiled cheerfully.
"Liam, huh? I'm Fia, the Guazeria."
"Guazeria?"
She sighed. "Zemeria's guardian," then she felt like scaring him a bit, so she added, "and the one who gets rid of all the pestering Humans that come snooping around here, like that army six years ago."
"Wha-?! That was you?!"
She smirked, "Ye-"
"That's amazing!" he said, his eyes filled with awe.
She blinked, "Excuse me?"
"You were just a kid six years ago, right?! And yet you managed to take down an army that huge!" he exclaimed with excitement. "I heard that Zemeria had some sort of Guardian back then, but I wasn't expecting it to have been a little gir-err no offense." He smiled awkwardly.
Fia stood speechless. That was definitely not the reaction she was expecting.
"Anyway, it's an honor to meet you, Miss Guazeria! I always heard stories about the mysterious guardian of Zemeria, and I really admired how they relentlessly protected Zemeria from intruders. I am really glad I got to meet you." He smiled brightly.
She blinked again, then averted her eyes. "Fia," she said, her voice low and threatening.
"What?"
"Just call me Fia, I don't like being called Guazeria." She had a forbidding look on her face.
"A-alright?" he replied, confused.
She turned around to leave. "I will allow you to stay, but I'll be keeping my eyes on you, so you had better not try anything funny," she turned her head to give him one last death glare, "or you'll be facing a fate much worse than death." A dark cloud of magic surrounded her, and she vanished.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, smiling fearfully.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fia went back to Demral who had patiently waited for her where she left him. He was anxious to hear the news, though. The moment he saw her, he turned to her right away "Well?"
She sighed. She looked at Demral and went straight to snuggle him in a hug.
Well, this is unusual, he thought. "Umm, Fia?"
"Ughh!" she screamed into his fur, "That pesky little Human! I so wanted to snape him in half!" she said with irritation, but she was not really angry, just annoyed, so she was hugging Demral to calm down a bit.
"What happened? Who was the intruder?"
"It was a half mage," she grumbled.
"Half mage?!" he said, disbelief eminent in his voice.
She sighed. "Yes, he says his mother was a witch from Zemeria, but his father," her lips twisted with disgust, "was a Human."
Demral blinked. "How is that possible?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Humans were never able to have a child with a creature of magic."
She let go of the hug. "Yes, I know, but he was definitely a half mage, at least that would be the only explanation to someone who looks as plain as a Human but still has magic inside them."
"And what did he want?"
"He said something happened at the Humans' place where he lived in and had to leave, so, since he had nowhere else to go, he wanted to try his luck here."
"And?"
She averted her eyes. "I let him stay."
Demral blinked again. "Wh-What?"
"What?" she said innocently.
"Y-You, Fia, the one who loathes Humans the most, allowed one to stay?!"
"Welllll...," she was going to argue that he was not really a Human, but he was raised in the Outside surrounded by Humans, so he was technically Human. "Yes," she said finally.
Demral kept staring at her in disbelief. She sighed. She stood up and went closer to the river, looking down at her reflection. Demral followed.
"Why?" he finally asked.
"I'm honestly not really sure. He... seemed harmless," she said, her thoughts drifting as she stared down at her eyes, "and his eyes... for a moment, his eyes reminded me of mine."
Demral tilted his head. He was not sure if he really understood. "How exactly?"
"Empty. For a moment, they were empty," she turned to Demral, her pure blood red eyes staring right at him, showing his reflection. Hollow. Empty.
"Just like mine," she finished, her voice devoid of emotions. It always turned like that when talking about herself. She turned back to the river. "Something happened to him too."
"I see." He sat down beside her. "You're curious?"
"... I guess you could say that," she said absentmindedly.
"So, what will you do?"
"For now," she bent down while staring at the river, "I will stay here for a little longer," she said, the river reflected like a pool of blood in her eyes. She shut them. "The sound of the flowing water is relaxing. And my magic will alert me if he starts causing trouble, so it should be fine."
Demral considered her for a moment. She looked so lifeless, so at peace, he thought worriedly. It was as though she pushed away all thoughts, all emotions, the whole world, and it was, at that moment, merely her and the flowing river, in their own world.
Demral curled around her and listened to the flow.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Liam was left alone at the border. Well, not really alone. He could feel many tiny eyes on him after Fia left. But every time he would meet one of them, it would disappear.
Maybe they're just cautious? he thought hopefully, but then sighed. Who am I kidding? They're scared.
He was not really surprised. "-Human?!" Fia had spat the word with such repulsion. He sat beneath the closest tree and closed his eyes, trying to ignore their stares.
Instead, a memory surfaced. "-Witch?!" They had also spat with the same tone.
He could almost laugh at that cruel irony.
But there was nothing he could do about it. It was almost a miracle he was even allowed to stay; he was not going to push his luck any further.
He decided to take that time to admire Zemeria a bit.
He stood and looked up. The sight of tens of floating islands scattered all over Zemeria's sky left him absolutely speechless. They differed in sizes but were all big enough for many different creatures to live on, and each island had an endless glittering waterfall at their edges, painting the sky in rainbows.
Just what scattered the sky was enough to leave him in awe, but then he looked around him.
Some plants and trees looked familiar to him, but they were all still so different. Some trees had spiraling trunks, some went as high up as the clouds, and some simply had peculiar shapes. He recognized some trees, but only from the shape of the leaves, other than that they looked very different. Even their colors. It was almost like nothing had just one single color, but everything had different colors that bled into one another. Like everything was somehow one and the same. Like it was the way they were always meant to be.
He could never truly be able to put it into words, but the only word that even came close to describing what he saw in front of him was: magical.
"Well, hello there, young man," a voice cut his admiration of the surrounding short.
Liam jumped from the sound coming from behind him. He turned around and found that it was a witch with green hair. He looked at her nervously, he really did not want another encounter like Fia.
She, however, smiled warmly. "I'm Ramona, the eldest of the mages. Who might you be young man?"
"O-oh! It's an honor to meet you, Lady Ramona." He smiled timidly. "I'm Liam."
"The fairies have been making quite the fuss about you Liam. They kept saying a Human was here, but," she scanned him, "I can see now you have magic inside you too."
"Yes, my mother was a witch from Zemeria."
"Ah yes, Jovanna, right?" Liam's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh no need to look so surprised my dear. She's the only mage to leave Zemeria in decades, it's not that hard to guess."
"O-oh, I see." He averted his eyes.
"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "Did she...?"
"Yes, both my parents died shortly after I was born."
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah..."
Ramona tilted her head. This is similar to Fia's expression, she thought. It barely lasted for a second, though, before his expression went back to normal. Huh. She looked at him wonderingly. Then she remembered something.
"Did-" She looked around her. "Did Fia come here?"
"Oh yes she was just here a bit ago. She gave me permission to stay," he said, cheerful again.
Ramona blinked, unable to believe what she heard. "Sh-she met you?"
"Yes."
"And... she let you stay?"
"Y-yes. Is... something wrong with that?" he asked cautiously.
She kept blinking, trying to process what she heard. Fia... spared a Human? And not just that, but allowed him to stay as well.
She studied him with more curiosity. What could it be about him I wonder?
"Umm..." Liam was uncomfortable with all the staring he was getting today.
Ramona slightly shook her head and smiled again. "Oh sorry, it's just... Fia has never done something like this before."
"Let a Human stay?"
"Let a Human live."
"Oh." Liam laughed uncomfortably. "Well, I could definitely tell she was barely holding herself back from killing me. Thankfully, she just settled for trying to scare me a bit."
"Hmm... Did you say something to her?" she asked curiously.
He thought for a second then shook his head. "No, nothing in particular."
"I see." she said considerately. I wonder if she also caught a glimpse of that expression...?
"Um, may I ask something?"
"Oh, yes of course." She smiled encouragingly.
"Well, I have been feeling eyes on me ever since I came, but they all disappear when I look at them," he said a bit awkwardly. "Are the creatures here afraid of me too?" he asked with a sad smile. He already knew the answer.
Ramona looked at him apologetically, "They-"
"Yes, they are," said a cold voice.
Ramona looked behind her and found that it was Fia's.
"There was great unrest in Zemeria after I left you," she said with irritation. "So, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with you until they can feel safe around you." Her hand was once again contemplating whether to just kill him and get it over with or not.
"I-I see," he said with an anxious smile as he instinctively took a step back, his fear for his life drowning any other emotion he was feeling a second ago.
"Oh, hi aunt Ramona," Fia said, finally noticing her. Ramona had been staring at Fia with eyes wide open since she came. "I apologize that you had to come all the way here to check yourself."
It took a moment for Ramona to register the words were meant for her. "N-no, not at all dear," she said, still astonished from what she was witnessing.
"We'll be leaving now." She turned to Liam. "Come."
"Y-yes." He quickly scrambled to her side. She gave him one last glare and turned around to leave, Liam following right behind her.
"Well, well," Ramona murmured to herself as she watched them leave. "Now that's a sight I never thought I would see. But," she smiled hopefully, "I have a good feeling about that boy."